The Tree of Me

I’ve missed doing my-week-in-review posts.  It’s been an interesting time of late for me – one in which I’m reevaluating what I’m doing and how I’m doing it.  Such periodic reviews are good for the soul, but perhaps a bit messy as one switches things up, looking at what still works, what feels delicious, what’s no longer holding a heart spark, and what new scent in the garden is heading you in the direction of  a new blossom.

But the bottom line is, at least for these weekly reviews, is that I both like them and I find them very useful in helping me look at (and consolidate) what’s been drawing my attention and focus.  I’m always a bit surprised that the small distance of the week’s end perspective is enough to help me see themes and influences that I’m not always able to do in the moment.  But besides being useful to me, I hope these posts are interesting to you as well as I share what’s igniting my brain and my imagination, and hope you find some inspiration as well.

Let’s start right out with a fabulous animated video of Maria Neckam/Milan’s song 25.  It’s been the perfect theme song for my current journey, articulating in a wonderful way how we sometimes need to let go of our old sense of self to move into the new.

This post, I’m Too Old for This by Dominique Browning popped up on my radar.  There’s something very liberating in knowing who you are and what interests you, and what doesn’t.  I’ve felt that clarity for a while, and yet my recent reassessment period is bringing even more clarity, even more release, even more finding-comfort-in-my-own-quirky-skin.

One of the fun things about going through a re-evaluation period is that suddenly it feels like time to incorporate some new information into the mix, and then in response strange quizzes start popping on my radar.  For example:

This week I read Work Simply: Embracing the Power of Your Personal Productivity Style by Carson Tate.  Although I think this book would be far more helpful for someone working with others or with a team, there were some things I pulled out of it that were useful.  Early on in the book there is a quiz to determine what kind of productivity style you have, and then the rest of the book talks about various work issues and offers suggestions on how your particular productivity style might best address those issues.  The styles are Arranger, Planner, Prioritizer, and Visualizer.  I skew into the Visualizer realm which she defines as “preferring holistic, intuitive, integrating, and synthesizing thinking…adroitly managing and juggling multiple tasks and projects.  I think that’s pretty accurate.

The second quiz is more amusing and less practical – What Color is This Song?  We’re talking music and we’re talking color here – what’s not to enjoy?

Now that we’re settled into the fun groove, here are a few more things that have delighted me this week.

I do like to keep my eye to the sky, and this week it’s been watching the moon shrink into invisibility marking today as a new moon day.  But this week was also the annual Perseid meteor showers.  Alas ambient city lighting put the kibosh on spectacular viewing, so I’ve had to do my viewing online.  Here’s one time-lapse video to enjoy.

Averting our eyes from the sky, let’s now see the sea.  I am totally captivated by Dutch artist Theo Jansen’s   Strandbeests, which are wind-powered sculptures.  Read more here and do watch the embedded video – it’s less than a minute but it explodes my brain with delight.

Speaking of fabulous inventors and artists, this week I started watching Da Vinci’s Demons the historical fantasy fictional account of Leonardo da Vinci’s early life.  I’m enjoying it, although I’m not sure I’ll make it through all the episodes.  We’ll see.  But bonus points because Da Vinci is in quest for the Book of Leaves – a nice little cosmic wink to my new self metaphor mentioned next.

Artist Sam Van Aken has spent years on a project, grafting various stone-fruit trees together to create 40-Fruit Trees.  I hope some day to see one.  Check out this video.

Now that I’ve seen it, I can’t get it out of my mind.  I’ve been thinking about me in terms of being a multi-colored, multi-varietal, many-fruited tree.  It’s such a rich and delicious image, and it helps me feel more like a treasure than a crazy mishmash of zig-zagged paths and varied interests.  I am a tree, the tree of me.

And finally up ahead – it’s time for the August Moon challenge of blogging to prompts for the next two weeks.  This round is being hosted by Alana Lawson of Wolf and Word.  We start tomorrow(ish) – (Australian time is my brain’s Kryptonite).   I’ll be playing along and invite you to join as well, whether you’ll be blogging or privately journaling, or simply spending time with your thinking cap on.

There you have it, a peek into my week.  What’s been happening in your part of the world forest?  Wished on any falling stars?  Harvested any fruit from a magic tree?  Seen any crazy beach beasties?  Do tell – you know I love to hear.