The monthly round up
*Things I liked in May
Dear Kula Diaries friends,
It’s that (semi-consistent) time of month when I share about some of the things that I’ve loved or been interested in over the past few weeks! Yes, I’m aware that today is June 1st… but today’s post is a reflection on things that I liked in May. This is a (very) random conglomeration of happenings… listenings… and other think-in-ings that I hope you enjoy!
Podcast: Search Engine
I’ve listened to almost every single episode of the Search Engine podcast, and I have to say… it’s really great. Their episode about Kratom is also totally wild, in case you’ve ever wondered (like I did), “What the heck is kratom?”
But, more importantly, I wanted to share one of their more recent episodes, which tackled a subject that is near and dear to my heart: cell phone addiction. If you haven’t read my own story about cell phone addiction, I have written six (yes, six) different posts about the harmful effects of social media/cell phone addiction and how I’ve both struggled to cope with it… and also learned how to manage its presence in my life in a more balanced and healthy way:
It’s obvious that this is something I’ve put a lot of thought (and effort) into… and so, you can imagine my excitement when I saw the title of the most recent Search Engine Episode: “How to stop being so phone addicted (without self-discipline or meditation)”
I remain completely unconvinced that meditation isn’t an important part of the solution — but the episode does bring up some interesting ‘techniques’ that might be helpful to others. One thing that I’ve realized about cell phone addiction and about finding more presence in our lives, is that we all respond in different ways to a variety of modalities — this means that what works for me, might not work for everybody. So, I’m sharing this episode in the hopes that if you are somebody that struggles similarly with an addiction to your cell phone or social media, you might find some good nuggets in this episode.
Homemade flatbread recipe — super easy!
I discovered this ‘recipe’ through the magic of the internet a few days ago, and it’s incredibly easy and delicious. It’s so easy that it’s barely a recipe:
Mix a 1:1 ratio of bread flour + Greek yogurt (I used the Kirkland nonfat Greek yogurt from Costco)
Add garlic powder, onion powder and salt — to taste. I am guessing that you could also add cinnamon and a bit of sugar if you wanted a sweeter version of this flatbread.
Mix together with your hands until it forms a ball of dough.
Cut the dough into equal pieces (for my flatbreads, I mixed 1 cup of flour + 1 cup of yogurt and was able to cut into 4 equal pieces — but if you make a larger batch, you might get more pieces of dough).
Lightly flour a counter or cutting board and roll the dough pieces flat — one at a time.
Turn a non-stick pan on medium-medium/high heat and add a little oil. Wait until the pan is hot, and then lay the rolled out flatbread into the pan. It’ll take about a minute or two — but you will notice that it is getting some ‘browned’ spots as it cooks. Once it looks lightly browned, flip the flatbread and wait until the other side looks the same.
That’s it! I ate my flatbread with a homemade chicken taco + some sauteed bell peppers. It was absolutely DELICIOUS and really easy to make.
Enjoy!
Making inexplicably ridiculous bundles
A few months ago, Shopify (my website platform) updated its ability to create ‘bundles’. If you don’t run an online store, you might not be aware that selling a ‘bundle’ of something can complicate inventory counts. If you sell a single item (like a Kula Cloth) that is also a part of a larger bundle (with other Kulas), you have to ‘assign’ a certain amount of those products to permanent existence in a bundle… otherwise, the inventory of the single item doesn’t get tracked properly, and you end up overselling something (ask me how I know).
For some reason, I decided that I was going to make a bunch of very creative bundles… that included an unknown surprise. The items chosen for each bundle were complete random… and inspired partially by this absolutely hilarious video:
These bundles NAMED THEMSELVES… and I had so much fun writing the descriptions, which include a few little fun Easter Eggs. I’m not asking you to purchase one of my inexplicably ridiculous bundles: but if you want to be amused, I’d definitely recommend reading the descriptions.
For the record, I’ve sold 2 Pygmy Goat Bundles… and if you are one of the folks who bought one… I hope you loved your little extra gift.
Radio Show: From the Captain’s Chair with Captain Joe
I’ve written at length about my Lighthouse Quest and our ‘chance’ meeting with my (now) dear friend, Captain Joe. Captain Joe is one of the kindest, most amazing humans that I’ve ever met — and I listen to his radio show every single week. Not only does he give wonderful book recommendations, but he also gives sage advice and talks with a genuine sense of kindness and compassion for all of, ‘Captain Joe’s People.’ Last week, I received a box of gifts from Captain Joe — including coffee, cat treats, dog treats (which I’ll mention momentarily), and a selection of books that were meaningful to him. I remain eternally grateful to be included as one of Captain Joe’s people, and I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to learn from him and spend time with him.
