How Does the Online Idea Party Work?
You have a dream or a wish, and an obstacle to getting there. (If you don’t think you know your wish, work through my kick-starter and read this post. To learn why you must put logic aside to find your dream, read the following.)
The online Idea Party is here to help you – and the other fellow party goers – with your wishes and obstacles.
Voices from Success Teams and Idea Parties:
Having a team to report to and hearing what everybody did each week is very exciting. It’s kept me moving all year. In the past I made some good starts on my own, but found, every time, when the energy ran out, I ran out. Now it doesn’t run out.
Jade G.
Children’s Playroom Therapist, New York Hospital
I would do a painting a year, a sketch a year. If it was only me I know I would never do it. Having to tell you makes all the difference. It’s crazy why I didn’t do this years ago, it’s so easy all of a sudden.
Caroline R. Personnel Executive, Macy’s Dept Store
Post Your Wish and Your Obstacle Here!
And help your team mates out when you can. Use the Reply link to help, the form below the comments to add your own Wish and Obstacle.
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Hello all! Really all I keep thinking about day in and day out is getting fit and healthy again and traveling to new territory I have not been to before.
My Obstacles. I have children and a husband. Before I had my second I was really fit and young looking. Now I am sluggish, cranky, tired, unmotivated. I have a three year old. I noticed when I work out I am more tired. I want to sleep and I am cranky. I don’t workout now so I can save my energy for my children, tending to the house and spending time with my husband. I also work over night on-call so if I workout I am dreading the night. Basically my obstacle is fatigue. I really value my sleep.
My obstacle to travel is money. I want to travel at least 4x a year. When I started my family that has died down soooo much and I lost myself in caring for my babies and hubby. My husband wants to travel with me, but he makes less than I do at the moment. I don’t want to leave him behind with a crazy cute little three year old and the other two boys, because I want to make the memories with him! I also want my kids to come twice a year with us to outside travel. We all have our passports, we just need the money. We can make the time. I have no problem pulling my kids out of school to travel for a few days. Afterall, it is educational.
Thank you all 🙂
Hi, Lily! What kind of work do you do working on call? Nursing? Perhaps a source of your fatigue is from disruption of the circadian rhythm and the ensuing problems? Have you spoken to a Naturopathic/Functional/Integrative provider to do a workup of your fatigue?
Also, I don’t know if traveling is within the US of outside. If you wish to take your family and can pull kid out of school, how about renting an RV and getting a remote nursing job you can do on the road?
Dear Lily,
Some considerations:
Children and a husband should not be obstacles; after all, they are your loved ones. When I was very small, in fact, from the age of 11 months old onward, my parents, who loved hiking and backpacking in the mountains, took me on these outings all the time. It was a bit unusual, but that’s because my parents were unusual. They were both Forest Service employees who had spent their summers working in the mountains as fire lookouts, and so when I came along, they were determined that having a baby wasn’t going to keep them out of the woods. So I came along, potty chair and all, 8 miles in to a mountain lake, backpacking. They took me everywhere.
If you have a three year old, and you also work nights on call, you are bound to be burning the candle at all 16 ends! When do you sleep? And is sleep constantly disrupted? How is your sleep hygiene? Is it any wonder that you feel tired, cranky, unmotivated. Sleep isn’t optional. Sooner than later, you’re going to drive yourself into serious health complications with this kind of a lifestyle. It isn’t sustainable, long range. It sounds like it isn’t even sustainable, short range. The fatigue is a definite sign that your exhausted body is screaming at you to change course, or stop. It seems that you are reaching a dangerous point.
If you work out, you’re dreading the night. Why? Because then, you become incredibly exhausted? Your health is everything. It is Number One. Without your health, you have nothing. How do I know? I’ve been there. I used to think I was made of steel and could take on the work of 10 men. Until I had a stroke, and was forced to stop. My life unraveled, and I went from riches to rags. I wound up unable to work at all, and I lost my farm and I ended up on welfare, and even homeless, and finally regained my footing.
