Welcome to Barn Musings. These weekly newsletters aim to provide you with timely, inspiring, and useful
reflections and findings from Meet Me At The Barn. I promise to keep the content brief and brilliant. The ultimate
goal is to create a community forum that is supportive, imaginative, and focused on possibility. Here we go!
Watch Screen Time with Diane Sawyer
Today, American adults spend the equivalent of 49 days a year on their phone and tablets. For six months, Sawyer and her team traveled across the country talking to families, teachers, doctors, and even tech insiders to pursue questions, answers, and solutions. From coast to coast, a question: People love the wonders of technology, but have they become too consumed with the little screens in their pockets?
I have added the YouTube links to Sawyer’s special below:
Mother’s Day was proclaimed a national holiday in 1914 when Woodrow Wilson signed a declaration designating the second Sunday in May as a day to honor mothers. Since then, there is no doubt that moms across America have experienced everything from breakfast in bed featuring burnt toast and cold coffee to a measly Mother’s Day card purchased the night before at 7-Eleven.
I have three boys; 2Sox, Chief, and Winston. That’s right, the closest I have come to motherhood is my current brood of a really smart Australian Shepherd and two retired ranch horses so I was curious about what moms really want for Mother’s Day. I did some research and after compiling the data I have come up with this top ten list:
A Day All To Herself. As much as moms love being moms, they also crave a day all to themselves. That’s right, simply a day off to do whatever she wants. No cooking, no cleaning, no car-pooling or any other mom duties; nothing, zero, zilch, none. So, if you are looking for a treasured gift for mom, here you go. If you want to encourage mom to carve out some quiet time for herself each day, consider a “Be” – Attitudes Kit.
Sleep. It is no secret that most moms are sleep deprived so there should be no astonishment over the fact that she wants to sleep, sleep, sleep. So, let her! All day if she wants. And, this might include an afternoon
I first learned of Mike a few years ago when my pals and I traveled to Elko, Nevada, to attend the Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering. Mike was one of the performers at the gathering. I found him to be an inspiring singer/songwriter and a captivating storyteller. Learn more about Mike here. We have since stayed in touch through social media. A few days ago, Mike shared a story about an experience he had with a horse during one of the Horse Clinics he has conducted over the years. This one took place in Norway. I asked Mike if I could share this on my website. He generously agreed. Here is the story in his words. Read this to the end and then, read it again. There is a lot to ponder in Mike’s words. Here you go.
There Was This One…
It seems like there’s got to be some way to be able to forget about some horses, to be able to let go, and to stay somewhat sane in this crazy horse thing I got myself involved in. I’ve done pretty good, well, kinda…. But, there was this one horse. One horse that I can’t seem to forget, that I can’t let go of.
It happened at a place that I worked several times in Norway. This lady had a facility that wasn’t too bad. She had hosted a couple of clinics for me there before. She had a pretty good arena and a round corral that her
Welcome to Barn Musings. These weekly newsletters aim to provide you with timely, inspiring, and useful
reflections and findings from Meet Me At The Barn. I promise to keep the content brief and brilliant. The ultimate
goal is to create a community forum that is supportive, imaginative, and focused on possibility. Here we go!
Cowboy Crossroads is a refreshingly diplomatic attempt to connect today’s vibrant cowboy culture with a world only vaguely aware of its existence. The Cowboy Crossroads episodes are about 30-minutes long featuring a special guest, usually a cowboy poet or singer-songwriter. What I love about Andy’s podcast is that he basically starts the conversation and lets the guests take it where they want. There is no agenda.
Cowboy Crossroads is a big, juicy slice of Americana. I was listening to Andy’s guest, Joel Nelson not long ago and in a time span of about 20 seconds I laughed out loud, cried, and fell in love with this ole’ cowboy. If you are looking for a change of pace this is it. Authenticity at its finest.
Get your journal. Yes, right now. Sit down and answer these two question:
What are you most proud of in your life?
I have read far too many articles lately that describe how unhappy people are with their lives. Not only is this troubling to me, but it is also sad. The
Welcome to Barn Musings. These weekly newsletters aim to provide you with timely, inspiring, and useful
reflections and findings from Meet Me At The Barn. I promise to keep the content brief and brilliant. The ultimate
goal is to create a community forum that is supportive, imaginative, and focused on possibility. Here we go!
“Part of me suspects I’m a loser, and part of me thinks I’m God Almighty.”
— John Lennon
This is the opening quote in the book Wishes Fulfilled by the late Dr. Wayne Dyer. In the book, Dyer asks, “Are you
willing to internalize radical new ideas that require a shift in your concept of yourself?” He urges the reader to keep
in mind that all that now exists was once imagined and that what you want to exist for you in the future must now be
imagined. You are urged to take charge of your imagination. After all, anything placed in your imagination and held
there ultimately becomes your reality.
Dyer offers up the following rules for a Healthy Imagination: Rule number one: Never place into your imagination any thought that you would not want to materialize. Rule number two: Never allow your imagination to be contaminated by ideas about how your life used to
be. This is where your willingness to change your concept of yourself comes in.
