Thom and I are renting a cottage at the beach until the end of September. Sounds wonderful, right? But I’m torn. Yes, it’s still sizzling hot back home in our desert community, but once September hits things start to kick off. Although not officially the beginning of the “desert season,” once school starts more and more activities pop up on the calendar. Traffic picks up, meetups get scheduled, and friends start calling with plans. So even while I’m loving the cooler weather at the beach, part of me is anticipating seeing those friends and getting involved in social and volunteer events back home.
When I think about it, that tension between what I have and what I’m possibly missing is something that happens to me/us all the time in one form or another. It’s similar to the oxymoron of celebrating life in one moment and yet feeling pain or sadness at the same moment. Or how about feeling optimistically excited, and yet somewhat anxious about what’s ahead? And probably the biggest one, feeling grateful and happy while recognizing deep in our heart that there are huge challenges going on all around us. How do we handle those paradoxes, and where do we go from there? [Read more…]
As some of you know, my husband Thom and I took a road trip in July. As usual, we were seeking a way to avoid the summer heat in the desert that we call home. As planned, we figured that a road trip to the Pacific Northwest just might be a great solution for part of that time. It was. Not only was the weather spectacular, we also met with family in Seattle, old friends in Kelowna, B.C., as well as a planned meetup with some of my friends who blog. With a little forethought and design we had a wonderful vacation. However, once we returned people continually questioned how it was possible to spend several months both traveling and renting out-of-town houses for over three months, while most people are stuck at home. And remember, we aren’t retired either. Our go-to answer is always, “Because we rightsized our life.” 
Last month I had the deeply satisfying experience of getting together with five friends—who blog. That’s right. Instead of just a meet-up with other bloggers—I now consider them first and foremost to be friends. I walked away knowing that how we each blog is actually just the foundation for who we are as women, and what we value and appreciate. To me it is so interesting that although we are all very different people, with rather extremely different lives (not to mention blogs), we share something fundamental. It’s likely that when you start with such a connection there is almost an immediate sense of belonging. 
Do you listen to podcasts? Last month I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Kim Acedo on her podcast Me Time Midlife Podcast. I enjoyed our “chat” so much and the opportunity to talk about rightsizing that I decided that this week while traveling I would share the episode with all of you.
This week I’m happy to introduce you to Erica Henault as my guest blogger while Thom and I are traveling. I started following Erica’s blog 
Have you ever heard of the 14th-Century Persian poet named Hafiz? He is another one of my favorite poets and manages to beautifully capture such profound ideas in short phrases. The line in the photo comes from a short poem that says,
A couple of weeks ago I cohosted a series of four podcasts with Kathe Kline of Rock Your Retirement. Kathe let me pick the topic of each of our discussions. After finding and selecting four articles I thought sounded intriguing, Kathe and I then spent 30 minutes discussing each of them from our individual perspectives. And although the podcasts are currently being edited and won’t be available until August, one of the topics stuck deeply in my mind. That topic is contentment. And while the word and concept sounds vaguely pleasant and benevolent, I must admit that I’m beginning to realize that I’ve overlooked its greater value and importance. 