Freedom is Calling - Page 13 of 25 - Blog about following the call of freedom

My Sister’s Garden

EW June 9, 2024

My situation is almost like that in January: Waiting

Paul is still in the garage awaiting its turn to be diagnosed.

In the meantime, I feel kind of handcuffed. I had a lot of improvements planned. Guess it’s an improvement to have Paul fixed, however, I had other things in mind. Tools and materials are ready and me eager to get started.

Time to relax

So, I spend quite some time in my sister’s garden to calm down and help her with her projects.

She has a really nice garden with attactive fruits and berries, like gooseberries, red currants and of course strawberries.

Seasons

It’s nice to watch the seasons change. Spring brings out the blooms and now they develop into my most favorite fruit: cherries. Not quite ripe, yet. But a few days of sunshine will do the job …

Flowers

My sister likes to have many colors in her garden all year round. Most prominent right now are poppy and roses.

Perhaps you can find other treasures between the greens … and watch out for the dragon.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

How boring

GEF June 9, 2024

All is well.

Nobody, so they say, wants to read a message like this.

Sometimes when I write a blog post, I think people might find my life pretty boring. I’m not the damsel in distress, nor do I like to create any sorts of disaster.

When I run into a problem I look for a solution. When I’m ill I don’t want to make a fuss about it, but stay in bed and see that I get better fast.

I like to feel good and take care so that my life runs smoothly and in a self-directed manner. So, I may have too many good news to tell. No click bait, after all.

It’s a human paradox that we all strive for good feelings. But at least for an observer nothing seems to be more tedious than being confronted with continuing happiness and well-being.

What is making the news

Good news are no news. This is the principle you have to follow, if you want to catch attention.

Back in my days at the newspaper, I learnt this lesson well. All of a sudden, my journalistic career rose, fueled by a catastrophic event that made the headline.

And I was at the right place at the right time taking the chance to write the lead story.

I had been around as a free-lancer for quite a while. People liked my stories, but they were small scale. Good enough to fill the columns and entertain the readers.

Meanwhile, the big news were taken care of by the established, hard-boiled old men.

One day, for the first time, I was asked to sit in for the night shift.

It was just a couple of days before Christmas, and everybody wanted to go shopping for presents and be home on time for a warm dinner.

They all assured me, it was an easy, quiet job, doing some updates if any came along. Additionally, it meant being well paid for having an undisturbed, almost leisurely evening.

No comparison to the noisy, hectic, stressful day shift I was used to manage.

And then my stomach dropped

It all began as they had predicted. Almost boringly idle.

Until at about 8:30 pm.

The message alarm on the press agencies‘ telefax machines started to flash a violent red light and gave a pervasive ring. My stomach dropped down to my knees …

I must have some inborn crisis management talent – anyway, with the help of a few colleagues who kept feeding me with the latest updates, I was able to cover the event and rock the show.

On the next morning, in my perception, I felt a little exhausted, but I was just the same girl.

For them however, I was a different person. Suddenly I had a name. Suddenly I got noticed by the executive floor. Suddenly I was somebody, who could do it. A full-proof journalist.

It really hit me, in the literal sense, over night.

This reminds me of Harry Belafonte’s famous quote: „It took me almost thirty years to become an overnight success.“

In my case, I was at the right place at the right time to publish “bad news” that triggered emotions and got everybody interested.

For myself, I just had done my job as best as I could. For them, my work had the desired impact. And that was the clue.

Actually, nowadays I prefer to be a little boring and spread good news. It’s way more pleasing to see the glass half full and deal with obstacles proactively than lose yourself in fear and negativity.

Because it’s the optimistic attitude that opens up the whole potential of the brain to find solutions and encourage change for the better.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

Broken down

EW June 2, 2024

It’s like a déjà-vu: Big Paul broke down on the road. He had to be towed. Now I am awaiting Monday to get a verdict on his illness from the garage.

The final piece

On the positive side, I got the final piece of furishing finished. I call it a “table on demand”, which might come in handy during foul weather. There is a short clip on YouTube about it: https://youtu.be/cCJnLwLePCY

Even if Big Paul’s belly is ready to house us he seems momentarily not willing to take us anywhere …

Let’s see how it works out.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and

My Journey from offline to online

GEF June 2, 2024

Giving up was not an option. But when I realized that my body would not want to live out of a suitcase and romp around different places and stages forever, I had to find a new solution.

To be honest, it didn’t really feel good to leave a winning arrangement. My heart told me to keep on coaching and teaching. I knew this was my vocation. It made my heart sing. I didn’t want to live without it.

But the process of aging made me downshift, bring more ease to my life and listen to the wants and needs of my body more. Also, I was pretty fed up with my super busy schedule. And tired of the fact that I already knew on January 1, where I would be on December 31.

First, I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I needed some fresh ideas and these wouldn’t come from merely racking my brains.

So, I gave myself a break from my seminar and coaching business and took a sabbatical.
Reading, writing, mountain hiking, meditating and completely cutting myself off from the crazy news of the world. No radio, no papers and – most importantly – my TV landed straight in the trash.

I just let myself live in the moment accepting not-knowingness.

An unconditional sabbatical

Months went by and my patience was tested. But I trusted the process. Obviously the right time and opportunity hadn’t come yet. Eventually, something would turn up.

Meanwhile I enjoyed living off schedule and having all the time in the world. I permitted myself to continue unconditionally.

The end of my sabbatical year passed almost unnoticed and another year came and then another one. I hadn’t expected it, but it felt very good to go with the flow. It felt safe. I wasn’t in a hurry.

But there was one question I kept asking myself: What was so great about the work I had been doing? What was so fulfilling about it? Why was it still so hard to give it up?

I knew I had to go deeper. And stay relaxed.

Funny how the Universe delivers

One day it felt like something was tapping on my shoulder. I had the impulse to go online and follow my curiosity.

Clicking my way through several websites something „hit“ me. I would only learn later that it was what online marketers call a “landingpage“.

A question caught my attention: „You are a trainer, consultant or coach? Imagine you could run your business comfortably from your couch, just by using a laptop.“

I held my breath. Here it was. My solution. Spot on.

Because I knew in a split second, it was not about being physically present at a certain place doing what I was doing. It was about the work itself.

Encouraging people, helping them find their own power and self-efficacy, teaching them how to go after their own dream and make it work in the here and now.

Something I could do from wherever I was. And the idea that I would not have to get my bags packed and leave the house anymore, but work from my comfortable home office, did the trick.

Thank you, Universe! I didn’t have to make anything happen. I just let it happen.

That was the start of a new learning experience. Going from offline to online. Quite a task for me, an old dinosaur from the paper and flipchart age.

Now, after a lot of reading and taking courses from technical and educational to online marketing, I feel „literate“ and prepared enough to build my online coaching business step by step.

Another wonderful side effect: Traveling is not a stressful duty any longer. But the colorful, curiosity-driven pleasure again it used to be when I was young.

That’s it for now. More to come.

Be well and if you like share this post and