Rule number three: Your imagination is yours and yours alone. Never allow someone else’s ideas
Don Miguel Ruiz wrote The Four Agreementsin 1997. Since that time it has sold 7.2 million copies and has been translated into 40 languages. That’s big. It’s a lot. I understand why. I read the book when it first came out and I have read it on a yearly bases since. This past week I revisited the wisdom of this powerful book. I needed some reminders. Here is a summary of the agreements from the research I found on the internet.
The First Agreement: Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Don’t use words that speak against who you are and most definitely do not gossip about others. Your words are powerful so use them for inspiration, truth, and love. I have found that it is best to use words that change a situation or a circumstance for the better. If not, stay quiet and listen.
The Second Agreement: Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing that others do is because of you. What someone else says or does is a projection of their own reality. If you want to save yourself from being the victim of needless suffering, don’t plug into the opinions and actions of others. And, sometimes things just simply are not about you! I have always said, what others think of me is none of my business.
The Third Agreement: Don’t Make Assumptions
Have the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can
Who do you surround yourself with? The old saying, ‘birds of a feather flock together’ is true. People who have similar interests, ideas, characteristics, and values tend to associate with one another. It makes a difference who you ‘hang out’ with. People that you spend a lot of time with have an influence on you whether you recognize it or not. Think about the top five people that you spend most of your time with. Who are they? What do they do? How do they impact your life? How do they challenge you? How do they encourage you? Make a list and answer these questions about each of them. When you are finished have a serious look at your answers and decide if they are someone that you want to continue to have in your life.
How Do You Want Your Life To Be?
When was the last time you seriously considered the kind of life that you want to live? I think that it is a worthwhile exercise and I suggest that you make it an annual inquiry if not quarterly. Once you have decided this for yourself, think about who you know that lives like you want to live. This could be someone from your circle of friends, great authors, artist, speakers, or well-known people in history. Start spending time with these folks. Invite them for coffee or a nature walk and ask them what their life strategies are. Read their books, listen to their talks and podcasts, learn
There is something to K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, silly). I don’t know why we humans want to make things more complicated than they are, but we do. It seems to me that we would benefit significantly if we ‘simply’ got out of our own way…I remember years ago I attended a seminar and one of the presenters said, “life is basically empty and meaningless.” For a minute, I was taken back by this comment, and then I thought more about the wisdom in those words.
Keep It Simple
It is so true…our lives have and hold only the meaning that we give to them. And, the amazing thing is, we get to choose the definition that we give to the events in our lives. So my friends, keep it simple. Check in with your heart and get out of your head. Put one foot in front of the other and step through your days with presence and intention and openness and passion and curiosity. Consider simple over complicated…joy over angst…love over fear. And no matter what, be grateful. Stay true and be you —
AnnieCreate a Life You Love Participate in the Online Edition of Lines In The Sand Join Us Now
Last week I made the trek to Elko, NV with a few of my pals. We attended the Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival. This was my second year of the experience…it was my friend’s thirteenth year of going. For me, the experience is inspiring, moving, simplistic, raw, and real. The performers and the attendees are as down to earth as people get. Authenticity runs like a river through their veins. The pace and the simplicity of days and the performances at the festival are refreshing and in many ways breathtaking. The best way I can describe the stories that are told through poem and song is that they invite us to live in the layers. To take the moments and the days and the years as they come…appreciating the beautiful markings they create along the way regardless of how painful or ugly the circumstances that created them might have been.
Reflection
On our long drive home I thought a lot about the lives of cowboys and ranchers and their families. I thought about their dedication to the land, their animals, and their lineage. These people truly live in the layers with courage and resolve and faith…they press through hard times and embrace good times. They remind me of where I came from and urged me to go back there even if it is only in memory alone. These five days in Elko tugged at my heartstrings giving rise to pride and honor for the life that I have lived
One of the most critical areas of tidying up that will help us mentally, physically and spiritually is our information intake. With endless access to digital gadgets, it is easy to fall into the information jungle. The books that we read, the podcasts that we listen to, and the websites we visit have an impact on our lives. If you find yourself trolling Facebook for hours a day or plopping down on the couch each night and mindlessly watching TV until you go to bed, it is most definitely time for some information intake clean-up. I am going to list what I have come to use as my top podcasts and books in 2018 for self-enrichment. The next time you pick up your phone listen to one of these instead of wasting time in the addictive digital jungle.
My Favorite Podcasts for 2018
1. The Mindvalley Podcast
The Mindvalley Podcast is one of the greatest up-and-coming self-help podcasts out there today. With its brilliant host, Vishen Lakhiani, this podcast profoundly pulls together a vast variety of insight and inspiration from the world’s top teachers and thought leaders in personal transformation (such as Tom Chi, Neale Donald Walsch, and John and Missy Butcher).
As perhaps the most well-rounded personal development podcast mentioned here, The Mindvalley Podcast explores juicy ideas throughout a multitude of lifestyle topics — from learning how to learn to access flow states, to running a kick-butt business, to be the best version of yourself possible,
