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Thursday, December 27, 2012

My Perfect Day - December 27, 2012




A perfect cup of joe

Lazy pajama morning

Someone else to shovel the snow

Leftover Tortierre for lunch

A bit of shopping

My favorite clothing shop gifting me with a new top

Mid-afternoon latte break

Late afternoon drinks and snacks with friends

Couple of pre-dinner Kir Royales

Fabulous daughter cooking my birthday dinner

My favourite musical selections cranking on the stereo

Good hair day

Clothes still fitting miraculously post-holiday feasting

Personalized Google birthday greeting

Surrounded with love

Happy Birthday to me!


Monday, December 24, 2012

2012 Christmas Message


I want to share a message with all of your this Christmas Eve, 2012 that I read on a blog I follow that I felt that was so well said, I could not have said it better myself....

"May you go deeper. May you reach higher. May you fearlessly seize what is good and loving and share it generously with those around you. May you find within yourself those satisfactions you’ve been taught to seek outside of yourself. May you realize how beloved you are, a child of God and a powerful spiritual entity, busy creating what tomorrow will look like for yourself and the rest of us.
May you enter the stillness long enough to know it’s not empty but full to brimming with all the beauty you’ve forgotten about yourself, with wisdom and truth. May you have a holy moment, a revelation that illuminates your connection with this lovely planet, and the oneness of all the life forms that reside upon her. "...Eric Francis

This resonated with me even more so than usual as I have sadly known two young people who committed suicide this year.  These tragic losses of two young men in their late twenties has had a deep and profound impact on me and I can only imagine the pain it has caused those closest to them. 

My heart goes out to any family facing this first holiday season post crisis.

May we all cherish each and every precious moment.

Merry Christmas to all.  




Friday, December 14, 2012

Time to Shift Gears


Could this be the tipping point?  Please tell me it is! The tragedy in Connecticut this morning just has to be a final wake up call.  How many more innocent lives must end before we get it?  

It is like that "meaning of insanity" quote by Albert Einstein.  The one that goes -"the meaning of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."  How much longer before handguns are banned?  How much longer before humanity stops putting so much emphasis and importance on the acquisition of material things?  How many more days, weeks and years before everyone realizes we are all connected? How many more hearts have to be broken; families torn apart, nations divided before we rise above it all?

Days such as this leave me so depleted.  It's as though I cannot absorb all the grief as there is such an abundance of it swirling around that it threatens to absorb me.  I sit here grateful that just yesterday I was able to embrace and hug my daughter before she left town to go back to university to write a couple more exams.  The lingering energy of that moment will have to sustain me today as I weep for the victims and their families and friends of this senseless crime this morning.

From what I have been reading and learning, we, the human race will have an opportunity for enlightenment or awakening on December 21st.  There are many takes on this phenomena of late and I have kind of bought into one in particular that describes the actual scientific explanation and how there will be a window of about 8 minutes where we will be able to absorb this energy of the shifting planets and if you are open to it, may actually be able to awaken to a higher consciousness - a shift, a new way of thinking and doing that will be for the betterment of individuals as well as the collective.

So pay attention on this day and if new thoughts come to you, you are advised to write them down, no matter how far-fetched or unusual they seem as a way to remember what came to you and then perhaps begin to act on them and make changes to the way you live your life, perhaps live a larger life than the one you are living now.

Based on what happened today, it can't come soon enough.  


Monday, December 3, 2012

My Never-ending Journey


Nothing like a sick day on the sofa to give one pause.  Feeling physically incapable of much at all, the day called for quiet and self-reflection (like I haven't done enough of that in the last 3 years - ugh!).

I rummaged through my collection of books next to my bed knowing I would not choose fiction.  No, today called for some sort of inward journey (again!).  I find when I am in this sort of mood, the book I actually need to be reading usually jumps out at me immediately and today was no exception.  It was time to revisit sections of "Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life", even though the mere title of the book can sometimes depress me reminding me that I actually really am in the "second half".

It was sort of apropos considering I had just shot off a note to the CEO of Habitat for Humanity to see if he would be interested in talking to me about creating an off shoot of his organization devoted to the interior decorating of the houses they build for the needy.  I figured they should not only provide a roof over the heads of the recipients but why not look nice as well?  It would be such a pleasure to be able to do my work for people who might really appreciate my efforts even it it did mean beg, borrowing and stealing furniture and supplies to do it from generous donors all over the province - I thought the idea had some merit and still do despite his gracious decline of my offer and idea.

Anyway, I digress.  The book.  Back to Dr. James Hollis, PH.D and his incredible contribution to those looking to find meaning in this challenging materialistic world we live in.  I flipped straight to the back of the book as I recall that is the section that had the most impact on me the first 10 times I read it.  Yes, there they were - the 10 questions.  The 10 best questions you will ever ask yourself.  You may  not be able to answer them all at once and truth be known I am still chipping away at some of them myself.  So I thought it might be a good idea to share them with all of you because I doubt many of you out there have this book or have even heard of it, so here goes.....the title of this list could stop you for a good while itself.  Dr. Hollis - I now give you the floor.

Is the Life you are Living too Small for your Soul's Desire?

Consider these questions.  Answer them honestly to yourself or they will prove of no value.  If they hurt a bit, or intimidate a lot, then they are hitting home for you.  Answer them honestly, and you are on the way to the insight that leads to wisdom, the wisdom that leads to change, the change that leads to a larger life, and the larger life that ultimately provides healing because it is the life the gods intended for you.

1.  Where has life in its unfairness, stuck you, fixated you, caused you to circle back and back upon this wounding as a provisional definition and limitation of your possibilities?  Why do you continue to cooperate with the wound, rather than serve something larger, which serves you in return?

2.  Where has life blessed you, given you a gift? And what have you done with that gift? How have you accepted the responsibility that goes with it?

3.  Where are you blocked by fear, stuck, rigid, resistant to change?

4.  What is the fear beneath the fear?  The fear that intimidates you only gains its power from the wiring beneath it, the wiring of history, which leads to a deeper fear, a fear from your past.  This circuitry activates the old message that this fear, this issue, is larger than you, and so you ignore the conscious, empowered adult you have become since then.

5.  Where was your father stuck, and where has that stuck place shown up in your life?  Where was your mother stuck and where has that stuck place shown up in your life?  Are you repeating their lives, their patterns, or tying to overcome them by compensation, or treating the problem in a way that brings harm and further self-alienation?  Is this the legacy you will pass on to your children?

6.  Where do you avoid conflict, the necessary conflict of values, and therefore avoid living in fidelity with who you are?

7.  What ideas, habits, behavioral patterns are holding you back from the large journey of the soul? What secondary gains do you receive by staying mired in the old - security, predictability  validation from others? Are you now tired enough, hurting enough to begin to take the soul's journey on?

8.  Where are you still looking for permission to  live your life?  Do you think that someone else is going to give it to you?  What are you waiting for, someone else to write the script of your life for you?

9.  Where do you need to grow up?  When will this happen?  Do you think someone else will do it for you?

10.  What have you always felt called toward, but feared to do?  Does this possibility still summon you, symbolically if not literally?  What new life wishes to come into being through you?

So, there you have it my dear readers.  I challenge each and every one of you to consider these questions, or some of them at least and see where it takes you.  

Work on them one at a time.  Try to do it before New Year's Eve and then start 2013 with a whole new approach to your life.  

And you thought losing 10 lbs  as your new year's resolution was tough - piece of cake next to this! 

Happy trails!