Tranquil Tuesdays: When The Deck is Stacked Against You

A few months ago I indulged in the TV show Survivor and I was surprised to find that a lesson I learned from a reality show has stuck with me so strongly.

In this particular episode, there was a challenge in which 2 recently voted-out contestants (a male and a female) had the opportunity to return to the game. For this particular challenge, the eliminated players had to form the tallest structure by stacking cards one by one before the time ran out.

Survivor Blood vs. Water- Episode 12
Photo Courtesy of: Survivorz.wordpress.com

As the minutes ticked by and the stacks grew taller, sweat began to pour down the two contestants’ brows as they nervously placed yet another cards atop their wobbly structure. 

The female contestant had taken a substantial lead against the male player until suddenly, during an attempt to place another card on top, the entire tower plummeted. Cards flew everywhere. She let out a huge sigh of defeat, and with less than a minute left on the clock, knew it is unlikely that she could catch up to the other player’s 7 foot tall tower.

Other contestants yelled out words of encouragement such as “Nice try”, making it clear they thought it was over.

But the female contestant continued to plow on.

The camera zoomed in to the determined and passionate look on her face. She proceeded to hurriedly pick up the cards and began to build a new tower. Slowly, her stack of cards began to rise to one foot…and then higher. Not once during this time did she look over at the other player’s far higher tower next to her.

Seconds remained when, unexpectedly, the other contestant’s stacked tower completely crashed to the ground. The woman miraculously won the challenge with her 2 foot high stack of cards! She smiled widely, relishing in the notion that she got to stay in the game.

Hitting the Wall of Limitations

Photo Courtesy of: The Huffington Post

The next day while in yoga class, I too felt as though I was no longer in control of my stack of cards.

My peaceful mind suddenly began to roam wildly when my back unexpectedly experienced an intensely painful muscle spasm. I began to grow upset as I had done everything I was supposed to do in order to prevent the pain from occurring that day. After all, I had drank plenty of water, had slowly and patiently worked myself into each yoga posture, and even heated/iced my back prior to arriving for class.

For the past year, I have had terrible back spasms, some so crippling that I have had to miss out on many important events. I have worked furiously to feel better by going to many specialists such as a chiropractor, acupuncturist, physical therapist, and spinal surgeon. 

In addition, I practice at least 30 minutes of yoga daily in order to improve my flexibility and remain physically healthy.

Yet, some days I still feel as though I am experiencing day 1 of excruciating pain all over again. While one day I may feel incredible in a yoga posture, experiencing a sense of painless openness; other days may require a lot of blocks and modifications in order to get into the same pose.

On this particular day in yoga class, my back hurt even while lying down in Savasnasa. As everyone around me lay there calmly, slowly sinking deeper and deeper into a feeling of tranquility, I continuously squirmed around, hoping to find a comfortable way to lie down that would eliminate the intensely hot pain I was experiencing.

Suddenly, my mind went back to the woman on Survivor and how she dealt with her toppled structure. And so I turned over onto my stomach, slowly inhaling and exhaling. While my back sure didn’t feel like a strong and sturdy tower, I knew that I should be proud of my effort to get to yoga class. By staying on my yoga mat and working through the pain, I too was choosing to stay in the game.

Dig in and Dig Deeper

So the next time you feel defeat setting in, I urge you to push past it. Going to yoga for me is like getting my car washed: I know that is a helpful and necessary part of my routine.

If you don’t nourish your body and mind regularly, all of the “muck” that you didn’t wash off prior to the next storm will get stuck there even deeper. So do yourself a favor and take control of your hand of cards.

Below is your daily dose of inspiration....

Create a Tranquil Day,

*Tranquil Tuesdays will be the first Tuesday of every month. 

*For one of my favorite yoga-stretching YouTube videos that helps me to find back relief, click here.

*For more tranquil related articles, read the article "A Novice's Tale of Yoga Journaling" that I wrote for the Yoga Blog.com or check out November's Thankful Tuesday series: Parts 1, 2, & 3

Wordless Wednesdays: Happiness is First Tracks on Fresh Snow

It's Wordless Wednesday's today with a beautiful picture of 5 month old Bella enjoying the snow.
Photo Courtesy of proud parents: Chris and Krissy Russell

And now for your daily dose of inspiration, inspired by the winter months. 

"In the midst of winter, I found there was,
within me, an invincible summer"
Quote by: Albert Camus
 Union College, Schenectady NY, Winter 2012
Photo by: Tory Elizabeth Stone

Create a beautiful Wednesday everyone!

*Now you can follow me on BlogLovin' for a daily email notifying you of that day's topic. 

*To follow the Creatively Lu posts daily,  "like" the FB page .

* Follow @Creatively Lu on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Thrifty Thursdays: Christmas Detox Smoothie

Scroll down to bottom of the page for recipe

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of down-time spent with loved ones. This year, my Christmas was spent very differently than normal. It was the first time I was in Boston, while my entire family was in Indiana.

