Mindfulness

On the road to my best life I've been thinking a lot about Mindfulness these days.

In fact, on the road during a walk this week, while I was thinking about mindfulness, I saw some American bittersweet climbing up and around in a cedar tree.  I love that bright orange/red surprise in November.  I stopped and just let myself be happy about that. 

For a lot of years, I lived in the future.   Always planning and preparing and multitasking and being super efficient.   It was awesome as far as getting stuff done goes, but not so awesome as far as being balanced and happy goes.   

Eventually I decided I'd rather be happy than efficient.   For example, a few years ago I started walking every day. 

At first, I thought I was multitasking - walk the dog/get exercise/talk to my daughter [who often came with me]/take photos for the blog.   It was the only way I could rationalize wasting that much time on something that I liked. 

At some point I found myself just walking with no camera, no company.   I told myself the dog really needed these walks even though I realized they cleared my head and gave me space to process strong emotions. 

And then I started painting, which totally changed how I see the world.   I started really observing a lot more.  And that changed the quality of my walks. 

With or without company, the dog, the camera, every walk became about really seeing what was out there, in that light, at that season.   What does the sky really look like?   What does the light really do in November through those trees at 4pm? 

Every walk is a lovely surprise with one goal.  Observe.  And being mindful is all about observing what is going on in that moment.   Living in the now.

What are you doing to be mindful today? 






If you'd like to have more conversations about what you're doing to live your best life, I'd like to invite you to join our Best Self facebook group where we can talk freely about becoming our best selves - and all that that entails.

Bittersweet

I love bittersweet vines!   All that gorgeous hot color during the winter makes me so happy.  

We've seen it out and about in this area, but not on our property until this year.   I found two vines along the road.   The birds do a great job of spreading it around.

Its formal name is Celastrus scandens - American bittersweet. 

WARNING:   Bittersweet is poisonous.  It's safe to touch, but not eat.  If you use it to decorate, make sure to keep it away from children and pets...and Great Aunt Betty, who loves to tell stories about how they ate wild things in the woods to survive the Depression and let me show you how.

Turns out there is an Oriental bittersweet vine that is making its way through New England.   It's invasive and it's against the law to sell or move the vine or its seeds.

Oriental bittersweet is bad.  American bittersweet is OK.  Make sure you know which one you're working with.

Here's an article that helps you identify which one you have:  http://landscaping.about.com/cs/groundcovervines1/a/bittersweet.htm

"But exactly what plant are we talking about? There are two dioecious vines with yellow and orange berries commonly called "bittersweet." They look very much alike. One, an innocuous vine indigenous to North America with smooth stems, is Celastrus scandens, also called "American bittersweet" plant or "false bittersweet." The other, an exotic vine that is among North America's most invasive plants and whose stem bears blunt thorns, is Celastrus orbiculatus, or "oriental bittersweet" vine. Another way to distinguish between American and oriental types is by discerning the location of their berries: the berries of American bittersweet plants appear at the tips of the vines only, while those of the oriental type grow along the vine."

Did you get that?    American bittersweet has berries at the tips of the vines.    Oriental bittersweet has berries along the vine, too. 

Our berries grow only at the tips of the vine - American bittersweet.   American bittersweet is native and OK to use and grow.