Retreat?

Ahhhhhh!

When everything gets crazy, you feel completely overwhelmed and like you don't have a minute to spare, that's when it's most important to carve out some time for yourself.

Jennifer Louden is running a contest on her ComfortQueen blog in which she's giving away a free pass to her February 2010 Virtual Retreat. You can get some bubble bath and retreat without ever having to leave home! Check out the information and entry requirements on the ComfortQueen blog

When I read about it, I thought, Oh no, I'm already overloaded with people wanting to tell me how to be happy, creative, successful. How can I possibly listen to 11 more lectures about it, in between everything else I've got scheduled? Then I listened to a short video from Jennifer and realized, (DUH!) it's a retreat! That's all you're supposed to do ALL DAY - is RETREAT!

Now I get it!

Enjoy the SLIDESHOW.

Bowl of the Year

I've been reading Sue Bender's Everyday Sacred. The cover image is a simple bowl and since Bender is a potter, the bowl is a central theme in her book. Bender thoughtfully reflects on the monk's beggar bowl, with which he asks for his daily nourishment.

It occured to me that a year is like a bowl - circular, complete, repeating from one year to the next, with an arbitrary beginning / ending point. And yet each year, unique.

What has filled your 2009 bowl? What did you ask for? What came to your bowl unbidden? Perhaps your bowl was filled with ease, perhaps challenge or hardship, certainly it was filled with change.

No matter what your year bowl contains, I imagine it is rich and savory. Yet you may want to spice it up a bit, or perhaps add an accompaniment to cool it down.

Bring your year bowl into your heart space and feel deep appreciation for a year of nourishment, for the gift and blessings of the year. Feel gratitude as well for the challenges, which may take some time to reveal their lessons or blessings.

Lastly, carefully cleanse your bowl and prepare it for a new year of offerings.

May your new year bring you peace.

The Importance of Appreciation

"If there is a sin against life, it consists not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life." Albert Camus

How often do you find yourself wishing 'if only...' If only I could sing. If only I had more imagination. If only I were taller, shorter, smarter, funnier. Oh, the list goes on.

How much of our life we waste by failing to acknowledge and appreciate our own gifts. As we pine away for a different talent or gift, the world suffers the loss of our own 'grandeur'.

As we approach a new year, I ask you to take a hard look at yourself. Do you minimize your creativity, humor, writing ability, or perhaps capacity to care for others? The world is not served by your denial of your gifts and strengths.

I would like to challenge you to embrace your strengths and talents and find a way to share them. Not only will other beings on the planet benefit, YOU will also find greater inner peace and joy in your life.

Happy Holidays to all.

photograph by Danilo Rizzuti on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Jewels

Thanks to Joel and Michelle Levey for their Thought for the Day email, and for sending this poem by Thich Nhat Hanh.

There are jewels everywhere in the cosmos - -

I want to offer you a handful of them this morning.

The diamonds I offer will shine through days and nights.

Each minute of our life is an individual jewel,

Containing sky, earth, river and clouds;

You need only breathe gently and mindfully

and all the miracles will be displayed.

The birds sing. The pines chant. The flowers bloom.

There is the blue sky and there are white clouds.

The eyes of the people you love shine

And your smile reflects full awareness.

You are the wealthiest person on Earth,

But have been going around to beg in distant lands for happiness,

Do stop being a destitute person;

Come back and receive your heritage.

Let us offer each other happiness

and establish ourselves in the present moment.

We should let go of our sorrow

And embrace life in our two arms.

Creative Hurdle # 1

Those of you who are artists, you know who you are. Claim the name artist! You've been making stuff since you were, what, three?? Yes, that makes you an artist!

You don't have to be selling anything or showing stuff or having your creations in a museum somewhere, YOU JUST HAVE TO LOVE MAKING STUFF!

That's it! So go call yourself an artist 500 times till you can say it, dance it, write it, sing it, joke it, giggle it, and shout it right out loud - I AM AN ARTIST!

Wouldn't it be fun to sky write it? Guess What? I Am An Artist!

What fun ways can you think of to announce yourself to the world? I'd love to hear them.

Simple and Profound

This poem came in email today from author and teacher Mary O'Malley. Enjoy.

LIVING IN QUESTIONS
I used to be an answer machine.
Toss in the problem.....
ching ching,
out came an answer.
The mind got A's
while the heart languished.
So I came here and you asked me to
live in questions like:
Is it kind?
Can I meet myself here?
What is the flavor of my wall?
And the mind went....
ching, ching, ching, ching, ching.
Yes? No? Vanilla?????
TILT!
You smiled.
And finally....
my heart answered,
without a word.
Dee Endelman

Stinkpots!

I got to hear quilt artist Susan Shie last night at the Front Range Contemporary Quilters meeting in Westminster, Colorado. She's delightful with a great sense of humor. I'm looking forward to taking her workshop later this week at High Peaks Camp outside Estes Park.

When I got home I saw Robert Genn's twice weekly newsletter on Artists with Low Self Esteem. You can find this letter here. I count myself as one of the 10 percent or more of artists with low self esteem, due to childhood experiences.

I learned two things from Susan and Robert tonight that have helped me immensely. First, Susan pointed out that one of the recurring images in her quilts is the stinkpot. Stinkpots are like compost bins or piles. You put your garbage thoughts in them and they decay and through a magical energy exchange turn into the most wonderful fertile muck that helps you grow strong. I love that idea of a stinkpot filled with all my stinky negative self doubt, where I can imagine it changing into a mud mask that will comfort, support and encourage me!

Second, Robert wrote that a 'patient methodical approach' is needed to overcome low self esteem. As I reflected on this, I recognized a problem area for me. Because this process of dealing with low self esteem takes sooooooo much time, and I want to be over it like last YEAR, I often look at slow progress and interpret it as NO progress!

Does this happen to you? If so, stop this moment, think back 5 or 10 or 20 years, and see how far you've come. Right? The fact that there's still more work to do does not negate how much work you've ALREADY DONE!

So get your stinkpot ready and next time you catch yourself saying something mean and nasty to yourself, write it down and stick it in the stinkpot. The more garbage you put in there, and the worse it smells, the more lovely will be your flower beds and the juicier will be your tomatoes!

Here's my stinkpot. What's yours look like?