why i trusted jen lee with "the gift of this moment"

author copies arrived yesterday!

When I began to tell Jen Lee about a few practices I wanted to share with the world that I couldn't find containers for, within minutes, she deeply understood why these practices needed to be shared and why I kept bumping up against the certainty that they didn't fit in a traditional ecourse or traditional book.

So we began brainstorming in phone calls and emails and texts. 

Then, sitting on her bed when I visited last August, the idea was born to have each piece of this project be presented to you like a series of gifts you would open when you most need them. A home retreat kit that isn't just about one day of retreating from the everyday but is instead about integrating practices into your daily life so that you feel deeply seen and heard by the one person who knows you best: You.

At some point during the few days I visited, she turned to me and said, "I'm pretty sure this project is called The Gift of This Moment."

Yes. 

And after we recorded the stories and I shared a few poems with her, it became clear that The Gift of This Moment was indeed the title of this project. And really the name of almost all the work and writing I have been sharing at this blog I titled "be present, be here" almost seven years ago.

Yesterday, Jen wrote a deeply honest and beautiful piece called "What Happens When Artists Rule?" about why she is producing work and how much she believes in putting this work into the world. Here is an excerpt (it also gives you a peek into the secret code name I use for most of the work I am putting into the world):

There's a school of thought that says when making and then selling something, people don't care about how or why you make it the way you do--they just want you to answer the question,What's in it for me? It's likely true for some people, probably a personality thing, but I am a values-oriented person and I can't imagine I'm alone in this. The how and the why matter immensely to me--it's why I buy organic and free range and free roaming food and support farms with humane practices. I pay more money for these items, and not just for their superior flavor and nutritional content. There is a kind of work in the world I believe in supporting, other values-oriented people I believe in sustaining.

Maybe this is why each time a new release draws near, I'm always compelled to pull the curtain back and let you see a glimpse of how we do things and why we do them that way. The curious among us can read on.

Almost everything we make has official and unofficial titles. For instance, something that might be called, say, The Gift of This Moment may have an unofficial or working title like, How to Feel Less Fucked Up and Alone. Maybe we'd sell more if we just stuck with those unofficial titles, I don't know, but I do know that they help us keep our eye of the ball during the making. To remember what we're up to and why. 

Yes, yes, YES! I am so grateful for the ways Jen has gently held these pieces (and me) through this project and how she has always deeply believed and pushed me to own that this work needs to be in the world and in your hands. We officially launch next week, and I am so glad you are on the journey with me as it unfolds.

Continue reading the rest of Jen's post. 

Find out more about The Gift of This Moment. 

giveaway winners

Thank you so much for all the beautiful words you shared in the weekend giveaway. 

Here are the giveaway winners:

Jessica and Dionne the Tea Priestess* won copies of Inner Excavation

PrarieJill and Kolleen won sets of Poem Note postcards

Fiona* and Elizabeth won sets of Studio Wisdom postcards

Nolwenn won the I am Enough necklace

and Skaja won the set of tattoos

I have contacted the winners by email IF they included their email addresses in the email box with their comment. If your name is above and you haven't received an email from me (or...ahem...you have an asterisk by your name above) it's because I do not have one for you. :) Please get in touch by the end of the week or I will need to move on to another person. 

Thanks so much for your enthusiasm! There will be a few more giveaways during the Inner Excavate-along for those who are joining in on the fun!

Blessings,

Liz 

a weekend giveaway!

poem note postcard on my studio altar this morning

Happy June!

During the last week of May and first week of June, we have three birthdays around here. Geminis...all of us...can you even imagine?

So today, as a way to invite you over for cupcakes and pink lemonade, I want to do a weekend giveaway! And I want to tie it all in to celebrating the upcoming Inner Excavate-along that begins June 11.

Two people will win a copy of my book Inner Excavation (and I'll mail them out Monday so that you hopefully get them in time to play along or give to a friend who wants to join in).

Two people will win a set of my Poem Note postcards from Chickadee Road

Two people will win a set of Kelly's Studio Wisdom postcards from Chickadee Road.

