Blue Skies Tagged Ahead

Blue Skies Tagged Ahead :))

How do you thank someone whom you’ve never “met”, but who has enabled you to gain fresh insight into who you are?

Isn’t that the reason we blog in the first place, Self-discovery and looking for those “out there” with whom we can share and connect with?

Self-Reflection is one of my favorite topics. And MrHushHush has ushered in fresh volumes by nominating me for the Blue Sky Tag — thus enabling me to answer his thought-provoking questions :))

Thank you, MrHushHush, so very much!!!

Not only has this been fun, but my own answers to your wonderful list of questions has helped me resolve a recent angst I’ve been dealing with.

Thank you for reaching out. For including me in this exercise. And for making it deep and thoughtful, rather than surface-level BS!!

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Quoting from MrHushHush here:

For those of you who don’t know, the rules of the Blue Sky Tag go something like this:

1. Thank the person who has nominated you.
2. Answer their questions.
3. Create 11 questions for your nominees.
4. Tag your 11 nominees.

(Thank you, MrHushHush, for not stringently stating the rules! We creative sorts can lose our nerve as soon the “YOU MUST” rules arise!)

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Thought-Provoking Questions from MrHushHush: 

So here are my responses :))

1.Why do you Blog?

I’m a writer. A life-long Journal-Junkie. I don’t just want to write, I MUST write — in order to figure Life out. I created my two blogs as a format to polish my body of work and preserve what I’ve written, what I’ve discovered — (hopefully) for generations to come.

The original inspiration for my blogs came from my daughter, accomplished singer-songwriter and Celtic folk harpist, EllaHarp. In 2011-2012, I watched Ella build and blog Little Yellow, her homebuilt Tumbleweed Tiny House on Wheels. (Frankly, given our family’s aversion to computers and technology, I was more surprised at her ability to BLOG than to BUILD her own Tiny Home — with her creative example, I determined to to start a blog (or two!) of my own :))

2. What is your favorite topic to write/read about?

I love horses. They are the underlying theme of my Life. (Hence, my horse blog, Soul Horse Ride.) I work with horses as a farrier (horseshoer), I’ve raised and bred four generations of horses — I have a fantastic horse library.

But I also love business and creativity and self-employment and entrepreneurship and airplanes and flying and Spiritual metaphysics and all the Mysteries of Life . . . I have a great esoteric library, as well.

3. Are you happy in this moment of your life?

Amazingly so!!! I’m a bit older now, my kids are out of the house. I’m not working as much these days, and I have more time to enjoy the Life that God’s given me :))

My best advice: Keep striving for what you want in Life — you’ll get there! Make the best decisions you can at every junction, and TRUST. (See: My Yoda Story)

There truly are more influences at play behind what we “perceive”  this Life to be. It will all work out . . . find your happiness, do your best, today :))

4. Are you in love?

Yes :)) My husband and I are celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary :)) We are a blended family (as in, we were both married before, had kids, and found happiness this time around, together :)) Life is LONG! Certain parts are difficult!!! But it sure helps to have someone who “gets” you (loves you) to share it with!!! :))

(I think those of us who have succeeded in long-term love have, finally, discovered that someone else can never truly fulfill us — make us happy. That’s OUR job. As humans, here on Earth, it’s up to each one of us to find and fuel our own happiness. When two people are committed to kindness and respect for one another, have shared goals of a great family life, and allow one another to follow and express their Life’s creative passions, it’s a beautiful thing.)

5. How do you cope when feeling lost or empty?

Great question! I either get out my Journal and write, or look up something I’ve already written on the topic for fresh inspiration.

I’ve found that there are many recurring themes in Life, and I can actually plan for much of the emotional ride that Life gives me. By working out a strategy in advance to what’s come up for me in my past — I can ward off much frustration in my present. And it’s  actually worked!!!

(My favorite go-to strategy to feeling lost or empty: Taking ACTION, in some form!)

6. What’s a special memory you often flash back to?

What a sweet question :)) I love to re-live my special horse rides, especially if I’m working out of town and far from my horses. Or in the winter snow season, when I can’t ride. I figure those rides are preserved for me in my very DNA, and I re-live and re-ride the nuances of Nature, the horse, the beauty of the day. I think that’s a wonderful gift of being human. We can re-live either the good or the bad in our lives. At this point of my Life, I choose to re-live the best of my experiences :))

Other memories I think back to are those of my early childhood, growing up on the beach in Malibu, my Disneyland Bandleader Dad, my Mom, Grandparents. After people are gone and certain chapters of Life have closed, it’s a treat to re-visit and still gain insights and wisdom that help with whatever I’m going through today. (See: You Can Do ANYTHING!, and You Gotta Wanna)

7. What are you looking forward to?

I can honestly say I’m looking forward to . . . TODAY :)) I’ve already traveled, lived and worked in the Tropics, acquired all that I want: Horses. Home. Kids. Husband. Health. I’m really at a good place in Life, and I want to do my best, today, with the people and opportunities that arise for me. (Taking the pick-up truck, getting hay. Shoeing a horse this evening . . . sounds like a wonderful day :))

8. Do you see an overall goal in life you’re hoping to reach? If so, what?

Again, I’m very satisfied :)) Blown away, in fact, by how wonderful it’s all turned out. In my Life I’ve discovered that Spirit is the real, the true. What we perceive as real, as the material world around us, actually is made up of consciousness. Energy. And our thoughts, our vibes, change that reality.