And your body is sending you alarm bells.
Besides your health being Number One, your family is, collectively, number 1 A. Believe me, the very first thing is your health, and right next to it, them. So please, on Bended Knee, find a way to restructure your life and quit killing yourself.
I know this sounds harsh, but it’s real. I was dumb enough to do this to myself twice. The first result it produced was a stroke. It is possible to see the brain damage on my MRI. The second time, I was working 3 jobs and working from 4:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m., 7 days a week. The results produced a heart attack.
I wasn’t able to work after that for quite awhile, and then when I had recovered, I had to modify my life and quit working insane hours. I simply couldn’t any more.
As to the travel, you simply need to stabilize your life and your health first. Because travel, no matter what kind and where, is stressful in its own right. What kind of travel and where? Jetting off to distant lands, and then going around on excursion busses, cruises, and seeing all the sights and hitting the clubs and the shows? Or traveling in your own country, camping out? Without the RV?
I have traveled a lot, but have only jetted off to distant lands a few times. And I know how to travel on a broken shoestring budget. I drive my own car, I pack specific foods that require little to no refrigeration, I use a tent and I stay in State Parks and Forest Service campgrounds.
With the tent, I don’t even have to pay hookup fees. State Parks have good bathrooms, and most of them have showers. Food can be very simple. So my expenses are gasoline and camp fees. I also go into dispersed camping, which is free.
So travel not need be expensive, even with kids. But you mention passports, so it looks like you want to go abroad, and this may well mean jetting off to distant lands.
But it’s time to work smarter, not harder. You can’t afford to ignore those alarm bells any longer. I thought I could get away with it until the two times when I suddenly collapsed. And we don’t want that, do we?
I was somewhat fatigued, but my body wasn’t giving me as many signs as yours is.
So here’s what I think. Lifestyle change and the resulting health protection are Number One goal. And then, after that, you can make some goals to travel cheaply and domestically, taking in much of the natural beauty that surrounds you. You will be making memories together, guaranteed. And it will be adventuresome to be able to hear an owl in the night, to see a fox, to wake up to the calls of mourning doves, and not have to pay the exhorbitant camping fees that come along with camping inside of something bigger than a bus and putting up your dish antenna so you can watch TV.
And at least some of your wanderlust will be satisfied. I know of a young family that does travel abroad with 2 little kids. They stacked up the rewards points from credit cards and used those to greatly reduce airline fare. They kept the cards paid off every month. When they traveled, they stayed in B&B’s instead of the more expensive accommodations. It saved them a ton, and they still went as a whole family on their travels together. As to pulling kids out of school, well, you may run into legal problems that way, but I know that there are instances of it being done. But I think the very first thing is your health, and then possibly some very simple, very low cost travel plans, and, once your health is more stabilized, make some longer range travel plans, say a couple of years out, to use those passports. Is there a way that your husband can work not harder, but smarter, as well? Sometimes, it is a matter of adding value to your work, so that, for instance, one grows from being a janitor to being a computer wizard, and starts one’s own successful business, or builds several income streams, including passive income. You can do this and still be independent enough to travel. This is what I see.
I think you misunderstood my post. This only changed since I had my last son. I am on call overnight and it is very easy. I get enough sleep, but still seem tired. I notice when my toddler is not with me I have more energy. My toddler has so much energy. Too much stimulation makes me very tired ans cranky. Why I moved from NYC over 30 years ago. I am very healthy otherwise. You told me to find a way to change, but this is my way by posting here. I just heard a lot of lecture from you instead of ideas. My health is stable. I never referred to my health being poor. I eat well, get enough sleep, I just reserve my energy because I know my toddler with two other boys and husband is another type of stimulation combination I am not use to.
