Out of the Distractions & into the Silence

For any one that has read and practiced The Artists Way you will remember the exercise in voiding your self of all distractions (TV, Books, Radio). The thought is that by irradiating the outside distraction you can more clearly see yourself and find your creativity.

I read the start of the book a few years ago (thanks to a kind friend that gave me a copy) and when I got to this part, the part where I give up my distractions, I closed the book, put it on my shelf and didn't go back to it again....until now.
The thought of giving up my regular TV shows seemed harder than giving up air.
What would I do to relax? What would I spend time doing in the evenings?
It just seemed pointless!

BUT...

Here I am years later and I find I am now in the position of having given up the TV (now on my fifth day).
Eric had given up TV a couple of years ago and found that while he missed it at first it forced him to look for other, more creative and productive ways to spend his time. This ended as we got cable when I moved in and he slipped back into watching the box in the evenings with me. We have been talking about getting rid of it for some time but I kept delaying it. Finally a few days ago I made the call to have them put our service on hold (just in case I wanted it back) and now I am living in the silence.
The first 2 days were fine as we were busy (plus we rented movies) but after the third and now fourth day I found myself in a complete funk and missing the constant noise of my TV Mistress.

As I work and create from home I can go days only having contact with Eric and the odd call to a friend so the noise of the TV in the back ground while I painted would provide me with a sense of connection with the outside world. With that gone, I found myself yesterday sinking into a depression and feelings of loneliness even feelings of abandonment from my friend the TV.

I am happy to say that this morning I have been able to take a little bit of a step back and find my center again, leaving yesterdays absurdities in the past. While I am sure that my longing for the company of the box will resume periodically, I now feel it is at least worth giving this addiction of mine a well earned break.

The time is currently 9:50 am and in the past all I would of done by this time is get Eric off to work, check email and watch the news (on TV) but this morning I have had coffee with Eric and sent him off to work, checked the news on line, checked email, read a chapter of the book my Granddad wrote many years ago, fiddled in my garden a little, played with the dogs and written in here. I must admit that I feel quite accomplished. How on earth did I waste so much time???

While I am not yet ready to give up all distractions, like books and radio, to further deepen my creative essence and follow the Artists Way, I do feel I am walking a necessary path of becoming comfortable with the silence of the outside world and growing accustomed to only hearing my own breath and thoughts.
It leads me to wonder if my creations will change in any way????

Perhaps it was best said by Confucius "Silence is the true friend that never betrays."

Please wish me luck with this experiment of mine...& Eric as he has to put up with me :-)

Blessed be, Love and light

The Lightest Light Attracts the Darkest Dark

I just started reading the very popular book "The Expected One" and one of the first lines in the book refers to the saying "The Lightest Light Attracts the Darkest Dark". It is a saying I have heard often in the Spiritual community and is often used by my very wise and wonderful Dad but one that I hadn't thought about much for quite some time.

Today the phrase keeps repeating in my conscience and playing at the edge of my thoughts.
"The Lightest Light Attracts the Darkest Dark"

Have you noticed that the closer you are to your most true and centered self the more challenges you face and the more your faith in humanity, your self or your beliefs is tested?

I have and I find it almost comical at times when I can step outside of myself and feel so in touch due to some revelation or the overcoming of some obstacle only to find that I am so busy feeling proud of myself that I haven't noticed I am still running full tilt at the next hurdle with no time left to leap.

Within this simple saying I find great comfort. It is when I shine my brightest that I am often faced with the trickiest of situations or the most challenging of personalities but it also when I am at my strongest and my most receptive.

I think their is a lot of truth to the saying "The Lightest Light Attracts the Darkest Dark" but I also feel it is important to understand that the dark is often the misunderstood, the feared and the wounded. At our brightest moments we are given the strength to reach out to those in their darkest moments and share Loves light. Our gift is not only our own but a responsibility to reach out.

