Let’s Celebrate the Women in our Community!
Women who are following their passion.
Women who will share their wisdom.
Women who will make you laugh.
Women who will remind you that we are all connected.
Women who will inspire you to make a difference!
Looking forward to sharing videos with you soon!
Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.
Henry Ford
We have such a powerful brain, that it doesn’t know the difference between what is real and what you create in your head. So what thoughts are you using to create your life?
Today I had the great pleasure of working with Andrea Costantine, a woman who is an incredible source of light and information about soulful marketing. I paid for some one on one time with Andrea and I loved every minute of being on the phone with her. First, she affirmed my journey and congratulated me on the steps I have made towards my goal. My passion and joy in life is writing. Not only do I have a story (Or two or three!) to tell, I have a goal of increasing my readership list to 1000 people by the end of the year. I am choosing to focus my efforts online, through my blog and social networking, and inviting people to sign up for my monthly newsletter. Andrea had wonderful suggestions about enticing readers to learn more about me and my book project. I now have a focus about what kinds of content will show up on my blog. I have spread myself too thin for so long, trying to do too many things, and not feeling good about completing any of them with grace and ease. With a centralized focus, and scheduled writing times, I feel much more like my goal is possible. If anyone is struggling to find their way, or are wondering how to follow their passion and make money doing it, I highly suggest getting into contact with Andrea. She listens and leads with her heart, and you will walk away from your encounter with her with more focus, energy and direction about how to live and be successful doing and BEING what you love!
I just celebrated my birthday on Saturday. I was touched by one of the cards I received in the mail. It said,”May this next year of your life be as good for you as you are to everyone else.” I think it struck me because the whole first part of this year, with my broken wrist and learning to journal left handed, has been about taking care of me. This was just another gentle reminder that I am someone worth taking care of!
I realize that if I don’t take care of me, I get tired quickly and I tend to be more judgmental of myself. This leads to me being more judgmental of others.
During this season of Lent, the 40 days before Easter, I am going to work on taking better care of myself. It is time to get back to my regular exercise routine. It is a great period of time to eat less sweets and more vegetables and fruits. And it is a good time to work on my relationships.
Today, I did an exercise with my husband that we will do with engaged couples in a workshop setting. I told him 5 things I appreciated about him, and then he told me 5 things that he appreciates about me. One of my appreciations of Tony was how he is really present when we talk, looking into my eyes and letting me know that what I have to say is important. That is what I would like to work at giving back to him over the next 40 days. Again, this comes back to being present to my own needs. When I don’t treat myself with respect, I don’t treat others with respect. I am listening better to my inner child, and I will listen better to those around me.
Lighting a candle helps to bring my attention back to the present moment. So when I am with self, or with other important people in my life, I am going to use a candle as a way to remember that I am Divine, and those around me are Divine also. I will look for the light of love within myself as well as in others.
I love that the universe keeps giving me chances to get this love thing right. I continue to work on loving myself so I can love others more presently and completely. Happy Birthday me! I am proud of the journey you are taking, and the progress you are making! Yea!
My husband and I have been married 24 years today. What a wild ride it has been. It seems so long ago that we were starving college students living in Minnesota. Then we became parents for the first time in Iowa. We came home to Colorado to be closer to grandparents. We are now in the process of raising and launching three teenage daughters. I wouldn’t trade my life, even with all its up and downs. We have survived job changes and moves, a very lengthy illness, a congenital heart defect with a daughter, years of dance performances and endless soccer games, the sending off of our oldest to college in Minnesota, and now we are in the process of helping our middle daughter find her way into the college world. Yet even in the middle of all of the activities surrounding our children, we have found the time to connect in some way each day, to talk about us. We don’t just talk about the schedule, or what the latest drama is with the girls, but somehow, we get to talk about our lives as a couple. What do you still dream about? What was your day like today? What did you learn? Where did you see God?
And I believe it is these moments of connection and joy that get us through the dark times, the in between times, and they are what make our lives today extraordinary.
My husband asked for a poem book for Christmas called “Odes to Common Things,” by Pablo Neruda. So I am giving it to him today on our anniversary with an ode of my own. I hope you enjoy it too. If anyone knows how to leave the spaces in between stanzas, I would love to know how to do that. This poem reads so much better with the breaks.
Ode to Tony
I write….
I write from the old rust colored chair in the corner of my bedroom by the window, where I can watch the sun move over the tops of houses and trees and the where the steam rises from my tea cup like morning prayers.
I write in a leather bound journal that houses a new notebook each time I scribble final words on the last page.
I write on my computer with thoughts flowing faster than my fingers can type, but I like the sound of my fingertips softly tapping the keys, changing single letters into words that create an artistic design, flowing easily from one idea to the next, eventually creating art to share.
I write from my heart the stories that have touched me as I travel on my journey; the people, the places, the sounds and experiences that shape my world. I write about love and friendship, family, illness, heartbreak, women and the man I love, children and laughter and anything that pokes and tugs at my heart and reminds me that I am alive.
I write from past experiences; from poems about childhood friends, to teenage crushes to finding the young girl who was lost in childhood moments of darkness. I write about love, children, and finding God in ordinary moments. I write about a debilitating illness that nearly took my life, and the journey to discover me again.
I write in the present time, about breathing and sitting on the beach letting go of all that does not serve me. I write about the sun coming through the window and the thoughts that dance around in my head. When I write, I am present in my body, and all of me moves in rhythm as the words form on the page.
I write in moments of joy, when words leap out of me, bursting forth in color like the show of fall leaves, in red and orange and gold, in a glorious display that shouts “Life is good.”
I write when tears of sadness fall from my face and run with the ink, blotting out my words, as if that would erase the pain. My pen carries the song of melancholy across the page, leaving a heart rendering piece that even years later still has the ability to bring the familiar wetness and sting to my eyes.
I write in moments of pain, when the screaming shows up in my hand wrapped tightly around a pen, intensely scratching out words across the page in dark deep indentations. It is impossible to write small when angered passion rushes out in bold large letters that don’t fit neatly on the lines.
I write in moments of reflection, looking back on an experience and seeing how much I have grown, or not. I write about who I was, who I long to become, and who I am in the present moment. I write from my center, allowing God’s voice to take form in my own words, reminding me of my own divine likeness and energy.
I write about life, all the light and the dark, the good and the bad, the sad and the happy. I am the words on the page, the object I write about and the experience that changes me. In the moment of writing, I am connected to all through a stream of consciousness that feeds my soul. The very act of writing gives me life.
