The beauty of the internet and the Creative process

Out of the blue I get an invited and a like and then we are chatting in Messenger and Marcella shares.  I'm connecting in so many ways and totally inspired by her story. 

Marcella Nordbeck-Richardson 

So Mercury is in Retrograde....Drama, Chaos...Oh my!

Meet Mercury....She's a woman to reckon with or is she. A bit of an attitude and stans here right? 

A Wilder Woman, who knows. 

The season here in my location is still Winter, and on the surface not much but the colors of browns some evergreens holding their color. 

So to early to plant things or dig up things physically so what is left is to prepare yourself for it the spring season.  Go dig deep within yourself as of life stuff so you can be in a clearer mind set. 

Lately when some hurts emotionally I really get real with it on the papers surface in my morning page journal. Not obsessing but honest. Not apologizing but understanding all involved. It has sure helped me see from where everyone is at in their hurts themselves they are doing the best they can. 

So here's something from a mindful book I have. 

But first remember this...10% is Life happening to you and the other 90% is you reacting to it. 

     Our Response to Suffering. The second reality, or truth, is that we have an internal response to the what we encounter. For every external event that arises, we have an internal reaction that co-arises. 

Reacting is a co-arising I had to write that again....

Some of our reactions cause or compound the suffering already there. I look at this as my big hurts from my past and silly the ones that sneak up and anticipate the future on me. 

Ex: numbing out with drugs or alcohol, food, blaming ourselves or other, and trying to manage and control another person. We have our own personal brand of insanity, alive and well and inside of us, not, “done to us” by others.  this is the 90% that we walk around with and use in unhealthy ways...

  Encouragement of rigorous personal honesty and self-observation.

If part of the suffering equation is our own mental and emotional reaction, it follows that we would suffer less if we could change that reaction for the better. Great! We can do something.

New breakthroughs in Western Brain research tell us that it is possible to rewrite our emotional patterns at a neurological level. New emotional habits etch new neural pathways in the brain, something other than the old responses of seeking escape, blaming ourselves or others and looking for love from external sources such as other people or material things.

Maybe we can be restored to sanity. To a more Open heart, the natural state of heart is to be open. 

Occurrences from the past or present can create blockages in that flow causing your heart to lock  At any point, you have the power to unblock your heart. In this moment, investigate what is hindering the flow of energy, or why you think you need protection. It is always better to release your fears, than to close your heart and harbor a false sense of security.

So making the connections with abstract thoughts...During this time of retrograde instead of thinking it's a bad things like everyone around you...I look at it as time to dig deep into my own reactions to life and how I can learn and grow so that my personal hurts and sufferings that I carry around in the skin are not blocking me from being who the Greater Spirit intended for me. 

Part of process is working with all of yourself not just a one section.  Taking a holistic approach has always been a gift.

Off  today to have a  discussion with some awesome Women  that have come together for Women Who Run With Wolves...

Full Moon Drumming Yesterday

The word is passed and those that are interested latch on and find there way to the circle.  The Theosophical Society in Wheaton provided a Full Moon Native American Drumming circle.  And I went, Almost had "The Husband"going but changed his mind at the last minute. His weekends are all he has so spent it at home in the Garage. 

There had to be at least 60 people if not more in a large room, All races and and all ages, though no young ones.  It alway amazing me, Billie Topa Tate has us make prayers to the drums, to our relatives and ourselves and to the world.  We where to hold the drums and pass to the Left and continue this for a while...didn't make it all the way around the room but close. So many people...we sang songs and drummed and danced in a circle...The energy just comes in and through you...I know when I came home I was full of good energy.  It's truly amazing, in awe of it all.

Four Bucks...

 there are two standing here but one in front of the other. 

 Soaked up the sun today...walked dogs and walked in the woods...off the path and into the woods I went...followed the deer paths and happened upon the group of the bucks. 

Holding Space

Holding space for another person is incredibly profound. When you hold space for someone you bring your entire presence to them. You walk along with them without judgement, sharing their journey to an unknown destination. Yet you’re completely willing to end up wherever they need to go.
Holding Space for others
*Giving people permission to trust their own intuition and wisdom
* People need autonomy to make their own choices
* Never try to direct or control
* Keep your own Ego out of it
* Create space and opportunity to grow and learn
* Be a space holder without judgement and shame and know when to withhold guidance, a careful dance
* Create a container for complex emotions, fear, trauma, etc., the circle becomes the space where people feel safe enough to fall apart without fearing that this will leave them permanently broken or that they will be shamed by others in the room
* We cannot do it if we are overly emotional ourselves, if we haven’t done the hard work of looking into our own shadow or if we don’t trust the people we are holding space for* When we hold space we release control and we honor differences
* It’s a complex practice that evolves as we practice it, and it is unique to each person and each situation
* Giving permission and encouragement to hold space for yourselves
* It is not selfish to focus on yourself
* I need to sit with myself look into my own heart, bear witness to what I see there, and address it in whatever why I need to before I can do it for others. I can’t hide any of this stuff in the shadows, because what is hidden there tends to come out in ways I don’t want it to when I am under stress
* Only when I am present for myself and compassionate with myself will I be prepared to host with strength and courage
 * Give yourself permission to trust your own intuition
* Give yourself only as much information as you can handle
* Don’t’ let anyone take your power away
 * Keep your ego out of it
* Make yourself feel safe enough to fail
 * Give guidance and help to yourself with humility and thoughtfulness
 * Create your own container for complex emotions, fears, trauma, etc. and allow yourself to make decisions that are different from what other people would make
* Replenish yourself, take deep breaths, walks in nature, go for a swim or simple sit and stare at the sunset * take a longer break or retreat
* Let tears wash away the accumulated ick in your soul
* You can’t do this work alone and you’re not meant to
* We are all meant to be communal people, showing up for each other in reciprocal ways
* Paying attention to your attention, mindfulness meditation, instead of trying to stop thoughts simply notice them and let them pass
* Simply pay attention to what emotions and thoughts are showing up and when they come wish them well and send them on their way
* Find sources of inspiration, music for ex: can shift the way one feels
 * You are not in charge of the world
* You are only in charge of yourself and your own behavior thoughts and emotions etc.
 * Remember –that’s their story not yours
* just because they yell at you doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong
 * take a deep breath, say to yourself “I am not responsible for their emotion, I’m only responsible for how I respond, and then let it go
* When you’re feeling wounded by what their projecting on you, return to the points above and walk away practice mindfulness and let others hold space for you
 * find a creative outlet for processing what you’re experiencing, few things are as healing as time spent in creative practice
 * it’s were both words and wordlessness come to circle.

Pop Up Collage Workshop In Lemont IL

Today....I'm low~

There's a sadness that always follow a visit.