Bounty...In more ways then one

So when I first heard about Patrick and the PCP program it was from a woman named Gwen Bell, who I follow on twitter. As I might have mentioned, my husband and I started a company a few years ago, and then partnered with a friend to bring it to life. Long story short, I had never thought about doing something entrepreneurial and had always enjoyed the companies and roles that I had prior to this. Through a series of conversations about how we want to live our lives together, and what we wanted to do, a number of things became clear. But most of all, he was and is someone who is incredibly smart, forward thinking, free of ego and desirous of using his mind and challenging all around him. To some, this is a difficult proposition, as he pushes us all forward to see and do things that may be yet unknown. In any event, as we talked about building our concept, and brand, the importance of social media and direct conversations with customers was something he was very focal about. I had come from companies where we basically told people what we thought they should like, spent lots of money on marketing and well...the rest is as they say...exactly that history.

So as I listened, and knew absolutely nothing about this world he mentioned, I also found myself craving my own outlet and voice that did not require anyone Else's input or approval. Ironic, I know, that you start your own company and at times can have less of a voice, or one that seems to be in conflict more so then any role I have previous held. Long story short, after starting a blog ( solely focused on my own interests in the areas of design, signing up for twitter and yes, eventually going on facebook ) I found in these different venues people, things and ideas that were both incredibly inspirational and surprisingly real.

PCP seems to be yet, another one of those things. Reading Gwen's post, at the end of her 90 days, I was struck by all of the things she had learned and done during the program. In my mind, I thought how much sense it made...but was not sure what it would truly be like for me.

So, as Jessica asked last week, when I was carrying on about what the scale might say, I am so aware of how different I feel in just 16 days, and how my thoughts and actions outside of the specifics of this program have changed as well...For the first time, in I am not sure how long, I truly give thought to what I am eating, and most of all, have discovered real foods. While in the past, my trips to the farmers market would be somewhat regular, equally so was the lack of using much of what I bought..Something about the concept of being one of those people was great, but when push came to shove...well, there were so many things..Oreos, ice cream etc..

So, while there is much in my mind to share about what has already changed...My joy this week is that for two weeks in a row, I have gone to the farmers market, picked up some new ( beet tops, kale and bok choy, blackberries ) things, left some old ( almond croissants from the most Delicious SF Bakery ) and actually used ALL of the items we bought...For dinner tonight, even used the beets that we bought last week and this week.

As I finished our exercises tonight, and so appreciated Patrick's suggestion that we can OCCASIONALLY do something else-I just felt for a moment, that my life was actually really rich. That the bounty from the farmers market, and the riches that I feel already from this program truly are gifts.

I may be the corny one in our group-but truly I am grateful. Somehow, since he always seems to know exactly what to say or do, I can't help but think that Patrick must be smiling knowing that this is yet another benefit of all that we are doing.

So, I say thank you...

PS, Finally took our week 2 photo. Will get up on flickr tomorrow..