The magic is sacred.
The sacred magic lies within you!
Draw on your magic that lies within,
Become one with your own truth.

11/2012

Thanksgiving

May the healing warmth of gratitude for those present, past, and future, fill you thoughts today with peace, hope, and love.

May the Ancients bless and hold you in the moment surrounding you with love, peace, joy, and continued blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Morning Musings

I inhale sharply and deep the clean crispness of the damp morning air rejoicing in its purity. 

D.Roof 10/1/2012

The Kitchen

I envy those women who have immaculate kitchens.  The uncluttered counters.  The spice rack neatly stowed in the corner.  Artful arrangements of blushing, ripe fruit.  Not a space anywhere overburdened by clutter.  Mine, however, is no where near that organized and clean.

Oh, I try hard enough during spurts of domesticity, but that never lasts long.  My kitchen counters tumble over with the last canning of the season; lids and rings stashed in small pans in readiness for the next jar.  Pint and quart jars randomly placed, some, precariously close to the counter's edge, waiting to hold some delectable peach, pear, or jam.  Some partially filled spice jars waiting for the next addition of the dried herb before it goes into cupboard.  Wire baskets with wooden plugs for a sturdy base overflowing with the latest item to be stashed away to remove the appearance of clutter.  Not that this deception works for one second.  It just makes me hopeful.

No, my kitchen is not immaculate.  My kitchen is the room of experiments, creativity,, and some false starts.  It is the room of science experiments, literally, and some the not so carefully crafted.    In my kitchen recipes are born.  Like any birth, it can be messy, long, and complicated.  Smell this.  Taste that.  Add a pinch of rosemary.  No, maybe bay leaves.  Every now and again, when my ego gets too inflated, the culinary goodness comes crashing down, the offended taste buds rebel and the latest creation goes on the compost pile.  They are fewer now than when I first learned the basics of cooking, but they still happen.  Now I just laugh and start over instead of agonizing for days over the ruined meal.  Thinking about homemade pasta can still make me giggle.  It's bad when even the dog won't eat your cooking disaster!

Experimenting didn't come easy at first.  Even now, there are spits and sputters, false starts to really memorable recipes.  For that is what cooking is all about, the memories made and shared, disaster or not.   I seem to remember more of the disasters - the ones that have flopped have been whoppers! Homemade pasta, burnt sausages - the house filling up with smoke because I forgot to turn them when I had my nose in a book!  Even now I can't cook and read a book, it just doesn't work, it has to be either cooking or reading, never together.  My first forays into learning how to grill.  Grilling is and it isn't like cooking in an oven, there is a technique to be learned.  I knew I was getting better when my son-in-law didn't offer to grill.

When I experiment in the kitchen, my taste buds come alive!  I hum softly to myself.  I close my eyes and inhale deeply of the titillating odors.  I taste a small morsel.  Do I need to make changes? I am CREATING!  It feels exhilarating to take a fruit, vegetable, other food I've known for years and think about it in a totally unique way.  What dessert recipe in my memory can I draw upon to create this jam?  What flavors would go with this veggie that is different?  How can I change the recipe yet still keep the essence of the food?  Yes, watching all those cooking shows help - sometimes.  They just fuel my desire to get in the kitchen and create something delicious! 

Un-learning behaviours

Unlearning behaviors is like un-sewing (ripping out) a quilt: it takes time, patience, and perseverance.

~~ Diana Roof

The Woodland

The cool of the wooded veil beckons me.

It calls my name, softly, on a breeze.

"Come hither, come rest. Come watch and learn."

Diana Roof

5/26/2012

After the Storm

After the Storm

My World hums with the green-ness of Spring!
What joy!
My World hums with the black-brown earth,
the life within yearning to spring forth.
My World hums!
What joy!

My World hums the blue-ness of the sky and water.
What joy!
My World hums the gold of the flowers,
the warmth of the sun.

What joy!

My World hums in blues, greens and golds!
What Joy!

~ 7 Ways to release Anger ~

Inner Journey · 7,070 like this

2 hours ago · 

 http://www.facebook.com/LindaLeesinnerjourney/posts/302682363145668

• ~ 7 Ways to release Anger ~

  Anger is a feeling of powerlessness. However, within your anger is a tremendous sense of power, purpose, passion and meaning because when you feel angry, it’s because you wanted to do something and you were blocked from doing it.
  People usually think of emotions as good or bad and they think that anger is a bad emotion, that you shouldn’t have it. That if somehow you feel angry, then you are not a nice person, or you’re not a spiritual person. From my vantage point, it is a rather good emotion because if you analyze the frequency of anger, it is an emotion that churns. It is trying to get you off your duff to do something about the situation.
  The truth is that no emotion is negative unless we refuse to feel it. That’s when it becomes destructive. We are only required to feel our emotions and release them. Even the most beautiful emotion of love will become destructive if its blocked and not actually felt.
  So, anger is what it is, and if you judge yourself for feeling angry, then you are going to think that anger is bad. We like to feel the so-called positive emotions and take credit for the realities that they create. But what happens when you refuse to feel and release the so-called negative emotions like anger because you are afraid it’s going to be painful? Well it’s your emotion and you created it, so where is it going to go? If you don’t feel it and release it, you will either stuff it in your physical body, or into your extended body called your reality.
  So when you swallow your anger, or stuff it down because you want to be a nice person and you don’t want to show it, over time your body might respond with symptoms of pain and inflammation as it is trying to say to you that it is not able to put up with the anger that has gotten stashed in it.
  If this happens, here are seven ways to deal with it.
  
