the year's end...........

A year has gone by and we soon will be welcoming 2012 into our lives. Well, for some it may be a welcoming feeling and maybe not for others. It's different for everyone and how they look at the prospects and the offering of a new year. It's somewhat likened to a 'new slate' for many and that's OK. That may in fact be a good thing for some, allowing themselves to 'begin again'. It may be exactly what they need. A new slate is good in terms of allowing ourselves to look at how we want to make different choices that will help to build the architecture of the life that we are in fact creating.

I'm not so much about New Years resolutions, but in fact like to resolve to make a resolution each and every day to live the best life possible. That might sound too over the top' for some, but for me its easier than making a big set of resolutions once a year and then feeling let down if or when I don't follow through with some of them. It tends to feel too 'big' for me at the beginning of each year so I choose instead to make it a daily ritual. It feels like a smaller 'bite' to take on and you always have the next day to try again or live differently.

For me the year has been one filled with many personal accomplishments. I have done a lot of inner work and been able to see inside of myself better than I have ever been able to in the past. I think the difference for me was that I was willing to 'look' inside and really 'see' myself without any judgements. This was key for me. When I finally really set out to 'learn' about Maggie that was when it all started to come together. I was able to shed certain thought processes and also retrain my brain to think and choose differently. I was able to look at my 'mistaken beliefs' and understand how they came to be and how they adversely affected my life. None of this work was easy. Some of it was relentlessly painful to look at and work through, but the rewards of letting them go was the goal that I saw in front of me and I was determined to get there. Part of that goal was to feel free from all that weighed me down and was essentially holding me back. Anyone who knows me might think that I look pretty all together and for the most part that is true, but we all have things inside that could use some work and the inner freedom that you get from doing this is the greatest reward ever. It doesn't mean that I don't have days that are challenging or days that I think maybe I should just go back to bed and start all over again, but on those days I now know better how I need to navigate through them best for myself.

For as many years as I can remember I have been saying to myself and those who have worked with me on gaining personal insight, that what I wanted most in life was 'peace and contentment'. And that sounds so simple doesn't it?? I think it is simple, but we so greatly complicate our lives in so many, many ways that the peace and contentment that we strive and look for is but a mirage in the distance. Something that we keep running towards but we never get there because of the roadblocks we construct. I wasn't putting things into place to allow that for myself and one of my mistaken beliefs supported that. I didn't really believe that I deserved a peaceful existence so I kept thwarting my efforts to achieve it. And I must remember that this was in my subconscious mind and tied to so much from my past. So much of this I didn't even realize and when I learned more and more about myself all the pieces of the puzzle started to come together. My life's self portrait no longer looks like a distorted Picasso painting but rather a beautiful landscape that I know has come about because of the careful tending and nurturing that I have afforded it.

So I can truly say that I look forward to this next year that lies ahead of me with great anticipation. For me it will be a year filled with 'days' where I can make choices that will continue to tend to the garden of my 'self' and provide the nurturing that I need. It's the only life I want to choose because I know that for me it's the best one.

May you transition into 2012 and be able to reflect on how you have grown in the last year. May the New Year hold for you all that you desire and bring blessings to your life. That is my wish for you.

Namaste to all................

great quote........

I heard this a few days ago and I really liked it........

"The challenge is not to be perfect, the challenge is to be whole"

~Jane Fonda

mercury glass.......

For a while now I have had a secret penchant for mercury glass. I`m not really sure what it is about it that I love, but there is something about it that resonates with me. It may be the aged look of the glass and silver together that I am drawn to or just even simply the sparkle of it. Maybe it is how the silver looks worn and it creates flecks that have been lost over time.The antique look of it really is so lovely and the light reflects off of it in such a gorgeous fashion. I just love how it looks! Today I was in the gift shop where I work and there was a basket of small ornaments that looked like mercury glass and I just needed to have a few and here they are.............

I just love them!

look how it sparkles.....



I will love the little ornaments that I purchased today, but I look very forward to finding my very first piece of mercury glass in the near future.....

cloves & oranges.......

Yesterday I was busy preparing for the Community Garden group to gather at my home for our year end meeting. By the afternoon I was ready to sit and relax for a bit so I decided to gathered some cloves and oranges and stud them. I think they turned out pretty well. Take a look............



Along with my dried orange slices I think they make a nice presentation. All this homemade'ness' is so much fun and so rewarding to me. I love it!

homemade love ............