A typical Christmas Eve, for me, is usually spent at my Mamaw's house, where over 20 people gather in her living room, filling up every last corner. It is loud, chaotic, and joyful. As an only child, it is one of my absolute favorite nights of the year. 

During the afternoon of this Christmas Eve, I started to feel a sense of heaviness weigh on my heart. I grew sad as more and more photos and updates from my family were sent to me throughout that day. There was picture of my mom with the two new babies in our family, another of my cousin carrying out our tradition of baking Christmas cookies, and so on and so on...

I felt a tear start to form from the corner of my eye, as I began to feel sorry for myself that I couldn't spend my Christmas with my family. At this moment, out of the blue, my doorbell rang. I made my way downstairs, where I found two packages lying outside  my front door. One was a package from my aunt and another from my cousin Kristin.

I opened the gift from Kristin first and inside was a light pink scarf and a beautiful long gray sweater. Two things in which I had wanted and needed, but had never even told her about. I instantly put on the sweater and scarf over my workout t-shirt, tags on and all, and speedily started to open my aunt's package...

Kristin and me one Christmas Eve at our Mamaw's in Indiana

Kristin's gift

Inside the box were a homemade blanket and a photo album. The album contained hilarious old photos with a beautiful message written on the back of the cover. I immediately plumped down on the couch, placing my blanket on over the scarf and sweater, and began to flip through the photo album.

 Suddenly, I felt a new feeling spread over me. While my heart still felt heavy, it was a different sort of heaviness. One that was filled with love and so much appreciation. I truly felt that I had a piece of Indiana with me and no longer like I was missing out. In fact, later that night, I was able to Facetime with everyone at my Mamaw’s house, including the babies! As everyone, took turns to excitedly talk to me, model their outfits, show me their gifts, I felt truly loved and included in the traditional Indiana Christmas festivities.

And so while I think that social media can be a little bit alarming at times, I  firmly believe that it can be an incredibly comforting way to get to connect you’re your families and friends scattered around the world. 

Through social media, I was also able to see so many of my friends and family celebrate their Christmases. I loved all of their stories on their traditions at Christmas time, the "tracking" of Santa updates, the exciting proposals and baby announcements, and hilarious family photos.

When you "share" a beautiful photo or tweet an inspirational message, it  sends positive vibes out into the world. Unfortunately, the most eye-catching and highest-played stories on the News involve acts of violence and/or feelings of sadness. And while I think that it is very important to stay informed, it is disheartening that such stories are the ones that we are constantly discussing and sharing.

We read or hear a shocking fact and instantly throw it into our conversations. The sad news stories spreads like wildfire; yet, there is  so much good in the world that remains undisclosed. 

But in order to handle the "tough things" in our lives, we need to take time out to fully celebrate all of the good. To relish in the happiness, marvel at the successes re-tweet a positive message, and simply process what it feels like to "feel good."

I hope that Creatively Lu can provide such an outlet for you. Whether you read the blog on the train during your morning commute or stumble across it while pinning late at night, I hope that you find to be Creatively Lu a place where you can come to feel celebrated and experience bliss for a few moments out of your day.

 Every single time I receive a message from one of you, whether it be regarding how you connected with a specific story or simply really enjoyed a suggested product, I get that bliss feeling of "full on chills". To know that something written on these pages has impacted you for the better is the best feeling in the world. 

I promise to continue to create and write to the absolute best of my ability; and to remain raw and honest. While I admit that during this past month there have been numerous times when I have thought about hitting the backspace key on my computer in order to “tidy up” the post a little bit; I never, ever do.  Creatively Lu is an inviting community that encourages you to keep on expressing/exploring creative outlets. Creativity can be a messy form of art, but isn’t that the most beautiful and moving kind of all?

Below is a Christmas Detox recipe to jumpstart a new year of feeling good and taking time out for yourself. 

ecards photo: Pinterest

I hope you all enjoy your detox smoothie. This makes a great breakfast and is perfect for whenever you feel you need a boost of energy and jumpstart to your body. As a non-beet lover, this is also a great way to sneak in the vital nutrients of beets, without having to actually taste them. Feel free to add in any extra smoothie ingredients such as 1/2 cup of grapes, a carrot, or a handful of spinach. You can also substitute the coconut milk for any other liquid such as coconut water, almond milk, etc. Below is your daily dose of inspiration. Create a wonderful Thursday everyone!

Photo Courtesy of: Jess Angelos

Friday Favorites: Redefining Rich

Today’s Friday Favorites is dedicated to the Redefining Rich blog created by Ashley Klane last January as a New Year’s resolution to “redefine” her interpretation of what it meant to live a “rich” life. Below is a passage from her very first post in which she explained her prerogative for creating the blog:

 The idea for this year’s resolution came to me one night when I finally got sick of hearing myself complain about how broke I am. While it’s true that I’m pretty broke (along with almost everybody else my age), I realized that I was whining about it while eating wild salmon, inside my home, surrounded by some of the people I love most. I wanted to slap myself. I have always known that I am fortunate in infinite ways, but my first stab at being an adult and supporting myself got my views a little twisted. I needed to redefine “rich”. Sure, I may live off peanut butter and jelly sandwiches most nights, and I may or may not have let my brunette roots grow down to my ears, but I can eat, I have a job I love, and my 5 month old nephew gives me the biggest smile every single day when I get home from work. So I’m pretty sure I’m f*cking loaded.