One person will win an I am Enough locket from my Etsy shop.

One person will win a Trust tattoo and a Tell Your Story tattoo from Chickadee Road.

To play along, please leave a comment sharing one of your favorite words (later, I'll add these words to a word list I'll share during the Inner Excavate-along).

To enter more than once (up to three times total), please share a link to the Inner Excavate-along info page on your Twitter, Facebook, or blog (just come back here and let me know that you've shared it by leaving another comment).

The giveaway will close Sunday at 9PM PST.

PS If you don't see your comment appear right away, never fear, it is just awaiting moderation. Sometimes certain comments seem to get caught up in the moderation filter. I will get to it as soon as possible (so no need to write the same one multiple times). Thanks!

UPDATE: Comments are closed as the giveaway has ended. I'll announce the winners on Monday!

inner excavate-along (a few more details)

I am so excited to share more details about the Inner Excavation read-along that will begin in just about two weeks on June 11! I decided to create a video answering some questions and explaining how the read-along will work. You can find most of this information over on the Inner Excavate-along page. In the video, I clarify what I mean by a read-along and share some journal ideas + the journal I will be using this summer.

  

A few notes from the video:

• Posts will be on Mondays and Thursdays (with additional guest posts some weeks). Monday will include a video from me with some thoughts about the chapter theme. This post will be an opportunity for you to ask questions and share observations and thoughts about the chapter etc. (This means you might want to consider reading or at least looking through that week's chapter prior to Monday.) I will also share the prompt I am going to work with that week. On Thursdays I will share my new response to the prompt I chose and you will be able to link up with your responses to that week's chapter. (Again, this info is explained in more detail over here.)
• In the video, I show examples of a few possible journal choices including the regular sized SMASH journals and the large purple one (as I mention in the video, I'm going to use the large purple Smash in a new online workshop that will be coming out later this summer/early fall) and these kraft Moleskines.
• The journal I'll be using is one I found at Barnes and Noble last year I think, and they have them online here. I am really feeling pulled to have a journal full of blank white pages, but you should use whatever you feel comfortable using/have on hand. I think I might just decorate the cover with some happy washi tape and a photo. And Jon's going to play along and use a watercolor journal. 
• As I continue to gather supplies and use them in my prompt responses, I'll be sharing more about them in the posts throughout the read-along. In the video I share a glimpse at the envelopes + tags + a few of the other fun things I'll be using. 
• Be sure to join the Inner Excavation Flickr group. Consider sharing a photo of yourself in the group pool to introduce yourself as we gather.
• And if you are playing along this summer, please feel free to grab the button above to use on your site and in your posts.

Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments today! I deeply appreciate you coming along this summer (or winter if that is the season your find yourself entering). I am so excited!

through the lens

 

 

 

 

 

 

in the midst of the grumps and the oh my gosh please use your words and the what do you mean the internet is out all over the city and the grumps again and the other things that make up pieces of any given day, there was a remembering that getting out of the house gets us back into our hearts.

every. single. time.

(jonny turned one year older this weekend and i got him an iphone [i kind of want the photos he's going to take with it so i had a bit of an agenda]. you can follow him on instagram @joncharles.)

may 24

sometimes movies (and television and books) pull us out of our real lives in a way that can distract us from living deeply.

but other times, they give us just the tools we need in a moment to help us open up and feel and move through and be right here.

each time i watch the last movie (or read the seventh book) as harry potter walks through the forest with his parents + sirius + lupin believing he is walking to his death, and sirius points to his chest and says, "we're here you see" (in the book he says, "we're part of you"), each time my heart heals a bit more because i choose to believe he is right...

*** 

(as the tears began to fall as they always do when i watch this scene, i was inspired to pick up my camera in this moment by this week's prompt in Meredith and Kristin's Now You workshop.)

a family self-care (smash) journal

 

Yesterday, I was talking with a friend about the idea I have that so often we are triggered by another's blog or Facebook post etc. because we fill in the blanks of what someone doesn't share in these posts with our assumptions. (I talked about this idea in this February post.) We were talking about how we can think that someone's life is a certain way because she doesn't ever talk negatively about this or that or that someone's life must be so perfect because she is doing so much or "makes it look easy." 

