Kimberly Wilson's Blog, page 71

Tranquility du Jour #427: Bookwifery

Bookwifery with Christianne Squires. In this week’s edition of Tranquility du Jour, we discuss the trimesters of book pregnancy, what discernment is and how to use it, her advice to stuck writers, and more.

New to Tranquility du Jour? Learn more here.

 



Direct download: Tranquility du Jour #427: Bookwifery

Upcoming Events

Year of Tranquility: Join anytime

Tranquility du Jour Live: September 23

Softening into Fall Virtual Retreat: October 20

Writing in the Woods: October 26-28 in West Virginia {4 spots left}

Tranquility in the Topics: February 16-23, 2019 in Costa Rica

Tranquility in Tuscany: July 13-20, 2019 {8 spots left}

Featured Guest:




Christianne Squires is the founder of Bookwifery, a company that helps contemplatives, teachers, and leaders birth books that heal the world with light. She supports fledgling authors in this way through her book-pregnancy-themed online courses, her popular free workshop that helps people discern if they are pregnant with a book, and the recently launched Bookwifery podcast.

Christianne worked in publishing and editorial for nearly twenty years and as a spiritual director for nearly ten and says it is her great delight to have merged those two vocations into the work she does at Bookwifery. She is active on Instagram (her favorite social platform) and lives in Winter Park, Florida, with her husband, Kirk, and their two cats, Aslan and Lucy.






Find Christianne
Facebook

Instagram

Website

Podcast

Courses
Mentioned in the Podcast

Sign up for Love Notes and access Tranquil Treasures

Social Media



Eye candy on Instagram
Pin along with me on Pinterest
Let’s connect on Facebook
Follow moi on Twitter
Watch via YouTube


More Tranquility

Shop slow locally-made, eco-friendly fashion: TranquiliT
Browse my 5 Books
Tranquility-filled E-courses
Download the Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android
Read about my passion for animals

Request

Pen a review on iTunes and/or share this podcast via social media.
Pen a review of my books on Amazon or Goodreads.


Techy

To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes.
New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411.
Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released.
Get the Tranquility du Jour apps to download the podcast “automagically” on iOS or Android

The post Tranquility du Jour #427: Bookwifery appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Welcome to My Office

The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.—Maya Angelou

After three years of seeing therapy clients at The Women’s Center downtown, I began private practice early last year. Craving character and charm, my practice launched in a historic building off Dupont Circle, The Anchorage Building. I started, as many therapists do, by subletting other therapists’ space.

For nearly a year and a half I’ve shared a few offices with other therapists while craving the opportunity to create my own space. As the Maya Angelou quote above mentions, I wanted to set up a safe space for myself and clients. Something more me.

Every few months followed up with the building management to inquire about any space opening in this sweet, five-story structure. Finally, a room with a fireplace and window opened. And it turned out to be the very first space I had sublet, so I knew it intimately.

Within days I signed the lease, sent in my deposit, and chose the furnishings for an August 1 move in date. My tiny apartment was soon filled with large boxes awaiting their new home.

When designing the space, I started with the bigger pieces: a champagne tufted velvet chair, a beige tufted velvet settee, a champagne gold mirror desk, a baroque acrylic chair, a smoky crystal chandelier, and a mirror coffee table. I craved cozy, comfy, and chic.

Then I filled in the rest. Obsessed with details, I carefully chose: a letter board with pink, white, and gold letters, a handwoven jute rug, faux fur pink pillows and a white faux fur sheepskin rug, a champagne-colored aromatherapy machine, a pink urn-styled bowl for mints, a gold urn-styled bowl for a tea assortment, an acrylic trash can, tray, and tissue box, pothos, philodendron, and peace lily plants in various shades of green (all known to purify the air), a gold baroque mirror tray, a gold baroque mirror for the fireplace mantle, two retro silver clocks, a medallion for the chandelier, gold pig bookends (still to come and will be spray painted gold), and birch wood for the fireplace.

I wanted to create a soft, feminine, inviting space filled with comforting touches. The jute rug and plants bring in natural elements, while the chandelier and faux fur provide luxurious elements.

It appears the style leans a little boho glam. There are a few how-to articles that I found after choosing my decor and wondering what to call it. Here’s one from Surround Yourself, Houzz, and Decorista.