My dear friend, Alisa, now 85, has reminded me of what Milton said in Paradise Lost (from the 1600s): “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”

I can choose to vibrate with fear, angst. Or I can change that vibration to gratitude and love. Thank God for the second option!! :)) Gratitude Is . . .

9. What is your biggest fear, and how do you rationalize it?

Money, paying the bills, earning enough, was always my biggest fear. But I’ve learned to shift my awareness from lack and limitation to up into Spirit. Wholeness. And I’m relieved to say it’s worked. 100% !!! We really do create our own outcomes in Life by what we focus on. By staying in gratitude for all I have, Past, Present, Future, it all seems to work out :)) (see my Depression Emergency Kit for fear-busting strategies)

10. If you could recommend a book to me what would it be?

Years ago, I was given a great little book by Neville Goddard, Feeling is the Secret, that has really helped me. Basically, whatever you want to have or experience, you change your vibration to FEEL how you would feel when you have it. That feeling attracts what you’re looking for, and creates it in your life. Fantastic :)) Works with health, too.

Next: The Game of Life and How to Play It, by Florence Scovel Shinn (written in 1925). A small Metaphysical Manual on manifesting and living Life to the fullest.

Also, I think you would like: The Stranger in the Woods, by Michael Finkel. Great non-fiction about a guy who dropped out of the everyday world and lived as a hermit for 27 years, alone, in the woods.

11. If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Dawn, don’t worry! Stay in Gratitude :)) Everything will work out :))

Don’t be so uptight about it all! Enjoy your Life :)) Enjoy the folks, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandfather. Take heed the wisdom they give you. Someday, they will all be gone, and you will be the one trying to figure it out. You will cherish the wisdom they shared with you.

Love. And get over stuff that hurts your feelings quickly. Cut people slack. You’ve hurt people, too. Apologize. Forgive. Grow up! Do what Mom said :)) Be kind! Get along.

Enjoy the RIDE :))

My Horse is a River

Get out and RIDE — Dawn’s Rides

It’s OK to Scream!

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What a great list of questions, MrHushHush. Thank you, again, for your depth. It really got me thinking, reflecting. And that’s always a good thing :))

My Nominees :))

So here is my list of great Blogs to Tag:

YOU! If you’re reading this, you’re invited (lets bend those rules :)) Please feel free to join in with this insightful exercise, even if your name isn’t on this way-too-limited list!

Wind Kisses

Global Sojourns Photography

The English Professor at Large

The Pilot Wife Life

Life and Random Thinking

Erin Gillespie Cartoons

Heart of a Horsewoman

Horse Wisdom Blog

Dictionary Dutch

Marija Smits

The Motorcycletourer

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My List of Questions for You:

1. Is your Life, today, half-empty, or half-full?
2. How have you found goodness from the bad situations in your Life? Example, please :))
3. Which relationships have been the most challenging for you, and what strategies have you created to improve them?
4. What causes you angst, and how do you overcome it?
5. Have you ever written your own jokes???? Memorized them, and tried them out in a long, boring line at the Post Office . . . Did anyone chortle??? (ie — do you have a good joke ready for a sour circumstance :)) (I had a lot of fun writing my Cow Jokes.)
6. What challenges are you facing in your Life right now?
7. What do you obsess over? How do you rein in your obsessions?
8. What strategies do you employ for stress relief?
9. What other-wordly phenomena have you experienced? (Intuition, dreams, deja vu, ET, communication with lost loved ones, etc.) What have your learned from them?
10. How do you make new friends, or strike up a conversation with a stranger?
11. What do you love to create? How do you motivate yourself to do more of what you love to do???

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Now, when you get the time, get your blogging groove on, and enjoy.

I’m looking forward to your answers :)) and viewing your list of Nominees. It’s a great way to reflect, connect, and share.

And, MrHushHush, would you please do me the favor of answering my list of questions, too :))

Dawn

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(If I were to answer my own list of questions, here are my thoughts on conversation starters with strangers: Deep Philosophical Three Minute Conversations. On motivation for doing more of what I like to do: Why Ride?, and Ride for Little Dawn.)

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Like what you’ve read here? Visit Dawn’s sister blog: Soul Horse Ride

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