genesiseleven-blog

[genesiseleven-blog]

I have been working on wasting less. I started ordering from Imperfect Produce to reduce waste. This week I accidentally forgot to update my order and I got blood oranges. I'm not really a huge fan of them. However instead of wasting them completely I sliced them up and added them to boiling water with lavender. I've been let it simmer the rest of the day refreshing the water for a natural air freshener for my apartment. #wasteless #imperfectproduce #bloodoranges

[genesiseleven-blog]

Trying to go #zerowaste, when I have extra produce lying around that I think will go bad before I eat it, I make treats for my #sharpeis. This will cook overnight in the slow cooker then go on top of their breakfast.

[genesiseleven-blog]

Not Pinterest worthy but a big feat. Over the past few years my home which I love to keep nice has felt like a visual representation of my life, chaotic and unfinished. Today I took the time to set the living area and I wanted to incorporate things I love. Flowers, herbs, my dogs (the treats in e dish), and scenty stuff. #coffeetablestyle #coffeetablealbum #coffeetablegoals #coffeetablereads #coffeetabledesign #coffeetablelove #coffeetabledecor #coffeetableart #coffeetableflowers #coffeetables #coffeetableinspo #coffeetablestyling #coffeetable #coffeetablemakeover #coffeetablemags #coffeetableideas #coffeetabletop #roses #dogtreats

[genesiseleven-blog]

Offtime

I’m reading The Power of Habit. It’s a nice blend of business and lifestyle and how habits and help us to be more efficient and better at what we do and how we meet our goals. So many takeaways from the book, but what I clung to the most is how chaotic and reactive my life has become. Additionally, how my day to day life is interrupted by the unenjoyable addiction of social media. I do need it for work and that people I like to keep up with, but do I need it daily? Nope.

I also get interrupted by people. For those of us 35 and above remember when you had to be at home to be interrupted, there wasn’t this incessant need to be available simply because someone else wants us to. 

I get interrupted by work. I like work, especially when it’s meaningful. Often I feel I want to get to people right away but in reality, distracted responses leads to less planning and careful thought and tasks. It also takes be away from being present with myself, my family, friends, or even the person behind the counter taking my order.  

I’ve contemplated getting a non-smart phone but apps do make my life easier and safer. I wanted to do a blocking app to help keep me from the Facebook time warp. I tried Cold Turkey, what I didn’t like about it was that it really does block everything. While that’s great, I also have aging parents and pilot husband that yes, I’ll probably stop about anything when they call or message which I haven’t seen a good workaround for that.

I’m experimenting with OFFTIME, which so far seems promising. There is flexibility in terms of contacts and apps to keep running should they not need to be blocked. The paid version has a scheduling and extra settings for various profiles which I can definitely see myself using.

After a few test rounds so far, I’m impressed.With the blocking of apps and simply just knowing I won’t hear the antagonizing beep of my phone, I noticed an ease while working knowing I could just focus. I’d like to experiment how this works next time I see my husband to see if it helps being more present.   

[genesiseleven-blog]

My first post.

I woke up with sore feet. As I stepped out of bed and placed my feet on the floor waddling slowly. As I sat down, I cradled my forehead in my hands slowly moving the muscles in my face and dreaded another day of work. Five years into my entrepreneurship journey, I felt an energetic drain that no matter how rewarding my work was, I felt my work....yes emphasis on MY work that I created..... was more emotionally draining than being in the military or the corporate financial world.

While I didn’t regret entrepreneurship and couldn’t be paid enough money to go back into a corporate 9 to 5 prison, I definitely couldn’t continue without making mindful changes and decisions. My husband and I were living in a very important but transitional phase while he went back to school for a career change and I was managing my business from 1.5 hours away. We were burned out with chaotic unpredictable schedules. Every vacation incurred at least 3-4 hours of work from home type of activity. Recreation, hobbies, creation was too exhausting to think about. I didn’t own a television for a majority of my adult life, but I found myself binge watching on Netflix and Hulu just to zone out.  I gained 30 pounds and somehow developed adult acne. Mind you my business was in the health and wellness industry

We knew at some point we would eventually move to Chicago but “at some point” without any set date just further aggravated a lack of direction and purpose. On one 1.5 drive home, I started bawling. I didn’t see myself in the mirror anymore, I saw an overweight exhausted woman with dark bags under her eyes filling up her cheeks with pink and white mounds of acne filled with the illness of stress. My bones were brittle from arthritis flare ups. I was well aware of how to make changes but couldn’t find any time to do it. I was tired of constantly putting everyone else’s needs before mine and my family’s own. I came home that night and told my husband we needed to make changes. He started looking for another job that would speed up his career and I decided to sell my business.

We didn’t anticipate quick changes, in fact, I assumed it would take at least a year. However, in less than 4 months, we moved to Chicago, my husband found his job and my business was on the market while I took contract work to help alleviate the stress of unpredictable income. The change has freed up more time to explore.

Exploration sounds like a new age gimmicky concept or a marketing phrase to post on social media with a woman throwing up her hands in joy with her long hair blowing behind her as she looks up towards the sunset. Who ever does that? That’s ridiculous.

I’d like to physically explore our new city. I’d like to explore different business ideas. I would like to ruminate on things what worked well and not so well in my past to refine my next business. I’d like to explore my creativity and work on things that are fun to me: cooking, home decorating, and gardening. I’d like to continue to explore a mindfulness practice while still enjoying a “regular person life”.

This blog currently is just more for me to reflect and journal but I’m happy to see what others are up to and connect.