And the best part, I stayed under a $2,000 budget thanks to Target (coffee table), Overstock (velvet chair), Ebay (chandelier/medallion), and Amazon (everything else, yep, even the plants).

The only item I purchased in person is the large peace lily and pot in the window. The remaining items were brought from home or used in my previous offices—books, rattan and damask file boxes, K mug, water bottle, pens, washi tape, and candle.

It’s my first full week of seeing clients in this office and it feels soft, light, and airy. A home away from home. A safe space to explore, process, and be. I feel honored to help facilitate the experience in this setting. Bisous. x

{photos by Marie Maroun}

The post Welcome to My Office appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Tranquilosophy: Parisian Flair

A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life.—Thomas Jefferson

A few months after graduating from college in 1995, I found myself on an overnight train heading from Brussels to Paris with a childhood friend. Passengers slept on their backpacks as the train chugged along, but I was wide awake, tossing and turning in my upright seat, unable to get comfortable enough to sleep. I pulled out my journal and alternated between writing and staring out the window into the darkness for the next few hours.

Backpackers stirred as the train made its way into Paris’ Gare du Nord station. Remembering Monet’s train station paintings, I visualized him with his easel, paints, and brushes capturing the trains coming and going in this early morning light. We hopped off the train with our backpacks stuffed with essentials: clothing, a six-inch thick Let’s Go Europe guide, toiletries, shoes, passport, train tickets, Walkman, cassette tapes filled with favorite recorded songs by artists such as The Cranberries and The Goo Goo Dolls, and journal.

Consulting our guidebook, we decided on a hostel in the Fifth Arrondissement. Exhausted, I stumbled the few blocks out of the Saint-Michel metro one exaggerated step at a time to a large white cinder block building that stood out among the city’s Haussmanns.

We made our way through the light and airy lobby filled with couches, big windows, and a chandelier and up to the desk to reserve a room. Eager to drop our packs, I couldn’t wait to go horizontal after a sleepless night.

Without realizing it, we’d chosen to visit Paris during Bastille Day celebrations so the city was covered in blue, white, and red. During my time visiting da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Monet’s Water Lilies, I became an avid consumer of baguette sandwiches, learned “Parlez-vous anglais?,” and struggled with counting francs. I fell in love with the City of Light. The bookstands along the Seine, fine art, architecture, pastries, and style won this Oklahoma girl over.

I returned again in 2009, nearly 15 years later and am lured back each year. Paris is my happy place. My time there serves as a battery recharge—a sacred opportunity to step out of routine and into an environment that exudes beauty. I’m often asked, “Why Paris? What makes it so special?” Trying to answer this is both simple and complicated at the same time.

Let me start with simple. It’s the beauty that infuses daily life in Paris. Author Vicki Archer says, “Paris is a poem of adjectives and a list of superlatives.”

Open-air markets filled with fresh produce displayed in colorful rows. Iconic arched bridges enhanced with gold leaf statues and iron lampposts. Lingering at sidewalk café to sip pots of green mint tea for hours. Black clothing and ballet flats. Flower markets filled with peonies, roses, and lilies displayed by color.

Passion for physical books. An abundance of bubbly and rosé. Rows of Hausmannian buildings. Details inside these buildings: crown molding, fine linens, crystal chandeliers, antique furnishings, colorful front doors, wrought iron balconies filled with flowers.

The encouragement to stroll aimlessly—flâneur—entirely on foot. Gertrude Stein and Hemingway’s homes. Rose macarons, Pain au Chocolat, crêpes, and frites. Moroccan hammams, spas, and lingerie enhanced with lace, bows, and ruffles. Gothic churches, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower.

Pharmacies filled with skin care potions. Well-manicured gardens filled with greenery, statues, and flowers. Perfume. Croissants. Scarves. Men in red pants. Dogs allowed in restaurants. Bikes, motor scooters, and kick scooters as common forms of transportation. Museums filled with masterpieces. Edith Piaf and Carla Bruni. The sounds of an accordion. Red lips. The Shakespeare and Company bookstore and café.

