Greetings Everyone!

I Know that I have this whole flowers a-bloomin’, nails a-growing’ thing goin’ on…not the most intellectual weeks of writing! But, whaddya gonna do? Because I have such a flair for finding the common threads within a conversation…and since this morning I broke my favorite coffee cup…I began thinking about the impermanence of it all.

The impermanence of flowers…

The impermanence of (more…)

G’Day folks!

I am feeling a bit crazy this morning so you might want to read someone else’s blog…or I guess you could stay for a good giggle!

Well, after yesterday’s lilac sniffin’, vase filling, spring twirling…I sat down and thought…”whew I am pooped.” After resting a bit…I got busy working. At 7:00pm, I finished my last call and noticed that the walls were moving in a funny kind of way. Not a cool flash back kind of way…but, (more…)

Hello there!
I am back…not totally back. But, back enough. Who knew that having major surgery would take such a long time to recover from? Obviously…not me! You see, I live in a very optimistic inner world (or should I say delusional?). Hmmmmm…I wonder!

Anyway, in this optimistic world, anything is possible. After surgery, I felt so much better (yes, you are reading that correctly), I thought that I would be able to get back to work in a week. Forget that I could barely stand up. Forget that I could barely sit up. Forget that I could not really do much of anything except lay on the couch and take percocet… (more…)

I know I said that I was going to write about my feelings and such regarding my upcoming surgery but, I have had so many of them that I didn’t know where to start. I am having lots of opposing feelings…lots of relief and sadness. Some grief and some celebration.

So, without further ado, I have decided to write a eulogy for my Uterus…oh and my Ovary!

I shake my head and wonder, why the hell am I sad about these organs being gone? I mean, this has truly been an abusive relationship. If you even want to call this a relationship. When we first met, it was in 6th grade. I had gone to the bathroom at St. Isadore’s (more…)

Greetings fellow spirits in physical form!

Almost every person that I am working with right now is focusing on body issues.  Is it because spring is in the air?  Is it because summer looms around the corner with bathing suit adds threatening us in every magazine?  Is it because clothes become lighter and more form fitting in the warmer months? 

Maybe all of those are possibilities and maybe folks are just ready to feel good in their skins.  Are you tired of constantly thinking about food and if you have exercised enough?  Are you tired of worrying about how many cookies you ate or if you had enough salad this week?  Are you tired of looking at your body and wondering how the hell your fanny has been so effected by gravity? 

I was recently reading a study focusing on women and the relationship they have to their bodies.  I wish I could remember who did this study…but, along with my fanny heading south…my brain has decided to follow!  Anyway, this study worked with a large group of women (it was around 3000) and they found that 80% of the women did not feel good about their bodies.  What was interesting about this research is that the women were are all shapes and sizes…fit, thin, not fit, not thin and some where in the middle!

This is a staggering amount of women! 

So, how do you feel in your body? How about the folks you hang out with…how do they feel in their bodies?  Is anybody out there comfy in their skins?

I appreciate that this issue is being addressed in various ways by the media.  I LOVE what dove has done with their marketing.  The adds are brilliant, beautiful and fabulous! I hope other companies adopt this concept of using a variety of body types to sell products.  I also appreciate how the show "What Not To Wear" talks about dressing your body type and feeling good exactly the size that you are.  Love it…Love it…Love it!!!! 

As humans, our diversity is what makes us interesting and beautiful.  People strive to be different and unique.  But, something happens to this desire when we begin to have a conversation about our bodies.  All of a sudden everyone wants to be a size 2, with big boobs (If you are a babe that is!).

I am not saying that it isn’t fabulous to feel fit and trim and healthy…it is!  But, to get there…you have to find some peace and comfort in the skin that are in RIGHT NOW!  It is all about unconditional love of the Self.  Loving yourself even when you are heavier then you want to be…or loving yourself even when you are flabbier than you want to be…or loving yourself even when you eat cookies for breakfast!  Unconditional love is the ticket to freedom. 

The interesting thing about this is that when you begin to feel good about yourself…no matter your size, you begin to make choices that feel good to your body.  When you feel good about yourself, all of a sudden you feel like walking outside on a beautiful day, or doing a little jig in your kitchen…or you feel like eating something nutritious because it supports how good you feel! 

So, to expand these spring time stirrings…go from the inside out.  There are lots of ways to tune into unconditional self love.  I am not saying that this is easy Parcheesi!  This takes some focused intention, some re-patterning of your thoughts, and some good ol’ energy clearing.  Remember that you were born loving yourself…it’s in there somewhere!

