Mid-Week Tune Up: Mastery at Work

The wind howled all night long and I woke up expecting  that I might see debris all over my yard this morning.  There is nothing of the sort, only big whitecaps on the ocean and gusts of wind as this storm pushes on through southern California.  The sun is shining brightly amidst big ominous clouds.  Yes, the storm always passes and the sunshine returns.

I am in disbelief that Wednesday is already here.  I have been in the flow of my work all week as time passes effortlessly.  This is not always the case, however it is becoming more of the norm as I align my effort with my interests and passion.  Although I have always sustained a high level of work ethic and drive, I haven't always put love, heart and intention in my work.  I strived to do my best, but work was WORK.

It was not until I read the book, Mastery at Work by Nicole Grace that things really shifted for me.

This book is transformative regardless of what profession you are in.  The subtitle of this book is 18 Keys for Achieving Success, Fulfillment and Joy in Any Profession.  Here is a passage from the book:

"Don't let other people's choices concern us or temper our glee. 

Love life whether it rains or snows or we are bathed in sunlight.

Live in the world, but don't be owned by it.

Spend time with other people, but don't lose touch with yourself.

Work Hard, then rest.

Give yourself to tasks fully, but find every opportunity to laugh.

Take your work seriously, but not yourself.

When you have become an expert at something, teach others.

There will always be hard days.  There will also always be beautiful days.

Remember that no experience is lasting.

Learn from everything.  Be grateful for everything.

Spend as much of your energy as possible in service to others."

This book is always on my desk for daily reference.  It reminds me that you can thrive rather than strive in your daily profession, even when the work itself is mundane or unfulfilling.  There are certainly some teachings from mysticism woven into the Nicole's writing.  The book itself is a "three-fold path to mastery to provide an enlightened approach to life and work."  They are the fundamental principles of service, detachment, and humility.  Regardless of your spiritual path or what level of self-development you aspire to, you certainly will find pearls of wisdom throughout this treasure of a book.

My favorite takeaway from Mastery at Work is the notion that we are each a guest in each other's lives.  You have been invited into someone else's workplace or life, perhaps for a limited time to accomplish a particular task.  Act like a guest, be polite and respectful, make a great impression, be of value and service, have gratitude, and perhaps you will be invited back...

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Blessings,

Jacquie

In Restrospect

photo credit: Cultivated Divine

I am a creature of habit. Daily and weekly rituals create the foundation and tether lines of my life; which otherwise would be a wild wacky ride. My Sunday morning ritual is my favorite which starts off with my hubby Mark waking me up with a smile and a vanilla latte to drink in bed, and my sweet twelve year old cavalier Harry propping himself up by my bedside to say good morning. I am so grateful for my welcome committee. After out leisurely morning coffee and conversation (which by the way is a luxury with our busy schedules) I usually write.

On Sundays, the subject matter of my writing is usually retrospective in nature as I reflect on the experiences of the prior week. This ritual helps me calibrate whether or not I am on track with my goals and dreams and gives me the opportunity to reflect on how I dealt with the unexpected potholes and experiences that life throws our way. in doing so I find I can adjust accordingly and move forward.

This week, in retrospect I am reflecting on a week of LOVE. I started off my week last Sunday with the intention of reflecting more love towards myself, my loved ones, and the world around me. I created a visual reminder for myself by wearing seven days of RED. Trust me I got a little carried away with this. I poured love into my week, my self care, my interaction with strangers (hint: lock eyes and SMILE! ) and my work. Smack in the middle of my week of LOVE was Valentines Day, an enhanced opportunity to express in words to my loved ones how much I love them. I also found great joy in the sentiments expressed by others. Of note was a man driving a VW bug bursting with red balloons. The only visible part of him was his face! Every square inch of the interior of that car was filled with red balloons. Now that's a joyful gift for anyone who saw him.

As I reflect back on this week, by naming it "week of LOVE" and setting an intention to take action, I realized that it did take on a deeper meaning for me. I felt connected to the word in my actions and deeds, I felt lighter, AND not by coincidence the week really did have a miraculous flow for me. Some great unexpected things occurred for me this week, I met a few really cool people, and I came to the realiization that the "week of LOVE" was also the week of "YES".

