Solocast: Snapping Out of It

In this episode, Dawn shares how she's been in a bit of a funk this summer, and how a hummingbird helped her to "snap out of it."

We also discuss this early podcast episode and original viral blog post from 2021 about doing things that are "not on the list."

Get in touch with Dawn: 

• On Instagram @practicebalance
• On the web practicebalance.com
• Buy the book Lean Out

Transcript

Dawn 0:00

Welcome to the lean out podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Don baker. Are you looking for a new approach to finding work-life balance? You've come to the right place. Listen, as I interview amazing women professionals, who've taken the steps to lean out. And find balance on their own terms.

0:19

Hello. Hello. Thanks for joining me. There has been a little bit of a lapse in my recordings. And that has been partially because I have been crazy sick. I don't know what I've had, but it's affected my voice and I've had hard time, not coughing for the last three weeks. I'm finally getting out of that and I really wanted to bring you this special solo cast today, before we resume with our regular interviews. And I have a couple of really. Great upcoming interviews for you. So stay tuned for those. Well, I looked up today and I noticed that it was already August and that just blew my mind. we live on a large off-grid mountain property. And there are lots of projects to be done. They're endless projects. So we recently moved into our new tiny house set up on the property that we have been designing for over a year. To fit in the perfect meadow with the perfect view. And the projects leading up to this and the ones that are yet to come have collided with all of the summer kid activities and then my trouble for work, which is approximately three to four hours away. For five days a month have just made the summer feel very chaotic. And moving, even from a small space to another small space, it's just really overwhelming all of the organization that goes into fitting everything. Where it needs to be in a tiny home. Can really baffle your mind. We've been bumping into each other in the kitchen. And there are just piles of things that we need to organize. I need to buy things in order to organize all of our stuff. And I actually, to be honest, have been particularly grumpy about it. Now part of that maybe is because I've been a little sick. And part of it maybe is because I also have a hard time with change. I'm very resistant to change I resist and resist and then eventually need to just accept. Also, there are just so many things to do that I've been feeling. Overwhelmed. There are so many things to keep straight in my head. When I'm on service in the hospital, all I focus on is patient care. And there are always endless projects to do related to leaning out to sharing that with everyone and all the things that go with the book, the podcast. And everything. So amongst the chaos and all the to-dos, the Tobias and the reminders that I have written all over, all these scraps of papers that are in my purse and laying on the desk. I had to stop and share this story with you. And what it taught me. It was one of those kinds of moments and it reminds me of. In the beginning of my book, I talk about my daughter asking me to play and do things that are not on the list. It was that kind of a moment. And if you don't know what I'm referring to, there's a solo cast episode early on where you can hear the introduction to my book and it has that story in it. It caused me to snap out of all this over-scheduled overwhelmed. So that's what I want to share with you today. There is a fixture on our tiny house. It was on our old house and now it's on our new house and that is a hummingbird feeder. It hangs in a very prominent window so that we can have endless entertainment. From hummingbirds all summer long. You know, it's summer. If there are a ton of hummingbirds around and they are crazy, if you've ever been around them. They buzz around you. They hover, they dive bomb. They kind of Peck at each other and fight each other. Do all sorts of crazy things. Just to get a little drink of a sugar water out of a plastic flower. And our feeder has four little flower shape holes, and I've seen as many as seven or eight birds there at one time, just buzzing around each other. It's really fun to watch. So the hummingbirds. Have been spreading the word, I guess, because they know the feeder is in this new location. And we've gotten a lot of birds buzzing by other windows as well. So windows on the opposite side of the house are very large, 12 foot long sliding glass door that provides our view of the mountains. They even hover around the car windows when the cars are parked near the house. And they're just looking for the nectar, I guess they really like it. So yesterday. A hummingbird. Flew straight into the big glass store. And I happened to be sitting right there in front of it, scrutinizing over, ordering something dumb, like window coverings. And I witnessed this bird face plant into the glass and fall down with a thud to the ground. All of us. Stood up and looked over. The bird was upside down. The wings were slightly sputtering and its neck was crooked kind of sideways. And immediately my husband and I said to my daughter, Probably the bird is going to die any second because the neck looks like it's broken. And when we tried to explain this to her, she was just in disbelief and. All she could do was go try to gather tools and she wanted to get a dog poop bag and tried to scoop up this bird and save it and get him to fly again. And with a somber look in our eyes. We just said to her, he's probably not going to fly again. So in trying to make her feel better. We said things like my husband said, he made a bad mistake. And I said, these things happen. It's part of the cycle of life. And then my husband ever practical and logical decided to say, yeah, well maybe a hock will come and eat him. And that led to major tiers and stomping off into the bedroom. And sobs, and it was a big dramatic scene. So we tried to go console our daughter and. We gave her some hugs. She started to cry a little bit less, and then I said, let's. Just go take a walk and get our mind off of things. At first, she didn't want to walk out the front door, the sliding glass door where the bird was. And she said, well, okay, I'll only go on a walk. If we walk out the back door. But then by the time we got our shoes on and we were already. She said, okay. It's all right. I can walk by the bird. And so I said, why don't we. Do a little prayer for the bird and give him a little blessing when we go outside for our walk. So she agreed and we stepped outside. And she started gathering up. Little flower buds and ripping off the stems from flowers. And she very gingerly put a ring of flowers around this little bird and the bird was still upside down. And there were kind of like a few little flaps every now and then it was almost like he was agonal breathing or something. And then she goes and gets a few more. Flowers. And I could hear her crying. She was trying to hold it back. She sprinkled the flowers on the bird and in that instant, the bird flipped over and flew away. Into the pine trees And we were all just in shock in disbelief And then I was the one crying. In this moment, I realized so many things. As adults, we get older and we lose faith. We become cynical, but kids are still full of wonder. Aspen news not to give up on this bird. She wanted to try to save it and we almost didn't let her. If we hadn't gone out and taken that walk. The bird definitely would have died. And at her age, it's just wonderful to see that. She still believes in magic. I want to be present enough in my life to witness magic when it happens. And I don't ever want to give up on anything or anyone as easily, again. I really want to remember to listen to my daughter's wisdom. She has so much of an amazing creative spirit. And lately I've just been in my little world of worry and of overwhelm. And I have been letting that spirit hum in the background. And deal with my own frustrations and not really honor it. Lastly, this bird was assigned to me. To remember again, what is important and to not get bogged down and all the minutia of life. So a few minutes after this moment happened, we were still standing at the scene, hugging and laughing and crying. Just amazed and a hummingbird actually buzzed over by us and hovered right in front of our faces for a second. It could have been one of the many birds that have been buzzing by, but we'd like to think that it was that same bird saying, thank you. So, what can you do if you find yourself wrapped up in your hot mess of a life? Take a pause. Look for some magic somewhere. Anywhere around you. Maybe it's with your kids. Other family members. Pets. Something outside. Also have faith that it will all be okay. Remember what really matters. Thanks for listening to the lean out podcast. If you like what you hear, please leave a review for this podcast on iTunes or Spotify. So other people needing this kind of community and inspiration can find it easier. Also, you can support this podcast and learn more about the ideas presented by buying my book, lean out a professional woman's guide to finding authentic work-life balance. Lastly, if you want more information about working with me. Please visit my website@wwwdotpracticebalance.com.