Debe Bloom ‘s Fortune

I think one of the best parts of going out to eat for a Chinese dinner is the fortune cookie at the conclusion.  Not only does it signify that the meal is over and the memory will linger, but it also is the fun insight to what your future may hold, albeit, I’ve yet to meet anyone who has ever told me “my Chinese fortune cookie was right!!”

There’s also that clever addition that I know of that some people have attached to the end of the fortune.  Now, my blogs are intended to be ‘G’ rated, and my preference is to keep it that way.  However, to make my point please allow me this one side-step.  If you add the phrase “in bed” at the end of your Chinese fortune cookie statement, it brings a whole different meaning to the table.  But, I digress.

I recently needed a lift to my day and I was counting on my fortune from a fortune cookie.  I grabbed my cup of tea, and made my choice of which cellophane-wrapped crunchy I was going to rip open, crack in half and, as always, read my fortune before crunching into the not-incredibly-sweet treat.  Eyes open, mind ready to absorb and future on it’s mark to blast away…. “Knowledge is power”.

What?

Is that a fortune?  No, it’s a statement.  Knowledge IS power.  This is uncanny.  This is the exact conversation I was having with a long-time girlfriend of mine.  My question to her was “if you could change just one thing in our young adult lives (individually) what would it be?”  She easily turned that question back to me and I was forthright with my answer:  I would have changed my course of education.  I would have reached higher, dug deeper, and expected more.  Mind you, I don’t think I did too badly for myself; I just would have done different.  Knowledge is power.

And yet, I don’t think this simple statement is simple at all.  Think of it.  As long as we know ourselves, we have power. Each of us needs to hear my mantra:  Stand in Your Power.  Utilize the confidence that is rightfully yours.  Know your Power.  Know Your Confidence.

Are you able to tap into your power, your confidence,  as needed? Or do you have times when your confidence plays hiding games?

And after you’ve answered that question, what do you think about the not really “G rated” statement?

Debe Bloom thinks Clutter Can Be Important!

I started this year with the forward movement of learning as much as I can. Growth is so important to me and giving myself the platforms for that growth is equally important.  So I recently attended a four ½ day marketing bootcamp that was jammed pack with information.

One of the first tips that I received was that productivity comes from having a clean desk. Anyone who comes into my home knows that I’m pretty organized and orderly.  Everything has its place and I put things back where they go immediately, almost to a fault.  Except.   Yes, except my desk.  That is the one area that I allow my, shall we say, creativity to flow. (Read: papers to pile, Knickknacks to accumulate, etc).

My first promise to myself was to clean my desk, purge what I could and start fresh.  As I was going thru things, I found a bag of old keys.  Thrilled to have stumbled upon the original set of keys for my vintage Volkswagon van, I also found a barrette that belonged to my twin sisters’ neighbors daughter.  I have Planet’s barrette….and then a flood of memories came back.

Memories of  Valentine’s Day parties, and carob tree pods. And the time we took our kids to Descanso Gardens or visiting during the holidays and being entertained by the dancing that birthday celebrants do.

The thread between Planet and me is pretty thick, although our lives are years apart, on many levels.  My twins’ best friend was Planet’s mom.  Planet is the same age as my daughter. Planet’s sister is the same age as my nephew.  Planet has two gorgeous girls that are the same age as my son’s.

Yes, indeed, the thread travels thru us and I wouldn’t have realized all of this or have had the opportunity to reminisce about those precious memories, if I hadn’t kept Planet’s barrette amongst my clutter.  Some things are better left piled up.

Is there something you have always wanted to de-clutter but realize its more important to leave it alone?

Debe Bloom Knows Bittersweet….

If you are talking about art, Wikipedia defines Bittersweet as a medium brownish reddish orange color.

If biology is more of your conversational style, then you’d be pleased to know that bittersweet also refers to a vine in the nightshade family, some other vegetation of vines and, also, a family of shellfish, known as bittersweets or Dog cockles.

As an adjective, however, it means  both bitter and sweet:  expressing contrasting emotions of pain and pleasure.

I know that there are many circumstances where people experience both the sweet and the bitter.  Maybe even the bitter brings out more sweetness.  Actually, I do recall my Rabbi in northern California sharing a drash (sermon) of how a bit of bitterness in our lives makes the sweet so much sweeter.  Tonight, I felt a sharp bitter-sweetness.

A prize possession of mine, my 1969 VW Westfalia van conversion, a vehicle that I have so many fond memories of; that I cared for with the tender love of a mommie with her 6 month old baby; that I nurtured, bathed, dressed and refurbished and drove with pride was placed in a new home.  That was the bitter part.

 

 

 

The sweet part is the home is that of my son.  I know he will care for this van; it is something that he has longed for for many years.  As a matter of fact, he had the van once before when he needed a vehicle and he loved it.  It’s time for him to love it again, more, and deeper…and share it with his family.

Logically, I know this is probably the right thing to do. The reason why I decided to re-home the van is that living at the beach was starting to show on it’s body.  But wow! Bittersweet to the max!

Life carries so many situations that can be about opposite emotions.  Can you recall your latest pain and pleasure emotional event?

 

Debe Bloom asks ….“Is it Just Me?”

I take my dog for a walk; daily.  I prefer to take her off leash because she is one of those sniffers.  Not the brandy kind; the kind that pulls you off your beat when walking, yanking you off the gait and pulling your neck the other way.  Hard to believe that all this power comes from a 14 pound persnickety Pekingese.

