Spring

Spring is almost here. I can't wait. Everything feels so fresh and new.  The sun rises earlier and higher every day. It's the Goldilocks season to me...the temperature is always just right, the skies are so blue, I can once again open my windows to let the outside in. And everything starts to turn green and beautiful and vibrant. Not to forget the local fresh fruit and vegetables that will soon be available.

winter goes uneasily
flowers bees humans merge now
i spin like a top

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about what spring means to you.

Inner Peace

Inner peace…I believe that as we, one by one cultivate our own inner peace, world peace will grow.  Sometimes I get annoyed, but the saying that what you focus on is what you get more of is so true. If I focus on being upset that I am once again not feeling well, I don’t feel well. When I shift my thinking, I immediately feel better, even though I still have the physical symptoms of aching sinuses or a runny nose. When I grow more peaceful, the world grows that much more peaceful. This is a big responsibility and I do not take it lightly. I hope you will join me in growing your inner peace.

Simplify…To me simplicity is essential to inner peace.  Well really for outer peace too.  Acceptance of what is rather than resisting…often times I am resisting and I don’t even know it.  When I become aware and stop resisting, that thing loses its power. And I have peace. Not resisting does not mean doing nothing. Rather it allows me to think clearly and take the appropriate action.  The other day I was resisting making a phone call regarding my finances. When I came into acceptance, and put my energy into what I needed to do, I made the phone call and the monster was not really scary at all. Kind of crazy, but that’s how it works in my world. There was a stillness inside when I let go of the resistance.

Forgiveness…hmmm I cannot have inner or outer peace without this piece of the puzzle.  I like Oprah’s definition of forgiveness.  To paraphrase it is accepting the past as it was, letting go of wishing for things to have been different.  This has been hugely helpful for me in being able to forgive myself; my ex-husband as well as family members who I wished for a long time had a different relationship with me. It is what it is. Thank you universe. And I have found that not forgiving keeps me connected to people in a way that I do not want to be connected to them. Forgiveness is a way to freedom for me.

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”   St Francis de Sales

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about how you can cultivate your inner peace every day.

Winter...I love you...I Love you not

 

I took this photo at the Forks the day my granddaughter and I spent the afternoon frolicking in the snow. We had the best day ever.  I can and do enjoy winter but only sporadically. Winter is my least favourite season. Days are shorter and nights are colder.  Even my down duvet needs a little extra encouragement (aka another blanket) to keep me warm when the temperature drops to the -30's C. It's not always easy to stay motivated and there seems to be a natural inclination towards hibernation. The cold goes right through me and I get very, very annoyed at the (well-meaning) people who glibly say, "Wear lots of layers and you won't even feel the cold." Really?    I have to psyche myself up to go outside in winter. Well, today was no different. I needed some fruit and allowed myself to be persuaded to walk to the market across the street. Was it cold? Yes! Did I feel the cold? A little as I was waiting for traffic to clear so I could cross the street. Was I glad I went? Absolutely!! The sun was shining and my mood became so much lighter by the time I got back home.  So, thank you to the people who keep telling me "Dress for the weather and you'll be fine."  Not promising I won't grumble about the cold, though.   Maybe I'll be camping in the snow next...NOT!

 

Winter is not easy for me, but I do enjoy the views. Winter creates such beautiful landscapes. A fresh snow looks like a clean, white blanket to me. And the shapes are just so fun. Look at the chairs in the photo above. How can you not feel happy when you see the unintended, beautiful result of  snow?          Art au nautral.  Best ever. Winter is part of my current reality, so I will continue to look for the positives around winter.

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about all that you love about winter.

Rituals...do we need them?

What is a ritual?  It is a familiar activity, something we do repeatedly (although not always).  Rituals are ordinary activities like brushing our teeth every morning or going to work every day or the cashier who greets us with, "How are you today?"  And we respond with, "I'm fine, thank you." Or rituals can be done occasionally to mark special events like  birthdays, anniversaries,  weddings or graduations for example. I find rituals make my life simpler in the course of everyday life. I start my day with some energy work. This includes myself as well as family members. I love this ritual. I feels as though I have my ducks in a row and can start my day connected to source.  Then I have rituals for the order that I do my morning tasks. I do Yoga, then check my emails, eat breakfast, clean up my kitchen, shower and then start my work day.   I like knowing without thinking what comes next. It is comforting and I easily keep moving. The familiarity is like a hug from the universe to me.

