Our many voices coalesce as an exploration of possibility & vision; Art, Exploration Events, Coaching, & Training. Welcome to the AHA Movement and opening to your best self!
Always remember to take some time to yourself, to care for yourself, to LOVE yourself. I know this , and with the chaos of the last months, sometimes it’s been a challenge to re-member. I am always struck by the belief that somehow overtakes – that I should be done, that all those tools that I’ve amassed over the years can now be put away in some mental closet.
WRONG
Those wonderful tools passed to us from mentors, and traditions of self awareness, contemplation, meditation, affirmation, exercise and self care – more important than ever as I/we move beyond the comforting communities of faith and support. Re-membering over and over, even being willing to start over, ALL a part of the process. Or so we’ve been taught. So Here’s to the toolbox. Here’s to the starting over again. Here’s to Loving yourself by taking care of yourself – because WE DESERVE it!
Not the best picture, and what can you expect from a 4+ year old Android phone. The adventure though, that was really something. 7 years ago I had decided to head multiple 100’s of miles from MD to TN to view my 2nd #ToatalEclipse. This choice was the beginning of many many, dramatic changes in my life – the loss of my business, the sale of my house and boat, my husband’s stroke, my mother’s death, and also the reclamation of MY life’s purpose, To Nudge, teach, and learn, each of us to and towards our highest becoming, utilizing my curiosity, creativity, and WONDER, to help make this world better – of course while leaving room for that which is even better, for the highest good of ALL.
A mouthful right?
Ultimately the point as it has been for me, since being a young child encouraging my friends to draw together at the dining room table, the desire to share #ARTMAKING as a way to see ourselves, and share with each other the wisdoms and beauty of creation.
Noting this, reconnecting to this has been a journey, a privilege with each group, or individual I work with -formally, or for fun at an event.
Fast forward to April 2024 and my now 3rd #TotalSolarEclipse the magic and wonder still so much a part of my life, the lovely synchronicities of an almost cloudless sky (when everything was predicted otherwise), a truly loving and friendly collection of spiritual seekers randomly gathered at this tiny town. Such awe at our place demonstrated by the cosmos.
Thanks is what I have to offer, for my studio, my new friends, my artist colleagues, and the Alliance for giving me an artistic home.
“Utilizing Artmaking to open deeper conversations with ourselves, so that we can access our own wisdom to guide us forward in our lives.”
So Excited!
And a little nervous… to be publicly offering both online an in person events at THE NEW STUDIO!!!
The St Lucie Cultural Alliance has graciously allowed us to have a space that can be used for live events, as well as my own art projects – I am in HEAVEN! After multiple years in very small spaces (or other peoples homes) I finally have a place that I can spend concentrated time doing my own art explorations. In addition it’s a wonderfully intimate space for either individual coaching and consulting, but small group explorations as well. I am announcing a full slate of events – most of which have a hybrid or online component for those who are either out of the area, or desiring the ease of working from home. Please check them out, and if you have any suggestions or ideas for me feel free to reach out as well.
You set a goal, taken the steps to get there. You were vigilant at maintaining your focus and attitude with the tools in your toolbox: reviewing your goal, taking action, doing affirmations, using EFT tapping when you had anxiety, etc.
The journey of accomplishment stretches and develops us like nothing else. Challenging our old paradigms and beliefs, then coming out successful builds your self confidence and makes it that much more possible to tackle that next vision, dream, and go after those desires. Well what if it isn’t perfect, you fell short?
I was working with a goal last year to “Achieve and maintain my goal weight of 134# (or less) by Dec 31st, 2022” and guess what, I didn’t make it. I could have beaten myself up, decided since I didn’t get there I should just give up, etc. Instead I chose my focus. I focused on what I had accomplished.
I went from 185# to 137# a total of 48#’s, wow, I am amazed just typing this! I developed much better eating habits, gave up alcohol (still working with sugar issues some), and I exercise almost every day. Am I still moving forward – absolutely!
You’ve Done it!
It’s so easy for us to discount what we have accomplished and therefore robbing ourselves of that all important boost of energy and self esteem needed to take on new challenges. Remembering the the journey of working towards a goal is so much more than just getting to the goal. We develop discipline, awareness, and yes self confidence. Let’s celebrate those achievements at each step of the way. You achieved your goal!