Shine bright dear hearts!
Blessed Be, Love and Light

Take a Chance, See an Angel

When we were young most of us thought nothing of going off to a new friends house or going to a place we'd never been before but often as we age we become less social, more comfy in our small group of close friends, our families, and our co-workers. We reach out far less to the stranger on the street who we instantly feel a strange connection to and rarely invite people into our homes but recently I was introduced to 2 people who break this mold and trust their instincts about people.

This lovely couple were given my name by my Father who thought we may like meeting each other and after a quick phone conversation my husband I were invited to their home for dinner. I'm a very private person and while I love to meet new people my first reaction to an invite like this is typically no BUT on this occasion both Eric and I said yes with abandon and are so glad that we did.
We followed our intuition that these people were people we needed to meet and we are so grateful that we listened to that inner voice. The evening we spent with this bright and warm couple and their wonderful friends re-ignited a passion in me to find a project to work on, to become clearer in my thoughts about the type of community I want to be a part of and opened a flood gate of ideas in my mind and heart.

Now looking back on the last few years I can see that every time I have taken a chance and had a conversation with someone that I typically wouldn't of, I have been given a great gift and a joy-filled memory that I will carry for a life time.

I remember a couple of years ago, sitting in a coffee house in a soft cozy arm chair by the fireplace. I never seem to be gifted with the "primo" spot in a coffee shop but this time I had snagged the best seat in the place and was lingering over my coffee and scone. I was a million miles away when an elderly man came up and asked if I minded him taking the arm chair opposite me and sharing my table. He was thin with long gray hair and beard, carrying an old beat up back pack and looked like he'd been living on the street. He also had the most lively Aztec blue eyes I'd ever seen and a smashing smile that you could get lost in, so I offered my table and let him know that I was almost finished anyway and would be leaving in a couple of minutes. Instead of rushing through the last of my coffee, as I had intended to do, I ended up sitting for almost an hour chatting with one of the most fascinating people I have ever had the honor of meeting. The old man was actually a song writer and author who spent 9 months out of each year trecking through a different country. He was well into his seventies and the sun had deepened every line on this face like the cracked Arizona earth. He exuded life and the cliche of living every moment to the fullest. After sharing stories with each other and discussing everything from travel to religion, to his greatest love we bid farewell without ever even exchanging names yet there is no doubt that he will live eternally in my heart and I in his.

It is wonderful moments like this, moments that confirm your intuition, that spark your creativity, and leave you feeling more alive than you did a second before, that are the greatest gifts we can possibly be given. Many people ask why they are not sent an Angel by the God/Goddess to which they prey but I say; Look around. You are sent angels every day. They ride the bus with you, they live across the street and sometimes they invite you to dinner after a quick phone call or ask to sit with you in a coffee shop. We are surrounded by God's angels and to someone else we have the opportunity to be an angel as well.

Reach out, take a chance, listen to your inner voice!

Blessed be, Love and light,

Keep the faith

There are times in life that seem incredibly dark. Times where you feel that no matter what you do you simply can't make things better than they are. You dream of a life that would fulfill your soul and would leave you feeling proud at the end of each day but somehow no matter the prayers you whisper, the goals you set, the money you save, and the hours you put in your dreams are left as nothing more than whispers and wishes spoken to the moon.
I have always believed that the challenges we face in life are gifts wrapped in heartache. That when you peal back the difficult situation or challenge, you are left with the gift of greater wisdom, greater strength, and a chance to make a better situation for yourself. This belief will not change despite the challenges that I am now facing. Some how my dreams of being a mother, owning a business, living a country life style and leaving this world a better place than I found it will come to fruition. I know this because I have Faith and because I have my wonderful husband at my side and when I falter I know he will pick me up and carry my dreams forward until I have the strength to carry them on again my self. They say that love can overcome everything and now more than ever, I believe that this is true.

Keep your faith strong and meet each challenge with the most positivity you can muster. I will do the same and I have the feeling we will all see our dreams materialize some how.

