Pleasures and Ponderings
From Nun to Nudist to Now
by
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Buckle your seat belt and get ready for a ride. When you’ve had a rich, full day, do you paint your day’s picture the same as I do? I’m aware of sadness when I notice myself judging what’s happening instead of going with the day’s flow. What do you feel? Come wander through my day with me, like a visiting out-of-town relative. I’d like the company.
How could I ever feel I'm not being productive enough! I was thinking over my day and it had the wonderful variety and stimulation and sense of accomplishment I so love. It started out with a bowl of oatmeal in my sunny back yard. While I was there, I pulled morning glories and put them in the yard waste can, and then picked small pieces of trash in the alley to dump in the garbage. I carried the container of empty bottles from the kitchen to recycling.
Since I work from my home office, I was on the computer before and after my two coaching clients before I realized I hadn't even brushed my hair. I added to my reading list a client's suggestion of a book of essays, Didion's Slouching Toward Bethlehem and Sedaris' biography Naked. They are now on reserve at the library. I did a load of laundry, which had built up over the past couple weeks. So tonight I will sleep on fresh sheets, and when I went to gym I had a clean T-shirt. I'm wearing my purple-red-green-yellow shirt--the colors alone make me happy.
Sometimes I wonder what I get done in a day, so today I kept track of the details. Well, I called the library for the list of books and CDs due--many had been renewed already once. I took a last listen to Scherezade, Horowitz Plays Mozart, Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Very Special Songs of the 70's before I trekked them back to the West Seattle library. Fulghum's Uh-Oh was one of the books due, and I took notes on some of his themes--I know just reading "Cinderella with a part for Norman the barking pig" or "hiccuping at the wedding" or "renting a storage unit to read the paper & drink a beer" or will bring me back the flavor of those delightful essays.
I emailed my friend Michael in Vancouver that I would be there for the International Coaching Conference in October and asked if he knew an inexpensive place to stay, including his couch. He replied that if his girl friend weren't there it might work and gave me the number of a nearby hostel.
I emailed Rose, my web designer/friend, and said "Yes, do send the local article on coaching, and see if the newspaper would let me link the article to my web site. Would you add my list of writing and speaking topics to my web site," and "Good for you for taking Sunday just for you."
I saved the medical and health-related links that Jeremy had forwarded to me, and drank my green tea with mint leaves from my yard. Also munched on half a grapefruit as a snack.
Following up on my friend Linda's information on a new travel website, I emailed them my interest in writing for it. I sent the list of 102 articles I've written for Active Singles Life the past nine years, including "A Traveler's Observations on How Life Works" and "Traveling: How to Stay Friends Before and After the Trip."
I returned a voice mail to Voice Dialogue facilitator and friend Catherine. Then I responded to a potential client's email question about the best way to do coaching with me--I recommended by phone rather than by email. I forwarded one of the funniest stories I've ever read, about a gerbil, to a friend.
I left a message for my housemate Shawn asking if I could enlist his aid on my balky printer, and for housemate Bruce regarding his chore of mowing the lawn. Shawn responded this evening that he'd check my printer when he knows his upcoming very full schedule. He ate the beet greens I'd offered him, asked about the basement smoke alarm, helped track down a space heater for his chilly basement room and told me there'd been footsteps outside his window at night several times. My bedroom is two stories above his, and I could turn on my closet light if Shawn called me when he heard rustling outside his window, and/or he could phone 911. We may ask the police for further options.
Mid afternoon I took a bowl of salad we'd made last night out on the upper deck off my office. I sat on the 2" X 12' railing with my feet resting on the shingled roof, enjoying the view of Puget Sound and the neighborhood.
I checked my portfolio on AOL a few times, shaking my head each time at the apparent lack of logic behind which stocks were going up, which going down. I mailed a Visa payment and returned the second lesson from American Writers Institute on copywriting. I decided it wouldn't sustain my interest even if it could make me a lot of money.