I also use rituals to make beginnings, endings and changes in my life. I create rituals for a specific situations and probably will not do that same ritual again. I find marking change and transitions with a ritual, supports the change and keeps me on track with honouring it. Rituals are a tool for me to move through the easy and the tough that is my life.

Rituals can sometimes be spontaneous. When I feel the urge to celebrate a moment of joy or pleasure (I have so many of these with my grandkids) I will honour this with jumping up and down or squealing with delight. Ritual takes the form it takes. I am not stuck on any particular form.

I want to share another ritual with you. Friday night is pizza night for me. After the pizza has been lovingly eaten and enjoyed, I take a slow, leisurely after dinner walk (passegiata the Italian term for this). I look forward to this every week. I will sometimes text my kids, that it is Friday night Pizza night,  and they probably roll their eyes. But the excitement is too much for me not to share it. And if the weather does not allow for a passegiata, my after dinner is taken up with exploring music. So yum!

Gratitude is one of the constant rituals in my life that keeps me grounded. Thank you my sweet universe.

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about the rituals in your life that you treasure.

Thoughtful Design

Our homes have changed a lot  since the 1950's. Way back then the average home was just under 1000 square feet. Three bedrooms and one bathroom were standard in most houses.  There was an eat in kitchen and a living room. These were the gathering places for families. Families ate at least one meal a day together. The way people lived back then supported real connections between family members.

Homes have grown to the 2000 square foot range. We spend less time than ever at home, yet we feel we need larger homes. And families are generally smaller today than in the 1950's. There is a disconnect in our thinking it seems to me.

To me a home is there to support my lifestyle.  Things like neighbourhood and demographics are taken into consideration.  Do I want to commute? What services are offered in the community?  Shopping, banks, schools and church are all considerations.  How close do you want to be to your neighbours? Do you want to do yard work or is a condo more in line with you? Is there an organic market close by? Green space? Walking and biking trails? Is it close to a gym? Whether you are an urban single, or a couple just starting your family or a baby boomer there are many things to consider.  Personally I think multi-lifestyle communities are the most interesting   After all living on a street of Joanne clones would get boring pretty quickly. These are all things to take into consideration when deciding where you want to live. But to me, there is a disconnect in our thinking when we build larger and larger homes for fewer and fewer people. To me a home is there to support my lifestyle.How do we bridge this disconnect? This is where my concept of Thoughtful Design that I have developed for my business comes in.

-->Thoughtful Design is living consciously rather than on autopilot.  Autopilot is being sheeple rather than people. An example, a few years back I was working in an office and it was coming up to Christmas. I was sharing with a co-worker that I did not buy gifts at Christmas. She was rather shocked and then carried on to say that her grandparents celebrated Christmas, her parents celebrated Christmas and she celebrated Christmas and her kids celebrated Christmas. She did not have s specific reason why she celebrated Christmas other than her family before her had done so. She was blindly following their actions without questioning.  Now if she had done so, she may have come up with a lot of valid reasons why she wanted to continue to celebrate Christmas. Doing so without knowing why is where disconnect comes in. Thoughtful Design is about questioning why you do what you do

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, begin questioning why you do what you do.

Another Retail Day

I have avoided Valentines' Day not because I am uncomfortable with expressions of love or because I am single, but rather for the shameless retail exploitation that the day has become. And really, being forced to celebrate love?  Need I say more?

I do however see the benefit in having days like V Day to serve as markers or reminders to be grateful for what we have. Thinking about and  expressing love is a beautiful thing in and of itself. It is so easy to take the people in our lives for granted. Maybe V Day could be a day of reflection and re-evaluation around the people in your life. And if it has real meaning for you, by all means celebrate it. Celebrate it with honesty and in the most real way for you. And you know any day can be Valentine's Day.  Will you be my Valentine?

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about how you can express love more often.

