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I’m Not Waiting Any Longer

One of the outcomes of this crazy time we have been living in is my visceral need to RELEASE!

It is like a calling. A voice telling to me to release STUFF– but, also to release OLD HABITS and OUTDATED BELIEFS that no longer serve me. All of these cluttered things and ways of thinking are holding me back from expansion. They are holding me back from joy. So…

  • I am reading the books I’ve been “saving” to read on vacation (I would need to be permanently on vacation to finish them all)
  • I am pulling out the bazillion skeins of yarn stored in my closet and creating some new, imperfect projects (rather than saving it all for some special project that never gets realized)
  • I am sorting through my hall closet to purge items I never use and embrace what is trapped in a back corner (I know there are things I have not even touched since I moved to this apartment almost a decade ago)
  • I am using all the fancy paper napkins that I saved for literally a decade for that special party I was going to throw (and never did)
  • I am writing notes to friends on the reams of stationary and cards I have been saving for just that perfect occasion (and then would buy more in the process as the “special” stationary went unused)
  • I am pulling out photos of family and friends to put in frames around my home and on the screensaver of my Apple TV. My homes have only had a handful of photos displayed for almost THIRTY YEARS (instead of waiting for the perfect frames and perfect configuration)
  • I am writing in the pretty notebooks that I saved for just the right thoughts (umm… aren’t all my thoughts important?- ha)
  • I began enjoying my morning coffee from the prettiest coffee mugs– from the hodge-podge collection gifted to me by a variety of fabulous women in my life (I smile and connect with that particular woman every time I sip from “her”)
  • I am eating dinner on the beloved (and chipped) set of dishes that don’t match a single thing in my house – dishes when put together as a set create an image of Seurat’s painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (my absolute favorite piece of art!)

And I reconfigured and reorganized all the art on my walls. Even bought myself a few new pieces that utterly delight me.  One of the best things I have done- FOR ME- is to place framed prints and original artwork featuring SNOW all around my house. I can always see snow!  (ohhh- if you know me, you know that snow is one my my very favorite things!)

Two of the pieces of original art are especially significant. One from a West Coast artist and another from a talented friend in NYC. Both paintings made me cry when I saw them displayed. I bought them for myself around the same time– over 18 years ago–when I was in a truly miserable point in my marriage– and the same fate befell them both. They were shoved into storage until I left that marriage. In my first “single” home after my marriage ended, I hung them proudly.

Yet somehow in my current apartment, they were sidelined again. Until this week when they joined the collection of “snow art” decorating my walls and inspiring me every day!

 What are you “waiting” to use in your life?

What “perfect circumstances” is it time to abandon?

Covid Confessions: Just One Thing

 

Just One Thing I Want You to Know

The past few months have brought a lot of change and much reflecting for all of us. Below is a link to some of my personal reflecting in the form of a new video series– beginning with a few COVID CONFESSIONS!

These are thoughts, feelings and inside glimpses to my emotional shifts– both personal and professional– during this global pandemic- often reflected in the concerns of my clients as well.

And take note: This message is speaking DIRECTLY to each of you.

LINK TO THE VIDEO: http://bit.ly/BrynJustOneThing

Thinking of you!

Bryn💗

 

Mother’s Day Tribute

These two women.
The guideposts of my life.

  • Their voices are the voices I often hear in my head when it’s time to make a decision.
  • Their laughter and zest for life still makes me smile.
  • Their tenacity inspires.
  • Their opinionated comments still make simultaneously cringe, roll my eyes and snicker
  • They both lived their lives outside the conformity of what “people” told them to do or be.
  • Their imperfections remind me that it is okay- in fact, amazing- to embrace what isn’t working and find a solution.
  • These two women accomplished so much against all odds.
  • And most importantly, they both loved FIERCELY!

My Gram has been gone from this physical world for far too long.

However, I am blessed that her daughter, my mother, continues in Gram’s footsteps as the remarkable family matriarch!

First Snow of the Season – Welcome Friends

Whenever someone asks, “What’s your favorite holiday, Bryn?”–
My answer is always “THE FIRST DAY OF SNOW!”

Here in NYC, the snow began this morning.
Although it is the first day back to work from a long weekend, it feels like a holiday in my business!

Snow. Magical. Pure. Full of hope. Lights twinkling off the drifts.  

Pure joy to me.

Could this madness be based on the fact that I was born in a rural area outside of Rochester NY in January? I’ll never know. What I do know is that I am already the girl dancing on the sidewalks of NYC catching snowflakes and laughing.

I’ve always had a nose for snow… a little snow radar detector.
Just like one of my favorite television characters ever- Lorelai Gilmore (who also happens to love coffee as much as I do!  Bryn trivia: Lorelai is always my answer to “which tv character are you most like?) 

This morning I woke up smelling snow and I am never wrong!

Click Above: To see exactly what I am referring to…

❄️ WELCOME FRIENDS ❄️

Happy Birthday, Jim! My Inspiration.

On November 10, 1969, at almost 3 years old, my mom sat me in front of television history.

It was the first airing of Sesame Street and my entire life changed. I know that might sound terribly dramatic, but it is absolutely true.

In that moment, I believe that I began to understand creativity in a way that would never be paralleled for me again in my lifetime. Jim Henson and his brilliant mind unleashed something in MY mind, my soul and my heart that I have been abiding by for the last 50 years.

My love and connection with Jim Henson and his creations is rich and deep.  Suffice it to say that it is a profound connection that really goes so far beyond words. It is about communicating using creativity, humor, compassion, hope and tolerance to bring people together.  To build community. His creations help me to see the world for what it is- magical, fun and filled with opportunities to love.

I remember exactly where I was on May 16, 1990 when it was announced Jim Henson had died at 50 years old.  I wept uncontrollably in a bar in the West Village of NYC. A part of me died that day.

On September 24, 2011, on what would have been his 75th birthday, I was part of a celebration of Jim at the Museum of Moving Image in NYC at an exhibit that has since become a permanent fixture here in NYC.  Surrounded by so many other Henson lovers enjoying the special programming and signing the “memory book” that will go in the archives of the Jim Henson Legacy organization.

Today, in honor of what would have been his 83rd birthday, I want to leave you with my favorite Jim Henson quote.  

It sums up my outlook on life.

I believe that we form our own lives, that we create our own reality, and that everything works out for the best.

I know I drive some people crazy with what seems to be ridiculous optimism, but it has always worked out for me.

~ Jim