I think you misunderstood my post. This only changed since I had my last son. I am on call overnight and it is very easy. I get enough sleep, but still seem tired. I notice when my toddler is not with me I have more energy. My toddler has so much energy. Too much stimulation makes me very tired ans cranky. Why I moved from NYC over 30 years ago. I am very healthy otherwise. You told me to find a way to change, but this is my way by posting here. I just heard a lot of lecture from you instead of ideas. My health is stable. I never referred to my health being poor. I eat well, get enough sleep, I just reserve my energy becau7se I know my toddler with two other boys and husband is another type of stimulation combination I am not use to. Also, I said my obstacle is fatigue. My husband and children are wonderful, I just feel lousy when I am too stimulated with noise and touch.
Dear Lily,
I’m sticking to my guns. I felt exactly as you do–that I was made of steel and could do anything, and that there was nothing wrong with me, and kept on ignoring or minimizing the fatigue, until the night when the restaurant that I had been working in suddenly turned grey, spun madly around, and I wound up on the floor. Of course, it was me experiencing all this. I had been working and sleeping in split shifts. I was a breakfast cook there, so I came into work at about 4 or 4:30 a.m. to begin my shift and left at 10:30 to go home and crash. Then, I reported in at 4 to another restaurant and a bakery, which I cleaned, and finished that up around 8:30. Then I went up the street to the first restaurant, where I’d been a breakfast cook, and proceeded to clean that place, and would be through, usually, by around 12:30 in the morning. Then I could go home for about 3 hours of sleep. Then I would get up again, go to restaurant number 1, and repeat the whole business over again, 7 days a week.
And, amazingly enough, I shoved my collapsing episode under the rug, went right on pretending that everything was fine, until a heart attack decked me a few months later. And forced me to not work at all for awhile, and then I was forced to reassess and redesign my life.
The fatigue you’re experiencing, and the crabbiness that tends to accompany it, and that could be related to it, is a definite bodily signal that something is off. It’s your body’s warning.
Previously, when I had the stroke, the summer before that, I had been working to restore an old farm that I had bought sight unseen (never a good thing to do!) I had to collect and consolidate 4 tons of junk that had been dumped there, and had to hire a guy with a truck to help me haul it all off to the dump. And then, it was necessary to get the wood up for the winter. I was told that it would take 5 cords. A nearby logger sold me one of his chainsaws, and taught me how to use it. So I proceeded to buck, haul, and split 5 cords of ponderosa pine. The average large tree will come to about a cord. I was laboring in hot weather, ranging from the 90’s to the triple digits every day. The chimney to the farmhouse also needed fixing, and was mortared on the outside with micaceous Gneiss. The guy who was the mason for that job was the same guy as the logger. He wanted me to help him split some of the stones in half, and so I did. I later found out that it was easier to split that stone than it was to split the dry ponderosa. I have experienced splitting different kinds of wood, having lived in the country for over 20 years, where the only heat we had was wood heat, and dry ponderosa turns out to be one of the most difficult types wood to split. Some people don’t know this, but a cord is a stack of wood that’s 4 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long.
One day, when I was splitting the final rounds, there was one piece that just didn’t want to split. I had turned the top of that ponderosa into a toothbrush, trying to split it. No matter what I did, even if I raised the axe over my head, jumped off the ground, and came down with an enormous whack, that thing just wouldn’t split! Finally, along came a visitor to the farm who asked me what I was up to. I showed him. He borrowed the axe and finished off the job. I was relieved, and the whole 5 cords was finished. What I didn’t know was that I was just about “finished.” It was after Labor
Day, into the fall of the year, before I finally finished all of these tasks. And then, in October, Whammo! The stroke hit. I had a balloon payment due on the farm in February, and I couldn’t make it, because I was disabled from the stroke and couldn’t work at all. I lost the farm and went from riches to rags and into welfare.
I have not misunderstood your post. Not at all. Because I can relate, and from my heart, to someone who seems to be very stressed and is reacting to her fatigue the way I was, twice, immediately prior to the times when my health crashed, life threateningly.