Blessed be, Love and light,

Thirty v's Thirties

I am 2 days away from my 31st birthday and I find my self feeling anxious about my lifes progress and the progression of my dreams into realities. When I turned 30 I found that it was a very easy feeling. The beginning of a new decade of my life with so many possibilities. Here I am a year later and I have realized that I am now IN my thirties rather than just 30 and it is a very different feeling. Don't get me wrong I am not heading into a mid-life crisis or anything but I am noticing that time is flying by and I may not be using it to the best of my abilities.

Feeling accomplished is at the corner stone of many peoples identities. For instance when you meet someone they ask your name and what you do, not who you are within your soul. The lack of accomplishment in the last year made me panic this morning as I pondered my up coming birthday and I realized that while on paper I have done very little this year in regards to career or money, the progress of my soul has been astonishing!

Over the last year I over came my fear of further education and realized that I can easily learn new things and am in fact "book smart", I have written at least a dozen songs and even recorded a couple, flipped a condo, dedicated myself to horse riding again and learning to do it properly, painted Goddess knows how many paintings (5-10 of which are worth framing and could actually be sold), started to garden, trained a new puppy, started a compalation of short stories, and the highlight....fallen head over heals in love and married the most wonderful man!
As far as years go this one has been AMAZING!!!!!

So while I am yet to publish a book, show my art in a major gallery, sell one of my songs to a international singing sensation, or open my own business, I think I have done quite well....
Who knows where I'll be at 32!

Blessed be, love and light

Living in Happiness

Six days since my last post and I don't think I have ever had so much time pass since the beginning of my blogging adventure. Though the desire to write was with me I found that I felt I had very little to say that may of been of interest so I prowled back into the comfort of my own mind and curled up with a good book waiting to be inspired.

So what, you may ask, has drawn me out of my cave and back to the keyboard?
Happiness is the answer!

Happiness and the lack of it that so many people experience.
It is, in my mind, a tricky emotion. One that is as vague as love itself. For although it is seen as a simple smile and is spoken of without another thought, the essence of happiness eludes many except in brief slivers of joy that break up the monotony of no feeling at all.

For me happiness is an emotion that I had to learn to sustain. Being a child who was sensitive and aware of her surroundings from a very tender age, allowed me to take on the shadowed emotions that plague us as adults due to stress and responsibility. I found myself feeling frivolous if I played and laughed too much as it seemed unfair that I should have so much joy when those I loved struggled with tolls I was too young to fully understand.
Through that time and then difficult situations as I grew, I formed a hardened shell around my heart and found that I was left wanting for another life. I lived in the state of wanting for many years and it is only now that I understand that when you live in a perpetual state of want, you stop yourself from living in a state of continued happiness as happiness can only live in the moment.
While I still pursue my dreams and goals with all the passion I can muster I do not live in a state of want as I am grateful for all that I have and in that gratefulness I can feel happiness.
Overcoming the obscurity of this simple emotion has also taught me to open myself to a world of other emotions such as appreciation, peacefulness, and acceptance.
I spent too many of my thirty years on this earth working against my life and trying to mold it into the image I thought would allow me happiness. Yet the moment I stopped working against the life I have and enjoyed it as it is, happiness took over and freed me from the want I was submersed in.
I know that to many of you this may sound like a lot of hocus pocus bull shit but the truth is that you only have two options in this life......

To pursue your dreams from a place of want
or
To pursue them from a place of gratefulness.

Only one will bring you joy on a daily basis and give you the strength to see your dreams through to fruition. That is the choice I make.
I wish you well with your choice.

Blessed be. Love and Light,

Things That Go Bump in the Garden

Warm Spring sunshine, a cool breeze and the gentle song of my wind chimes fill the garden with tranquility at the moment. Birds sing and chirp from all the trees and my cat Grey-El has taken to sunning himself on the front step so he can accost me for pets the moment my shoveling takes a pause.
Gardening has become my new labor of love and I look forward to planning each change that I make and watering my new little plants, but there is a dark force working in the shadows. A sinister side to the garden that only emerges when you start poking around in it......