A simple example: Sharing photos of your happy smiling family doesn't mean that everyone is always happy and smiling. But, it would be a bit odd to begin taking photos "for your blog" during an argument, wouldn't it? Yet somehow when we see these smiling happy photos on a day when our own family might not be smiling or happy, we might find ourselves triggered and thinking "well, my life isn't like hers because she has it so easy + a book deal + cuter clothes + a better camera [or fill in some other similar thought here.]"

My point in sharing this today is that over here, we are navigating the experience that is a marriage in the midst of toddler world + a growing business (and not enough childcare) + other things that are real life things and too personal to share here. In some ways, I touch on these things in my posts, but really, this is a story that involves more than just me and many pieces of it feel too personal for this space.

That said, I really want to begin to share (as an accounting of myself of sorts) some of the ideas we are implementing to support one another a bit more over here. Ideas that are about leaning into living and figuring out how to let in more light + love in the harder moments. 

A few weeks ago, I gently pushed Jon on the idea that he doesn't have many self-care moves. And you know me, I am all about the self-care. But, I do know from experience that it isn't easy to implement simple self-care practices if you don't know where to begin.

So we've started a family Smash journal.

 We are beginning to fill it with sections on adventures we want to take, go-to meals + recipes we want to try, solo adventure ideas for both Jon and me, and self-care ideas for Jon. There is a section called "home" that will include lists of things we need to do but also a few lists of what we wish and dream for our little home. We are making lists of things to do with EJ when it rains and when we are exhausted but she isn't (for real - this will be a good one). And this weekend I hope to make a list of dates we would like to go on.

I've also started a "Summer Manifesto" inspired by Ali and Andrea, and I'll share it soon.

I want this journal to be a resource for Jon and me because the truth is that sometimes it is easier to focus on "getting through" instead of living deeply. For example, on the days when I don't eat before Ellie gets up and then her needs (and business stuff) takes over and then suddenly she is napping and I find myself still in pajamas and nauseated from hunger...yeah...those days are more intense than they would be if I just spent a few moments bringing more awareness into the day and into what I need. And I see Jon adopting similar patterns when he is on break from work. Sometimes we need pajama days, but we've noticed that life is softer when we bring in more awareness and, well, fun.

I will share more about this journal as we keep using it, but today, I just wanted to share the idea in case you want to create a space to hold your "go-to" family self-care moves. (We are using the orange Smash journal because it seems to have more blank pages than the other colors, which makes it nice for lists.)

May your weekend be full of lightness and good things and rest,

Liz 

why retreat (with melissa mcannally)

Today, I am sharing the second post in a new series of guest posts from a few of the ladies who have attended my retreats over the last few years. My hope is that these posts will not only give you a glimpse into the Be Present Retreats, but also invite you to realize the importance of taking time away from your daily life to recharge, connect with your kindreds, and rekindle your creativity.

And today, I am over the moon excited to welcome Melissa McAnnally as my guest today. The following is her poem (a poem!) response to the question "why retreat?" (Thank you dear girl!)

*****

Why Retreat?

To fall in love

with the sound of laughter and the taste of wine

To meet new sisters

and feel that you are home

To walk through tall trees

and embrace the texture of moss and the comfort of damp air

To cover your hands in paint

and glue and paper and joy

To rest in the healing power of

the camera lens

To let poetry caress your ears

and flow deliciously across your tongue

To gobble spoonfuls of the

earth’s healing provision

To rediscover yourself

and your place in this beautiful world 

*****

Melissa McAnnally lives along the Texas Gulf Coast, crunching numbers by day and exploring the world of art any chance she gets.

She is grateful to Liz and the Be Present Retreats for introducing her to the joy of messy, imperfect art and the healing power of the written word. 

Read other guest posts in the Why Retreat series here.