Now for the complicated. Without being too cliché, it’s the je ne sais quoi. You know, the quality that cannot be named or easily described. I feel it as I walk through the halls of Charles de Gaulle and sink into it as the cab pulls into Paris and I spot the iconic Eiffel Tower on the horizon. There’s an energy there that’s different than the bright lights and frenetic pace of any other big city. It’s more of a feminine energy whispering, “Savor me, slow down, drink me in.”

When I return from jaunts to Paris, I try to keep the feeling alive. I walk or bike to and from appointments. I spray my face with a vitamin C infusion and dab on eye cream. I listen to Paris cafe music. I pick up flowers and produce from the market. I meet friends for tea. I wear noir, red lips, cat eye liner, and a colorful scarf. I have rosé during dinner. I sip green tea with mint. Before bed, I spritz perfume and crawl under soft linens with a book in hand.

While I may not live in Paris more than a week or so each year, I long to infuse my days with these little gems that make life special. As Annie Dillard says, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

I’d like to live mine with Parisian flair—attention to details, appreciation of beauty, passion for pleasures, a slower pace. Bisous. x

P.S. Below is a 25-minute video I recorded while in Paris last month introducing my new friend François, a peek into the Penning in Paris retreat, and words of wisdom from the book Paris Letters.

The post Tranquilosophy: Parisian Flair appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

July in Review

The people that I liked and had not met went to the big cafes because they were lost in them and no one noticed them and they could be alone in them and be together.—Hemingway

Month in Review

Last month’s jaunt to Paris truly was a moveable feast. From riding a carousel, to eating a vegan rhubarb kiwi crisp, to writing in Luxembourg Garden, to doing yoga in the Tuileries, to sipping pot after pot of green mint tea at sidewalk cafes. Suffice it to say, the experience was sensory-filled and I’ll be writing about it here shortly.

July provided a few exciting opportunities such as signing a lease on my own office space (I’ve been subletting the past 1.5 years), seeing Ain’t Too Proud at The Kennedy Center (SO good), meeting Jamie Cat Callan, and spending 10 days in Paris.

In addition to these experiences, I made it to the other side of a 10-day summer cold, enjoyed two belated birthday teas with girlfriends, shipped 70 Year of Tranquility care packages, conducted interviews for upcoming podcasts, hosted two Facebook Lives, handled TONS of Paris logistics from hotel to transport to programming to goody bags, hosted five weeks of the Year of Tranquility yoga module, spent hours online purchasing furnishings for my new office (blush or gold?), took numerous ballet classes and am FINALLY seeing some improvement, hosted a five-day Paris writing retreat with a GREAT group, penned numerous thank-you notes, sent a Love Note,  co-hosted a Pigs & Pugs Project board meeting, released three podcasts, collaborated with therapy and mentoring clients, and did my best to navigate jet lag.

I chose the Hemingway quote at the top because I resonate with the people in the big cafes. There’s something about being solo in a group of people that feels comforting and anonymous. It’s my favorite place to be. As an INFJ I crave alone time, desire to go unnoticed in public places (wearing all black helps with that), and am quite private (despite blogging since 2004).

At some point during the last five months of 2018 I want to go on a quiet, contemplative getaway that involves getting lost in Parisian cafes, a Redwood forest filled with ferns three times my size, or a cabin in the woods surrounded by snow-capped firs. Alone, yet together with other cafe goers or wild creatures inhabiting the woods. If you have any location suggestions where Gizmo can tag along, I’m all ears. Bisous. x

August Wish List

Settle into my new office

Daily reading time

Finish Happily Ever Esther

Read A Moveable Feast

Cultivate backyard garden

Savor walks with pups

Lots of girlfriend time

See McQueen

Take three weekly ballet classes

Organize Tranquility du Jour and Year of Tranquility feedback into projects

Learn lots at Main Street Vegan Master Class in NYC

Finish Module 2 and 3 of Journal Therapy program

Finish Module 1 of Veterinary Social Work

Daily greens

Collaborate with therapy and mentoring clients

Pen blog post about Paris, my new office, and my “uniform”

Consider home kitchen and bathroom renovation

Schedule self-care {Year of Tranquility monthly focus}

Update therapy website with new photos

Savvy Sources

Forget a Fast Car: Creativity is the New Midlife Crisis Cure

Why You Should Be Revisiting Your New Year’s Resolutions

8 Outdoor Spaces to Inspire Your Own Small Space Oasis

Taking Control of Your Distracted Mind

Beginner’s Guide to Boho Glam

Reinventing Yourself

10 Wellness Tips to Live Like a Parisian

50 Ways to Cultivate a Creative Habit

The post July in Review appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Tranquility du Jour #426: Breaking Up with Busy

Breaking Up with Busy with Yvonne Tally. In this week’s edition of Tranquility du Jour, we discuss the overscheduled woman, tips to break up with being busy, and ways to understand what’s driving our behavior.

