Let loose with car dancing!

It's only fitting that a blog called "Yay Life!" would reference a blog called "The Jungle of Life," right? Lance Ekum is a fellow optimist and lover of life, and he's started a micro-movement for car dancing in conjunction with The Levity Project.

Do you enjoy dancing and singing in your car, but stop when other cars pull up near you? How about taking the opportunity to forget all that insecurity and embarrassment and just enjoy yourself! I sing at the top of my lungs all the time when I'm driving, whether anyone's looking or not. But I can't say that I've yet graduated to dancing, unless I'm in the car with someone else, and then, for some reason, it's less embarrassing. Watch some car dancing below.



Over at the Speak Schmeak blog, this is a recurring theme: Lighten up, have fun, stop worrying about what others think. There's nothing wrong with having a good time during a presentation, for you or for the audience.

Fun isn't something I've talked about much over here, though. I'm going to have to remedy that!

Don't forget to check out Lance's blog and The Levity Project. Who can't use a little more levity in their life?

Spring in Santa Barbara!

The smell of spring in Santa Barbara is like no other city I've ever visited. You can't see it, but you know it's there.

Everywhere you go, you smell it. The scent of white flowers like jasmine and alyssum fills the air. On a warm spring day, all I want to do is take a nap in the grass in the fragrant air.

It hangs like a soft cloud, strongest in the early evening, sometimes carried on a warm breeze.

It's unmistakable, the smell of spring in Santa Barbara.

A tribute to Kitty

We lost one of our kitties on Friday, our oldest gray girl we called Dawg. I wrote a tribute to her fabulousness here.

On Saturday, leaving UCSB campus, we found ourselves heading directly into this rainbow. I couldn't help thinking it was a message from Dawg that she's reached the Rainbow Bridge.

Creek after a storm

Ten or twelve years ago, there was extensive flooding in Santa Barbara after heavy winter rains. We live across the street from a creek that overflowed its banks. We couldn't leave the house, as we were surrounded by two feet of water. Our neighbor, at the bottom of a slope, had a river running right through his house and out the back door. He pried off some fence boards so the water could continue through and not pool up in our property.

A few years later, Santa Barbara implemented a street sweeping program to capture all the debris that would normally flow into the storm drains and eventually cause flooding.

We all complained about being unable to park our cars on the street on certain days (hubby and I don't have any off-street parking or a garage), especially when we got one of those nasty green envelopes on our window -- a $40 parking ticket.

But we got used to it.

The creek across the street used to be filled with massive boulders that you could hear crashing and tumbling when the creek was running and full. The full creek used to be a dramatic scene; people from all over our neighborhood would walk over to watch it churn after a heavy rain.

Now the boulders sit in a pile on the other side of the park, and the creek flows freely. More like a babbling brook, even after a heavy rain. I miss the drama, but not the flooding. And the creek is still lovely to visit.

Old songs

Driving in my car recently, I heard both The Bee Gees' "Heartbreaker" and Tony DeFranco's "Heartbeat (It's a Love Beat)." These songs instantly took me back to my childhood, to happy, carefree times. Or at least that's how I remember them. Who knows what was really going on at the time? The way I remember it now, all was good when I played my favorite records (yeah, records!).

I had such a crush on Tony DeFranco!



What songs take you back to old happy times?

Invictus

If you haven't yet seen the movie "Invictus," I highly recommend it as a spirit-raising, hope-enhancing, darkness-squashing entertainment.

However, even if you don't see the movie, please read the poem from which the movie takes its title. This piece, in itself, shares a powerful message.


Invictus
by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of fate
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years finds
And shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

On my other blog, Speak Schmeak, I recently completed a series on panic attacks: my own story of how I got my life back on track after a debilitating series of attacks. This poem feels like a satisfying way to end the series and move forward!

What a year for a new year

One of my favorite holiday songs is Dan Wilson's "What a Year For a New Year" The song says that, even when times are rough, the new year or even the new day is a welcome restart.

I wish for you the chance to start fresh, make new dreams, new friends, and new opportunities in the new year. I wish for you the determination, strength and courage to let go of what's not working for you and reach out for something better and more meaningful.

