Strategic Serendipity

You've seen the tests on Facebook that help you figure out which Disney Princess you are.  Because we want to be a princess, right?  Honestly, lately I feel more like the meme that shows Cinderella running down the stairs at midnight and says "all she really wanted was a new dress and a night out."  Or maybe the one that expresses our discontent that wild animals don't really clean house for me on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong.  I grew up on Disney.  I listened to my books on record of every story they had and would turn the page when Tinkerbell rang her bell.  I watched Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night.   In high school I had a season pass to Disneyland and spent my 16th birthday there.  I still have the Tigger I got that day sitting in my room.   In college, I had my Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast VHS tapes constantly going while I was studying.   I owned all the VHS tapes, then all the DVDs, and a bunch of Blu-Rays b

When life kicks in and you start wondering where the day, week, month, or year went, it is time to slow down. (C) DeAnn Malone 2019 In our fast-paced society, this can be a real challenge.  Last year, I bought a camera and started taking photography classes.  I hadn’t ever used anything but a point and click camera or a cell phone.  I was intimidated at first by all the setting and rules for when they use them.  Over the course of 11 classes in 13 months I have fallen in love with photography.  And not just because of the priceless memories I have in photos of nature and my son.  What I found was a way to slow down. You have likely read all the studies on the benefits of meditation.  I tried it, I really did.  I WANT to master it.  But I really struggled.  Yoga has eluded me, too, so far.  I refuse to give up.  But in the meantime, I can go to the local gardens and spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to get a picture of a flower or a butterfly absolutely perfect.  I can bl

How much alone time do you need? There seems to have been a cycle to my life where I go from a lot of alone time, to next to none, then back again.  When I was six, I was a latch key kid of a single mom who worked three jobs.  When we were together, she was tired in a way I could not understand.  I loved my time alone listening to Disney fairytale books on my record player and following along in the book.  I would turn the page when Tinkerbell made her sound.  I swear it is how I learned to read and to love reading.  But I would also get so lonely. Fast-forward to college and there were always so many people around. You weren’t ever really alone for long.  Summers were as much decompression as recharging my brain. Then I lived alone as a single person in DC. I had friends and volunteered a lot outside of work. But long weekends often consisted of a good audiobook while I worked on a quilting project. There were times that I was lonely and felt I was missing out on a piece of l

Have you ever had a plan in place for your life and then had it interrupted?  Life happens friends and while the last five years have not been what I had intended, they were exactly what they needed to be: family-focused.  I took advantage of a limited-time opportunity and will forever be grateful that I did. But life is changing again, and I welcome it.  For the first time in longer than I can remember, I can think about the future.  I spent the last three months working on my ICF coaching re-certification and realized I have time for coaching in my life.  And it brings me great joy!  So I will be taking on a few private clients each month for the rest of 2019. Leap Year by Helen Russell Is change a constant source in your life?  Do you embrace it or fight it? If you are looking for a great book about change, check out  Leap Year by Helen Russell  (amazon associate link).  Russell does an amazing job of exploring the science around change and how humans respond to it while w