His radio show streams at 1pm on Tuesday afternoons, and is usually available on the Voice of Vashon website within a day of the broadcast:
Best Friend’s Kitchen Dog Treats:
The founder of Best Friend’s Kitchen dog treats is another one of Captain Joe’s people. Captain Joe discovered Michelle and her homemade, healthy dog treats a few years ago — and he places large orders for her treats so that he can continue to spread the word about their existence.
Michelle started Best Friend’s Kitchen after losing her beloved dog, Franklin, to an aggressive form of cancer that was aggravated by the poor ingredients in his food. Although Franklin passed away from his cancer, a food product that helps to support a healthy coat and immune system was created, with love, from the experience.
I gave the treats to my dear employee, Ashley, who has a beautiful Bull Mastiff Puppy… and I’ll let her reaction to the treats speak for itself…
PQ practice continues!
In our Kula Diaries book club, we have been reading the book Positive Intelligence, by Shirzad Charmin:
Last year, I started working with a mentor named Glory Dole, a coach who has been trained to guide folks through the PQ Program. While I highly recommend the PQ book itself… the experience of completing the course with the app has been really life-changing for me.
As a part of my own spiritual practice, I’ve tried to include learning from many different perspectives. As Eckhart Tolle often says, words are simply a ‘marker’ that point to a singular truth — it is up to each of us to discover what that truth might be. Different folks resonate with different authors, and I’ve always learned something interesting and new by appreciating the different perspectives and methods that have been used to incorporate more mindfulness into daily life.
My brain physiology definitely errs on the ‘busier’ side of things — and I have a tendency to get ‘sucked’ down the proverbial rabbit hole. One pesky little negative thought can ‘grab’ my attention — and, before I know it, I’m dooming and glooming over imaginary circumstances that aren’t even true. Once you generate the feelings of frustration or unease, they tend to become a magnet for more situations and feelings that match that resonance. In other words: like attracts like.
I’ve been working with Glory now for nearly a year, and with her amazing guidance, I’ve found a renewed sense of peace in my life and a hopefulness and creativity that I had disconnected from a little bit. I promise I’m not sponsored by Glory — but if you are somebody who wants more accountability in your life — working with a mentor and a coach has brought so much joy, and I simply adore Glory and am so deeply grateful for her gentle guidance over the last year.
And speaking of Eckhart Tolle…
I got to see Eckhart Tolle, live in Seattle!
I wrote this originally for my Kula newsletter, but it was such a highlight of my month that I wanted to share it again here… and hopefully spark interest in the book for a few of you (I promise I am not an Eckhart affiliate - ha!).
Back in 2017, I discovered a book. Or rather, maybe I should say... a book discovered me.
The book is called, The Power Of Now, and it's written by Eckhart Tolle.
It's funny, but almost everybody I've ever spoken to about this book has a similar story: "The book just kept popping up... and people kept mentioning it... and I keep seeing it..."
In my experience, people don't usually read it the first time they hear about it. It might peak some curiosity, but then they forget about it. Months or years later... the book pops up again, and this time, something has changed a little bit... and maybe, just maybe, they sit down to read it.
This is what happened to me back in 2017. I saw the book for the dozen-th time... I had recently had a near-death experience that had shifted my perspective about everything in the universe... and I had found myself on a bit of 'spiritual' path -- asking big questions about the things that I had believed about the world for most of my life.
And then, the book arrived again. Except this time, I was ready. So I read it.
I still remember reading the first few chapters... tears streamed down my face as I read Eckhart's words and felt a very deep truth begin to stir within me:
"Use your senses fully. Be where you are. Look around. Just look, don't interpret. See the light, shapes, colors, textures. Be aware of the silent presence of each thing. Be aware of the space that allows everything to be. Listen to the sounds; don't judge them. Listen to the silence underneath the sounds. Touch something -- anything -- and feel and acknowledge its Being. Observe the rhythm of your breathing; feel the air flowing in and out, feel the life energy inside your body. Allow everything to be, within and without. Allow the "isness" of all things. Move deeply into the Now.
You are leaving behind the deadening world of mental abstraction of time. You are getting out of the insane mind that is draining you of life energy, just as it is slowly poisoning and destroying the Earth. You are awakening out of the dream of time and into the present."
A few weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to see Eckhart Tolle LIVE in Seattle. He spoke to a packed event at the Seattle Convention center for 2+ hours about these profound ideas of coming into presence -- and how, now, more than ever, this awakening from our egoic minds is critical. The insanity of the cruelty that humans have inflicted and continue to inflict on others -- based on completely untrue stories in their minds -- is the cause of unthinkable suffering in this world. Suffering is a symptom of a deep disconnect -- an inability for humans to recognize the beingness in themselves and in each other.
