Hey All

Welcome to my Portage Newsletter. I'm one who does not have a strong attachment to goals. Oh, I can focus on occasion but, frankly, I'm a wanderer. Like the creek in my backyard, I rarely follow a straight line. I'm continually picking up new things that cross my path, carrying them with me for awhile, and discarding old things to the bank. 

So, my intent for this newsletter, if anything, is just to present the musings of a wandering woman. Sometimes I wander in a circle and come right back to where I started. Sometimes I go off on a tangent and later find myself crossing my own trail with a contradiction. And sometimes I trip over my own boot laces! But I've learned a lot about myself in this process and from your feedback. I appreciate that feedback. Keep it coming! 

And a special thanks to those of you who have passed this newsletter on to others.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, insights and understandings. deb@portagecoach.com

And I'd love to work with you on any transition, personal or business. Just give me a call at 231-879-4178 or 877-762-4178.

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Bush Cut

I just returned from my annual May fishing frenzy in the Northern Ontario bush. These 10 days kicked off the 2005 fishing season for me. And I'm headed back up for a long weekend next Thursday through Monday. Yikes! I've got to start packing!

On this trip, we did an incredible amount of cutting. We cut brush on overgrown trails to lakes we had not yet fished. We cut up fish for dinner. We cut wood for evening campfires. We cut through weeds in shallow water to get to deeper fishing holes. We cut through the clouds of black flies on the portages to each lake. We cut cards to see who was cooking and who was cleaning. And on day five, after much whining and moaning about no longer being able to get a brush through my dirty hair, we cut that too. It took about 2 minutes. “Don't worry, I’ll take care of it” was the last thing I heard before I saw about 6 inches of my hair fly over my shoulder and into the campfire. That will teach me to keep my grousing to myself when everyone else at fish camp is looking for a good time.

It was really a very simple 10 days. Nothing was rushed. I read a couple of books and fished, ate and slept. I laughed a lot. 

And, besides the obvious new hair cut, I cut a few other things out of my life. There was no T.V., of course, at camp. And I've not had the urge to turn it on since I've been home. It wasn't really the T.V. itself that I cut out of my life. It was the trivia and inferior debris that vibrates through it. Time didn't really exist either. Oh, on some level I was aware that it was morning, afternoon or evening. I was aware that it was time to eat or sleep. But I cut out caring about what hour it was. This is so very different from my routine at home where I have clients scheduled by the hour. I think that's one of the reasons I go to the bush to fish? Time stands still and I stop being bothered by the multiple tiny thoughts that an awareness of each hour creates. There's no urge to interfere or do something about or with them. 

And the one little thing I was bothered by got handled in 2 minutes flat. How simple is that? Open my mouth and let the Universe handle the details. And thanks to my friend Jim for being such a straight cutter, stepping up to the task quickly and handling the matter before I got too obsessed!

“In wilderness is the preservation of the world.” ~~ Henry David Thoreau

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Peace and much love
Deb
 

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