Reset

April was ruff, but that doesn’t mean May has to be. Today being the celebration of MayDay (huge celebration in Hawai’i, probably my favorite day of the whole year - more than Christmas!) I picked the only flower blooming out in my yard (it's fall here!) and put it in my room with some water. It smells nothing like the ever potent plumeria smell I can remember smelling every other MayDay/Lei Day, but it'll please the eyes! (Spoiler - personal post, not about travel). I can remember what I have done on this day for every year of my life- it was always a May Day cultural performances at school. One in particular was important to me - my fourth grade I preformed a Māori poi dance. I spent countless hours - and many recesses - making my poi balls (and remaking because they tear), making my beaded skirt, practicing my poi and teaching the skills to my classmates so that we could all dance well when performance time came. I had no known reason to love dancing so much, or to love a culture that was not a part of my whakapapa (heritage, genealogy), but it nonetheless was a passion.

Sidetone: spoke to my mom today who said she and my sister remember me practicing endlessly at home. So much that severely irritated them with my persistent poi swinging!

The determination and dedication of time to something not required of me is the goal of my May reset.

I lost some of my healthy habits and routines during April, for example I stopped my morning yoga and strength practice and lost my excitement to cook in the kitchen- this did not do me well. I have lost flexibility, balance, centering and cooking skills - what could possibly be more important?!?

I woke up today and did what I know better than to do- laid in bed and scrolled through instagram. Half of the posts were celebrating the start of the new month (even though I’m down under and it’s actually May 2nd here!). There were a lot of yoga pages that have challenges such as #mayIbeginyoga. Cute right? I probably won’t subscribe to these hashtags because I won’t have daily photos of me doing yoga, it’s more of a personal practice right now, however it encouraged me to get back at it.

“Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better you practice, the brighter the flame.”-BKS Iyengar

During my practice this morning I realized I don’t have goals. I had goals of perfecting the crow pose, being able to do a headstand… and I’ve accomplished those. With out my goals and a challenge, I lost my yoga practice and the light dimmed. Lesson of the morning: give yourself a challenge and a goal to work towards.

Another lesson which I learned yesterday, one that my hammock taught me, is that opportunities are frequently right outside your door. I thank my hammock for this lesson because I found two sweet as (kiwi language for awesome) trees right outside my house to set my hammock up. I held my computer in my lap and did some researching work and then took a nap. I have been scouring this city for good hammocks spots for two months… and there one was three feet from my window (see picture! Those front windows are my fishbowl bedroom windows. Lucky me… or the people across the street who get sneak peaks when I forget or don’t care enough to close my blinds). Lesson: don’t be blinded in your ambition. Things might be more simple than you think.

Next lesson: knowing that there is nothing wrong with having there cups of coffee while you talk to a dear friend for 45 minutes (miss you Anna!). Sometimes, life and its forces gives you opportunities and you have to take them even if you had something else planned — and enjoy an extra cup of coffee while you’re at it! Treating yourself is important, as is taking yourself a bit less seriously. I have been reminded of this since becoming good friends with a buddy who is hella sarcastic. If you know me well enough, you know I do not understand the dialect people call sarcasm- I simply just don’t compute it. It does make me laugh however, mainly because I don’t know how to respond so I just awkwardly laugh. Although a bit exhausting to laugh just because you don’t know what else to do, I’m going to choose to let this awkward laughter be my vitamin L.

My Life is GOOD book taught me a lesson the other day about vitamin L - laughter. Here are some quotes:

“Laughter is more infectious than the common cold, and a lot more fun.”

“Humor can lighten us up, and make us feel young and strong again.”

“No sense being pessimistic. It wouldn’t work anyway.”

“Humor is most potent when morale is low. One funny line, funny face, or crazy imitation can raise the spirits. It can also break the tension, reset the table and refocus people on opportunities.”

“We all appreciate people who can make us laugh, and we’re drawn to those who laugh more freely. We’re especially drawn to those who are able to laugh at themselves. That takes a special confidence.”

“…. let their guard down and laugh openly, especially at themselves, it invites others to do the same, and create a happier, less intimidating space…. laughter relaxes us, it enables us to think more clearly as well as communicate and solve problems more effectively.”

Three ways to keep on the funny side:

Before addressing important matters with someone, give five minutes to connect and lift the mood with something funny.
Become co-people before you become co-workers
Get your vitamin L. Take care of yourself by tapping into your favorite sources for a good laugh often. (NewGirl? ModernFamily?)

And finally, “You’ll find your strength and energy grows when your laughter flows.”

To share with you my last lesson of the day, and final portion of my May Reset, the next section of the book is about gratitude. I am going to focus on the understanding that gratitude is much like shooting free throws. (Yay for a basketball analogy !!!! Best sport in life, and I miss it sooo much). To become a consistent and reliable free throw shooter (demanded by any coach who teaches by fundamentals - like Grandpa Pete, Coach Cheryl and Coach Scott - love you all!) one must practice 50-100 shots a day, with a conscious effort of form and technique. This takes time and dedication, but it pays off. Because those free throws become second nature and will no doubt add points to every game and win a game or two when it's on the line. So, my not so new lesson to myself simply applied to a new skill - keep shooting and don't let a day go by without practicing.

That’s what I have for you right now. I am off to go get my vitamin L, enjoy my new hammock spot, search for yoga posses I can’t do but will be able to do in a months time, cook some yummy recipes, send letters to people back home as they approach graduation, make conscious efforts to choose gratitude and let May be better than April! Ohh, and work on my waiata and poi dances which I will be performing for my Māori performing arts class in exactly a month!!!

P.S. The fourth grade performance is important not only because it reminds me of giving time and dedication to personal passions, but also because learning a part of the Māori culture inspired me to come to New Zealand, to learn more about the culture as well as other pacific cultures. I performed the poi exactly 11 years ago today, and guess what we studied in Māori Te Tumu lecture today - poi! Coincidence? Life!

P.S.S. I love physical letters. I carry many letters that I have received throughout my life everywhere I go - from Hawai’i, to Minnesota and to NZ. These letters are always with me because, to me, they represent a bit of love and time someone has gifted to me. Plus their messages carry me through tuff times. A few people have asked for my address, so here it is if you were also wondering what it was. Feel free to send anything. It could be nonsense chit chat and I’d still leap with joy getting something in my mailbox!! I’ll be here till June 22nd and so far letters have taken a bit less than two weeks time to travel across the big blue.

Joy Claypoole

129 Union St.

North Dunedin, NZ 9016

Cheers! Thanks for enduring my personal blog on my lessons and reset plan! Hopefully it can also inspire you in some way shape or form.