it's time

next week i'm joining sas petherick's let it go project.  because it's time.  you know?

a week in color {№2}

sunday grace (on a saturday)

don't you love it when you hear a message, perhaps one you've heard a million times before, and it suddenly resonates and shifts your thinking?  maybe this time it is presented with language that speaks to you or it is delivered by just the right messenger, someone you respect and admire.  or maybe this time life events have swirled into the perfect magical vortex of time and space and experience and in this moment the message radiates with glowing truth in the center.  maybe your mind became quiet and still and open enough to finally hear it.  maybe it's grace in action.

a big part of my focus on aliveness this year involves paying attention to and exploring those things that keep me from living the life i want, from being the human i intend to be.  a resource that has been extremely helpful to me is jen louden's book, the life organizer.  jen was one of the facilitators at the creative joy retreat i attended last october.  especially resonant for me in jen's work is the concept of shadow comforts, those things we dive into when we are overwhelmed, bored, anxious, sad.  food and sleep are two of my comfiest shadow comforts; they tend to get the most airplay around these parts.  but as i explore more, i am noticing other more subtle, more insidious shadow comforts i run to on a regular basis.  one that i'm paying particular attention to is being right.

what i love about jen's message it that we don't have to abandon or give up our shadow comforts, because often they are valid components to a life well-lived.  what we need to do is pay attention to when and why we choose them; partner with them for understanding rather than battle them for domination.  this mind shift is a pure moment of grace for me.

jen louden is teaching the life organizer navigation course starting later this month.  i'll be there, doing the work, paying attention, soaking up grace and wisdom, moving into aliveness.

a week in color {№1}

my first week of 2014 was a good one...i hope it was for you too.

the first wild unknown card draw of the year was the six of wands, which asks, "where will you go with your new set of wings?"  (i have a regular practice of drawing a focus card once a week to guide my intention and thoughts.)

i indulged my inner 10-year-old with rainbow shoelaces and some puddle-hopping.  trying to rev up my walking practice.

here is the newest ganesh to play at the altar.  i love his spirit  also...seeing a curvy fellow execute scorpion makes me happy and hopeful.

i put a bit of the sea on my kitchen windowsill to remember the wildness of the ocean.

simon prefers the beds unmade.  i can live with that.

luca is experiencing seasonal affect disorder.  he's been quite curmudgeony lately.  weird thing is, the grouchier he is, the more i love him.

i've been craving and devouring so much citrus.  i am listening to my body and it is telling me to eat more fresh organic oranges, clementines and grapefruits (or pamplemousse, as the french would say and i like to say too because it's kind of the most awesome word ever).

i started a new sketchbook for the year.  is there anything better than a clean blank book?  i am joining moorea seal with her 52 lists project.  click over if you are interested too.  our first list was words that touch my soul.

thank you first week of the year.  i hope things continue in this colorful, peaceful, lively vein.

the serene brutatily

missing the sea.

one word

a lovely word, a token for a thousand more:  a l i v e n e s s.

i was pretty pleased with myself because i thought i made up this word (this is not unusual for me, the making up of my own words).  the word enters my mind now and then when i work to describe a moment or feeling, bright and shiny and safe and vibrating.  and even though it felt a bit silly using a concocted word, it also felt very very right.

alas, it's a real word, official, in the dictionary and all.  who knew?  and its definition is almost precisely how i was using it.  it's my spirit word for twenty-fourteen.

a l i v e n e s s of spirit:  present, aware, mindful, recognition, conscious, connection, bodhi, sentience, enlightenment, adventure, diversity, equanimity, daring, creating and loving art and story.

a l i v e n e s s of body:  movement, breath, groundedness, yoga, ease, lightness, being rested, energy, fingers in paint and glue, feet on forest floor and in pacific tidepools, clean and beautiful food.

a l i v e n e s s of mind:  intuition, knowledge, discernment, curiosity, reading, attention, experience, writing and hearing stories, focus, learning learning learning.

these are the things that make me come alive.  i'm ready to have/do/live more of them.

i painted a wee reminder of my word on a wood block and it's hanging right next to my bathroom mirror.

do you have a word for the year?  i'd love to hear it.  whenever i read/hear someone's word, i whisper it aloud and envision them being/having/experiencing it.  i love the idea of a million little whispered words floating through space like tiny white downy baby bird feathers.