So please, on Bended Knee, don’t do that. Don’t keep ignoring the fact that your body is giving you red flags. I did, and it nearly cost me my life–twice. What I’m saying is, restructure your life before you’re forced to. Or before you don’t even have a chance at a life anymore. We don’t want that. And as I’ve said, money is not the issue. I didn’t just give you “lecture.” I gave you a strong warning, and I also gave you a way out about travel. I said I know this couple with 2 little kids who accumulated the rewards points from credit cards to be able to go jetting off to different parts of the world, and they paid off the cards every month, so no debt. This way, they were able to afford greatly reduced air fares and go as a family of 4. They stayed in B&B’s instead of more expensive accommodations and were able to enjoy traveling to at least a couple of destinations a year this way. So there’s a way to do it. And I spoke about suggested ways to work smarter instead of just harder, gaining skills and increasing one’s value in the workplace. All of these are good things, and not just “lecture.” I also spoke about how to travel very cheaply, and still really enjoy it and make lots of good memories. There’s good in that too, and not just “lecture.” I probably would have reacted the same way, gotten mad and told someone off, if I had been confronted when I was a cook and a restaurant cleaner, about my work schedule and work habits. But no one confronted me. I had a rageaholic disposition in those days, which I’ve learned to tame somewhat, since, and my basic attitude was that the best defense is a good offense. And I wasn’t afraid to use it.
But I have offered you heartfelt advice, which comes from experience. Working on call at night and being up in the day to keep up with a 3 year old means that the candle is being burnt at several ends, as I was doing when I was sleeping in split shifts, and running long on 3 hours of sleep. So please don’t act like I did, and get mad and ignore my heartfelt advice. Your body is waving red flags at you, and your life could depend on it, seriously!
Hi Lily,
You said your obstacles for traveling are basically fatigue and money. Here’s what came into my mind:
fatigue: I perceive fatigue as the nervous system saying “Hello, I feel threatened!” (for example by too much stimulation, demands, etc.). What helps me with this are things like mindfulness meditation 20-40 min. (even if I really don’t like it but it helps), somatic tracking (e.g. somatic tracking for fatigue on youtube) and pacing my energy (like you already do). Mind body stuff, nervous system regulation. For worse cases programs like the one by Gupta or alike programs can help.
Also I’m a fan of acceptance that energy resources are limited.
Maybe you can find a way to be ok with not being fit for the moment? Sounds like you already do a lot. Maybe the right time will come again sometime later. If you feel a shift like this could be helpful for you.
money: I know there are couples who do housesitting together. I think maybe this is possible as a family too. There are websites for housesitting which often includes taking care of the house owners pets as well. But it’s free accommodation in several places in the world.
Also maybe it’s possible for a family as well to get free accommodation for a bit of work like you can find possibilities on workaway for example.
And there are websites where you can exchange homes for the holiday.
Take care and good luck!
Hello, my name is Necie and my Wish is to host wellness tea parties and paint/journaling parties and turn this into a business.
Tea and art are more than just hobbies—they’re part of my soul’s ritual for healing, connection, and creativity. Tea offers me a moment of calm in a chaotic world. It’s my daily ceremony of self-care, a quiet invitation to breathe, reflect, and be present. Each cup carries warmth, intention, and a story.
Art, on the other hand, is my voice without words. Through design, color, and creativity, I express emotion, tell stories, and create pieces that uplift, soothe, or inspire. Whether it’s a journal page, a digital print, or a serene tea-themed scene, I pour love into everything I create.
Together, tea and art allow me to blend comfort with creativity—ritual with expression. They are how I nurture both myself and others, offering beauty, peace, and inspiration with every brushstroke and every brew.
Whom I want to serve:
• Women, primarily ages 30–65+
• Often caregivers, older workers, or professionals in transition
• Living with chronic illness (e.g., fibromyalgia, autoimmune conditions)
• Feeling emotionally, spiritually, or physically exhausted
• Seeking hope, healing, and empowerment
• Interested in faith-based, mindful, or creative tools for wellness
What They Crave:
• A sense of calm, purpose, and connection
• Gentle self-care rituals (like tea and art)
• Encouragement and support during career shifts, grief, or health struggles
• Creative outlets: journaling, reflection, art, faith-based printables
• Safe spaces and communities that understand them
I need feedback on getting sponsors and donations of art and tea supplies. Also, my Wish is to develop this community.