  1. Release all judgments and criticisms about yourself. The purpose of judgments is to make you not feel which is what got you in the situation in the first place.
  2. Forgive your body for having to make your life miserable in order to bring this to your attention.
  3. Honor and own that this is your creation in order for you to pay attention to, and see how you have given your power away to other people and circumstances to offer you the opportunity to step into your power now.
  4. Give your body tremendous love as part of the healing process without any judgments or resentments at it for limiting you.
  5. Give your body basic kinesthetic pleasure as part of loving it. Perhaps a gentle massage, energy healing or a mineral bath.
  6. Address your anger. This is probably the most important step in releasing that feeling of powerlessness out of your psyche so that you are able to step into your power. In my work, I carry people through visualization techniques in order to accomplish this.
  7. Promise your body that you are going to love it and care for it and you are going to work in partnership with it. This will build trust between you and your body. Then imagine yourself healed in the not too distant future.
  If you will take these seven steps, you will release anger out of your body, and you will heal yourself.

Strength Is

Weakness Is... 

Stagnation,

Excuses, 

My wants before others needs,

Isolation,

Not Crying, 

Not Feeling,

Not Expressing anger, love, joy,

Living the addictions,

Not asking for help,

Inaction,

Not living life to the fullest.

Strength Is

Getting up and moving forward,

Accountability to myself and others,

Doing the best for others,

Taking care of my needs - not wants - first

Knowing when to ask for help and then asking!

Crying,

Feeling,

Expressing anger, love, joy,

Conquering addictions,

Action!

Living! Breathing, Loving...

     Beginning with myself!

Writing

What it is about a blank sheet of crisp paper and a pencil that beguiles and excites me to write?

 Pens won't do...to permanent.

Crayons won't do...too thick and cumbersome.

Only pencil to paper draws me in to create, move, explore, escape, teach, love, grow.

Morning Musings

The inky darkness studded with muted light from distant worlds greeted me as I began my day. What joy to just drink it in, however briefly!

Breathe

Breathe.
The stress melts away.
Breathe.
The tension is no more.
Breathe.
Focus - each breath is one of joy.
Breathe.
Brings me back to "now", not tomorrow, not yesterday, now!
Breathe
in the energy!
Breathe.
in the joy! 
Breathe
and smile!
Breathe.

My Words Are Worthy!

4/13/12
I have finally realized that whatever I write here is special.  My words are worthy!  Why save the beautifully bound books of "some day"?  Blank p0ages are just a new beginning waiting to be written!

Christmas is for Everyone by Bob Tschannen-Moran

LIFETREK PROVISION #752 (12/25/11): CHRISTMAS IS FOR EVERYONE
Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

Christians often bemoan the fact that Christmas has become so commercialized. In many Christian and non-Christian lands, the celebration of Christmas is in full swing with decorations, gift giving, and jolly times. It is the season of Christmas that makes or breaks retailers around the globe. Given how it all started, with humble beginnings in the Jewish street, the celebrations of today, some 2,000 years later, are easy to ridicule as hypocritical.

Before we go too far in that direction, however, consider this irony: at its core, the Christmas message is for everyone. Whether we believe in the message or not, the message is no more complicated than this: The Great One is with us. No strings attached. Right where we are, just the way we are. Infused with life. So why not have a big party to celebrate! Perhaps the secularization of Christmas is, in fact, a fitting turn of events. Everyone is able to get in on the act, and that seems marvelous to me.

So from all of us to all of you, Merry Christmas! Enjoy the day.

LifeTrek Coaching International Staff
 

Bob Tschannen-Moran	Megan Tschannen-Moran	Christina Lombardo Ray
Erika Jackson	Kate Kriynovich	Maura Rawn

Center for School Transformation Faculty

Amy Piacentino	Jeanie Cash	Kathleen Pietrasanta
Sara Miller	Susan MacDonald	Donni Davis-Perry

May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.

Bob Tschannen-Moran, IAC-CC

President, LifeTrek Coaching International, www.LifeTrekCoaching.com
CEO & Co-Founder, Center for School Transformation, www.SchoolTransformation.com
2010-2011 President, International Association of Coaching, www.CertifiedCoach.org
Author, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time, Online Retailers

Address: 121 Will Scarlet Lane, Williamsburg, VA 23185-5043
Phone: (757) 345-3452 * Fax: (772) 382-3258
Skype: LifeTrek * Twitter: LifeTrekBob
Mobile: www.LifeTrekMobile.com