New to Tranquility du Jour? Learn more here.

 



Direct download: Tranquility du Jour #426: Breaking Up with Busy

Upcoming Events

Year of Tranquility: Join anytime

Softening into Fall Virtual Retreat: October 20

Writing in the Woods: October 26-28 in West Virginia {4 spots left}

Tranquility in the Topics: February 16-23, 2019 in Costa Rica

Tranquility in Tuscany: July 13-20, 2019 {8 spots left}

Featured Guest:

Yvonne Tally is the author of Breaking Up with Busy and leads meditation and de-stressing programs for corporations, individuals, and private groups in Silicon Valley. An NLP master practitioner, Yvonne cofounded Poised Inc., a Pilates and wellness training studio, and is the founder of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarves, a charity that provides headscarves to cancer patients. She lives in Northern California. Visit her online at YvonneTally.com.

 

Find Yvonne
Facebook:   facebook.com/livelifevibrantly
Twitter: twitter.com/yvonnetally
Instagram: instagram.com/yvonne_tally

Website: yvonnetally.com
Mentioned in the Podcast

20-minute video recorded in Paris

Sign up for Love Notes and access Tranquil Treasures

The Busy Trap article

Social Media



Eye candy on Instagram
Pin along with me on Pinterest
Let’s connect on Facebook
Follow moi on Twitter
Watch via YouTube


More Tranquility

Shop slow locally-made, eco-friendly fashion: TranquiliT
Browse my 5 Books
Tranquility-filled E-courses
Download the Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android
Read about my passion for animals

Request

Pen a review on iTunes and/or share this podcast via social media
Pen a review of my books on Amazon or Goodreads.


Techy

To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes.
New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411.
Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released.
Get the Tranquility du Jour apps to download the podcast “automagically” on iOS or Android

The post Tranquility du Jour #426: Breaking Up with Busy appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Paris Day Ten

Paris Day 10: packed, sat at a cafe to soak in the last bits of Paree, and reflected on takeaways {blog post this week}. Arrived home at 9pm {3am Paris time} excited to be reunited with all the pets. Thanks to jet lag, I woke up at 3am ET and thought it was a good idea to water the garden?! Au revoir, Paris, your sheer existence is a soul balm.

The post Paris Day Ten appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Paris Day Nine

Paris Day 9: Vegan brunch at Aujourd’hui Demain, cafe time at Merci, browsed vintage at Kilo Shop, hosted a dinner fête chez moi, and finished watching Midnight In Paris.

The post Paris Day Nine appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Paris Day Eight

Paris Day 8: Last writing session with retreaters at Shakespeare and Company, lunch followed by tea time with Tim on the Left Bank, a jaunt to Au nom de la Rose to pick up rose-infused treats, savored a spontaneous Thai massage, waited out the rain on the second floor of Shakespeare and Co and enjoyed the 25 degree temperature drop, dined al fresco with Tim and his cousin Sara, watched half of Midnight In Paris before my eyes got too heavy.

The post Paris Day Eight appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Paris Day Seven

Paris Day 7: Yoga + writing in Luxembourg garden, hosted dinner and call with Janice MacLeod-Lik who shared writing tips from Paris Letters chez moi, surprise jaunt to Tour Montparnasse to watch the sun set and the Eiffel Tower sparkle. 

The post Paris Day Seven appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Paris Day Six

 

Paris Day 6: Wrote in Luxembourg Garden, meditated in Paris’ oldest church, savored lunch at Laduree, wandered through Montparnasse, hosted a Tranquility du Jour Facebook Live event, and noshed on vegan pizza at a sidewalk cafe {when the temperature was finally down to 89 degrees . . . at 10:30pm}.

The post Paris Day Six appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.