And so came the idea for 2013. I want to stop complaining and start helping. As long as I have enough money to survive, I have enough money to help other people. So, this year I want to choose one charity per month to share with my family and friends, raise awareness for, and donate to. While I’ll personally only be able to donate a small amount, I like to believe that even small acts of kindness can create positive outcomes – people helping people, pay it forward, all that good stuff. I would like to admit that I don’t always believe money to be the best way to help. Whenever possible, I support volunteering, as actions speak louder than $$$. However, keeping in mind my goals to include my friends and family in this resolution and to choose a new charity every month, I felt a monetary donation would be an easy way to keep this resolution going. (I’ll also be sharing stories of volunteering and random acts of kindness to supplement throughout the year.)

I have a new nephew as I mentioned earlier, and any little thing I can do to make his world just a little bit better, I’ll find a way to do. My hope is that everyone following this has someone to inspire them, someone to be better for.

Ashley with her nephew Henry, Summer 2013

The Redefining Rich blog has delivered all that it has promised  and a heck of a whole lot more. Over this past year, Ashley has covered a diverse number of charities  including the DJ Henry Dream Fund, the Autism Research Foundation,  and School on Wheels of Massachusetts. Each month, Ashley shares quotes, pictures, heartfelt notes, and information on that particular month’s charity. Her posts are intimate and heartfelt, while leaving you feeling like you have just a little more love left to give that you may have not even  known you had, which is exactly how I feel when spending time with Ashley.

Ashley is one of my very best friends since moving to Easton at the tender age of 15. (Yup, I started high school in a new town!)   Even while growing up, Ashley never ceased to amaze me with her huge heart and endless dedication towards helping others. As much as it might have been tempting to partake in “gossiping with your bestie", I never engaged in such antics with Ashley since she never made you feel like there was any need to. 

While Ashley is always a very positive person, it is not in a "Richard Simmons, over-the-top" sorta way. Rather, Ashley is just so naturally blissful that the conversation never heads towards a negative place. My friend Jimmy always says “You are affected by the 5 people you surround yourself with the most” and I am so lucky that Ashley has been one of those 5.

Last year, during my full-time MBA program, Ashley moved back home and we literally became attached at the hip. With similar "school schedules" (Ash is a teacher), we shared after-school snacks, watched a ton of weekly TV shows such as the Voice, in which we rose from the couch to give standing ovations for our favorite singers, took weekly “field trips” to Hilliard's (our favorite, local ice cream parlor), and went on leisurely drives in Ashley's jeep, while listening to our favorite compilation of “chill” music (which included another one of my favorite Ashleys, Ashley Sofia).

During this stressful time, Ashley was my endless support system; providing rides to the doctors, advice on online shopping purchases, and never hesitated to get excited  over my weird "healthy hippie" food that no one else would dear try or ever refused to try my made-up beauty concoctions and recipes, despite how "strange" they may have been. So needless to say when Ashley told me one day over ice cream at Hilliard's, that she was planning to move to Los Angeles to live with Caitie (another high school best friend), I was in major denial.

 Fast-forward a few months later to her going away dinner and having to say goodbye. I felt like a complete and utter "hot mess." This was my best bud, who lived an easy 5 minutes away, and suddenly my normal routine was screeching to a sudden halt. But I took a deep breath and gave her a big hug goodbye, and told her; “go show LA how you kill it,” and begrudgingly walked away while miraculously remaining composed. However, the second I got to the car, I cried like the big, mushy baby I was.

 

  Ashley and I at her going away party, Jimmy Plunkett cruise, August 2013

It has now been 3 months since the big move and seriously not a thing has changed with my friendship with Ashley. I still get to catch up with her frequently, have received a “tour” of the new place via iPhone pictures, and continue to receive the same amount of endless support from her as always, its just now over the phone. In fact, Ashley is in part to thank for launching the Creatively Lu blog. 

 As I write my blog posts, I often think “This is something Ashley would love.” Remember that coconut DIY masque or the walnut streusel bread recipe or the gratitude journal entry?... Yup, all those posts I knew Ashley would, in her words; “ be all over.”

Ashley is an incredible role model, aunt (remember that “little bald guy” from my first Wordless Wednesday picture?), blogger, and teacher.  I am so thankful and lucky to call her my lifelong friend.

So please go check out the Redefining Rich blog, you will be glad you did! Below is your daily dose of inspiration, inspired by Ashley. Have a great weekend everyone!

Ashley, alongside her sister, Amanda, and nephew, Henry, at Borderland State Park, Summer 2013.

*Follow Redefining Rich on Tumblr and Twitter.