Kris LeDonne 0:39

Welcome back to Picture Love, friends. If you were hear with me last week, you may recall my anchor references. Wow, there has been a reoccurring theme, and I know it might seem popular to discuss our recent loss of the transitioning of Dolly Parton out of the physical. But I really think that she deserves a moment of, of observance here on Picture Love. My perception of Dolly Parton is she is a textbook example of a life lived PIcturing Love. This woman, bless her sweetheart, she sang with love and joy. She spoke with candor and humor and wit and never stopped laughing at herself, but with love. She never stopped encouraging. Even through her illness, in her final days, she was making videos and sending love to her fans Dolly Parton was a really a bright, bright light in the world, and her legacy continues to shine. I mean, the things that she did to give to children even though she never had any of her own. Everything from building literacy to encouragement to always making time for talking to fans. I love the stories that are coming out about Dolly as people share their personal e- reflections of her. But this woman was a really, really beautiful embodiment of, and her legacy still is, of PIcturing Love. She loved herself. Her light never dimmed. Not that we saw. She shined. And no coincidences. The synchronicity of Tropical Storm Dolly forming within, I don't know, 48 hours of learning of her, her passing is kind of a little wink. And somehow I don't think this storm is going to ravage anything that it could. I think it's a little wink from her. And, and any storm worth anchoring through, I think she's given us great examples of how to anchor through a storm. She is now on my list of inspirations and muses as we build this Picture Love community. I am so thrilled that she has given us so many gifts in her wake, and I hope that what we're building here will create beautiful, beautiful ripples. I am not measuring. I'm not comparing. I'm just saying I'm showing up to do my work and to shine light into the world, and I invite you to come along with me. So if you're still listening to this you're doing it too, and I can't thank you enough But today I wanted to talk a little bit more about not just anchoring, but returning and responding instead of reacting. And I know this is a conversation that we've had in other directions before, but unfortunately, I took-- I had all within a matter of one hour, I got to be the sound wall for two people very close to me who felt underappreciated, demoted, undervalued, and treated wrongfully at their jobs. And, you know, these times everything keeps shifting, uh, and that's life. You know, the weather changes, the tides change, we change. But I'm just wondering what kind of anchor, what kind of anchor is each one of us going for right now? You know, last week when I was talking about the hurricane, I, I reminisced over from my teen years. There was not a single boat that was sharing its anchor with another. You know, those who were tied up to the docks had their security. Those who were anchored, there was never more than one boat on an anchor, and some boats had to have multiple. I don't think there's wrong with having multiple anchors as a human. But there's one tried and true anchor each and every one of us has, and it's within our hearts. If we are here, we have it. The question is, are we still sleeping to the fact that it's there? Or are we awake and mindful that this beautiful, beautiful asset wired into each one of us is there for us? Somebody else's anchor is not for me. Their example of using their own anchor is something that helps me. Comparing how much better they're doing versus me, it doesn't serve anybody. What I'm talking about is when I go into my heart and I let my head quiet enough that they're not competing for my attention, and whether it's a walk on the beach, or playing with a baby or a pet, or taking a walk in nature, or meditating, or w-- or maybe it's cooking for you, maybe it's crafting for you. Whatever your anchor is that helps you find that flow state in your heart, that anchor, and I'm sure you have more than one, is your gift to yourself waiting to be used. And what my anchor, the anchor I'm gonna talk about right now would be: When I got quiet with myself today in reflection, all of a sudden my vision was clearer. I mean my physical vision. I got calm, I got quiet, I closed my eyes for about 10 minutes, and then I went out in nature. And the grounding that getting quiet anchored me into allowed me to remember my peace. And then maybe you've heard, maybe you haven't, I have had daily visits from this orange dragonfly on our little meeting spot on my patio every day consistently, and some days it looks like it's been sitting there all day. There was one point where my husband said, "Is it even alive anymore?" But this orange dragonfly is my orange crush. That's its name that we gave it. And today, after I had anchored into my heart and I found my quiet and I found my peace, and I stepped out in the backyard and barefoot in the dewy grass, I not only saw orange crush, I saw on my new baby citrus tree, a new baby orange dragonfly. Now, this might not seem profound enough to make a podcast out of to somebody in a hurry, but to somebody who's really present with me right now, I think you see what I see in your mind. And if you don't, thank you for just hanging on while I, I identify. So dragonflies represent water and air or transformation because if you think about it, they are hatched and born in murky waters, in darkness. You can't always see that happening, you know? Kinda like the roots that form when I plant a seed. And so those dragonflies are like little promises unknown that when they hatch and when they emerge from the water, then they're airborne and they're air creatures. And the iridescence in them that hit the sunlight and the colors on them each tell their own story. And right now, orange to me represents creativity. You know, I'm creating something. I'm birthing a new community in the name of Picture Love, and I feel like that they're here and affirming me. And to me, this little baby dragonfly represents the first community member in Picture Love. You know, how we'll grow together. And a- are you one of my dragonflies? You know, this, this is a place where we're gonna all come together and, and not to fix each other. Nobody's coming to be fixed. Nobody's coming to be judged or corrected or measured The only measurements that we encourage is you measuring back to check your own growth for the sake of encouraging and learning. And there's no report card, there's no evaluation, there's no judgment. But if we were each looking at the dragonfly aspect of transformation in our own lives, those, those dragonflies can't happen without being anchored into the muck in the bottom of water. They've been anchored in, and then their presence... I, I feel like they're protectors at the same time because they eat up the things that would love to munch on my skin, and I'm grateful for the protective elements there are to that. You know, I can literally sit there with my morning coffee when it's still dewy outside, and they're busy scooping up the mosquitoes that I don't wanna be bothered with, or the gnats, or the flies. It's such a beautiful partnership. I admire their beauty. I admire their service. They're so, they're so mystical in many ways, and I think that that's something that I admire about them. I don't come to them with expectations. I come with them-- to them with appreciation. And that's, to me, that's a beautiful thing. So what if the anchoring in your heart, in your activities, in your beliefs, in your thought systems, what if the anchoring in found you in such a place of healing and, worth, self-worth, and knowing that there's a lightness that other people recognize, and it's not because you need their approval, but because by being a better version of ourselves, others benefit. So while these two loved ones were venting, let's just call it today, I practiced my presence of not trying to fix Of course, my protective side wanted to go eat a few mosquitoes, but I, I kid you not. But once I realized what I was trying to do, fortunately, I caught it before speaking it. They got to speak their piece. They got to be heard. They got to be witnessed. And they became reminders for me on how when I anchor in, I can return to myself, and I can respond with grounding instead of reactions. You know, reactions are always trying to get the last word, always trying to correct, always trying to fix, and reactions can be very destructive. But responding in love and letting somebody know that they're seen and that they're heard- It's a wonderful measurement of Picture Love. How well do we listen and witness and value? I got a memory of another Ted Lasso scene. I'm obsessed with this show. I love this show. It's such great writers, such great acting, such great stories. And the character Ted Lasso met... This is the new season that's, is dropping while I'm recording this, and, there was a scene where Ted is no longer coaching the men's football team, now he's back as coach of the new women's team, and he's meeting the female assistant coach who had a little bit of a chip on her shoulder. I'm not s- I'm not gonna say it wasn't justified, but when she's... He's like, "Oh, I've been looking forward to meeting you." And I'm paraphrasing. I, I, I don't talk Ted. Only Ted talks Ted, right? But she's like, "Oh, so you heard what a "B" I am and what a..." and rattled off some fun unflattering language that I usually don't share on Picture Love. And, and instead of Ted saying, "Oh, you're not all that," he said, "Yep, i'm looking forward to working with you." And so I love that he didn't feel the need to correct anything she said. He didn't try to, uh, dilute any unkind things that may have been said about her attitude by other people. He just witnessed her for who she was and said, "I'm so glad to meet you." What, what would that look like if everywhere we went, we were witnessing one another without judgment? You don't have to be the same or believe the same, but we can value one another the same. You know? That you're just as important as I am, and my idea is just as important as yours. Doesn't mean we have to agree, but we can value each other. We can learn from each other. We can collaborate. We can create. We can grow together. That, to me, that's something beautiful I could anchor into time and time and time again.