Here is a list of some tools to try out.  Remember that we are all individual, unique beings…so, not everything on this list will resonate with you and you may have other things that work instead!

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE EXTRAVAGANZA

• start a "positive aspects" or a gratitude journal: write 7-10 things down, everyday that you are grateful for or that were positive.  This is a fantastic way to shift your thoughts and therefore your life!
• Meditate:  this can be done in a variety of ways…a long walk alone in a beautiful place, sitting quietly for a bit and tuning into your breathing, arranging flowers, gardening…whatever floats your unique fabulous boat!
• Visualization:  I love visualization…it allows us to imagine whatever we want and for that moment…it’s true!  You can visualize unconditional love pulsing through your body….you can visualize color that is soft and soothing pulsing through your body…use your imagination and have fun with this.  I have some short color alignment meditations on my site that are nice to play with.
• EFT: I love this modality.  Whenever I tap with myself and other folks the statements end with "I love and accept myself anyway!"  Love it!
• Message Therapy, Reiki, Healing Touch: These modalities are fantastic for moving stuck energy out of the body.  They also help some folks to become present and to connect more fully with their bodies. 

There are so many fabulous techniques and tools out there that can assist you in reconnecting with that inner place of unconditional love.  Even spending a handful minutes visiting this internal place every day is going to help.

So, your homework for the week….for your lifetime (If you choose to take this mission), is to tune in to self love…every day…all day if you can…life just can’t help but feel better and better when there is some love.

XXXOOOO  Love ya!

Hello! Hello! Hello!!
Hope you are doing dandy!
I am feeling just dandy this morning. Woke up feeling refreshed and rested. Now, I am having my yummy cup o’ joe and writing to you. Soon I will be working with some fabulous folks…and then I will be off on a walk and then some gardening…and who knows what else.

Not too shabby!

To add to my happy morning, I read the following paragraph in Rob Brezney’s news letter and I decided to share it with you!

ANIMAL ECSTASY

In his book Animals and Psychedelics: The Natural World and the Instinct to Alter Consciousness, ethnobotanist Giorgio Samorini proves that many animals deliberately alter their consciousness. His evidence includes robins that get drunk on holly berries and act "like winged clowns," as well as goats hooked on caffeine and reindeer that seek out hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Samorini concludes that the desire to get high is a natural drive. Intoxication has served as an evolutionary force for some species, breaking down outworn habits in such a way as to improve long-term survival.

I have thought this for so long…since I had small kids. My boys used to run around in circles until they were so dizzy that they fell down. They also used to love to sneeze. Anything that got them dizzy or made their stomachs drop…they were gonna do it.

I realize that twirling around until your stomach heaves isn’t the same as taking something hallucinogenic, but it shows the tendency towards the natural desire to be altered. My boys are now young men and they have not had the desire to alter their consciousness in any extreme way. I have asked them about this and neither one is interested in loosing control on reality in that way. Makes sense to me.

I, on the other hand, was a different sort of kid with a very different experience of youth. For me taking a hallucinogen now and again helped me to regain control of a very chaotic existence. It assisted me in making sense of a very strange and violent world. Once I left that violent and chaotic world, the desire to alter reality was very minimal.

Saying all of this, has triggered this small voice inside of me…actually, its getting louder…its saying "Shut up! Don’t say any of this! Your readers won’t like it! " My finger continues to brush by the delete button. In this country’s climate right now, talking about drugs having beneficial effects is tantamount to heresy!

Well, since I am in such a bold mood…I am going to take this discussion one step further. Ready?

*WARNING: THE FOLLOWING MAY BE UPSETTING FOR SOME VIEWERS

As many of you know, I have worked with teens for many years. I have seen them get into major legal trouble due to drug issues. Buying, selling and using. Lots of trouble! It wasn’t like this when I was a teen and I am so grateful that it wasn’t. I would have been in some deep deep trouble. So would have most of the people I knew. Anyway, my point here is that I think that drugs should be legalized. All of them! Then, we can clear out our prisons and use them for the real criminals. We can funnel funds into treatment for those who really need it.

So, what got me all stirred up? A good friend of mine, has a son, who just got busted with weed. WEED! He has gone to court and the judge is sending him to a drug treatment program where he will be labeled an "addict" for the rest of his life! Luckily, the kid is smart and his mom is hoping that he will just play by their rules until his "sentence" is up. Then he can get on with his life. Oh, but since he is 18…he will have this on his record.

Well, I am gonna stop writing now…time for more coffee.
As I end this, there is a nice feeling of internal release. Thanks for reading my vent!

What are your thoughts about this?
Have an altered day…I am going to go outside and twirl around~