Events will be held a local community center quarterly.
Necie, if you have a tea shop in your area (one that sells a variety of teas), ask them to sponsor you. They would either show up and serve tea (while letting your customers know about their teas) or let you use their shop (if it has tables and chairs) and teas for the event.
For art supplies, there are crafts store chains going out of business now or closing stores. You may be able to buy supplies from them at a great discount if you can travel to them.
Thank you for this response! We will look into house sitting.
I was wondering if I should just relax and not worry about being fit right now and just enjoy the kids and hang with hubby. Maybe, my mind is having a hard time switching the priorities when it comes to working out. My body is already say “no way.”
Thank you!
Hi, Necie.
Your idea sounds wonderful.
One idea for supplies is to find a Reuse store. Where people have given away art supplies, and the Reuse art center is selling it extremely cheaply, because their whole point is to save the environment from paint etc. in a landfill. For example, there is a store called Remainders Creative Reuse in Pasadena, Ca. Looking them up might give you some key words to research places that are near to you.
When you get to the point of having your supplies, and you are looking for participants, I have few ideas for you:
* Meetup, of course. If you create your own group, it will cost you about $200 per year, which is a small amount to spend on marketing.
* You can post events on other people’s Meetup groups, if they are interested in your event. Groups who might be interested might be about:
meditation
spirituality
empowerment
healing
personal growth
creativity
*Groupon: people are definitely looking for fun things to do there, and there is a health and wellness section of Groupon where you can specify that your event is for healing.
*Chiropractors offices. Really, some Chiropractors are into the emotional healing part of wellness, especially those who practice Kinesiology ( I worked in one such office for 10 years.) They may have a place to advertise in their offices. That might be a stretch, but this thought might lead you to other thoughts of the type of places you could collaborate with, and offer you painting events as an amenity to their business. Many such offices also call themselves “Wellness Centers”, so you can look those up to make contacts in their offices, local to you. My office, years ago, periodically held “Wellness Fairs”, where they sampled their various healing modalities, and gave out free treatments. They might allow you to do a presentation there, so people can be aware of what you have to offer.
I hope this gives you some ideas to go for!
A lot of 55 and older living communities ( I mean physical locations where they have housing in a closed community) – have all kinds of activities that their residents can sign up for. Some of these events are available for outsiders to attend. For example I have been to a drum circle held at one of these communities, and they met each week. Some of the members of the drum circle group had been going for years.
This is Awesome because you are absolutely right a lot of these senior facilities look for activities and when I worked with a home health agency’s the doctors whom owned it I traveled extensively with them creating events and experiences.
Totally forgot about it. I am good at planning events for others and need to focus on my needs.
I used to advertise on Meetup for live events and was stalked by a participant husband for months and after that stopped using it out of fear.
I love all ideas shared and have been in a rut since starting a new job that has created so much stress in my life.
Thanks so very much!!!
Hi Michele, I reached out on NextDoor asking my neighbors for help finding space to rent and a physical therapy business owner wants to work with me. I plan to hold the first event in September which is Chronic Pain Awareness Month.
Now I need to price the art supplies and negotiate rate with physical therapist. A mom on NextDoor wants to attend and bring her daughter.
I was thinking I could ask the owner to speak and would handle the tea party and paint event and speak on fibromyalgia and the importance of movement.
Will also ask local tea business to join me and feature some tea geared towards wellness.
WOW this is all coming together so fast and my prayers were answered. Will also do a press release to showcase both our respective businesses.
I want it to be fun, functional and meet new people and repeat monthly.
Have to figure out how to price the event.
Congratulations! I applaud your efforts!
