A friend was telling me about a private Google Map she created. She used it to keep track of all the interesting places she wanted to visit. So when it came time for a road trip or vacation, she could pull it up and see where she might want to go.

I loved this idea. I just chose to build mine around people, not places. I wanted a way to plan a future where I would be meeting the people that inspire, push and awaken me. I wanted a map that would lead to a life more fully lived and that would generate the stories I would be telling in my final years on this planet. 

When I started, I could only think of a few people to put on my map. With each marker I dropped, another name would bubble up. Before I knew it, I had a dozen people I yearned to meet in-person.

I began to ask myself some questions:

• Who do I know that lives life to the fullest?
• Who says "yes" to the crazy ideas?
• Who lives fully present in compassion and kindness?
• Who have I always said "I would visit" but never actually made plans to do so?
• Who do I feel connected to online, but have never met in person?

One of the unexpected outcomes of this exercise was that I began to see entire parts of the world where I had no connections – countries and regions where I yearned to know someone and to one day visit.

It just so happens we have our first road trip coming up in June. And already there is a match on my map. I'm truly excited to see what experiences, connections and stories come from this exercise!

Do you have a map like this? I'd love to hear how yours is built and what it has brought about in your life.

Patience and I have never been the greatest of friends. Who am I kidding? Patience is the bane of my existence. Telling me to be patient is like asking me to smile while I stick my hand in a vat of boiling, industrial-grade acid.

As such, I often struggle to enjoy the journey. I become too focused on my next goal or destination. How many subscribers to I have? How many listeners? What do my stats say? What do my stats say now? And now?

A few months ago, my partner and I chose to move into my studio and rent out our house. This meant that I had to move my studio somewhere. So I began looking for a location that we could afford. In other words, I required a free studio with lots of space for all my crap.

Eli's parents were kind enough to offer me a unused room in their house. For free. So my studio is now in Milton, about an hour away. I certainly couldn't beat the price, but how was I going to handle waiting weeks to work on my art or having to drive an hour just to get there?

Well, something magical happened when I went there this weekend to start working on some pieces.

Wood transfers require a lot of sitting around and waiting. But, they also require being present and focused. If I drift off to check my email (as has happened more than I care to admit), the piece will invariably bubble and be ruined. So I have to sit there and watch paint dry. Literally.

I've struggled with this aspect of my craft, to put it mildly. But this weekend, something changed. I realized that I could hear the wind in the trees outside the second floor window. There was no pressure. No need to rush. 

I could smell flowers and dirt. And so I just sat in the sunlight and enjoyed breathing in the fresh air as I watched my piece dry. At one point I even laid down on the carpet to watch the way the sun cast reflections across the ceiling.

Here is what I learned about Patience this weekend:

• She is best taken in small doses. Spend a few minutes in quiet contemplation and then go do something for a bit.
• She is out of my class. I will never acquire her and that is the whole point. It is about finding something magical in the moment and task at hand.
• The setting or environment matters. Stuck in the city with my phone vibrating and people shouting and running around on the street below is not helpful for me. 
• There's no such thing as just "staying in the zone." I wish there was! I don't need patience when I am in the zone. But the zone is elusive and patience is what allows me to keep showing up and spending time with my craft.
• Pursuit of patience is worth the pain. I created the start of a truly awesome new piece this weekend (shown above.)

I wouldn't say I have patched up my relationship with Patience. But I would say that she and I are looking forward to spending a bit more time together. But I believe it's an open relationship. We'll both be seeing other people.

Show Notes:

This week I am speaking with prop stylist, world traveler, gardener and photography fiend Chelsea Fuss. She is a childhood friend and has a very successful lifestyle blog called Frolic. Then one day she announced she was shutting all this down and heading overseas to work on farms in trade for her room and board. Two weeks later, she was on the journey of a lifetime. 

The Inspiring Frolic Blog: http://www.frolic-blog.com/about/
Instagram (A MUST FOLLOW): https://instagram.com/frolicblog/

Other References

Workaway.info

A big shout of thanks to this week's new Patreon Supporters: Mandy Ross and Gavin Heaton.

The Music

So excited to have stumbled across The Donnis Trio. You can find them on iTunes, MagnaTune and their website.

Carry On by The Donnis Trio from their All Directions album.
Grateful  by The Donnis Trio and also from their All Directions album.

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Taking the Leap! podcast by Sean Howard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

I believe that it is time for us to take back the word talent. 

This is me doing just that in under four minutes.

A 5 minute rant on what goes through my head, and sometimes out my mouth, when someone says "My Art is Not a Business" to me.