"Homemade"......."handcrafted"...both words that I think are very special. And I have been doing just that lately. Making things for either myself or others and I believe that I both 'give' and 'recieve' alot of joy in doing so. If you follow my blog you will know that I do alot of canning in summer and fall, and the 'hands on' for that really is so rewarding for me. To share in my hard work during the winter is worth every minute of what I put into it during those harvest days in summer. I also recently made my grandson Brody a wonderful advent calender for the holidays and it turned out so great! Yesterday I tried my hand at drying orange slices and I think for the first attempt they didn't turn out too bad. I will be putting them on the christmas tree and I also used them on some gift bags.

beautiful slices.....

in the oven all aglow......

my first attempt...some maybe too dark but better next time :)

gorgeous!!

added to my gift bags of homemade bits and bites .......





I really love homemade because I believe that a little piece of your heart goes into it. How wonderful is that...........maybe we can call it 'heartmade' too .......

Have a great day!

for all to suffer less............

I read this morning that the Dalai Lama has a new book being released today. I always admire what he writes so it will undoubtedly be on my reading list. In a review that I read there was a phrase that jumped out at me and gave me cause to sit back and reflect on it. It read 'to bring peace to a suffering world'. Yes, this is a simple enough phrase but all that it says is so huge in the world that we live in and it occurred to me that it resonates on so many levels. Suffering is all around us and we seem to simply accept it. I believe that can be changed.

We are not at peace as individuals, communities, countries, societies, cultures and as a planet. We can see that all around us if we look closely. We are all suffering at some level and this has increased over the years to a height now that is almost too tall to reach to begin to make a change? I think it is on the brink of being just out of our reach, but that this has it's own purpose also. We often may not notice the depth of a problem until it reaches these huge proportions and only then are we are faced with the reality of what needs to happen. The whispers have run out and the volume has been turned up quite a bit.

We have a 'sadness' that reaches deep into our core and when that sadness faces outward it comes out in ways that spell our behavior. Mother Earth also has a sadness in her and only recently have we begun to realize that this has been by our own hand that she cries. The really devastating part of all of this is that we think we are fine and we think that all is fine around us. It's just easier to live this way because then no one has to take responsibility for any of it. We can all be in denial. This has become our normal way to live and experience life. I believe it can be different though.

 I have believed for a long time that a person can choose to live a life without suffering and that it will make a difference not only in their life, but in the lives of many. This is not necessarily easy though because it will give cause first of all for us to make changes that we need to make and we know how unsettling that can be. But when we can understand and look inside of our own suffering, then solutions are available to us and we can implement them to build a life that is less stressful. As we choose this for ourselves we begin to live a life that is blessed with greatness on many levels. If we set out to try to 'change the world' we will find the task ahead of us overwhelming and probably sign off on that challenge pretty quick. But instead if we simply look at our own life and make changes that will work for us, it will transcend to others as needed. It will be effortless for us in terms of not intentionally setting out to change the world, but the effects of our changed life will be witnessed by others and they will observe and then possibly absorb this for themselves. It will have a 'silent' impact on many and for others it may resonate largely. We just need to live our best life possible. I understand that not every day will be free from suffering, but how we deal with our daily challenges will be observed by others and the 'silent' teaching then has the possibility to cross into their life also.

One person's life can impact many lives. Let's choose to live our best life and in turn ease our own suffering and possibly the suffering of others also. These efforts will bring about changes in the world. I believe that.............

Namaste

from good to bad, to good again......

It's been an intensely emotional week where my spirits were dashed and I had to ask Spirit for to help bring them back into alignment. It's interesting to note that I had been feeling so well and then all of a sudden a couple of things happened and the tumble began. I was a bit surprised at just how deflated I felt and I was surprised at how quickly my feeling so well turned to an almost numb feeling. If I could have looked at myself from 'without' it would have been interesting for sure because there were two spheres of emotion working inside of me. I was aware of how I was feeling in relation to the events themselves and I was also aware of how intense these emotions were and wondering why that was. It was as if I moved outside of myself and could look to see how I was reacting to all of this. An unbiased observer of my own behaviors. That is a learning tool for me. I had a few days of full intensity with all of this and was able to brainstorm some of it with my partner's help. I feel blessed being able to do that. Our emotions impact each other and when events take place in either of our lives it requires understanding from that other person.

I am now several days 'away' from both events and it does allow me to view the elements of each in a better and more balanced way. Spirit is guiding me to these occurrences and will also guide me through them. This I believe.

Namaste