Is being true to your heart and soul selfish? Does it matter?

This morning I rolled out of bed before 7, before the alarm, and I put on my flipflops and went into the garden.

Dragged the heavy hose its full length and started watering the seedbeds. The whole garden looks like more dirt than plants, as you can see, and I spent my time (15, 20 minutes) watering every bed, and the paths in between, bending down and saying hello to each little tiny seedling I could see.

This time spent in the chilly morning sunshine was most definitely not on my calendar. I have so much more important stuff to do! Tax-related stuff, business development stuff. I have blogs to read and comments to write! I have #FFs to send, and RTs. And yes, I also have sunshine to soak up, and invisible seeds to water and love, and seedlings to greet.

Yes it’s selfish. And yes it matters. In a good way.

I tell my clients this all the time: Make room for every part of your most sacred self in your schedule. Want some unstructured hammock-lying time? Schedule it! On first glance this might look and sound counterintuitive to you. Take a moment with this. Close your eyes and picture your calendar—using the week view. And picture a lovely two, two-and-a-half–hour chunk labeled Sacred time: Laze in a hammock and look at the clouds. This chunk is in a color you don’t use for anything but Sacred Time. Using a different color is a very important part of the magic of this, try it and see! And then picture yourself getting to that day, that afternoon, that chunk of time. And shutting your computer, leaving your phone behind, slapping on some sunscreen, and going out to do nothing. In the very best way.

Feeling like you don’t have enough time for your art? Schedule it. I just recently found myself feeling deprived of time to make, to create, to play with Jenny, my art buddy. So I scheduled an every-two-week afternoon labeled Sacred Art Time. I know how difficult this stuff can be. I confess it’s much easier for me to coach and remind my clients to do this stuff for themselves than it is to do it for myself. It can be so challenging to allow this spacious, juicy, well rounded, fully expressed me to do everything she loves.

There’s a price we pay when we ignore and deny these powerful cravings
to feed all the juicy wonderful parts of ourselves

We are so committed to our business, to our work, to our outreach, to our clients and prospects, to our success, that we can end up pretty single-minded. And that single-minded devotion to work has a big fat negative impact on our balance, on our expression, on our satisfaction, on our happiness.

Do this daring thing. Today. Before you close up shop for the day (or night, if you’re like me!)

Close your eyes. Go inside. Breathe. Feel into your heart. Think of that thing you really wanted to do recently, and didn’t, in favor of work. That midday yoga class. The invitation from your friend to take an afternoon walk by the shore. Those gorgeous veggie starts you wanted to buy and put in the dirt. Okay. Now. Go to your calendar. Look at the upcoming week. And move enough stuff around so that you have the spaciousness to stick that very thing on there. In its own color! Let me help support you in this. Send me this powerful intentional audacious schedule entry you just made. Comment here, or email me, or send me a tweet. Let me support your audacious love affair with yourself and your soul’s true expression. Go for it, gorgeous! I’ve got your back.