Whoo Hoo! It worked!
SO, Now What?
What’s next after the celebration? Well perhaps you have other goals in your life already, in which case go for it! Take the time to break it down into milestones, baby steps, and create your affirmations and visual touchstones. You know the drill now, review them daily, feel inside how it will be when you have accomplished the goal.
But what if you don’t know what’s next, what if you are caught up in the letdown that can follow an achievement?
Taking the time to reconnect to you purpose, passion, and wheel of Life (the different areas that make up a balanced life), and even just asking, “What do I want,” can get you started.
Remember, as far as we KNOW – we only have this one life so using your time and focus to move you in the directions you WANT to go seems like a very good way to spend you time and effort. I always like to say, “No one lives in here besides you.”
Limited to 10 people this will give you the support to take those leaps you have been hoping for as we round into the second half of 2022. Hope you can join us.
This is what has be reverberating in my psyche these past months, “Begin again, again, & again.” It seems to me that the dance I’ve been assigned to in this life is that when I get to a certain level of achievement, I am challenged to risk it all. I see this in businesses, relationships, and levels of mastery of all kinds – in order to constantly move to and towards my/our greater becoming ( which is a part of my purpose statement). One must be willing to let go of the wooden structure to gain a stone one, to let go of the lovely iron structure to gain a silver and then a gold one.
As I have heard many, including my mentor Jack Canfield say, “We must let go of the good to make room for the great.”
Connecting here within my sixth decade to a new/old desire to teach the tools of practical transformation I notice my desire to do it this time smarter, with more support instead of reinventing the wheel as I have done so many times in my life as a serial entrepreneur.
I was reminded today in a LinkedIn post, just how long it has been since I was involved with TreebranchDESIGN. a ’boutique marketing company I helped build and ‘left’ in the Fall of 2018, I believe. WOW! has my life changed & had all that disruption not occurred it is unlikely I would be here. The wheels continue to turn and now a new iteration of myself is emerging. With the sale of our home in MD my mind and heart have begun to seek new roots. The long hibernation from caregiving (which is ongoing, and much more manageable), and maintaining far away connections and duties, has moved enough to both complete and begin again -again 😉
First after joining the Canfield, Train the Trainer community a year or so ago I immersed myself in the online program and was thoroughly inspired by the content and working with the materials in such an in depth way. I did realize upon completion. that though I have led multiple trainings and workshops in many of my entrepreneurial experiences,
I felt the need for additional support and guidance teaching these tools. I signed up for the second and third levels of the training. I felt very blessed to have the COVID window open just long enough for an in person training to be announced in January, a calculated risk as the attendance was sure to be less than at past live experiences. So off to San Diego I went. I am so very glad that I did! The intimacy of 30-40 people vs 1-200 or more, was an amazing opportunity!
We each had a training that we presented and were critiqued on by Jack Canfield, Patty Aubrey, and Kathleen Seely. There were also numerous breakout session trainings on a multiplicity of Canfield Methodology subjects directly applicable to running a live (or online) training. It was very well organized, and they made every effort to be as safe as possible. I came away inspired, encouraged, and connected to a wonderful community of all levels of experience. Each person there having the motivation to make a difference in the world.
As with every high energy, immersive experience, the reentry to the “Real” world can be a bit of a bumpy ride. The high I felt was a bit battered by my own mild case of COVID (triple vaxed likely helped out there) upon arriving home. I choose to believe that after all that incredible input I needed some integration time, which my body obliged me with. This experience is one I likely would never have had without all of the changes involved in our exit from MD and I am so very grateful that I was able to have it.
Circling around and back to the theme of beginning again, what I notice is because this is something I care deeply for, in fact have always cared deeply for and been pulled toward, the commensurate fears are of course making themselves known; “Who would listen to you,” “What do you know about teaching success and transformation,” “There are too many others that do this so much better than you,” and on and on. Sound familiar?
