When you're having fun

The days fly by when I am productive.

I love that.

Except when it means the end of the summer will get here faster.

Declaration

I wrote my butt off today.

That's all.

Filling the well

Just watched My Super Ex-Girlfriend and while it wasn't riveting, it had a nice over-arching message about love. I was intrigued primarily because my book has a magical component and I wanted to see how another artist handled the challenges of that kind of story.

Nice diversion. Nice lesson.

Nice.

Great escapes

I'm getting excited about my beach vacation and my writing workshop getaway. That'll be a week off, a week on, a week off. Yeeha.

I deserve the hell out of this.

Bring it.

A deep breath

There has been a lot of forgiveness in this day. I feel cleansed.

Appetite

Today two of the interns at my "day" job went out for a burger. They ran into Tyra Banks, enjoying a burger and fries. How utterly refreshing and real.

I love this woman.

Bright lens

I have noticed lately that reading posts on news articles is a very disheartening exercise. It is uncanny the amount of people who find joy in people's misery and put a negative spin on a positive story.

I am filled with gratitude that I am no longer one of them.

Fall fashion forecast

The August issue of O magazine is chock full of good writing, but my favorite part is the layout titled, "Warming Up to Fall." A transition plan for the wardrobe. It fills me with anticipation.

Extra, extra

My July newsletter has been getting great feedback. I definitely had some fun with the message this month.

Check it out:

http://nancola.com/pages/newsletter.html

A winner

I ran into a guy today who has, over the years, persistently tried to get his message out through writing and performing music. He told me that he decided to "work The Secret" and give a demo of his stuff to a celebrity. The celebrity, as it turned out, liked his song and will be recording it. Now they are working together on a few things and it's having a ripple effect in his life.

How good is that story?

Fresh air

The humidity is leaving us tomorrow and I'm happy to hear it. I'm ready to walk out my door and take a moment to breathe in fresh air. To linger at the waterfront and enjoy the view and the breeze. To just plain feel better, livelier.

It ripples into everything else.

Sappy

Sometimes I am the biggest sap I know. Yes, my gauge is often The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Today's show featured some of the cast of Hairspray -- John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah. But none of them tapped into my sap. No, it was wide-eyed Nikki Blonsky, who went from working at an ice cream parlor to landing her dream role opposite the aforementioned heavy hitters that started my waterworks rolling.

Ever since Nikki saw Hairspray on Broadway, she was determined to play the coveted starring role of Tracy. Girl makes good on dream. I thought Oprah was going to swoon right out of her chair. She loves this stuff.

Me, too.

A.K.A.

One of my life coaching clients is making some good changes in her life. She wrote me an email last night calling me a "rock star."

Made me laugh out loud.

Food dream

So I've been watching The Next Food Network Star and tonight's episode was shocking. One of the finalists had lied about his background and credentials and subsequently withdrew.

From a life coaching standpoint, it has been interesting to watch a group of people go after a dream. What an opportunity. The Food Network has pretty much become my default relaxation option, so I have a real interest in who will join the lineup.

Off to vote ...

Book notes

I am still remarkably blown away by Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I can't wait to finish it, yet I don't want it to end.

I have a little while longer to linger in Bali ...

Blog deux

I created another blog this week. Wanted to do a more focused one in addition to this one. It's called The Universal Flow and it's centered around what it's like to live life with the belief that we manifest things and that there is indeed a Universal Flow.

Check it out:

www.theuniversalflow.blogspot.com

Brunette

I am coaching a multi-talented artist right now. Tonight she gave me a piece she did that she knew I loved.

I am staring at it right now. It is a woman, eyes closed, chest bare with a low-slung sarong or skirt. She is beautiful and proud and unabashedly out there.

What a treasure. What a woman.

Write stuff

I'm teaching the first of three writing workshops Thursday night and I'm so excited. I love writing. I love talking about writing. It's all about writing.

Makes me high.

Overcome

The thing about the heat is that it makes me sluggish. I have to motivate myself that much more to be productive.

But -- big 'but' here -- I feel much more satisfied that I went to the gym and finished an important task for my business.

Little obstacle. Big result.

What a tool

Most days I use a tool borrowed from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way --Morning Pages or MP's using my penchant for shorthand. They are part purge, part prayer, part meditation.

This morning I was writing about the juxtaposition of a few things happening in my life and I had such a breakthrough that I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I figured something out that I'm sure will help me break a pattern that has definitely run its course.

So often I urge my life coaching clients to do MP's, but rarely do I insist. It's experiences like today's that make me wonder if perhaps they'd be better served if I did.

Home front

Today as I sat in my chair at the waterfront, writing, reading, people watching, I marveled at how blessed I am to live in such a fabulous place.

Decompression

Sometimes I find it's best when Friday night is about the body. Resting it. Working it through an exercise regime. Getting a pedicure. Indulging in an eyebrow wax. Preparing good food. Resting some more.

It's like a reward for a productive week.

Write speak

From author Elizabeth Gilbert's website, a salve for my writer self:

As for discipline – it’s important, but sort of over-rated. The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always disappoint you. You will make vows: “I’m going to write for an hour every day,” and then you won’t do it. You will think: “I suck, I’m such a failure. I’m washed-up.” Continuing to write after that heartache of disappointment doesn’t take only discipline, but also self-forgiveness.

Good life

A Tuesday night like a Friday night because of the gift of a mid-week holiday. Good jeans with great shoes. Dinner with an old friend. Rockin' conversation because there's depth and history.

Urban life as a 40-something is fab.

Juggler

It is rare that I take on reading two books at once, but here I was merrily reading Anna Karenina when yet another person recommended Eat, Pray, Love to me (a sure sign in my world view). Now I'm engrossed in both.

Today I immersed myself in Elizabeth Gilbert's wonderful journey book. First on the PATH train commute. Then after a gym workout with a bottle of water on a bench at the waterfront. Then on a cafe sidewalk with an iced tea and scone. A perfect 75-degree day was all the excuse I needed. Not to mention how it fuels my own art.

Maybe tomorrow I'll return to Moscow ...

Independence week

A four-day week ahead sounds just right. A day off in the middle. A wide open day. A whole day.

A day.

A day!