~Simply Rebecca~

One of my most favorite photos ever taken of moi, by the incredible Ashley Keleman.

To be back!! (consider this Post Numero Uno! I love a fresh start!)
You’re here! (thank you for reading, for coming back, and for all the sweet messages in between!)
To be starting a special month of blogging this week! This year has been a big one for me, and I feel like celebrating! (you *may want to check back on Wednesday for the deets on this one!)

If you are reading this on a blog reader you will want to make a change this week too. Going forward SimplyRebecca.com will be directed at my new site, complete with it’s own shiny new blog, at Relish-life.com. That’s just one of many updates that will be coming, so don’t change that dial!

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It would seem like I’ve abandoned this space, but I’m not really gone.
It would seem (thanks to the foot of snow we got IN OCTOBER!) that Autumn is over, but it’s not really gone.
It would seem like there is uncertainty about whether this space will remain now that I have begun moving over to the Relish Life site, but it’s not really gone. Yet.

Sometimes I step away from this space. I dive deep into other things and finding, or making, the time to come here falls to the wayside. I don’t really like how that feels, so I’m going to try to finish up these restructurings I’m working on so I can begin coming here more routinely. It just feels better that way. I miss you all. I have  a number of unanswered questions about how this blog fits into what I’m building… But they are the good kind of questions, the exciting and hopeful kind. The kind that are okay to let linger, and feel within that the answers are coming, exactly how and when they should.

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Abby at last year’s walk… she’s got her paws crossed we stay dry again!

It’s been a week since the new website went live, and I cannot even begin to express how AWESOMELY it was received. I’ve never, in over 3 years of having an online presence, been so excited to share a website with people, to have them come see it, and to see what I was up to. And honestly all of you made it so much better than I ever could have expected. Thank you guys so much!!

I am happy to report that I have filled my limited free client slots!! (For now at least, if you held off on contacting me and are regretting it now, shoot me an email at rebecca@relish-life.com to be added to the waiting list!)

Already I can see that the people who I’m working with are amazing, and talented, and so totally my people! It’s been an inspiring and invigorating week that has left me feeling utterly grateful for each and every one of my many blessings!

I hope you each have something wonderful planned for this weekend. If the weather holds out I have the BEST Sunday in store for me: photographing the ROAR Paws for the Cause Walk again! Nothing like tons of kids and pups to take photos of to make this girl happy! And since I donate all my services it’s a feel good way to let my service fuel my soul!

Have a great one everybody, see you back here next week!

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The response I’ve gotten from my last post has been so incredible and so affirming. Something about releasing that into the world lit a fire under me and I have not stopped trying to tame it… until today. (It’s true, ask any of the wonderful folks waiting for emails from me!!)

And the only reason I’m stopping is because I’m done… for now. I feel as though I stepped into the flow of something so much bigger than myself and that current has been just carrying me along. It’s been long days and nights over here, but they were so filled with and fueled by passion I didn’t want to stop.

Now comes the truly hard part though: putting it out there. I am going to “ship” as Seth Godin says, and here is my art: I give you Relish Life | Coaching & Inspiration to create a life worth savoring

Please head on over, take a look, and then tell me what you think. I am going to go give my over-pixel-exposed eyes a break, but I would so love to hear what you think. Thank you my friends, all of you, for being here with me on this wild ride… This journey is so much better with you here.

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It’s easy, if you let yourself, to become utterly paralyzed in your life. Your mind can find more reasons to stay still, and small, and afraid, than it ever will to take the risk, make the leap, and dare to fail. Until you DO something, you will never know what it’s like. And indeed, when you start doing something new, no matter what it is, it’s very likely that you won’t be very good at it. But how else do you improve?

A little more than three years ago I took my passion for photography from hobby to profession. Up until then, I had spent years working in support jobs in all sorts of industries, but they were all corporate-y and not the least bit in tune with who I really was. But those lost years* aren’t really the worst part. The worst part was that ultimately what kept me ensnared in those jobs was the deep seeded doubt that I had anything really worthwhile to offer the world. I stayed small and safe because I was afraid there was nothing else I could do. I was wrong.