Country vs City

There is a part of me that feels attracted to country living. It seems so idyllic with it's quiet, peaceful spaces. Neighbours know each other, fields of wheat blow in the wind and you might see a cow or two. I feel a tug when I drive through a small town, with it's quaint general store and narrow sidewalks.  Takes me back to when I was a kid. I can see myself walking through the streets, greeting my neighbours and as I enter the grocery store, I actually know the person bagging my groceries. And when they say hello, they do not have to look at the name on my credit card.  In my mind it is so idyllic.    Then reality sets in. Who am I kidding? I love the vibe in the city.    Every block I drive by is a completely new experience. A mixture of architecture styles, bungalows, two and even three story houses can all be found in close proximity to each other. Three-story walk up apartments, high rises; small grocery stores and office towers are often times neighbours.  Everything is close at hand. Which is huge for me. I am not a commuter at all. Many older neighbourhoods boast gracious homes of times gone by with front porches or a veranda. To me it is eye candy at every turn. I never tire of driving through neighbourhoods.  And when I walk I am at ground level and get to see some of the stories of the people that live there. People's ages can be inferred by the presence of their artifacts. If I see a house with bikes I would guess a younger person lives there and if I see lots of flowerbeds, I would guess an older person lives there. These are generalizations of course, but it's fun to do.  For me, there is no contest at all. Urban wins hands down. Urban suits me to a T.

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about where you feel most at home...country or city.

Expressing My Thoughts

Pain comes with secrets

Banish the glow.  Lemon tea 

On a snowy day

Light glimmers on snow

Shadows long and shapely  Lily

Pads emerge aware

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about what new way you can express your thoughts.

I Love Ironing

I iron. Yes I do. I like the crispness that ironing gives to clothing. I do iron t-shirts, and pyjamas, but not pillow cases or jeans.  I like to think that I am reasonable about what I iron, but as I see this in print...maybe reasonable is not quite the right description. Maybe peculiar or weird is more accurate. Nonetheless I stand by my ironing choices.  I find ironing somewhat therapeutic and definitely satisfying to see the wrinkles disappear.  Kind of like working out the kinks in my life.  If only they disappeared so easily.
I remember  how my Mom ironed when I was a kid. We lived for a while in a remote village where we had no electricity, so she use the old sad irons.  We had a wood stove and she would heat them up and use one until it was too cool and then grab another one while the first one heated up again.  Now that would be drudgery to me.

Later when we moved to where we had electricity, but no steam irons, she would dampen the clothing, let them sit overnight and iron them the next day. And make a solution of starch with corn starch and water. That was really crisp.
And if ironing is just not part of your vocabulary, you can always throw that shirt in the dryer for 10 minutes on low with a damp sheet of fabric softener and face the world looking perfectly pressed.

Do you still iron clothes? Why or why not?

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about what kinks you may want to iron out of your life.

I'm Home

What is home? Home is where my heart sings. Which can be at various locations and with various people. Home is where I feel I belong, where I share experiences, where I feel safe, and loved.  Home is my own physical space where I am represented at every turn.  By the splashes of red, the angle of my meditation and EFT chair, the art I have hung on the walls, the familiar feelings and smells. Home is a where I learn, I teach, I love, I play and express myself any old way I feel like. Home is a blend of the relationships, experiences and even the structures that surround me. Home is the best friend who knows me really well. Home is inside me. Home is many things to me and I need all these aspects of home to really be me.  Home is a beautiful grounding force in my life. My heart is singing "Take Me Home." by John Denver.

Where do you feel most at home?
How do you make yourself feel at home when you’re not in the actual place where you live?
Who are the people and where are the places that define home for you?
What does home mean to you?

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about what home means to you.    

Love this quote‎~This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before."

~Leonard Bernstein

Learning to Drive

I was doing some reminiscing today. Back to when I was 16 and learning to drive.  I am not quite sure how my parents thought it would be okay, but one of my "teachers" was my brother who is 1 year older than me. So he had been driving for approximately a year. Surely that is enough driving experience to teach your younger sister?  And he taught me on a car with a standard transmission. As a parent who has gone through teenagers learning to drive, I cannot quite connect the dots with that decision. However, my brother and I survived our driving sessions quite well, so maybe my parents knew what they were doing after all.  I also had a few lessons with my Dad. It was a great frustration to him that the rear view mirror was always in the wrong position for him, when he go into drive. There was my Dad, my Mom, my two older brothers and me driving the same car. Did Dad really think the mirror would never be moved?  Funny thinking back on that.  The lessons with my Dad do not really stand out for me.  Most of my driving training was through Driver's Ed. I feel that the reason I am such a good driver is because I was so well taught by Mr Forsythe.  I say this a little bit tongue in cheek, but do feel I am a safe driver thanks to my training. And my big coup was that I passed my driver's test first try and some of the guys in my class did not!  I was a quiet, shy young girl at that time and found it a real stretch to take Driver's Ed. I knew I really wanted to drive and that desire was stronger than my discomfort.  Many times when I look back, I see that I always had an incredible inner strength. I was not aware of it for a long time, but this inner part of myself has served me well over the years. I could say this inner strength has been "driving" me for 60 years now.  Love my inner strength.

