Mix It Up!

Mix It Up: Take Circus Classes

 

When you were a kid, did you ever threaten to run away and join the circus?  It's a staple of childhood threats and wishes -- the dream of freedom that comes with dressing up in a fantastic costume and performing amazing feats.

Now that you're an adult it may seem a little less feasible to run off with the big top.  But there's no reason to give up on that dream!  There are many troupes around the world who offer classes in everything from trick horseback riding to trapezery.  (I'm not sure that's a word, but whatever…)

In Seattle there are several such as the Anunnaki Project which teaches dance trapeze, fabric, aerial sling, and hoop.  It's as easy as figuring out what you want to do -- become a clown, perhaps? -- and googling [Your City] Clown Classes.  Not only can you have a lot of fun, but you can get a great workout, meet some fantastic new people, and maybe even pick up a side job doing parties or performing with your teachers!  Give yourself the gift of realizing a bit of that childhood dream -- mix it up and take circus classes today!

(Photo taken at the Brazilian Academy of Circus in Sao Paulo by jacsonquerubin from flickr.com's Creative Commons photostream.)

Mix It Up: Project Life

 

(This post was meant to go up on Friday, August 20th, but I messed up the queue and had set it to go up NEXT Friday instead!  So I fixed the update and you get a double today!)

Many people have a desire to preserve their precious memories.  Almost everyone takes pictures of vacations, birthdays, and holidays.  Some folks like me go a step further and capture the everyday events -- not just things like baby's first steps but also sweet moments with friends and new foods I've cooked.  

The problem comes when trying to figure out just how to display these pictures.  And just as importantly; how do you tell the story?  Who is that couple you're posing with?  Even when it is your own story you may find it hard to remember once a couple of decades have passed.  

I adore scrapbooking as an answer to this conundrum, but not everyone has the time to craft intricate layouts and story books for every occasion.  (Including me!)  Becky Higgins, a prominent scrapbooking "personality" has come up with a solution; a kit she named Project Life.  Project Life is a book with spaces to slip standard 4"x 6" pictures, and bunches of journaling cards that you can slip into associated spaces to note pertinent information or stories about the pictures.  It's a *fabulous* way to preserve beautiful memories with very little work -- just print (or have developed) your pictures, slip them into the plastic sleeves, and write a couple words about each on the cards!  I have one of these already, and will likely buy a second before too long.

If you're looking for a way to tell the story of what's going on in your life but keep it very simple, mix it up and try Project Life!

(Picture is from Amazon.com; and as usual I am not affiliated with Becky Higgins or Project Life.  I'm just a happy consumer!)

Mix it Up: Foodportunity

On August 2nd I attended Keren Brown's Foodportunity event here in Seattle.  In her words, Foodportunity is "a networking event for food journalists, public relations professionals, restauranteurs, farmers, companies,and all food passionate people."  I recently did some work for local specialty food broker Murdock & White and they invited me to come down and check it out.  

If you work in the food industry then I think going to Foodportunity would be incredibly valuable.  But you don't have to work with food to attend -- all you have to do is love food and buy a ticket ($25 for the one I went to).  There you will find tens of local caterers, new restaurants, and other happy foodies sharing samples of their delicious wares and delightedly talking to you about what they do and why they do it.  What a great way to mix it up!

While Foodportunity is unique to the Pacific Northwest, there are tons of small industry events like this one all over the world.  I urge you to find a tiny convention -- be it for Legos, cupcakes, or romance novels -- and buy a ticket to attend!  Not only will you be supporting local people, but you'll also get to experience a world you might never have known about.  Mix it up, and find your foodportunity today!

(As usual, I'm not paid for anything I write about!  The photo above is of delicious gazpacho I had at the Taste booth at Foodportunity.)

Mix It Up: Catch and Release Books

 

I am a voracious and insatiable reader.  Yesterday alone I devoured two books, and I always have a big stack of them in my to-be-read pile (and in my queue on Kindle for iPhone!).  I have a hard time going to the library because I'd rather own books than rent them!  Sometimes, however, I buy a book that doesn't turn out to be everything I'd hoped for.  Or occasionally I'll find that a book I enjoyed a few years ago doesn't offer much to me anymore.  So what's a bibliophile to do?