What I have determined. as I did when I started my Bodywork career, is that there is only one me, and there are folks out there who need to hear my stories, my voice, in order to take their own steps forward. If I had received this information earlier in my wanderings, who might I be now? What might I have accomplished and given to this world? If just one (well hopefully more than one) has this open a window into their purpose and vision it will be worth it. Even more, the old adage,” You teach what you need to learn,” reverberates.
So, here I go, palms sweaty, holding tight to the talismans of my vision and journey. One step, another step…hands reaching for support and embracing this new future, beginning again, again.
An ode to the place we once called home as we make ready to “Let go and let G_d(dess)” take us into our new life and adventure.
We moved into this lovely cottage in the Winter of 2002, Jan 1st actually. It was sleeting and of course very messy and cold. As soon as we walked in a peace and quiet settled over us as we gazed out to the water.
It always amazes me just how quiet it is here considering the proximity of BWI (20 min) Baltimore (20 min), and Severna Park/Annapolis (20 min). It’s one of the first thing visitors often comment on (once they get past oohing and awing at the view).
We added the rock garden off the front door. It has rocks, some shells and sand from all over the world gifted from various traveling friends. Israel, India, Egypt, Africa, Peru, Brazil, Hawaii, Arizona, are just a few places represented.
We also built the two raised beds which are all sitting upon the original cement slab that the builders of the house had installed. WE think that it works much better, looks better and acts as a buffer to the flow of water towards the creek.
In the Spring these beds are ablaze with color. First the daffodils and crocus emerge even as the world is all grey and snowy, next come the tulips in various shades of fuchsia and pink. The innocuous green ground cover is actually pink Phlox that bursts into pink abundance here, and in several other of the outdoor pots. The Wisteria on the archways of the privacy fencing, blooms next luscious globes of lavender and purple with a lovely smell. Other garden beds hold Forsythia, Tulip, Crocus, and Iris bulbs. There is even a heritage (it has an aroma) rose bush.
The tree above the gazebo is a fruiting Mulberry tree which attracts the deer who daintily nibble in the early morning and around dusk. The weeping cherry blooms after the forsythia and close to the wisteria. . The Hydrangea may bloom or not, and they are quite happily taking over the block wall to the road.
The raised beds in the yard we planted with vegetables and herbs, especially Tomatoes, Peppers, Beans, and squash. We occasionally planted a bed between the parking area and terraced wall. The bed closest to the water has an asparagus patch that while isn’t very large, is quite prolific. It also hosts an oregano patch that we let go to flower this year because the bees love it so much. FYI always leave one stalk of asparagus from each bunch growing when you harvest them so they will keep producing, or so I’ve read.
Later in the Summer the Magnolia tree bursts into aromatic flowers. The air is completely perfumed by them. As the summer wears on, the perennials need to be supplemented with annuals if you want color all year. Mums come up until August so adding a few small annuals to the pots adds a lot of beauty.
We have a lot of wildlife visitors, ducks nesting in one neighbor’s yard, the annual turtle visitation for egg laying at another’s. We have squirrels that examine us from the deck rail peering in through the large windows. A small herd of deer come by for the mulberries.
There are several pairs of Osprey, a nesting pair of Bald Eagles up the cove, and many geese (while cute, we shoo them off). We sometimes have a cute roly-poly groundhog, bunnies, and occasionally a fox. Always fun to watch from a distance.
We usually have participated with Restore Rock Creek, a local organization dedicated to protecting, maintaining, and restoring the creek who run an annual “Oysters Rock” program that partners with Spat (baby oysters) producers and enrolls the waterfront neighbors to maintain the ‘baby oysters’ in cages at the docks throughout the Fall and Winter. They teach you all that you need to know. They gather and release the ‘babies’ around Memorial Day each year.
Nearby we have some very good restaurants. Mike’s North is at the end of Colony Rd: Crabs, Bands, Large outdoor seating area to sip something cold and watch the sun go down. Primo Pasta, on Ft Smallwood Rd towards Baltimore, has spectacularly good Italian food. A fun, quirky little place also on Ft Smallwood Rd is the Stoney Creek Inn. It was purchased by a young couple a few years back and it is quite good. Sushi – our pick is the Szechuan Café, off Mountain Rd in the same shopping Center as Giant Food (one of four nearby grocery stores). For steaks and other seafood Two Rivers, a bit more elegant, might be your choice. There is a Starbucks in the local Safeway store, but breakfast spots include Cookies Kitchen (mobbed on the weekends), and Johnny’s also on Mountain Rd.
