Thoughts from the Barn

 Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival

I spent last week with friends in Elko, Nevada attending the Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival. This gathering started thirty-four years ago as a place where ranchers and cowboys could assemble to share poems and stories about their lives working cattle and running their ranches. In the last three decades, these men and women have continued to foster their relationships as well as their crafts of poetry, music, artisanship, and storytelling. Regardless of the vehicle they use to convey their message, their stories are about heartbreak, hard work, humor, and their appreciation of the American West.

Mike Beck

Among the many performances, lectures, and activities that I attended, one performer stood out. His name is Mike Beck. Mike grew up learning how to cowboy and handle horses from some of the best in the business. Bill and Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, and Buck Brannaman to name a few. At the end of long days of working with cattle, instead of braiding rawhide like the other cowboys, Mike would pick up his guitar and play. He continued to hone his horsemanship skills and started offering his own clinics sharing what he had learned from the Dorrance brothers. The word about Beck’s clinics began to spread, and he was asked to go to Europe to conduct his clinics. For many years he has done 2-day clinics mostly in Scandinavia. He doesn’t consider himself to be the best clinician or horseman, but he continues to do a few workshops each year

Addicted and Disconnected

Addicted and disconnected. It seems like the more access we have to smartphones, iPads, tablets, and computers and the information they provide the more detached and disengaged we are becoming. And, make no mistake the creators of social media sites have and will continue to exploit the vulnerability in human psychology.

Here are some sobering facts for you:

1. Pre-teens spend at least 8 hours a day 7/24 in front of a screen.
2. Teenagers spend up to 11 hours a day 7/24 in front of a screen.
3. Research shows that anyone who spends more than one hour a day online will have the activity patterns of their brains changed dramatically.
4. Sixty-four percent of households leave the television on during dinner.
5. Sixty percent of eleven to fourteen-year-olds play violent video games. Seventy-two percent of fifteen to eighteen-year-olds play violent video games.
6. The average parent spends on 3.5 minutes a week, yes a week, in direct connection with their children.

The copious amount of time that we are spending on our devices is changing the neuroplasticity of our brains. Young children and teenagers are the most at risk because their brains are most malleable and able to adapt to what they are being exposed to, all leading to mental and emotional health issues.

We Are In Trouble

We are in trouble folks and if you don’t believe it, or don’t want to believe it, watch this video and then pick up a copy of Thomas J. Kersting’s book called Disconnected: How to Reconnect Our Digitally

My Favorite Time Of Year

Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons, one of which is the stunning sunrises and sunsets that dance across the horizon.  I am blessed to have a sacred perch to witness the days coming and going as my home sits high on the crest of a canyon; I have vast views to the east and the west from most parts of my house.  I never tire of the blues, and purples, and oranges, and reds, and pinks that paint the skyline each day.  Like snowflakes, no two sunrises or sunsets are alike.  They each manifest in their unique way giving unwavering authenticity to their short existence.  As I noticed the breathtaking beauty of this morning’s sky, I hustled to grab my camera to capture yet one more temporary painting worthy of the walls of any gallery or museum.  And then, I thought to myself, what makes these colors so vibrant?  What creates this collection of unreplicable hues that bring such delight to my days?  So I did a little research and here is what I found out from Science Daily.

Scattering

You science geeks are going to love this.  The colors of the sunrise and sunset result from a phenomenon called scattering.  Molecules and small particles in the atmosphere change the direction of light rays, causing them to scatter.  Scattering affects the color of light coming from the sky, but the details are determined by the wavelength of the light and the size of the

We are fast approaching the last quarter of 2017. Trick-or-Treaters will soon be on our doorsteps only to be replaced by a big turkey dinner a few weeks later and then Santa Claus will roll into town. The next thing you know you will be putting the empty champagne bottles in the trash and 2018 will kick 2017 to the curb. I don’t know about you, but the more mature I get, (aka getting older) the faster time seems to be flying by. And, I have come to appreciate that I want to chase only the things that make my heart dance. One way I am able to do this is by planning my days, weeks, and months with mindful attention to my desire to continue to create and live a life that I love. I am also a visual person who likes to organize myself with a paper planner versus using my cell phone. There is something satisfying about the tangible and visual aspects of using a beautiful and inspiring planner to manage my time. Now, instead of waiting until the last minute to get your 2018 calendar/planner, my coaching to you is to get yours now so when you welcome in the New Year you are ready to go. As you know, there are hundreds of options available to you in the planner world. Below are six that I have researched and like. I happen to use the Passion Planner and I like if very much. Have a

I came across this prose written by Jonathan Raymond the other day. It resonated with me, and so I wanted to share it with you.

“Somewhere between what she survived, and who she was becoming, was exactly where she was meant to be. She was starting to love the journey. And find comfort in the quiet corners of her wildest dreams. They say people don’t change…Well, she wasn’t always this way. Even if she didn’t change the entire world, she would change her part of it. And she would affect the people she shared it with. A butterfly whose wings have been touched, can indeed still fly. Whether something was meant to be, or meant to leave, didn’t matter as much anymore. She would soak up the sun, kiss the breeze, and she would fly regardless.”

I hope that you are loving your journey and finding comfort in the quiet corners of your life. I hope you are willing to show up each day in your life with the unflinching presence which holds in it your greatest freedom. And, I hope that no matter what, you will fly. Stay true and be you —

Annie Create a Life You Love
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I woke up earlier this week to a different kind of morning.  Nothing drastic or earth shattering, but I noticed that the air was cooler, much cooler than the summer mornings that had preceded this one.  I said to myself, “this is it, the change of seasons is upon us.”  It was as if a fever had broken.  There was a feeling of relief from the hot and humid days of July and August.  There was a crispness to the air instead of the usual heaviness.  The days are getting noticeably shorter and I grabbed a light jacket on the way out of the door to keep the chill at bay.

As nature traverses through its four seasons, I believe that there is a human seasonality.  Having grown up on a farm I have been attentive to the transitions from winter to spring and summer to autumn most of my life.  I learned to appreciate the grueling and long days of summer as we cherished the long days because we had so much that needed to be done.  And, although I have never been fond of the limited hours of daylight that come with winter’s arrival, I recognized at a young age that the rest and solace of those days were a welcome and needed change of pace from the rigors of summer.

As I have evolved through life I have come to know that I too go through seasons.   I became very aware of this over the past two years as