Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Passioning

My life is busy at the moment. Very busy. Along with pulling together the 16 page newsletter for the shelter where I work (I'm Editor), I am in the final throes of getting our new book ready to go to press next week.

Colour me wordy!

It means -- for all my efforts yesterday to carve out me time, I ended up working until 10:30 editing the book. And that's okay. I still got Ellie out for a lovely evening walk. Sat and meditated for twenty minutes and chatted with both my daughters.

C.C. is away so I took my laptop to bed at 8pm and worked from 'bed central'. Which meant, when Liseanne got home, she leaped onto the bed for a hug and then decided to work on her laptop sitting beside me. When Alexis got home after work, she came into the bedroom and chatted -- not for long as it was after 10 already, but at least long enough for me to ask permission to include a piece she'd written about a hug she shared with a panhandler in Vancouver in the book we're putting together for the shelter's 50th Anniversary. And she agreed.

I got a lot done last night. Feel less pressured this morning -- work is not work when I'm in the zone of comfortable surroundings, doing something I love. And I love putting this book together. I'm working with a fantastic team. Excited. Eager. Committed to creating something of worth, of beauty, of exquisite depth.

Launch date is May 4. We've got a big soiree planned and at the same time we'll be launching the World Premiere of a documentary I co-produced last year on our initiative to record Ben E. King's Stand by Me. There are a couple of changes we need to make to the doc -- I met with the producer yesterday to get the edits in the works -- so that everything will be ready to go on the 4th.

And here's one of those eerie happenings. Lewis, the producer, and I met at a local coffee shop. While we're reviewing the edits I've marked for the video and discussing how to insert a clip of our new Executive Director as the old one has retired, the song that was playing over the audio system filtered through to our cognitive brains. Stand by Me. A version neither of us had heard before. But there it was, Stand by Me.



It's exciting times. And busy times too!

But, something I learned last night, when I slow my pace down, I can continue to focus and work without stressing and depleting my energy. Sitting in bed last night, comfortably ensconced in my environment, I wasn't working, I was Passioning!

Yup. My new word of the day. Passioning. The art of doing what I love without running myself out of gas.

And, just to give you a flavour of our new book, WHERE, I'm sharing a link that will give you an idea of what it's all about! WHERE

Must run. Busy day ahead! May your day be filled with passioning on what you love to do in ways you love to do it!

10 comments:

Maureen said...

Looks like a really wonderful book!

Hope said...

yes, yes! more passion to you, dear friend!

Anonymous said...

passoning in bed...
did i hear that right? ;-)

when peter is away the bed becomes a book place, i get to steal all the covers...and i wake up cross ways in the bed...my head on my side and my feet on his side.

Anonymous said...

I like it already!
Launch May 4th... what time?
G'day Mate!
BA

Anonymous said...

Look forward to final book. In case no one has noticed, your comments under Compassion is authored by Louis Gallagher, just saying!

Louise Gallagher said...

Thanks everyone! And thanks for the typo note -- we are just beginning the 'scrutinizing' so it's very helpful to have that noted.

thanks!

Louise

Ruth said...

You're so right about slowing. I believe that is the key to keeping stress at bay. This is my busiest time of the advising year too, and I forget to breathe! But when I give myself enough time to get from here to there, I feel much better.

Lovely to think of your work as passioning. I always feel that when I'm doing what I love, it isn't work.

Best wishes to all your projects!

Unknown said...

Wow the book looks fantastic. What a fabulous job you have - combining a whole range of variety and amazing people.

Hard work is so much easier when you love what you do.

Loving the word 'passioning'

Cheers, Fi

trisha said...

hope you had a fun filled and productive day. it feels really good to be able to do things you love to do.

SLM Moss said...

I love that word, passioning!

I went to a women's retreat last weekend and was so HUGELY blessed, I came home flying high! I'm still up there even though life continues to throw the same-old at me. It can't bug me anymore, I'm not letting anyone nor anything steal my joy anymore!

I'm passioning too. I'm writing, planning, preparing. God has set before me a work to do, and I am getting down to the business of doing it! :) What a fabulous way to live!

Hugs!
Sarah