You can sell them to a used book store, or give them to a friend, or donate them to a library.  But there's another option that many people have never heard of: you can set them free to wander the world, and then follow their adventures as other people enjoy them!

I first found out about Book Crossing when I found a manga lying in a hotel lobby on one of my trips.  I was about to take it up to the counter and report it lost when I saw a sticker inside the front cover.  It said something to the effect of "I'm not lost; I'm on a journey."  It exhorted me to take it home, and to register my acquisition on Book Crossing's website using the book ID number written on the sticker.

I've now released about five or six books, although I've never had the luck to catch another one.  There is something magical about the idea of setting a book free for someone lucky to find.  The way it works on a releaser's end is very simple.  Get a kit from Book Crossing, put the sticker in it, register the book to get its ID (and print it on the sticker), register where/when you'll be releasing it, and then set it free in the wild!  I've left books at cafés, airports, hotel lobbies, and even a bookstore.  Some people hang them from trees, hide them in rocks, or put them on cars.  As people find your book, they can go to the website to register it and put their comments, so you can see the journey it's taking.

Next time you have a book you no longer want, mix it up and consider releasing it into the world!  You may just find its new story even more compelling.

(As always, I'm not affiliated with any websites or programs I write about!) 

Mix It Up: Dye Your Hair With Henna

  

I've talked before about the need to remove chemicals from your health and beauty regimen, and mostly I practice what I preach.  But one arena that I've been unable to change my ways is my hair -- I dye my hair religiously, and although I've switched from totally-terrible-for-you black to not-quite-as-terrible-for-you red; it's still a lot of poisons going onto my head.

My mom inspired me, though, with her gorgeous hennaed locks, and so yesterday I decided to mix it up and give henna a try myself.

Short version: I love it!  It's difficult to tell from the picture, but it's turning a lovely deep auburn red, and there were no nasty chemicals involved at all.  The only downside was having to let it set for about four hours instead of 30 minutes, but truthfully I got a lot of writing done while I was waiting.  And it cost the same as the hair dye I used to use…except the extra can be frozen and used again, so I get twice as much for the same price.

For me, choosing to mix up my hair dye was a powerful act of self-love.  Deciding to go more natural was a way of saying "I am meaningful to myself.  I choose to use only safe, natural products on myself because I matter."  Rather than a quick fix to hold myself to commercial beauty standards, I got to spend some loving time taking care of myself.  

So the next time you want to dye your hair, mix it up and try going natural with henna!  

(I got my henna from Henna For Hair where they also sell indigo and other natural hair products.  As usual, I'm not affiliated with anyone!)

Mix It Up: Grocery Shop Somewhere New

 

One of the most insidious contributors to living in a rut is not just bad habits, but good habits.  You want to save time so you can have more with your family, friends, or yourself.  You want to save money so you can travel to different places.  So you go to the same grocery store every time where you know the layout, know the sales, and know the prices and selection are good.  There's nothing wrong with this for the most part!  But if you're anything like me, one day you'll look at your refrigerator/cupboard and say "Oh my gosh, I've been eating the same cereal for a year now!"

The downside of habits of any type is they remove the conscious thought from your activities.  And conscious thought is never a bad thing to spend a little time having.  When you review your habits regularly, you get to make conscious decisions about whether or not they still support you.  You get to make a powerful choice, and that's what mixing it up is all about!

Of course there are millions of habits you can review, but today, I'd like you to look at your grocery shopping habits.  Do you grab the same type of soup off the shelf every time because you know it's good and cheap?  Do you always go for the same brand of tofu or cut of meat?  If the answer is yes, there's an easy fix: shop at a different grocery store.  

In Seattle alone there are dozens of options, but even the smallest town should have a couple.  The advantage of mixing up your grocery shopping is that you will see foods you might never have thought of before simply because the layout is different.  You will be forced to pay attention to each aisle as you're looking for the essentials, so you may discover a new type of juice or bread that you would have overlooked every time at your usual store.  

This is not to say you should spend a fortune trying new food!  The basics of grocery shopping should still hold for you -- don't shop hungry, go in with a list and a budget, and don't allow yourself too many impulse buys.  But you will also hopefully come home with a cart full of food that is slightly different from your usual fare.  For example, I'm having mango sticky rice from Trader Joe's for breakfast.  Yum!

