I am constantly awed by my daughter’s ability to make things fun.

Playing a board game, while I’m focused on whose turn it is and how quickly the pawns get moved because bedtime is fast approaching, she’s delighting in different ways to roll the dice.

She’s constantly finding new ways to flip over the arm of the couch while walking from the dining room to her bedroom.

Instead of sitting still and waiting for something, she’s making shapes with her hands, or funny faces, or me laugh.

I think I was always a fairly sensitive, serious child but somewhere along the path to adulthood I lost touch with my sense of fun. I’m putting focused attention on finding it again. In my own responsible adult, to-do list filled life. (It’s easy to find the fun when I’m playing with my girl. It’s harder when I’m scrubbing toilets and folding socks.)

Last week I bought myself a pack of multicolor glitter stars. I’m using them in my calendar to add some sparkle to getting things done. That feels fun to me.

This week whether it’s making dinner, doing the dishes, plowing through my email or cleaning off my desk (again) I’m looking for the fun. I plan to make a new (fun!) habit of it.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do the same.

And if you’re someone who naturally finds the fun, or the silly, or the goofy in life, I’d love to hear about it. Stories and tips are welcome.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put on a red clown nose and have breakfast.

I’ve been sad the last few evenings, going to bed. I don’t know why. Last night after a fun evening out, the sadness sat squarely on my chest. I had the very normal, human reaction of wanting to figure out why.

Yes, that picture of a friend and her beautiful baby boy made my heart ache.
Yes, my husband travels a lot and under the busy-ness, there are days I feel alone.
Yes my daughter is suddenly 7, with long legs and hair past her waist and sometimes I really miss her, even though she’s right there.

Then I remembered that worrying about the why isn’t terribly helpful. I needed to create space to sit with the sadness and see if it had anything to say.

Make space for unplanned days.
Listen to music. Allow for silence. Light more candles.
Follow your heart, even especially when that feels impossible.

Ah…there it was. The voice of my soul.

Sometimes it’s sadness or hurt or anger that we push away. Sometimes it’s joy. This week, when you notice yourself dancing on top of something that makes you uncomfortable, see if you can pause, allow it to surface and listen to what it has to say.

 

 

This morning I’m feeling open, expansive, hopeful. I woke with these words floating through my mind, landing like feathers dropped by passing seagulls (or angels).

 

I thought you might like to hear them too.

This weekend was lovely. My husband was home (a treat because he travels a lot). We had time together as a family, invited friends over to enjoy the beach and I was delighted by a surprise visit with my best friend from college who hadn’t been to California since our wedding ten years ago. It was exactly what I needed.

At 10pm last night I realized it was Monday and I hadn’t written a post. I started to think I’d stay up late and get it done, despite being ready for sleep. I felt this pressure to keep my word – Mantra Monday has MONDAY in its name for Pete’s sake. For about a minute I beat myself up for not being more on top of things or for not having written a post earlier in the weekend, even though I always wait for the mantra to come to me instead of scheduling them out before hand.

Then I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Oops”.

“Oops” is a ridiculous word. I mean, really. Just look at it: 0-0-p-s. Oops. It’s like a bunch of letters doing pratfalls in a red clown nose.

I don’t use it lightly. It’s not what I would say if I hurt someone deeply, or made a mistake that negatively impacted lives. But the world won’t end because this gets published on Tuesday instead of Monday and if you visited yesterday and were disappointed, I hope you’ll forgive me.

“Oops” brings a lightness, a sense of playfulness to the imperfection of being human. It lets us off the hook, lets us know it’s okay to make mistakes.

It even makes me giggle sometimes. Like I’m 7 again. I don’t know about you, but I could use a little more childlike playfulness in my often-too-serious, adult life.

So “oops” will be my mantra this week. When things don’t go according to plan, when I overcook my egg at breakfast, when the cat vomits up his lunch, when my daughter takes twenty minutes to get ready for bed I will say “oops”, shrug my shoulders and remember that in the big picture, these things don’t matter. They’re certainly nothing to get frustrated about.

Normally I’m very familiar with the mantras I post. We’ve become good friends and I keep them close. This week is an experiment. I have no idea how helpful it will be, but I’m willing to try. At the end of it I might have to shrug my shoulders (oops) because it didn’t work at all. But as I sit with a four day week and all that wants to get done, the lightness that “oops” brings feels good already.

You have permission to “oops” along with me this week. Please let me know how it goes.