Take Back Your Life!

Hey adventurers,

Yesterday I did my annual Davis’ Mega Maze in Sterling, Mass. It’s the world’s most complex 3-D cornfield maze. This year’s theme was “The Lost Tomb.” It also proved to be the hardest one yet. It took me and a friend over 4 hours to find the tomb. Around the 3 hour corn delusional mark, I had to hold myself back from answering “Yes” to the Maze staff who asked me on the bridges if I wanted hints to get out. “No,” I cried. I needed to stumble out on my own and whack the gong even if it took 7 hours.

You see, the best part about the maze isn’t even the maze. It’s what the maze teaches you about yourself. Although it might seem confusing to wander around in circles for 4 hours, I left feeling far less confused than when I entered. I actually emerged with greater focus and lots of new ideas. If I were going to hire some people, I’d forget asking them meaningless interview questions like “What’s your biggest weakness?” and just send them into the maze. Then I’d ask them what they learned about themselves when they got out.

If you live in New England, check out the Davis’ Mega Maze, it’s open on weekends through November 15th.

Muse thx,

Giulietta

I’m following some fun Tweeters on Twitter. One is Moontree Letterpress. Lovely designs for letterpress aficionados as well as a weekly Monday contest for those who love to word sculpt. I’m a contest & a word junkie so this fun letterpress blog awards me a double high for participation. There’s also a letterpress prize if you want something concrete for your guessing efforts.

Contests get my mind moving in a direction it might not normally move. They keep me thinking outside the box that’s outside the box. Nothing worse than a rusty brain. I know the Tin Man of Wizard of Oz fame used his rusty body as an excuse for not participating in life, but it seems more likely that rusty brains keep us from doing so.

Patrolling the malls and watching reality shows puts my brain to sleep, which is why I try to avoid both of them. I used to get to the end of a mall or a show and say, “why did I just waste my precious life doing this?”

What do you do to keep your brain from rusting?

Muse thx,

Giulietta the Muse

Opened the paper this morning (yes, I still love the feel of newsprint) to read about a young man, an ex-Iraqi war vet, who is walking across the country for peace. Being in a war changed his feelings about wars or what he thought a war was. He walks about 20 miles a day, stopping to talk to people along the way. He’s also giving away his combat pay to various charities and causes.

Now that’s generous! How many of us would give away our hard earned cash to promote love? I like his spirit and sense of adventure and wish him well on his continued journey.

Please check out his blog, “Contagious Love Experiment.”

Anyone who lives in New England knows it’s been raining nonstop for at least a month, if not longer. Makes it hard to do summer things like hiking, biking, swimming, picnicking & photographing. Yes, I can still do them, but somehow biking through a thunder and lightening storm doesn’t feel particularly appealing.

I will say that as a result of the excess rain my yard looks lush & lively. The once parched lawn boasts wall to wall green, without any watering or adding of nasty fertilizers (something I don’t use anyway.) My own skin & hair feel amazingly moist. Two summers ago when the area experienced a drought my hair became so dry I thought it might ignite if I got anywhere near a flame. I will also say that the endless rain has given me more time to read, visit museums and work on my new essays.

As someone mentioned to me the other day, rain is just water.

I’m really enjoying Twitter. Been on it about a month. Seems like a great way to connect with people I never would have met. I also like the brevity of it. It forces me to get to the heart of whatever I’m going to say, to strip away the superfluous. At first I wasn’t sure what to even say, but after about a week I found my rhythm.

Surprisingly, I don’t tweet much about my work. Instead I find myself posting information I believe might help someone reading my tweets. My philosophy is that what goes around comes around, so if I send out good will, I’ll get good will back. I also believe it’s easier to make connections with others when I’m not talking about work. That can come later, after the connection happens.

How do you connect with others?

I started a twitter on trees and thought I’d finish it here on my blog.

Loved trees from the moment I was old enough to climb them. Every day I climbed high into the tall pines in my yard. If I couldn’t read the branches I got my father’s step ladder or asked my father to nail a few steps into the barks of my favorites. (Now, I realize that wasn’t good for the trees…)

I had no fear of falling. It never entered my mind that I could tumble down & be hurt. My mother never mentioned it. She just encouraged me to play out side. In fact, she forced us to go outside for at least a few hours each day.

I set my sights on a branch I’d like to sit on and slowly made my way up the tree zigging and zagging from branch to branch. Then I sat on the limb and looked down over my pine needle kingdom.

To this day, I get upset if someone cuts down a healthy tree for an unhealthy reason.

Nike sure has one good slogan. So many times I’ve talked and talked about doing it, but just never went ahead and did it. That’s changed in the past couple of years. Now I get an idea and pick a date to do it. Otherwise, I just flounder around and pretty soon 2 years go by.

Decided to enter The Art of Nonconformity Essay/Blog Challenge. Instead of waiting until 3 days before the deadline: July 11, I got writing immediately. Let it sit for a few days then resumed editing.

Letting it sit works wonders. Returning after a few days I clearly see what’s not working and what is working. Sometimes a sentence seems fantastic, until I step back from it. When I return I see it just doesn’t fit. So, I rework it until every line has a purpose.

A good approach to a lot of things in life. Get going. Let it percolate. Then get going again. Giving something space gives it perspective.

I usually wake up with so many ideas going through my brain that I don’t know where to start! It gives me a million reasons to get up in the morning. Not everyone feels this way. I wish I knew how to bottle this idea mania up so I could give it to the people who’ve told me they dread each day because they don’t have anything to do. Maybe that’s about letting go of what you don’t want to do, so you will have the time and the room for things you do want to do.

One thing I let go of was having to be a fashionista. When I had a corporate job, I thought I had to look smokin’ every day. It required lots of shopping, outfit planning, etc. Between you and me, I felt I needed at least two new outfits a week!

Not only was it expensive, it was also time consuming. Once I got rid of that job and that fashion mindset, it left lots of room for the things I really wanted to do in life.

Is there anything you’d love to let go of, just get off your plate so you don’t have to worry about it anymore?

I read a book a long time ago called “All I need to know I learned from my cat.” It was written by Suzy Becker. I’d like to take her premise and expand it. Much of what I know about living I learned my cat Valentino. He’s 9 years old and fearless. Nothing rattles this cat, except the occasional loud sound.

He’s adventurous, curious, daring, outrageous, bold, persistent, demanding, loving, hilarious, brilliant, handsome, charismatic and adorable. The adorable part makes up for some of the other often annoying parts like persistent. If he wants something he never gives up until he gets it. He’ll keep coming back and coming back and coming back until you do whatever it is he wants. Probably the most important thing he’s taught me about life is to be fearless. To give something a try before deciding I can’t do it. Most of the time I find I can do it and I’ve got Valentino to thank for that.

What have you learned from your cat?

I decided to make my Tweets on Twitter today about laughter and added a link to that funny scene from Mary Poppins. You may recall it —  the one where Ed Winn can’t stop laughing. Looking back, I’m amazed his laughter was seen as something that needed to be stopped. Why are we laughterphobes in this country? I remember getting kicked out of my elementary school classes for laughing.

Doesn’t that seem deranged? What kind of message were the teachers giving me? Be serious even at the age of 8? If anything there ought to be a laughter class, a time where kids and teachers just laugh.

I’m going to go on a laughter spree today. Want to join me?