As Eckhart writes, "To love is to recognize yourself in another."
If you have never read The Power of Now, I hope that my message today can be the nudge that you need to open the book -- for the first time, or maybe to re-read it again. I've read the book over 10 times now, and I discover more subtle nuances each time I read it. It humbles me to realize the truth: that consciousness and the universe itself is waking up within each of us. Waking up to what? Quite simply, to love.
Eckhart starts the book with a quote that captures the importance of you in such a powerful way:
"You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are!"
Kula goes to BERMUDA!
Ok, well… not really. But, sort of.
The universe works in funny ways. About 5 years ago, I connected with a woman named Dara through my Kula Power Hour (the same power hour that I now host through The Kula Diaries). We’ve stayed in touch over the past 5 years, and she has recently started working with a woman named Aderonke Bademosi Wilson — a business consultant who calls Bermuda home. In addition to being a gifted business coach, Aderonke also happens to be a fine art abstract photographer who creates a yearly calendar featuring some of her images. She designates each month with a specific theme… and then hosts a virtual gathering around that theme, featuring a different guest expert each month. For the month of June, the theme is mindfulness — and Aderonke has asked me to guest co-host the event with her!
Aderonke is one of those incredible humans in the world that I had an instant connection with. We also recorded an episode for her podcast, and Aderonke uses a technique called, ‘overwhelmingly positive questions’ to spark deeply meaningful conversations. I’m really looking forward to sharing that episode with all of you in a few weeks … in the meantime, you can find her existing podcast episodes here.
The 3C gathering is FREE and all are welcome to attend. You can use the button below to register for the event:
Reflections on a calendar…
As I mentioned before: the universe works in funny ways… and some of you might remember that for several years, we produced a Creepy Cat Calendar. Each month of the calendar also had a QR code on it… and each QR code led folks to discover a video — one that I filmed and released every single month of the year.
These videos have remained entirely private… until now (unless you had the ‘magic’ link).
I have to share with all of you: I loved filming the videos, and I even hired a college student to help me edit the videos in 2023. Sadly, our calendar sales in the last year did not actually cover the cost of the calendars… and I was spending a colossal amount of time filming videos (i.e hours)… only to get a few views. It was, sadly, apparent to me that this format was not working for our audience, but to be honest, I thought it was so cool — and so when I learned that Aderonke has been hosting Virtual Gatherings in conjunction with a calendar… I was beyond delighted that this idea had been thriving in another community.
On the heels of another ‘calendar related’ gathering, it made me wonder… so, I went back and I found my June 2023 video… what did I film about in June 2023?
As it turns out, I filmed a bit about dancing… and I also shared a sneak peak into our TINY fulfillment center, which, at the time was in my (literal) garage at my house. Interestingly enough, this is also (I believe) one of the first ‘public’ mentions of my struggle with being addicted to my cell phone:
As I re-watched this video, for the first time in nearly 2 years, my heart swelled with pride. At this point in my calendar filming journey, I knew that only a few people would watch the video each month — but, it didn’t matter. I put my whole heart and soul into those videos, because I knew that even if ONE person watched the video… it was important for that one person to see it.
In some ways, I’m sad that I let the calendar videos go — but in another way, I’m so grateful for the experience… and also the way in which they helped me to shape my own focus to provide meaningful messages to folks. I spent a lot of time during those two years filming videos… and I’m proud of my commitment, even when nobody was watching them. I really believed then — and I believe now — that the value was in the love that was generated… and that’s something you can’t measure with numbers.
All of this to say: keep going! Even when nobody watches. Even when nobody shows up. If you feel inspired about something, the reason that you are doing it is beyond the amount of people who watch your video… it’s beyond clicks or likes or shares. Maybe the reason for what you’re doing is because it’s something that you need to hear or do … in order to be inspired to the next iteration of your own creative evolution. Trust the process, even when nobody is there — stay true to your heart and your commitment, and one day, you’ll look back and feel really proud that you did.
Friends — thank you SO MUCH for being here this month… and all months. My gratitude and commitment to YOU is wrapped with a genuine sense of kindness and love, and I cannot possibly express how much it means to me that you are here.
Wherever and however you are this week — I hope you find ease, peace and joy amidst the ever-changing seasons of life.
“I turned my phone into a landline” (that line from the Search Engine episode about phones made me laugh)
Also the idea from your last paragraph made me think about how sometimes getting an idea rejected a few times can mean they weren’t the right platform… and an idea might find a better home in a few months (like, the Out There Podcast for me!!)