For such a tucked away location all the amenities you might need are quite close by. We have a local Ace Hardware (where the Safeway is), and Home Depot is just 10 minutes away. The Post Office is on Mt Road in between the two closest grocery stores. Zips Cleaners, 3 health clinics, and of course the YMCA (used to be known as Big Vanilla). There is also a sprawling Flea Market outdoors on the weekends on Mountain rd.
At the end of Ft Smallwood Rd we have Ft Smallwood Park with a kayak launch, swimming beach, boat launch (though if you join the Rock Creek Park Association you are eligible to buy a key to use the neighborhood boat launch), and lots of great walking trails. The views are spectacular of the Patapsco River, Key Bridge, and the Chesapeake Bay. Also nearby are Weinberg Park (a less developed park with many trails), and Downs Park with it’s own dog park and beach.
You can even watch the Wednesday night sailboat races from here, or sometimes see a tall ship go by.
Most of these pictures show the glories of the warmer weather, and it’s really cozy here in the Winter as well. We have heated with our wood stove insert quite a bit.
With the blown in insulation in the attic, we are quite snug and comfortable. The views can sometimes be even more dramatic with the silhouettes of boats and trees.
There is certainly a lot to love about our little retreat, and had life gone a bit differently we may have been here still. We hope that whoever takes over the stewardship of our lovely cottage will love it as much as we have. There is an old saying, “We never truly OWN anything, it’s all just rented.” That sentiment rings evermore true as I navigate the changes of my life. There is a well of deep gratitude for all that I have had the privilege to experience, hold, and “rent,” in this life of mine.
And the winner is… ME! Yes really excited to be taking steps and moving forward. I’ve been following the tugs and directions of the various eddies of this river of life. Who knew at 16 when I began my working life just how many twists and turns and different career paths I would dance. So here I am, beginning again.
AS I approach the end of the Jack Canfield, Train The Trainer program, designed with great care to make me/us capable of teaching these amazing #SuccessPrinciples to the general public. These very simple (notice I didn’t say easy) tools to get anyone from point A (lost, confused, hopeless, discouraged) to point B (hopeful, empowered, moving forward in the direction of their dreams). I know I sound a bit like a religious convert sometimes, and, I assure everyone while there is a new light in my eyes it comes from a grounded foundation of concrete steps that anyone (including me) can undertake.
My vision includes bringing these tools to those, who like me, were not nurtured in the realities of harnessing my own talents to lead a truly productive life. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done alright. Somewhere along the way though I was convinced that my success could only be through another’s. I still strongly believe that my purpose is to utilize my creativity, curiosity and wonder to connect, nudge, guide all beings I encounter towards their highest expression of themselves to help make this existence, this world a better place to be. This is still service and, the tools of transformation for me include #Artmaking in all it’s forms.
I’m really nervous & really excited. Here’s to this next aspect of the journey!
September and October have always felt most appropriate to me as a NEW Year. Perhaps because of all the years of “Back To School,” indoctrination, perhaps because my entry to this existence was in the Fall, and perhaps there is some cell deep connection to Judaism whose New Year celebration of Rosh Hashanah taking place in this vicinity. In any case it has always been true for me. I have been feeling the faint glimmerings, the tiny disturbances in the Earth that portend new growth. I can almost feel/see the new, tiny shoots of green of a new iteration of my life beginning to sprout and reach up towards the light.
I welcome it, am tenderly protective, and somewhat in trepidation. Who knows where this turn of the wheel will lead me (& mine).
I’ve been reaching back, digging in again to the Jack Canfield book & process, “The Success Principles.” I have been reviewing the art I have been producing for the past two years through new eyes, and I have been doing quite a bit of culling & sorting our possessions from our “Old Life,” in MD. Sixty officially as of midnight, I am truly beginning to let go of some of the old baggage of the past 10 years while allowing myself to connect to the various learning that I have been assimilating.