It is the creepy crawlies!!!!!

Okay, so those of you who know me personally may not be shocked by my bug filled nightmares.
It is quite well known that my "I am woman hear me roar" attitude turns into "I am a squeamish little girl" routine the second something flies, jumps, or crawls on me but I didn't realize just how many times I would have to face my fears taking up this new hobby of mine.

So far I have had to slowly make friends with:

• The biggest earth worms known to man:
  Of which I have thousands and which is supposed to be very good for my soil!
• Ugly fat grub things:
  Which I thought were bad so I would use my shovel to chuck them on the path but it turns out that they are good so I now leave them be but the crows who would helpfully eat the grubs are totally pissed and scream bloody murder at me whenever I am outside.
• A nest of ants:
  That thought me very rude when I turned over a random paving stone and in the process destroyed years of tunnels and work.
• And last but not least a freaking black widow spider:
  Who I must admit was (in the 30 seconds I was frozen in place before screaming and running like a gay man being forced into polyester) very striking and quite glamorous to look at.

As my fear of pesticides, insecticides, and most chemicals of a deadly nature is far worse than my fear of the creepy crawlies. I am having to learn to co-exist in my small, green, wondrous, oasis with all the little buddies that were living here before me.

Perhaps this is a lesson that is far greater than just my own learning to garden and over come bug related fears.
Perhaps the real lesson, for me and those of you reading this, is that despite things scaring us because they are different from us they each have a place in this world. They are each a part of our environment and this delicate ecosystem called earth.
Tolerance is a beautiful gift to give our environment, our fellow human beings and our selves. If we learn to give this gift freely than we may be so lucky to receive it in return.

If you are interested in learning about the environment around you and how you can be more tolerant and less harmful to it please check out the Nature Conservancy of Canada's website.

Blessed Be. Love and Light.

Meeting Muriel

I was working in the front garden a couple of days ago when a lady passed by and commented on my progression so far. I was ready for a rest after weeding and being bent over for what seemed like days so I went over to meet Muriel and thank her for her comments.
I find gaging someones age very difficult but I could see from her soft leathered skin, wrinkled hands, and wind blown Grey hair that she was in her later years but her eyes shone brightly and she was very bright and animated in our conversation. Later she mentioned that she was coming up to her 70th birthday!
As our house is close to an assisted living complex I see lots of older people and it makes me smile to see the ones that are getting out and about rather than spending their lives indoors waiting to die. Muriel for instance is an avid outdoors woman and made me laugh when she said that she is bored not working any longer and has no desire to hang out with all the "old people" as she called them, so she walks for miles everyday and bird watches in different parks.
Muriel then told me about when she had learned to garden. Muriel is from London and was a child in WWII. Everyone was on rash ens during and after the war so learning to grow your own food was essential and encouraged by the government. She took those skills and built on them throughout her life, growing her own food and also gardening as a job when she moved to Canada. Gardening had always been a very important part of her life and she was very pleased to see i was making it a part of mine.
Muriel went on to tell me how wonderful dandelions are and how they can be eaten in so many ways (roots, leaves, flowers) and that organic gardening is the only way to go.
Yesterday I found a note in my letterbox from Muriel along with a organic gardening flyer. She underlined points of interest based on our conversation and I was thrilled to see that she had pointed out books for me to read, conservation and organic gardening meetings I can go to and websites I can use for research. The websites really made me smile as I love seeing older people embracing new ways of life and communication. Muriel is a hip broad!

Through talking with Muriel I see how much I could learn from this woman. Growing food, organic gardening, taking care of yourself and your family when your country is in political upheaval, how being a educated woman is crucial, and it makes me sad to think that her knowledge and that of so many like her is not cherished and passed on but is just left in exchange for our fast consumer privileged life styles. Well, not me. I will take any opportunity I get to talk with Muriel. To learn from her and hear her stories and I know that I will be a better person for it.