Naturally, after reflecting on my week, I gaze out at the horizon and ask myself, "What's Next?"
Hmmmmm.....what to name this coming week??

photo credit: Cultivated Divine

Share a comment about how you cultivate love in your life or your experience with setting intentions for yourself. I would love to hear about YOU.

Blessings,

Jacquie

Show Some LOVE!

Photo Credits:  Cultivated Divine

Happy Valentines Day!

xoxo

The Launch of Cultivated Divine

Passion Requires Careful Cultivation...(unknown)

Welcome friends to Cultivated Divine™.   If you stumbled upon this blog by accident, I will hope it is divine interlude.  If you happily landed here in support of my latest endeavors, I want to express my appreciation for you coming along for the ride.  My vision for Cultivated Divine is that is will be a little gem of a place for me to express some creativity and share some thoughts and experiences on how to tune up your soul, create some order and harmony in your life, and to share ideas and inspiration with one another.

This is all part of my ongoing journey to continue to cultivate "Who I Am" in the world and how to share it with others.  Like all of us, I have had my share of struggles....and like all of us, I have had incredible blessings in my life.  I try to count them every day.  Like many of you I even write them down.  Upon reflection it turns out the struggles are as much blessings as the moments of achievement because they make us resilient and strong.

How do I define Cultivated Divine?  To me, these words represent the two sides of me.  Sometimes they converge and other times they are a dichotomy.  And that pretty much sums up the "who I am".  I have this energy that is grounding and supportive while still maintaining the wings of a hummingbird flitting from one thing to the next.

The cultivated aspects of myself include my deep desire to nurture and promote the growth of others.  I get great joy out of that and I am positively passionate about growing, learning, and teaching.  While on the other hand, the divine aspects of myself include joy, balance, harmony, seeking creative meaning, guiding, insightfulness, and sometimes having my head in the clouds.

My job description is Interior Designer but my work goes far beyond creating beautiful spaces.  I derive great joy from helping my family, friends, and clients find balance and harmony in their lives.  We create order through organization, and sanity through simplification.  I love the design work, and I equally love the inner design work.  I have always stated "What's on the outside is a reflection of what's on the inside".....  that includes our person, the way we present ourselves, our homes, our car, our workspace, and of course, our lives.  What's your exterior landscape looking like these days?

First I want to tell you what this blog is not about.  I am a blog junkie and I LOVE to read the beautiful visual blogs curated by my colleagues in the design industry (be it fashion or interior design).  Everyday I look forward to receiving the beautiful layouts of inspiring clothing, photography, and products.  I linger over them before I go to bed, or peruse them quickly over coffee in the morning.  I can't imagine how much time that must take to find all of that content.  Like I said, I have a full time job as an interior designer, mother and wife and I would rather leave those eye candy endeavors to the experts who have the time.

My vision for this blog is to offer something different....something a bit more philosophical with a nod towards design and style.  I hope to share a perspective that may be a bit of a departure from what you are currently reading. I hope to build community to share and inspire ideas.  For example, instead of "organizational tips", I will offer tips on how to "transcend disorder".  I hope to inspire you to find balance and harmony in navigating your world, your "stuff" and your surroundings.  To assist you in making informed decisions in a world that thrives on "obtaining it now".   Have you asked yourself what is ESSENTIAL for living the best life you can?  (Hint: it's not going to be "having it all").  It's going to be different for each and every one of us.   Is there a holistic system for your life that is currently working for you?

As I previously mentioned, I love sharing but I equally love learning as well.  I hope this will be a forum where we can exchange ideas and learn from one another.  That is what cultivating is all about.  In a nutshell Cultivated Divine is a little place to tune up your soul, between living your life, surfing the net, checking your social media, earning a living, getting your groove on and the countless other things we do in a day.  So please check in from time to time.

I don't anticipate I will write everyday because of the need to live by my own advice.....that is, maintaining ongoing balance in my life...but I am making the commitment to thread little pearls of wisdom as often as I can.  At least weekly, and probably more....

I am thrilled and so appreciative that you are here with me and I hope we continue on this journey together.  Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you are currently cultivating in your life.....Share a divine moment from your day with me.

I'd love for you to check out my website (note its simplicity in design) and see what else I am creating these days:    CultivatedDivine

Blessings!

Jacquie Heil