Friend Dorothy said our postponed trip to Canada's Yellow Point Lodge might be back on. I said fine, let me know. I transferred the appointments and speeches from my monthly planner to my daily log. I remembered I must reschedule my Friday chiropractor appointment. because I'll be taking a two-day workshop for speakers.
I called my contractor and friend, Brad, and told him about the drip in my tub that didn't stop even when I shut off the valve on the floor. I marked tomorrow at 11:30 to call to see when he can look at it. Waiting for the bus to the library, I was able to watch three people eating ice cream cones without developing a craving, because I'd just finished a chocolate-almond candy bar, though I'd promised I'd wait till this article was finished. At the bus stop, I picked up a Bartell's flyer and noted a special on dental floss, passed over 2 for $1 Nile boxes of soup, realizing that all the cans in my cupboard needed no other company.
I got up to the library before 6:00 pm so I could get a free sample at the nearby Admiral Thriftway. Tonight's special was lamb with herbs de Provence. At the library I returned the 16 CDs and 2 books that were due and spent the next 90 minutes skimming Vermont Life and Travel and other magazines left by patrons to share. Rather than taking home a dozen, I tore out pages of nature scenes, food layouts, farm scenes reminding me of my Iowa girlhood, and a stress assessment I will consider for my October stress management presentation at IBM. Good rationalizer that I am, I reasoned that my torn out page here and there was preferable to removing the entire publication. Further justification: I only ripped it out if I was truly drawn to it, not just somewhat attracted. I did take the October 1999 issue of Skiing for my housemate Bruce and Traveler with an article on Ireland for me and on Chile f
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About the Book
This book was initiated three years ago thanks to my friend Shay. I'd written a monthly column for Seattle's Active Singles Life since 1992. But I didn't think I could write a book without regular support. Shay said, "I'd be honored to do that." And with rare exceptions, she sent an encouraging email each day. I proclaim the power of support!
Usually the musings began with a situation or circumstance in my daily life. Sometimes I was attempting to figure out my deeper feelings, and only learned them as I wrote them out.
The essays are not in chronological order. They are arranged by category, with light pieces separate from reflective ones. Choose a topic you can easily relate to on any given day. They all reflect a real woman living inside and outside the lines.
The ideas and reflections were true for me when I wrote them. I may have since modified some of my conclusions or practices. Some choices and lessons have worn better at different phases of my life. With a later reading, you may find different essays speak to your changing perspectives. The book is meant to leave room for and to encourage the reader’s thoughts.
About the Author
Moreah Vestan hasn’t always been a free spirit. She was raised one of nine children of an Iowa Catholic farm family and took authority very seriously.
Believing she might have a calling to the religions life, she was even in the convent for a year.
Since then, she has taught high school English and second grade. She married and divorced, raising two children as a single parent. Vestan has done temporary office jobs, and participated in several network marketing companies. She has been an Event Coordinator, an Admissions Director at nursing homes, and an inside salesperson. She is currently a Life Coach, Trainer and Columnist. A landlady since 1985, she rents rooms to six housemates.
Four values guide her life: connection, contribution, discovery and freedom. These principles have led her to travel on her own in Southeast Asia and to teach English as a Second Language in Mexico. She has also studied Enneagrams, Voice Dialogue, Co-Counseling, and Compassionate Communication. For fun, she has met hundreds of men through the personals ads over 20+ years. Her intention is to never grow up.
Vestan loves collecting resources, and admits her 3,500 Internet bookmarks might be excessive. She enjoys sharing those and other resources with people. Here’s a genuine woman who continues to express all of who she is. She would love to hear your responses and thoughts as you read this book.
Contact her in Seattle at 206-938-8385 or email moreah@communicationcoaching.net. She offers a free 30-minute coaching session as her schedule permits, and works with people in person, by phone or by email to resolve difficult conversations in their lives. Vestan is available for seminars and workshops on many of the topics addressed in this book. Check her web site, http://communicationcoaching.net., to order her booklet, “68 Ways to Create and Continue the Life You Choose,” and her tapes.
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