Standing Still-Spaghetti on the Wall’s Origin Story

Following a visit with a client where we attended her favorite yoga class, I decided to sign up at my local yoga studio for a series of classes. Yoga is one of those things that has always seemed like a good idea until I am actually doing it. Believe me, I have wanted to like yoga and meditation.

Fast forward a few months, I am loving both of these things: yoga and meditation. I am becoming somewhat addicted to breathing. And being still. Actively still, if that makes sense. 

Being still in my family usually meant that something was wrong, more specifically something was wrong with you. In order to be a contributing member of society, to be a good person meant that you needed to always be doing something and by extension, moving around. I really took that message to heart. I kept busy. I stay busy. The other upside of keeping busy is that you could stay out of the way. It was important not to get into anyone’s way.

As I moved into young adulthood, I kept close this value of staying busy and being in motion. I remember this feeling of being in a rush to get somewhere. Of course, how in the world would I know where I was going because I never took the time to slow down. I was a perpetual motion machine.

After two divorces, a series of careers and professional experiences, multiple houses, I came up with the idea for a journal called Spaghetti on the Wall. It is a way to develop a habit of discernment. I developed it for my clients. We all know how this goes: I was the one most in desperate need developing a habit of discernment. 

We are now 8 years since the inception of the SOTW journal. This past month I have re-issued copies of the journal. I am excited to re-introduce Spaghetti on the Wall: an elegant journal for the messy ideas of life, to the world.

P.S. Copies are available for purchase, and I am available for workshops.

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Recipe to Welcome a New Baby on 12/27/96

in anticipation of the birth of my second child who was due after Christmas in 1997, inspired this reflection written as a recipe or life instructions. I was excited and nervous because I wasn’t sure if I had enough love in my heart for this new child. My heart had broken open with the birth of my first baby.

Get to Know Yourself and Then You Can Trust Yourself with Kristan Swan

Get to Know Yourself and Then You Can Trust Yourself with Kristan Swan

In this conversation, Kristan Swan discusses the importance of self-trust and how it is foundational for making better choices in life. She reflects on her journey of learning to trust herself, which involved overcoming failures and understanding the significance of...

Hope and Healing, One honest day at a time

Spaghetti on the Wall, an elegant journal to organize the messy ideas of life, began as a tool to help my coaching clients. Business owners for whom their patterns and habits were in competition with their stated goals. In an effort to help them gain awareness around their behaviors, I made SOTW. The resulting journal and the simple daily practice of journaling was exactly what I need to examine my own very messy life.