I wish you all the best in 2010. You deserve it!



What a year for a new year
We need it like we needed life I guess
Last one left us lying in a mess
What a year for a new year

What a night for a sunrise
And we thought the dark would never end
Reaching out to try to find a friend
What a night for a sunrise
Sunrise

What a day for new day
And our star shines like a miracle
And our world is almost beautiful again
What a day for a new day
New day

What a year for a new year

What a night for a sunrise
And we thought the dark would never end
Reaching out to try to find a friend
What a night for a sunrise
Sunrise

Soon we’ll be lying in our beds
And new dreams will fill our heads
And the old ones will be ended
Hope we’ll forget about this place
Let it go without a trace
Wipe the teardrops from our faces
Oh! What a year for a new year!

Age is good for the ego

I used to have a flat stomach. I didn't even have to try. Now, there's a little roll of flab there, even when I'm in good shape.

I used to have a round bum. When I was younger, I hated it. Now that gravity has taken its toll, I wish I could get the old one back.

I was flat in places I wanted to be round, round in places I wanted to be flat. Now the formerly flat places are round and the formerly round places are flat. Who knew?

When we're young, we're so obsessed with our appearance. Maybe it's biological... we're looking for a mate and the better we look the better chance we have?

As a feminist, I cringe at my own self-critiques. I'm not supposed to care so much about what I look like. And for the most part, I'm happy with what I've got.

Getting older makes me realize that, no matter how hard I work out, I have the body I have. I'm never going to have that 22-year-old body again. Would I want it? No way!

I was skinny then. I have muscles now! I was scrawny then, I'm strong now. And I've gotten comfortable in my skin. I don't like it when my pants get tight, but that's an issue we all have as we age, isn't it? And we all know we can do something about it (and I don't mean plastic surgery or liposuction).

Aging has forced me to pay better attention to my health. I can't eat whatever I want any more without my cholesterol jumping 50 points. I've been a vegetarian for 20 years, so sometimes it doesn't seem fair that I should have the same health problems as someone who downs McDonald's burgers three times a week, but there you go.

Instead of being obsessed with my body, I can enjoy life. I can enjoy my family, my friends, my cats, my hobbies, my business. I can enjoy my workouts because they make me feel good and keep me strong and healthy. And yes, I can even enjoy food, and I do! In moderation, of course.

Running the stadium

I ran up seven stadium aisles in a row yesterday, the ones in the picture at the left.

There are about 84 steps going up, and for some reason, they get even steeper at the top. Actually, four of the aisles have the top twelve steps blocked for construction, so I completed *almost* seven stadium aisles. It was a milestone for me.

Read this blog post from April '09 to see how long it's taken me to get to this point! I didn't even try running the stadium until sometime in June, and I didn't take my stadium workout to five days a week until around September. Knees are a little sore, but nothing I can't handle.

I can do it!

Gratitude through the hard times

A few weeks ago, I was greeted by the bartender at a local restaurant, who remembered me from when I worked in the battered women's shelter in the 90s. At the time, she was a teenager with a couple of sisters and, even though her mother had left their father, she struggled with the years of abuse that were behind them. I ran the children's program at the time and spent many hours with the kids and teens in support groups, playing games and just hanging out.

It was lovely to talk to this -- now -- woman and see how happy she is in her life. She told me that I was the best thing about having to stay in the shelter. She remembered the activities we did together and how I made it fun for them to be there.

One of the sad things about working in the shelter is not knowing what happened to your clients after they left. If I see a woman on the street who I knew at the shelter, I do not approach her, as a confidentiality issue (if she's with others) and out of respect for the possibility that she doesn't want to acknowledge that time in her life. It's up to her to decide if she wants to approach me.

It means so much to me to know I helped people. Every couple of years I'll run into a former shelter client, a woman or one of the now-grown children. I love knowing that I was a part of such a transformational change in their lives, even if only for that short time.

Today I'm thankful for everyone who's been there for me during the hard times in my life. And I'm also thankful to have had the opportunity to be there for someone else.

Happy Thanksgiving!