Blessed be to you all. Blessed be to my new friend Muriel!

Facing our Fears Part 2

Just wanted to provide an update on my last post.
I rode in my first horse show yesterday and walked away with far more than just a prize or a ribbon, although I did walk away with a prize and 3 ribbons and one of them was a first which was cool.
But Getting back to what I really gained ... I'm not a competitive person. If I think about how I may do in comparison to others then it all goes to hell. If I think about doing the best I can do then I start to second guess, stress out, and again it all goes to hell. But if I stay at peace and trust in myself and just have a good time and allow my abilities to be what they are without judgment then I far exceed my expectations and I really enjoy the moment.
When it was my turn to ride the jump courses I just mounted my horse and enjoyed sharing a moment with her. I felt no stress or pressure just an over whelming gratitude for the moment and a thrill for what she and I were going to get to do. We had a blast together! I grinned and she kicked up her heals between jumps and both of us were living and loving that moment in time. I think we got a couple of pics and if so I will post at a later date so stay tuned.

Love and light,

Facing Fears and our Darker Emotions

I'm sure all of you are getting a little sick of hearing about my Saturday riding lessons but I must just say that today I got to jump a 2 foot course, meaning multiple jumps in a certain combination with jumps 2 feet high. Now 2 feet is nothing but keeping the correct form over the jumps is what is important and although I certainly have things to work on, my instructor says I have a natural jumping form. This is great news as it means I will get to move on to higher jumps in the future :-)

Jumping today also allowed me to see the youth in my wonderful mare Countess, as she kicked up her heals in delight after the first couple of jumps and you could tell she was having a great time. It was such a blast!!!

The more important tidbit for today is that I am also invited to compete in a minor show tomorrow. It will include 2 flat classes and 1 jumping class. The whole show is just for fun and to introduce us novices to competition.
But let me tell you that when I was invited it might as well of been Spruce Meadows because my blood pressure rose and the butterflies started.

It has taken some convincing from both my husband and father (Thanks to both!) to get into the competitive spirit and join in tomorrow but now that I have agreed to take part I am like a kid on redbull. I can barely contain my excitement!

Facing ones fears is never easy. For me it takes a push from my loved ones, a kick from my higher self and a good dose of blind faith but somehow I never regret facing a fear.

Facing any darker part of our selves can be a challenge. Tomorrow at the show it will be my fear of failure. Yesterday I had to face my envious and jealous side. No matter what dark crevice of your soul you are uncovering embrace it, be tender to it and shine a very bright and honest light on it. As it is only a part of your good soul and in that case how dark can it really be?

I believe that to shy away from the darker aspects of our self and pretend they don't exist is to give them power they don't deserve. Take out the dark emotions, give them a good spit and polish, shine love and light into then and allow them to simply crumble and blow away in the wind. Dark energy never serves us but if we deny it we give it a place to live rather then sending it back to the universe to become light again.

On a personal note: I will confess here from my blogging pulpit that yesterday I faced a very large dark emotion. After a loving and friendly call from my ex-partner, who's life seems filled with love and blessings, I felt jaded and hurt that the universe hadn't sent him horrible and hurtful times. I felt karma had taken the day off and decided to reward rather than punish him for the crappy way he had treated me during our relationship BUT the truth is everyone deserves happiness. My ex-partner is a good person who has faced his darker sides and who allowed me to learn very valuable lessons. The time we shared together had far more good than bad and despite hurting me he mainly loved me. I was far from an innocent by stander in our relationship as I chose to be there and participate and for that I must take full responsibility.

JK - If you happen to read this, thank you for your call. I learnt a wonderful lesson from it in allowing my self to be human and to embrace my dark corners. I am so happy that you are happy and that you have chosen to keep in touch. Blessed be to you and yours!

