Tag Archives: Life

Natural Gifts: Do You Know What Yours Are? What Would You Like To Be Doing?

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My thriftiness was the inspiration that got me started making jewelry 13 years ago.  I was too cheap to pay $10 bucks for a bead change on my belly ring (Nope, I don’t have one anymore) at the tattoo place, when I could get a whole package for less than half that.  The only dilemma was what was I going to do with the rest of the beads?

I like to learn new things and since they string beads at kids’ summer camp, I figured making jewelry wasn’t beyond me.  So, I bought my first pair of pliers, some crimps, wire and catches and off I went.  First, I made an anklet, then earrings, then a necklace and bracelet.  I was hooked.  I learned how to bend wire (LOOOOVE bending wire and banging it into designs.) Very quickly, I outgrew the jewelry aisle at the craft store and began going to bead shops, mail order companies, metal companies and lapidaries for semi-precious stones and silver.  I made gifts for friends and eventually starting selling my one-of-a-kind pieces in 2006 under the name Chickyrhumba (a nickname my mom had for me when I was little.)

I closed the business in 2012 but I still enjoy making jewelry and I am proud of the work that I did.  The funny part is I am not sure I would have ever pursued it directly if it hadn’t been for my now defunct belly ring.  Honestly, I am just like that.  Life tends to have to inspire me to try new things indirectly or I need to ease into them somehow…slowly, sometimes VERY slowly.  I practiced yoga for several months on my own before I ever went to a class, just so I wouldn’t feel like a complete spaz doing it in public for the first time.

I suspect I am not alone when it comes to being a bit fearful about trying new things, even things I suspect I would enjoy.  Many of us are probably a bit nervous about looking foolish or fear that we may not be good at the chosen activity we admire or maybe, we don’t even know why we don’t make the effort.   Perhaps, there has just been an underlying current of subliminal messages in our minds telling us things like, “I don’t come from artistic people,” or “I have never been good at any sports.”  So, we stay stuck in our little safe box.

The cool thing is that if you manage to reach beyond your comfort zone, you just might amaze yourself with what you accomplish.  There are so many quotes about going beyond your comfort zone, it’s hard to know which came first.  I like Robert Allen’s “Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone.”  (It just sounds so promising!)  More importantly, it’s a good way to take care of yourself.  You may find a new vocation that makes you successful beyond your wildest dreams or you may just find something you really enjoy doing.  Either way, it’s time well spent!

So, what have you always wanted to learn how to do that you have been putting off?  I would love to hear from you.

Love and Blessings to All,

Cynthia

Please follow me on Twitter.  Also, please LIKE my Facebook Page.

justdragonfly

Letting Go: Sorting Through My STUFF

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I just watched the last piece of my Nana’s cherry wood set get hauled away.  I dragged that set with me from home to home for the last fourteen years and today, I let it go to an appreciative young man who was probably furnishing his first apartment.

I moved out of my parents’ house over 19 years ago.  Hurricane Sandy brought me back here temporarily.  My dental reconstruction is keeping me here a while longer.  Deciding it was better to have funds available to pay my various dentists than for storage fees, I cleared out my POD this weekend.

I am a fiercely independent person.  I do not enjoy asking for help.  However, this situation has required that I learn how to accept it and I am definitely grateful for the help that has been extended to me by friends and family.  I’d be lying if I said I was excited about the idea of sorting through all my crap and deciding what stays and what goes.  It’s a perfect beach weekend and that is where I would rather be.

Rather than dwell on the loss of my independence (and a good beach weekend) though; I’ve decided to view this as an opportunity to let go of what I don’t need and welcome a fresh start.  While I was looking through one box, I found a baseball card album filled with Steve Sax cards.  My boyfriend in college gave it to me as a birthday present one year.  I had remarked that Steve Sax had a cute tush and he thought it would be funny to give me all his cards.  It was funny but not funny enough to keep toting around decades after we broke up; especially when I never really wanted it in the first place.

The baseball card album was one of his better gifts too.  One year he gave me a toolbox filled with tools.  I didn’t want that either.  The nicest things one of my friends at the time said about it was “tell him next year, you want a jewelry box and to fill that up too.”  The rising chorus from my friends was “dump him” and eventually I did.  So, why do I still have this little album all these years later?  Who the fuck knows… I am a sentimental person but I think this is a good time to reevaluate what I want to keep in my life and what NEEDS to go.

I also have this sense that letting go of unnecessary stuff will make room for new and better things, opportunities and experiences in my life.  I think I will do a mental overhaul while I am at it and let go of accumulated fears, pains, frustrations and insecurities… I’m sure I have a book on that in one of these damn boxes…

What do you need to let go of?  Have you had a positive experience after letting go of items you no longer needed?  I would love to hear from you!

Love and blessings to all,

Cynthia

Please follow me on Twitter.  Also, please LIKE my Facebook Page.

My First Blog Post: A New Beginning …

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May I just say, starting a new blog is a little intimidating!  My mind is swirling with so many thoughts: 1. Will anyone read it?  2. If they do…will they like it?  3. And the most frightening thought of all: What should my first post be about?  Hmmmm…

Then I came across this quote:

And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings…

Meister Eckhart

So, that’s what my first blog post is about: A new beginning!  What could be more appropriate?

Cynthia Lenz’s Naturally Healthy and Happy Blog is a new beginning for me in so many ways.  Starting this blog today begins a new life purpose for me… but please allow me to back up for a moment and tell you about some recent endings.

Like so many people who lived along the waterfront in the Northeastern U.S, my home was flooded by Hurricane Sandy.  Thankfully, I had a warm, safe place to go and stay with family; where I currently still reside.  Then in December, after six plus years, I decided to close my business, Chickyrhumba.  It was an emotional decision but selling my handmade jewelry has been a struggle in the current economy.  So, suffice it to say, selling it, wasn’t nearly as joyous as making it.  Although I still really love making jewelry, I feel called to a higher purpose which is helping people get fit, happy and healthy in a natural way.  And this blog is where I shall begin.  Thank you for joining me!

So, what can you expect to see here on weekly basis?  Essentially, all things in regard to health, happiness and living more closely aligned with nature (have I mentioned I can be very literal sometimes?) If you are a girly girl or a metro-sexual male, don’t worry!  I won’t be writing odes to living on a hippie commune or coming up with little ditties on and when not to flush the toilet to save water.

Life is about growth, not perfection.  I will be sharing information I have found over the years on how to feel great, look great, be kind, eat well and take better care of Mama Earth while you take care of yourself.  We’ll be getting into all the different facets of wellness in the weeks, months and hopefully years to come.  From time to time, I’ll include some of my own struggles with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, as well as, the solutions I have found to alleviate it over the last twenty plus years.   And, of course, there will be much MUCH more but let’s keep a little mystery for now, shall we?

Thank you for reading my first blog post.  I appreciate your time and would love to hear from you as this journey continues.  What would you like to get started? Let me know what you plan to begin and about the magic comes from it.

Love and Blessings to all,

Cynthia

Follow me on twitter! My handle is @cynthialenz.  Please LIKE my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/naturallyhealthyhappy