You are what you eat, so the saying goes, and if you don't try shopping at new places, you'll be eating the same thing every day, every week, every year.  Mix it up, and go to a different grocery store today!

Mix It Up: Twitter

It's not anything new to the world, but I just signed up for Twitter a couple of days ago.  (You can follow me there if you like!)  If you're not familiar with it, Twitter is a microblogging service that allows you to share what is happening in your life in 140 characters or less.  

I've been investigating it for a while as a way to support Mix It Up with real-time updates, but what finally caused me to sign up was AT&T's service outage in Seattle (and Portland, I think) on the 19th.  For about an hour, my iPhone was stuck in "searching for service" mode, and in an effort to find out whether it was just my phone or something bigger I jumped onto Twitter.  When I searched #att, I found a huge thread of tweets that let me know the outage was not just in my phone, but all over Seattle and Portland.  Yikes!  While AT&T themselves never joined in to reassure us, it did help to find out that it wasn't just me.

I don't see myself abandoning traditional methods of communication anytime soon.  But Twitter is fantastic for its ability to connect people quickly based on common threads of information and/or interest.  And with the newest generation of smartphones, it's easier than ever to share your experiences, suggestions, and issues from wherever you are.

Twitter may not be for everyone, but it's another tool in your communications arsenal.  Next time you want to share what you're doing, mix it up and try Twitter!

(As usual, I have no affiliations with any company or product mentioned in this blog!) 

Mix It Up: Balancing Your Chakras

 

Many people have at least heard of the chakras; said to be points of energy on your body with relationships to differing levels of consciousness or spiritual awareness.  However, they can also be thought of as different areas of your life that need to be in balance.  Sonia Choquette's book True Balance talks a lot about this, and I found it to be a very refreshing way of looking at the chakras.

Instead of imagining wheels or points of light and color on your body; consider the chakras as these aspects of your life.  

★Foundation (your home, how grounded you are, your safety)

★Passion (for others, for self, for life)

★Sovereignty (your personal power and the strength of your word)

★Love (your ability to care for others and yourself)

★Expression/Communication (both the written and spoken word, as well as artistic)

★Vision (seeing to the heart of issues and planning ahead in your life)

★Faith (in a higher power or even just yourself)

Can you think of any of these that are out of balance?  What is your strongest?  Your weakest aspect?  Now think about what you could do to strengthen a weak area in your life.  (I really enjoyed journaling this, myself.)  Maybe take a class in nonviolent communication or take the time to create a safe space that is truly yours.  

As you are looking at your life and finding ways to mix it up, take the time to use this vision of the chakras to find out where you need to bring things back into balance.  Then mix it up, get out there, and do it!

(Photo by BlueRidgeKitties from Flickr.com's Creative Commons photostream.  As usual, I have no affiliation with any products or companies mentioned!)

Mix It Up: Change the Way You Exercise

 

I'm going to start off by saying that if you don't exercise at least a little already; go and do so!  At least 30 minutes a day is recommended for maintaining your weight and improving your health.  

So assuming you already do exercise, why mix it up?  There's a fabulous article at The Bone Architect blog about this very thing.  Briefly, your muscles and bones get accustomed to what you're doing, so it's best to switch things up to keep challenging your muscles to stretch and grow.  An easier way to think of it is that you have hundreds of muscles and bones in your body.  If you just do a single type of exercise (only walking on the elliptical machine or only using the rower, for example), then you aren't actually working out your whole body.  So certain parts will get stronger and more toned, but others will stay weak.

Plus, doing the same exercise routine all the time gets REALLY boring for me.  I can't stand to do the same thing over and over, so by varying my activity I make it more likely that I'll actually do it!

So how can you mix up the way you exercise?

★Try a different type, such as yoga, Pilates, or dance

★Try "variable intensity" or "interval training"

★Include different exercise modes such as cardio and strength

★Try "pre-exhaust training" 

★And when in doubt, walk!  

So the next time you go to work out, mix it up and change your routine!

Mix It Up: Sleep In A Shark

 

This is too cute for words.  If you have a kid (or are a kid at heart), why not put them (or yourself) to sleep in a shark?  

If you do, please tell me what kinds of dreams you have while slumbering in the embrace of an apex predator.  

(As always, I have no affiliation with the creator of this whimsical sleeping bag!)