Love and light to you all,

The Foundation

Many years ago my Father, my Brother and I started talking about a business my Dad was trying to create. It was the taking of an old rundown chateau in France and creating a Spiritual Healing Center. My dad, John Maylam, continues with this dream. Doing all he can to bring together the required talents and funds to make his dream a reality now a decade later.

During the original conversations between the 3 of us we started talking about ethical business. How it seems that in many companies only the almighty dollar is important and the exploitation of the employees, environment, and even the owners of the company themselves were all fare game. We decided then to try and formulate a statement that we could do business by.

With a pen in my hand the words started flowing like a gift from the heavens and in moments it was finished.
With almost no revision we had a statement called The Foundation.
I would like to share this original statement here with you now:

“The Foundation” is a group of individuals and businesses that will all work from a solid foundation of truth. We hope to bring people together who believe in making a profitable living without sacrificing people’s individual growth, the environment, personal beliefs, equality, or the essence that is us all - love - both universal and personal which in reality are one.

The possibilities are endless. Imagine networking with a group of people and companies that you know do not sacrifice the greater good for personal gain. All of a sudden the balance that so many of us find only at the end of the day in our homes would encompass our entire lives. To understand this vision just close your eyes and imagine a world in balance, that vision is what a solid foundation can provide.

So here I am more than 10 years later and still believing that this is the only way to conduct yourself in business. I am happy to say that many more people are also bringing their businesses into balance and conducting themselves in a way that doesn't hurt others for their personal gain.
That being said, many companies, both large and small, do still sacrifice others and it has to stop!

We have a limited time on this earth and no matter your beliefs you simply can't deny that it is our responsibility while here, to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. This means not only choosing our employers carefully but choosing who we purchase our goods from with the same consideration.

My husband and I along with another business partner are planning our first company and it goes without saying that we will be living and working with this philosophy in mind.

I believe you can be successful, that you can have abundance and that you can sleep with a clear conscience.

I wish all of you the best and pray to the Goddess that I connect with to guide you to a balance in your work and personal life.

Blessed be. Love and light

Crying the greys

It is yet another grey day on Vancouver Island. I can't remember the last time I saw the sun and it is sending me into a complete funk.
The Vancouver city lights make you forget that it is always grey and the sexy low hung cloud against the mountains in Mission, make the grey days happy as all you want to do is curl up naked on a sheep skin rug in front of the fire.
But here in Victoria it is just grey.
The sky is grey, the water is grey and today I am grey!

I miss the Alberta sun that fans out across the sky making the Calgarian cold winter days bright and fresh. How blue the sky is and how much air there seems to be around you as the sky is just so big and you are just so small.

On the up side the pink and white blossoms are lining neighborhood streets and 2 large trees in my front garden are covered with stunning baseball sized blooms. The grass in our canine landscaped back yard is a vivid liquid green and the daffodils, pansies, and hyacinths are all making their Spring time appearance.
These plant life delights indicate that sunshine could appear at any time and let me say that for me it can't come a moment too soon.
Much more of this and I may have to do something outrageous just to stop from crying the greys.
What would this crazy act be? Stay tuned to the weather channel and the local news and perhaps you may find out!

Blessed be. Love and Light (please let there be light).
Anneliese

Enough

Next door to our house is a retirement home and in the time I've lived here I have met a few of the old people living there.
I see them walk by to the coffee shop down the road, A few of them trick or treated at our house last Hallows Eve and since we have been landscaping the front garden many have stopped to chat. I don't know any of there names but I know them by the smiles they give, the advice on cedar trees, or the image of a 80+ year old woman in a pumpkin suit that shall forever be ingrained in my mind.

The person who intrigues me most though is the grey haired lady who sits at the bus stop just to the right of my house. The first time I saw her was the day a large big dog chased our puppy Sage right out of the dog park one block from our house. Sage ran for home and nothing I screamed in my frantic voice could stop him.
I ran as fast as I could from the other end of the park where we were standing when the black dog started to chase him. I didn't stop until I was able to bury my hands in Sages soft puppy fur.