To those ends I have set before myself several tasks (to be worked into a rather tight caretaking schedule). One is to complete, appreciate, assimilate, and share the Train The Trainer program skills (through the Jack Canfield folks). Two, to expose myself and my art to the public marketplace in a local craft show. Three, is to start the practice of Public Speaking again through my Toastmasters Club, and Four, to start practicing, out loud, the French language with like minded individuals.
Tiny shoots, and, rich, juicy, potential blooms for sure. So here is to SIXTY years on this planet and hopefully many more, exploring, dreaming, growing, and of course having a great time too!
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” anonymous
6/26/2020
Not sure how I feel about using typing on here to do my journaling, and, giving it a shot because it’s easier to transfer the info to a later digital iteration like a blog, so here goes…
Mercury is still in retrograde and much to be done while I debate in my head about our upcoming future plans, like our upcoming trip to MD and trying to determine what we can get do, where we can stay, and how long we will be gone from here.
Our new neighbor, Nancy(?), has moved in downstairs. Last night at about 2 am I crashed a bunch of pots and pans while putting them away and as a result cringed thinking of how I was disturbing everyone. She has offered to water my plants for which I am grateful. I am noticing the awareness of the energies of the others that I share this building with, the insulation for sound is sparse, and my sensitivities as always are quite acute.
Morning peace and writing about what I am grateful for, this technology for making it possible for me to communicate to people and organizations Miles away. The ability to practice my typing, practice a language, practice the discerning listening of focusing on the birds singing, the surge of sensuality rising like sap in my body, the satisfied fullness from this morning’s breakfast. I am grateful for this home, a second floor condo overlooking a small bay of the Indian River Lagoon.
I am so grateful for the closeness to the ocean from here I am grateful for this quiet AM as RB does his own thing as I get ready to do mine. I am grateful for Steve D for being there in my brother’s place keeping an eye on him. I am grateful that RB is doing so well, getting more independent every day, and doing his thing of connecting to people reaching out, and making win/win situations for us. I am so grateful every night when I climb in bed to be able to reach out and stroke his soft skin, hear him breathing, and his purr for half a second of awareness before diving back in to sleep. I am grateful for the resources given to us by his parents from their lifetime of saving, working, and investing that have made our unconventional life possible. I am so grateful for both the resources, and the lessons they passed on to both RB and myself. I am grateful for the grandchildren and the joys they bring to our lives. I am grateful for the comforts of this place, all that was provided to us in completeness from furniture to curtains, hurricane shutters and dishes. I am grateful to “Chad” and Winnie, and the garden for a new/old adventure in relationship to my “New Home” and this place on the earth, and All Our Relations.
I am grateful for All Our Relations for the many gifts that are given and provided, from the very air I breathe to the would of the table and frame of the sofa I am on. I am grateful for the minerals and plants, and animals, flora and fauna, cousins all in this great web of life. Bugs to birds to water, ahhh water, soothes, quenches, births, home to fishes and whales, dolphins and manatee, turtles and an entire unseen world within our world. Provider of life, o2 and food for us, I give my heartfelt thanks!
Les oiseaux; songs, inspiration, flight, feathers, omens, a near constant in my life, thank you. The minerals, metals, and ancient plants that our modern world is made up of, I give my heartfelt awestruck thanks for all you do and allow to be done. To the vast bowl of atmosphere surrounding our planet, holding in the air and keeping out the worst parts of the suns blessing to this planet, thank you, we wouldn’t be able to be here if not for you. The animals all, domesticated and wild – lending stories, and flesh to our stories, clothing and shelter entertaining us and keeping us alive, thank you!
To the bug nations, cleanup crews, pollinators, messengers, food for so many. They are colorful, brave resourceful, powerful and so different from us in the way you organize and do stuff.
Molds and bacteria, Lichen and… Stones and sand, seas and rivers and streams, This vast and generous Earth/Home/Mother I give my heartfelt thanks so much to be grateful for G_d(dess)/ Divine creator, Thank you for the spark of my life that animates me and makes me want to be more, to explore, discover and create. Thank you for this miracle of existence for this one tiny, endless moment, Thank you