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about your inner strength and how it has driven you.

Turned Inside Out and Scraped Raw

2012 was the year I began truly honouring myself. I allowed myself to come completely undone. As per my usual way of carrying on, I did not let my family know what I was going though.  Always taking the toughest road possible. While I was coming undone I participated in family occasions, had my granddaughters over for sleepovers, arranged a family reunion, welcomed a new grandson, worked on my business (without alot of enthusiasm or insight) and watched alot of TV. TV was my means of escape.   
This undoing was a long time coming. I never felt valued throughout my childhood and this carried on into adulthood. I literally hid for years. Never daring to be the real me.  I was nobody, really.  Just a shell. Believing that I was unworthy of anything good, I clung to unhealthy relationships. 
As I felt the undoing approaching, I made the conscious decision to embrace it and allow it to come. I knew from deep inside me that if I did not embrace this, I would never be able to move forward. So I hunkered down and plunged. It felt to me as though I had been turned inside out and scraped raw. It felt as though it would not end, but again somewhere deep inside me I knew that I would emerge stronger and more alive than I had ever been before.  My acceptance of this undoing allowed me to come from a place of openness. I began to question many things and found answers, so many answers. Alot of my questions were around how I lived in my space and how I could live better, happier. Live in alignment with my values. Harmony and balance. I am now on the back together side of this adventure (I came out intact unlike Humpty Dumpty, who did not fare so well). I learned many things while coming undone. One big change for me is that I am much more open to connecting. I am seeing connecting as my friend rather than something difficult and not fun at all. I have a new energy. I wake up buzzing with excitement for a new day. I tackle problems differently and with the knowing that I have the answer inside me. I honour myself and allow the real me to shine and be seen. I am using my voice. I am honouring myself. Thank you my sweet universe.

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about coming undone as the road to wholeness.

Playing While Feeling Guilty

I wrote about play a while back.  Play and fun have been on my mind alot as of late. I still have to work at being playful and having fun.  The question "Can I have fun when I am feeling guilty?" came to me today. I tend to be hard on myself at times. Every now and then it seems guilt comes out of nowhere. I haven't even done anything to feel guilty about.  I am going to try an experiment. When feelings of guilt come up, I am going to accept them and allow them to move through me. Just like I accept things like an invitation out to dinner or a new client or perhaps a new insight that changes my life ( I consider all these to be positive things in my life).  I will let you know how this exercise unfolds and look forward to being a playful old lady!

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about letting go of your guilt. Are you able to accept it and allow to move through you?

Organizing is Boring

Is organizing  boring?  Or is it simply something that you want to avoid? I hear this from time to time. To me it is not boring at all, but rather I find it stimulating and exciting figuring out what to put where. And the whole part of which container and what type of container...well that is like heaven to me. It's an adventure. Will everything I keep fit into the space I have? My creative juices flow unimpeded. I love coming up with new solutions. It's like a puzzle and when that last piece is put into place, it's time to do my happy dance!When I hear that organizing is boring, I wonder is that person maybe afraid of failing?  Or maybe they think they won't be able to do it perfectly? Or maybe they won't be able to maintain it so why even bother? There are alot of emotions that come up when you are organizing, so maybe it is too painful to face those emotions so saying that organizing is boring is a way of protecting yourself.   What are you telling yourself?  Do you tell yourself that you are not smart enough to get organized?I have found that the thoughts we have around doing an activity that we are unsure about are worse than the actual doing.  The mechanics of organizing are what they are, however you can jazz it up. You could invite a friend to join you, or you play your favourite music while you organize. And when you complete your organizing reward yourself with a dinner out or a yoga class or whatever might be special to you.
As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about what you are avoiding and then think about taking baby steps to face it.  Creativity awaits, I promise!

Simplicity

Path to Clarity made easy

               I breathe easier just looking at this picture.                

Simplicity

As you take two minutes to consider peace for our world today, think about how you can bring more simplicity into your life.