Sages journey took him out of the park, across the road and to the bus stop where he forgot the scary black dog in exchange for a pat from the old lady sitting on the bench. I stammered an apology to the lady as I took hold of Sage and then quickly retreated to the safety of our front room and vowed to never let my dog off leash again.

Since that day I have seen the same lady at the bus stop each and every day. She never gets on a bus and although I have seen her speaking to the odd person I don't think it is ever more than a casual exchange. I became quite interested in her daily or sometimes twice daily trip to the bus stop and I will admit that I now watch to see if she is there.
I walk past with the dogs if I have seen she is siting there and although I never speak to her I always smile and breath in the smell of a cigarette which is curious because I hate the smell of smoke normally and I have never actually seen her smoke but the smell is always there with her and some how it brings me comfort.

I have no family here except for my husband and so I have often fantasized about adopting some lovely elderly person to become a surrogate grandmother to the child I hope to have one day. So it should come of no surprise that the thought of chatting to the old lady at the bus stop has crossed my mind but somehow I can't help but think it would ruin the perfect give~&~ take we currently have.

I watch for her and give her a smile.
She nods and allows me to smell her phantom cigarette.
Somehow it is enough for us both...

Blessed be!

The Much-To-Do About Boobs

This ones for the girls....

Have you sat down recently and thought about boobs? Yours or someone Else's?
I find myself this morning wondering how breasts became such a hot topic and how one body part can be related to so many emotions, thoughts, experiences and controversy.

In what seemed like an overnight transformation I went from a flat chested 11 year old girl to a 36C curvaceous 12 going on 20 year old. All of a sudden my mother was having to try and hide me from the leering gazes of 35 year old men. This overnight change in my body didn't just mean that clothes fit differently but it meant EVERYTHING was different.
I became a sexual being in the eyes of other people because my body had changed, and let me tell that at 12 I was no where near ready for it.

The tops that on my friends looked cute and innocent looked sleazy on me. My friends mothers weren't sure I was the kind of girl they wanted hanging out with their daughters and they certainly didn't approve of how their older sons and their husbands were all of a sudden offering to babysit.

Having breasts changed my life the moment they arrived and they continue to play an important role in my life. They let me attract certain lovers but deter others, they prevented me carrying on with certain sports, they have both advanced and hindered career moves at certain times, they have formed a part of my personality and I have both relished and rejected them at different times of my life. Breasts are controversial and those are just my own.

The power of the breast is overwhelming.
It is what nurtures our young, lures our lovers, forms our fashion sense and fosters billion dollar industries from creams, bras, surgeries, magazines, film, and countless others businesses.

No one goes unaffected by boobs.

So why do I bring all of this up? I suppose it is to ask you to be sensitive and to give this over worked body part a bit of a break.
Their is a reason that breast cancer is rampant in our nation and it is more than just the physical nature of our world. It is also the emotional pressure that our commercial driven North American lives force on to this unsuspecting fragile collection of tissue.
As women we criticise our breasts for being too small, to big, too low, too pointy, too, too, too and I think we just need to give them a rest.
Stop judging yours and everyone Else's.
Stop allowing society to tell you something is wrong with them.
Stop forcing them into padded wire contraptions that force them into unnatural shapes.
Let them breath for Goddesses sake!!!!

1 in 27 women will die of breast cancer. This is staggering!!!!!
I say embrace your tits. Their size, shape, and stage in maturity.
Love them for what they are and take great care of your mounds.
Don't forget to check them to ensure good health and perhaps let them see the sun first hand.
www.bcsc.ca

Blessed be, Love and Light

A Complex Answer to a Simple Question

This morning I was asked a simple question.
"Do you ever loose yourself in a character of a book your are reading? Really loose yourself where you start thinking like they do?"
" Oh yes" I replied. I spoke then of a few favorite characters from the books that I love but the question has lingered with me well past the original conversation.

