“It’s the excitement in the simple things that tells you what simple things are actually connected to the bigger things that excite you. And will actually get you there in what may seem to be a round-about manner, but by following the excitement is actually the shortest, fastest, straightest path.”
-Bashar, channeled by Darryl Anka

You can choose to feel good even when you are doing something that might normally feel onerous. It’s a matter of what you are paying attention to and how you are focusing your attention.

Recently, inspired by an upcoming get together here at the house, I’ve been doing an hour of puttering each day which has resulted in the house getting cleaned.

Despite the fact that cleaning is one of my least favorite things to do, I have enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed the process and I’ve enjoyed the results. I’ve even woken up each morning and looked forward to my hour of puttering each day.

What? Looked forward to cleaning? How does that work?

I’ve found there is a big emotional difference between the idea of puttering and the idea of cleaning. It is a change of perception and therefore attitude.

When I’m “cleaning,” (cue air quotes and frowny face) I have a specific job in mind that I feel I have to get done. It might be vacuuming the downstairs. It might be washing the windows. Whatever it is, it is something that has been bothering me. I’ve resisted doing it and now I want to get through it and get it done so I can move on to whatever it is I really want to be doing that day.

My thought process is generally negative, “Look at that dirty floor! I’ve let it go too long. I’ve got to vacuum today.  I might as well just get it over with.” It feels punitive and I get it done as fast as possible.  

On the other hand, when I’m “puttering” (cue happy, smiley face), I give myself an hour to putter. I invest myself fully during that hour, mentally and emotionally. I don’t allow myself to think about what comes later in the day. I am fully present with whatever I am doing.

This week, the focus of my puttering has been cleaning the public areas of our home, because we’ll be entertaining this weekend. That’s the only focus I’ve had. I’ve drifted from vacuuming, to washing the counters, to hanging a picture, to washing windows, to cleaning cabinet doors, to touch up painting.

Surprisingly, I’ve done more than I would normally do for getting ready for a party, just because it was enjoyable.

The cleaning has happened organically, one activity flowing into the next, and my feelings about it are very different from my usual feelings about cleaning. I’ve enjoyed the process and I’m enjoying the results.  

During that week, when I had the time and energy, I added onto the hour and tackled another area. In this case the garage. I loaded up a car-full of cardboard boxes for recycling. Mind you, these boxes have been stacking up in the garage since winter.

I drove to the recycling dumpsters in town and spent a surprisingly satisfying quarter-hour unloading cardboard and breaking down boxes. The dumpsters were located at the back of the parking lot of our local community center, bordered by woods. The temperature was perfect. A lovely breeze cooled my face as I worked. Every so often I stopped to listen to bird song and appreciate the fact that I was there completing a job I’d been intending to do for months.

You might well ask, “What is the matter with this woman that she is blissing out at the dumpsters?”

Given a job to do, wouldn’t you rather enjoy the process rather than have to force yourself through it?

What’s the difference? The difference is in slowing down, focusing on the process more than the product.

My thought process goes like this, “I’m going to invest this hour doing whatever catches my attention and needs doing. When I’m done with that, I’ll do the next thing that catches my attention.” There is no rushing to get it all done. There’s time to take a deep breath, look out the window and listen to the birds sing as I work. I’ll often put on flowing music which adds to my sense of relaxation and flow. At the end of the hour I am done for that day if I choose.

I generally get a lot more done than when I assign myself specific jobs that I feel I have to get through.

So, what’s the take away here?

Bashar talks about bliss as a sense of excitement. I believe that bliss looks like any number of positive, life-affirming emotions. Bliss is a combination of happiness, contentment, attraction, excitement, satisfaction, well-being and more.

Bliss may be what you experience as you reach the summit of a mountain after an exhausting climb. Bliss may be what you feel as you hold your sleeping grandchild. Bliss may be what you feel as you pursue your avocation or vocation. Bliss may even be what you feel as you flatten cardboard boxes with the breeze on your face and bird song in your ear.
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Bliss comes in small packages as well as large, life-purpose size packages.
We can, through our choice of attitude, choose bliss, even in the small things.  

​ “For one minute, walk outside, stand there, in silence. Look up at the sky and contemplate how amazing life is.”
—Anonymous
 
In the months before we moved into our new house, I came across a home show on TV hosted by a loving and humorous couple from Texas.
 
There is much to love about the show, but what grabbed me was the decorating style. I loved the look, and studied everything I could find about it. By the time we moved into our new house I had incorporated those ideas into my own decorating style and had a wonderful time creating that look in our own home.
 
My home now inspires me as I walk from room to room and see the results of creating each room with love. Not because the rooms are fancy or elegant, I must admit they may not even be clean and neat, but the colors, the textures and the balance, still evoke a feeling of love within me.
 
Throughout this adventure I learned that decorating is fun and satisfying if you start with a look that inspires you. That inspiration gives you the colors, form and feeling that you want to convey in a room. It is like a master recipe from which to work, inspiring creativity.
             
The same may be true in creating our lives. We can live creatively, approaching life as an art form, creating each day rather than just surviving it. To do this we need to find our inspiration.
 
What would inspiration for your daily life look like? Here are a few ideas.
 
My life inspiration is that feeling of love and appreciation I feel when I lose myself in the night sky, or the fresh, deep green of my yard and woods with its symphony of birdsong, or the laughing delight of my grandchildren in play, the centeredness I feel when writing and meditating, that feeling of tuning in with a client, loving connections with family and soul family, the excitement of a new adventure, a new idea or understanding. All of that inspires me with love and appreciation.
 
What inspires you in your daily life?