Dancing the Wild Fandango

Our dreams wait in the wings 
for us to step into their arms
so they can dance away with us.

Those of you who know me, know I love to dance and I love to fly, so I like the imagery of the above saying. It's got wings (yeah, double entendre there), and dancing, and theater (the double). Okay, I'm not so big on theater and acting. Don't get me wrong; I'd like to give it a try if I had the time and the guts. But really, public speaking is not my favorite thing. Has anybody out there done Toastmasters? I keep thinking I should join a group. What about karaoke? I went out twice last week for karaoke and there were some pretty weak performances. But who cares? I admired them for getting up and belting out tunes.

In any case, I am getting a little more practice talking in front of people, with a whole bunch of speaking opportunities in the next two months. I am doing book readings and luncheons and dinners and school assemblies and conferences (if you're going to the NW Aviation Conference, I'll be speaking Saturday at 2:15 - come say hi!). I used to be quite susceptible to stage fright. Like anything, practice makes perfect, and I am finding that I enjoy the challenge of sharing my passions with groups of people.

What is it that scares you? What do you avoid? What do  you secretly wish you had the guts to do? Sometimes, you  just gotta step into whatever it is that scares you and suddenly you find you are dancing to new and exhilarating music.Or just doing something wild and crazy on the beach. Whatever works for you!

As always, I love to hear your thoughts via email at cjmighell@gmail.com

xo, Cate

A B-52 Year

Greetings!

We are well into the New Year of 2014 and I have also begun my personal New Year, having celebrated my birthday on January 10th.

If last year was my P-51 year (Powerful 51), this year is my B-52 (Bountiful 52). A few years ago, the B-52 completed 50 years of continuous service (just like me) and is expected to continue to serve into the 2040s (absolutely! I intend to be running strong then too!). The B-52 has "superior performance at high subsonic speeds and relatively low operating costs" (ah, the similarities continue!) And its nickname is "BUFF" which also applies :-) (I won't tell you what the acronym stands for, because it definitely doesn't work in the search for commonalities!).

As you can see from the picture, the B-52 has gone through a number of evolutions and iterations, as have I.

And that, perhaps, is the key to surviving so long - the ability to adapt and  improve, and the willingness to accept change. Change is one of the most difficult things for us to embrace. We often fight against the inevitable evolution of life. We hold tightly to people and places that no longer serve us simply because we fear the uncertainty that letting go would cause; We resist losing those we love, whether it be through diverging paths or as a result of death, because we dread the pain that loss would bring; We insist on continuing behavior or patterns that are destructive because they are comfortable. We are indeed creatures of habit.

It was not until I learned to accept change, embrace it even, as part of the beautiful evolution of being, that I really began to relax into my life. The tumultuousness of change is a bit like the churning of a washing machine. At the end of the cycle, everything comes out fresh and clean. All that tossing about can be a bit jarring, but it is a necessary process to keep us from getting stale and stagnant.

And so, I enter my B-52 year excited about all the changes the new year will bring. For starters, I am planning to create a new look for this blog. I have let it lapse a bit lately and would like to morph into a slightly new direction - some aviation, some adventure, some ad-libbing on various subjects. I hope you will all make that transition with me and invite others along for the ride. More details to follow on that....

In the meantime, go out there and shake it up a bit!

xo, Cate