I think I loose myself in characters all the time. In books, in movies, in songs and even in friendships. But more often I find my self in my interactions with these characters. We have a choice in how we learn our life lessons and although I spent my younger years learning some difficult lessons through traumatic events such as death of friends and family, date rape, leaving school, leaving relationships, and so on... I have discovered in my slightly older and wiser years that I can learn valuable life lessons through listening to the stories of others and allowing myself to become a character in a story for just a moment and then relate it back to my own life. I no longer need to experience first hand a difficult path to gain the wisdom from it.
I feel very grateful that I can open my heart, mind and soul to another persons experience and gain insight from it.
It makes me wonder if that isn't the Spirits goal. To live on earth learning a handful of lessons that we can take back and share with the greater conscience at our time of passing.
How wonderful it would be to live on earth as we do in the Spirit realm sharing our insights and feelings without having to experience the drama first hand.
It takes an incredible amount of empathy to transport yourself into a character that is far removed for your notion of who you are and very little to relate to a figure you admire or respect yet I have grown more allowing myself to bathe in a character I feel disdain for, as it those who are different that can be our greatest teachers.
As I said, a complex answer to a simple question but one worth continuing to think about.
I hope you each enjoy your next book or movie. Try allowing yourself the joy of loosing and finding a part of yourself in an others character. Just remember to tie on a safety rope before diving in so our mental institutions don't become overloaded! :-)
Blessed be. Love and Light,

Embracing Your Equine Heart

Every Saturday I have the pleasure of a horse riding lesson. My partner in this lesson is a lovely bay mare named Countess. She is ridden by several people each week and willingly puts up with each of our flaws while we learn to ask her to do things that she has been doing for many years now.

When sitting and thinking of this patient but willful animal I realize the lessons she teaches me that go far beyond my horse riding abilities. Each time she allows me onto her back or each time she responds to my gentle request to collect her trot or extend her legs, to change her lead or to stand perfectly still I realize that she has agreed to work with me despite me ignorance and flaws.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we humans were as gracious with each others flaws as this humble animal is with mine?

She holds no grudge when I use my leg a little too hard on her side or when I loose my seat and land heavily on her back. Countess simply expresses her displeasure immediately with a swish of her tail or a flattening of her ears and then our tiff is over and all is forgiven. We can learn so much from this instant and honest display of emotion and the instant release of a discomfort allowing ourselves to return to peace with no unresolved issues.

I did a meditation over the weekend that asked me to revisit my past and I found myself crying for wounds still fresh but that are years old. I thought then of Countess and wondered if my wounds would be so fresh if I had shown all of my true feelings in the moment as she does rather than "Managing" them as many of us do and then carrying them around with us like ridiculous badges of honour. If we fill up our hearts and souls with old unresolved events and emotions then how can their be room for the joy and happiness that we each long for?

Change is never easy but it is a gift and I will being trying to change how I "manage" my emotions and I will be striving to embrace my Equine Heart by living and releasing in the emotional moment.
{Thanks Countess! I predict many carrots in your future :-) }
Love and Light,

The Gift of Making a Difference

The sun is shining this morning and I feel my aura expand with every breath I take.
My swim was a little more satisfying, my coffee a little fuller of flavor, and the air just a little sweeter in smell. Mornings are by far my favorite time of day. Anything is possible at the start of each day.
This morning as I relish in the abundance I have been given I think back to another gift that I was given. A gift I was reminded of last night when catching up with a friend.
Not that long ago I met a person that I felt inexplicably drawn to and through the friendship that arose from our first meeting I was given the opportunity to help him see the world through my eyes for a moment. To see that emotion, even tough emotions that bring on tears and hurt, can be a wonderful gift. I feel that to share something with another is as much a gift for me as it is to the receiver. How blessed I am to meet people who will listen to my views even if they are far from their own and how wonderful it is to feel like a positive influence on someones life.

Blessed be, love and light.