My photos got me out of the cubicle and into the world. I saw that I didn’t always have to be in service of others in their art, that I could be the artist. I saw that I was good at connecting with people, meeting them where they were, and giving them the attention they needed in that moment to trust me and themselves. I saw that I had a hell of a lot more to offer than I’d ever considered and it was about time I stop playing small with my life.

In parallel with my growing photography business was my contact and awareness of these people called “life coaches”. I took some e-courses, read a lot of blog posts, and even more tweets. Before long I started to feel the pull. I loved taking photos for my clients, but there was something else, something bigger still, that I wanted to do with my time here. I have been the hopeful, helpful type my whole life, but never saw an avenue to really do something with that inclination until now.

But I need your help.

My training with Martha & crew is still very much underway. We are learning new tools each week, and getting great experience practicing on each other and watching the Master coaches at work, but I need more. Like Yoda once concisely put it, “Do, or do not, there is no try.” I have to do the scary thing and start putting these new skills to actual use. To good use.

My simple plea: if know someone (and that someone could be you!) who might benefit from working with me I would be so grateful if you’d spread the word.

How do you know if you might want to work with me? I ask you these questions:

Are you at a place in your life where you know you want more, you just couldn’t say what that is?
Are you ready to make a change, or already have, and now need to figure out how things fit together?
Are you searching for your passion, that thing that will make you wake up at 3am and HAPPILY get out of bed to work on it?
Are you longing to have inspired conversations about the best life you can create for yourself, right now?

Yes to any of these? Then you’re my people. Come on down.

To start I’m going to offer a limited number of free sessions and see where we go from there. All these sessions will be about 50 minutes long and held over the phone or skype, so location is not an issue.  To find out more info about how all this works please shoot me an email at rebecca@simplyrebecca.com

And to everyone that has been cheering me on, and you know who you are, Thank you. With all my heart Thank you.

More to come next week, I am giddy to share…

*They weren’t really lost though, I needed every one of those experiences to get me here today. Who knew you could be grateful to “wasted” time?

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This space has been quiet since the storm. Irene knocked our power out for a week and me off my game for even longer. But while it has seemingly been quiet from your view, things have actually been quite busy over here. Changes are afoot my friends, and I am growing more and more excited to share them with you. I’m hoping to unveil some newness on this here blog-o-mine one of these days, but in the meantime let me give you a wee heads up: on Friday I’ll be putting up a post and asking for some help. It would be radder than rad if you could be sure to check your email, or pop onto your reader if you have one. I’m nervous and eager and all manner of happy things…It’s a bit of a roller coaster to be honest. I’ll see you on Friday.

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Sometimes when I’m editing a photo and I play with the contrast things can get a little wonky. If I go too far on one side it can start to look fake, made up of only black and white, no hints of gray, where everything bleeds into one another. On the other hand, if I pull the sliders too far in the other direction the whole image can start to look lifeless and pale, and there are no edges to speak of. It’s a delicate balance.

The gray areas of life are pretty much where I live these days. The questions, the breathtaking expanse of unknowningness that stretches out before me, the simple but deliberate act of self-reflection; these are the paths I’m on. It’s a good place to be.

I’ve had times when there were not enough of these gray patches. When I’ve felt like I knew something with a certainty that refused to entertain doubt. Having too much contrast in my life, leaving no room for those glorious shades of gray, is to ruin any chance for expansion and, to my mind, the peace and joy that comes from discovery.

I can see that to move too far to the other side, to have no contrast at all leaves me without any sense of self. To fade into a seamless scene, absent from all the uniqueness I possess is not the kind of life I’m looking to lead. I enjoy color and spirit and differences. I just think there is something to be said for being open to the possibility– the possibility we all can choose for ourselves– that we still, and always, have more to learn.

I’d like to live with what the Buddhists call a “beginners mind”, to be able to accept experiences and information as it comes to me without judgement, to see that clinging to absolutes is futile and that within the questions themselves lie the greatest gifts.

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