In my hand, always, is her leash and some bags.  I use the plural of that because I never travel anywhere without at least 2.  Many times, two pickup bags had to go into use.  I learned the hard way.  I learn from my lessons.

While taking my walk this morning, I was …what’s the word?….disgusted.  disgusted by how so many people do not police after their own dogs.  Disgusted that there obviously is no pride of ownership.  Disgusted that others have no respect for other people’s property or care of our public walkways.  I live in an area that provides doggy pickup bags everywhere—there is no excuse, really.

I’m pretty certain that if dogs could, they would take care of this issues themselves!

Yes…this is a true “pet” peeve of mine.  What’s yours?

Debe Bloom Coming From Within

I just got home from a networking event that I co-hosted with a social networking coach.  I love doing these networking events; being in a room with dynamic, energetic, savvy women is an amazing experience.  Working with my ‘partner in crime’ is always fun…and it allows our creative juices to flow.

We take serious time to plan our agenda and make sure that the time invested is from our attendees is well worth their efforts of being in audience.  And our agenda runs tight to the clock to be considerate of everyone’s business schedules.

 

Part of  the agenda is a ‘commercial’, a speech, a ‘tell us who you are’ portion.  The women have anywhere from 90 seconds to 2 minutes that they can call their own, with the microphone in hand.  I had prepared a very poppie, power-word speech that capitalized on my last name.  Being spring (and the focus of our event), I wanted to put my last name into play.  Worlds like…Bunny, babies and Bloom!  Or Bond, Band, and Boost!  But when it was my turn up at the mic, I just couldn’t be ‘that’ person.  I am NOT Sascha.  I AM Debe.  Coaching is NOT a cookie-cutter service…it IS personal, unique and totally about my client.

That became my speech…who I am and what I do sans all the punch words.  And I learned something so powerful today:  Be who you are, from deep within.  Don’t do what others think you should do:  Do what you know you should do.  That’s the real punch!

What have you discovered recently that shows you know who you really are?

Debe Bloom says “It’s All Good”

Have cliches ever gotten to you? And when I say ‘gotten to you’, I mean that in a good, positive learning way. You know:

• Look before you leap  
• Hind sight is always 20-20.
• It’s never too late to turn back.
• Remember those who came before you

Recently, I learned of the passing of a friend of mine from high school. My contemporary. This on the heels of a man who I used to rock out to (with, perhaps some bubble gum), Davy Jones. This Monkee was not much older than I, and had all the comforts he could possibly want. One day he was around; the next day not.
Okay, file that information in that back of your thoughts.
Yesterday, after only a week of having an idea resurface and percolate in my mind, my husband and I drove 150 miles to check out an adventure vehicle. We have talked about getting a small motor home before, so we could take weekend trips around the area bringing our 4-legged ‘child’ without the worry of finding a pet-friendly place to stay. Problem is, both of our responsibilities limit our time away.
When the aforementioned events happen (those that might be resting in the back of your thoughts), we realized that life (& enjoyment) is moving forward, quickly. In our quick thinking, we decided now was the time to get a ‘bed on wheels’, set our price-point, agreed to buying a wi-fi set up immediately (so we never lose touch with the fast paces of social networking) and ventured up the road to check out a unit I found on craigslist.
The baby passed our first inspection. This isn’t a new model by any stretch of the imagination…not at the price I was willing to pay. Deposit check has been written and sale agreed upon (subject to smog inspection and registration).
My phone just rang. I recognized the phone number via caller ID, but couldn’t exactly place it. “Debe? Hi it’s Jack”

Oh oh….

”Did you have a safe ride home last night?”

“yes. We stopped, had some dinner and after questioning ourselves (as in ‘what the heck did we just do??) congratulated ourselves”

“Great.  I’ve been there myself.   I just wanted to let you know that I’ve made the appointment for smog testing and have an appointment at the DMV to get all the proper paperwork completed.”

Buyer’s remorse? I don’t think so. Have you ever bought something big (and when I say big, I mean either financially or space-taking) that you knew was the perfect move? Do tell….

Debe Bloom Says ‘Words Are Amazing’

You’ve probably heard that coaches change their niche often throughout their career.  I remember when I was getting my certification that I was told I would metamorphosis constantly and therefore I would constantly be changing my client base.  Little did I know it would be my client base that would be changing my niche.

 

The interesting thing about coaching is that no matter the client or the fence in their way, the same basic questions are asked.  It takes a skillful coach to be able to reach into their toolbox to find the right inquiry to help their client remove those fences, but none-the-same, basically, the questions are the same if the subject matter is about family life, personnel issues or business in general.

 

What brought all this up is that I have two contacts I am dealing with currently.  One has had the ill fortune of getting involved with the wrong person on a romantic level.  The heartbreak is monumental.  Getting this person through all the grief of letting go, of looking towards the future and the positive ‘learning spin’ that the relationship had to offer was my goal.  This continues to be a work-in-progress.

The other contact has had to put a quick-growing business aside due to a sudden (but healing) health issue.  Pulling the fundamental issues of health over money is obvious, but it is actually a catch 22; and catch 22’s can be depressing and confusing.

I made contact with both of the people this morning and my first question to both was : How are you today?  I was asking one how the health issues were while I was asking the other how their emotions were.

Same question…different meanings….all leading to Removing their Invisible Fences.  What’s your feelings about this?