Necie, another place to find participants might be non-denominational spiritual centers. If you speak to the director, they may allow you to advertise there – especially if you offer an event there, free – except for the price of art supplies, to their members. Or free, if you want to consider the price of paint part of your marketing expenses. Perhaps you could focus on the women’s group.
I also wonder if rehab centers would like to hire you as an amenity to what they are already offering their patients?
And Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous might be interested in advertising for you, because what you are offering sounds like an awesome outlet for someone healing from addiction.
Will f/u on this.
More ideas: I imagine that there might be some sort of art therapy certificate that you can earn through an accredited school, then you can take your expertise and intuition to all kinds of places who would hire you as an art therapist. Rehab centers, mental hospitals, senior living spaces, perhaps places of healing for people who have survived abuse, even prisons.
Hi Michele.
In the US some states require you to have a Masters Degree in Art Therapy to call yourself an art therapist .
My degree is Communications and have a certificate in wellness and life coaching. I have to call myself something different.
Dear Necie,
I bet you could do this more than quarterly, if you want. Art supplies? Omigod, you wouldn’t believe the number of places that are closing their doors in these hard times. Hopefully, you live close enough to (or perhaps in) a metropolitan area that you can get to them. A big craft store just closed here in my city, called Hobby Lobby. Nothing left of it. And it’s been around for a long time. How to make the art supplies affordable: Right away, set up what I call a “slush fund.” Into this separate fund, you deposit 10% of any and every form of income that crosses your palm, no matter how big or small, and you do this First and Foremost, before you even pay the rent! I mean this! You’ll be surprised at how fast this fund grows.
Go to a tearoom and create a partnership with them, in which you help them advertise and promote any specialty teas that they may have, and they help you by providing space for your events. You may even be able to convince them to carry some of your more medicinal or unusual teas that they don’t have. And, this sounds so lovely, so wonderful, that I really do think it merits having it a lot more often than quarterly. More like monthly at the very minimum. One artist I have known who started some seminars involving art and encouraging women’s creativity became so popular that in short order, she had to sign women up for her workshops well in advance, and she wound up doing things with them weekly for 8 week sessions. You are very right to imagine that women are craving this stuff. I think they really are! It just sounds beautiful to me. Even if I’m not an artist, by a long shot. But don’t try to have it at a community center. Go to the venue that matches what you do. And make a deal with them. I bet they’ll love it too, instead of seeing it as competition. You want to arrange a kind of an “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine” proposition, and I think they’d go for it! It might really help put them on the map!
Hi Mary Ann
I reached out on NextDoor asking my neighbors for help finding space to rent and a physical therapy business owner wants to work with me. I plan to hold the first event in September which is Chronic Pain Awareness Month.
Now I need to price the art supplies and negotiate rate with physical therapist. A mom on NextDoor wants to attend and bring her daughter.
I was thinking I could ask the owner to speak and would handle the tea party and paint event and speak on fibromyalgia and the importance of movement.
Will also ask local tea business to join me and feature some tea geared towards wellness.
WOW this is all coming together so fast and my prayers were answered. Will also do a press release to showcase both our respective businesses.
I want it to be fun, functional and meet new people and repeat monthly.
Have to figure out how to price the event.
I am so happy that it’s coming together!
So am I and had the opportunity to meet via phone with the business owner.
More brainstorming: There are support groups for new female entrepreneurs on Meetup, and probably other places to get you started in your business.
Plus there are networking and referral groups to join, such as BNI. There are a lot of them. In the past, their structure was “if you scratch my back, Ill scratch yours” with regards to referrals; where they would tell their business contacts about your business and refer them to you, while you did the same for them. Perhaps there are structures that are different, where they can introduce you to other people in related fields who can share ideas or provide further contacts for you to make.
Your business model also reminds me of somatic therapy, since it involves taking action for a therapeutic effect. You may want to do an “informational interview” with a somatic therapist, to ask how their business came to fruition and what they had to go through to become successful. They may even want to collaborate with you, and refer patients or clients.
Will do and have reached out to some.