15:31

So when's the last time you found yourself anchored enough to respond instead of react? I wanna practice making the return. I want to make Picture Love the rhythm of returning to your anchor. Oh, that's what I meant to say. Let's make Picture Love the practice in returning to your anchor, cause when you anchor in, the tides can do crazy things, but you still know where you stand. The anchor in your heart will show you when something is right and when something needs some attention. That anchor lets you know who you are no matter what people are projecting your direction. That anchor lets you know your truth and you know your value even when others don't see it. That anchor lets you decide how much longer am I willing to weather this storm before I change locations or change jobs or invite a co-captain?

Kris LeDonne 16:52

There's so many more ways to play this chess game than to sit there and wait for somebody else's move. Let's play this chess game. I don't play chess. I don't know how to play chess. I'm speaking metaphorically, of course. But let's play this chess game with joy and anchoring into our quiet instead of our overthinking, and know that you might have your next few moves lined up, but that doesn't mean you know what somebody else's moves are. And what if the outcome could be even better than you had pictured in your mind in the first place? It's not always about winning and losing. Most of the time, it's just about showing up and trying. And I don't think that we celebrate showing up and trying again enough. When I show up, and I try something hard again, and I give myself a chance to learn from the mistakes, and I anchor into that truth of I'm still in progress, that's me PIcturing Love for myself. And when I do that, then I'm more present with somebody else, and I could see it when they do it for themselves, and that's the kind of cheerleader that I aspire to be. The one who catches them PIcturing Love for themselves and saying, "Keep going. You're doing great. I know it's hard. I know it's hard, but you have an anchor. You have three anchors, and when you use them, you can't go wrong." Let's remember to return to our anchor I guarantee you are somebody's Ted Lasso or Dolly Parton in their lives. So your light really, really matters. Please keep going. Please keep PIcturing Love for yourself and try to Picture Love for yourself first because that's where your light will shine brighter for yourself and everybody else. One more thing. I love you, friend. Keep going. You got this.