About Laurie Buchanan

I'm a holistic health practitioner, transformational life coach, and author.

Losing Your Marbles

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

I have an out-of-state friend who sent me an email telling me she’s losing her marbles! She attached the following photo and explained that she’s working hard to lose excess weight by observing portion control, eating nutritionally dense food, and burning more calories than she consumes through consistent exercise.

After calculating the number of pounds she wants to lose, she put that number of marbles in a Mason jar and labeled it POUNDS TO GO—the ones that have to leave her body; the pounds she’s evicting.

She has another Mason jar labeled POUNDS LOST.

Every time she loses a pound, she takes a marble from the POUNDS TO GO jar and puts it in the POUNDS LOST jar. For her, it serves as fun motivation and a visual way to track her weight loss.

I told her I think she’s brilliant! She said she’d love to take credit for the idea, but apparently, it’s been around forever. She knows teachers who use erasers instead of marbles; surfers who use seashells, and so on.

When was the last time you lost your marbles?

Official Pub Day

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

Today is the official Pub day for my second book, The Business of Being: Soul Purpose In and Out of the Workplace. I’m pleased to say that it’s a 2018 International Book Awards Finalist in the Self-Help/Motivation category.

The Business of Being is available wherever books are sold, but if it’s not currently in stock at your favorite bookstore, they can order it for you.

If you’re not able to attend one of the following author events, but you’d like a signed copy, please call my local bookstore (Rediscovered Books, details below); and they’ll ship it to you within 24-hours.

July 11 — San Diego, CA
The Book Catapult
She Writes Press author panel
7:00 pm

July 27 — Boise, ID
Rediscovered Books
Book launch party with French Hors d’Oeuvres and wine
7:00 pm

August 12 — Crystal Lake, IL
Veteran Acres Park
Picnic and book signing at the Rotary Shelter
Noon-2:00pm

If you read The Business of Being and enjoy it, I hope you’ll post a brief review on both Amazon and GoodReads. Reviews are the lifeblood for authors.

What book are you currently reading?

The Case of the Missing Dongle

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

I love teaching at UW-Madison’s Writers’ Institute. This year was my third time, but my first time using a projector. Everything was taken care of in advance: conference rooms, projectors, screens. Nothing was left undone.

Imagine my surprise when I went into my first room, set my laptop on the podium and wondered, How on earth do I get what’s on my screen to “talk” to the projector so it can show the audience?

I ran to Laura Kahl. She’s like a kick-butt, young faerie godmother, and MacGyver combined; she’s the maestro that keeps everything and everyone in harmony!

Way too polite to point out that I was supposed to have brought an adapter, she immediately pointed out one of the Madison Concourse Hotel IT guys. “He’s got a dongle,” she said. My eyebrows shot into my hairline. “He’ll get you set up.”

A dongle is an adapter that connects to another device to provide it with additional functionality.

I approached the handsome young IT guy and said, “Pardon me, do you have a dongle I can borrow?” He answered with a great big smile, “I’d be happy to loan you my dongle.” And we both burst out laughing!

That little piece of equipment is what kept my audience connected to what was happening on my laptop screen. At the end of the conference, I returned the adapter to the technician. The first thing I did when I got back to Boise was to purchase a dongle of my own at the Apple store.

What keeps you connected?

Lazy Dazy

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

With the publication of The Business of Being: Soul Purpose In and Out of the Workplace just two weeks away, I’ve used the month of June to enjoy a much slower version of life before I hit the ground running:

July 11, San Diego, The Book Catapult
July 27, Boise, Rediscovered Books
Aug 12, Crystal Lake, IL, Veteran Acres Park

When I was in Joshua Tree, CA I saw this “hammock roundup” that five people can enjoy simultaneously.

On Eleuthera Island, the neighbors across the way enjoy a solo version of quietude.

And while we don’t have a hammock where we live, there’s a multitude of gentle choices. My three favorites are reading (dive headfirst into a book and don’t surface for a good, long while), restorative yoga, and walking the Boise River Greenbelt. We’re also just a stone’s throw from an arboretum, nature center, and park.

What do you do to recharge your personal battery?

A View With a Room

Posted on June 19, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

Perhaps you’ve heard of or seen the movie, “A Room With A View,” but what Willa and I passed on our walk along the Greenbelt was definitely a view with a room.

We were meandering along, enjoying all of nature’s sounds (me) and scents (Willa) when all of a sudden the beautiful circular window surrounded by pink blossoms caught my attention.

click on the photo to enlarge

“Look at me, just look at me, will you?!” it cries. We slowed down to take a look. Not just a cursory glance, but a real look.

Our view—from the outside, in—is lovely! From the inside, theirs has to be spectacular as they overlook the Boise River. To my way of thinking, it would make an excellent writer’s loft.

What comes to mind as you look at the circular window winking out from behind the fragrant pink blossoms?

Tread Lightly

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

While walking through an airport during a longish layover, I realized that I was hungry. Stepping off the main walkway into a restaurant, I suddenly became discombobulated. Whoa—just look at that floor!

Click on the photo to enlarge

I’ve never had vertigo, but I think I came close to it walking on this flooring that has the optical illusion of being three dimensional. A female diner who was watching me tread lightly smilingly said, “Take baby steps; I had to.”

While waiting for my meal, I too started watching other people who entered to see if they had the same reaction as me. Sure enough, it only took moments, but other patrons—men and women, alike—began walking with caution too. The funny thing is, children who entered didn’t bat an eye!

When was the last time you had to tread lightly?

Choose Your Battles

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Laurie Buchanan

Coming out of the grocery store, we were delighted to see this sight!

Click to enlarge the photo

I love that:

The driver brought his/her companion animal along.
Parked his four-legged friend in the shade, close to the door.
The driver provides goggles for a no-bugs-in-the-eyes ride for his/her buddy.

I’m usually an easygoing person, but there are a few things that raise my hackles. One of them is leaving an animal inside of a car on a hot day; I don’t care if the windows are cracked.

On the Animal Legal Defense website, I learned that in the U.S. over half of the states have “hot car” laws (laws that prohibit leaving unattended animals in vehicles).

Currently, twenty of these states have “hot car” laws that allow certain public officials (e.g., law enforcement, humane officers) to break into the vehicle to rescue the animal. They include Arizona, California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

The following states have “Good Samaritan” hot car laws—laws that allow private citizens to take matters into their own hands—or proposed laws: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Alabama has a “hot car” bill pending.

Shame on New Jersey and West Virginia. In these states, although it is illegal to leave an animal trapped in a hot car, no one is granted the authority to break into the vehicle to save the animal, not even law enforcement.

My state, Idaho, doesn’t have any laws on the books about this one way or another, so I’ve decided it’s a “choose your battles” state. Breaking the window of a car to save an animal is a battle I’d gladly choose.

Legal or not, would you break a car window on a hot day to save an animal?

Tuesdays with Laurie

"Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing." —Laurie Buchanan

Author Archives: Laurie Buchanan