Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Day 16,086

Appreciating ... this week's mandala that I colored after a challenging call on Monday. It helped me to feel so much better.

Celebrating ... the (long awaited) impetus to clean up/clean out what I can between now and October 27. The big focus will be on making the most of my free time (and my husband's cooperation) this weekend. Might be worthwhile to include some feng shui remedies while I'm at it. (Hard to believe that it's been four years since I was there.)

Basking ... in big mugs of Guayaki Chai Spice Yerba Mate.

Savoring ... Broken: A Love Story. (Thanks Frances!) I'm halfway through and lamenting that I'm that much closer to the end.

Praising ... the glorious weather that I will bet is our Indian summer for this year. We've had a break from the rain and cold with bright blue skies and highs around 70 degrees. Our greyhounds and kitties are jockeying for the indoor sunny spots while they last.

Entertaining ... the possibility of going back to California to resit the Shinpiden Reiki course that I took in April. Words can't sufficiently describe how Frans' teachings deepened and expanded my practice. It would be a privilege to retake the class. Plus, I seriously have the travel bug and need to get back to Muir Woods. I also need to prove to myself that, properly medicated, I can make the drive to Stinson Beach without hurling on myself.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Mandala Monday

A new mandala for you to download here.

I must confess that I haven't been coloring and I sure do need the therapy. So I've printed my own copy and will be coloring the evening away. I'll show you mine, if you show me yours! Send your colored mandalas to me via e-mail at jakk AT magicbeansworkshop DOT com. I'll even post them on here with your permission.

Friday, October 16, 2009

I'm A Book Fairy!

What an honor it is to serve as a Book Fairy for Christine Mason Miller's 100 Book Project! I get to work my stealthy magic with one of 100 copies of Christine's lovely and inspiring book, Ordinary Sparkling Moments. A very lucky someone here in Greater Cincinnati will happen upon this book in a most unsuspecting place ... which I, um, haven't quite decided upon just yet. Of course, I am sworn to secrecy, so no amount of tickling or chocolate bribes will even get you a hint. But if you'd like to join the fun, I think that there's still time for you to be a Book Fairy too!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Mandala Monday


Happy Columbus Day! This is the one holiday I have each year that is just for me. My husband and daughter went to work and school this morning, while I went back to bed. As a matter of fact, I snuck in a nap around lunch time, too. Extra sleep feels very restorative these days.

You can download this week's mandala here. It feels good to be back to making them for you. Hope you are enjoying them too. I always welcome your mandala stories and colored mandalas via e-mail, so don't ever hesitate to contact me. I'll be glad to share them here with your permission, of course.

As always, happy coloring!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Staying Centered

Still working on my list of birthday wishes and will share the last 22 when complete. I got sidetracked by some news about my job that I had hoped wouldn't come, but it did after all. I am really appreciating Tosha Silver and her free MP3 Staying Centered. I have been playing this on repeat today and it is soothing my uncertainty. Thankfully, I should have plenty of time to entertain my options and contemplate how I can be of service in the future. It might turn out to be the best birthday present of all!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

44 Wishes - Part 1

The 44th anniversary of my birth arrived at 3:40 a.m. while I was sleeping. In my humble opinion, one birthday wish just isn't enough. So, guess what. New rule. You get as many birthday wishes as you want. Me? Well, I'm cool with 44 wishes for my 44th birthday.

I'm only halfway through my wish list. Hence the Part 1. Here's what I've got to share so far, so that you can hold me accountable and stuff:

1) This photo is of Kathy and me. She is my oldest friend ... in terms of duration rather than age. We met in the 4th grade, so I suppose that we were around 9 or 10 years old. We were neighbors, too, and have a lot of happy memories (and photos of embarrassing hairstyles) from growing up through the 70s and into the 80s. This was the two of us at our recent 25th high school reunion. Just love Kath's smile! We lost track of each other for many years. She lives in Texas now. My first birthday wish is to go visit her sometime this year so that we can catch up properly.

2) Launch an e-course. It's all been laid out for me in my noggin. Now I just need to sync it to something that I can distribute. I don't want to give anything away, but I think it's an area where we all can use help and support.

3) Create a labyrinth playbook. The lovely ladies who walk the labyrinth with me a couple of times per month have been receiving playsheets from me. I would like to compile them into a book for next year and make it available to everyone so that they can find a labyrinth near them and see what discoveries there are to be made. It can be very transformational!

4) A week at the beach. We've already made our condo reservations in New Smyrna Beach ... our home away from home. Even found great airfare, so we've got our tickets too. So this wish is well on its way to being granted.

5) Long weekend in Chicago. We had so much fun this year and it is a mere five hour drive from where we reside. There's just no reason not to go at least once a year. Besides, you just never know when you might run into Oprah ... which maybe ought to be a wish on it's own.

6) Sedona????? I add question marks only because there are so many places that I'd love to visit over the next year and my travel budget is a bit limited. I've been twice but it's been five years. I feel it tugging me back. So let's just see what happens, okay?

7) Promotion at the job. Can't say much about this one, due to obvious reasons, but promotions, yeah, they're nice.

8) Find the perfect hairstyle for me. Oh my goodness, words can't describe the longing. I have super thick, super unruly hair. I don't have the arm strength or the endurance to flat iron it into submission, so my options are extremely limited. I keep it long, despite my better judgement, just so that I can put it up and out of my mouth. Yes, the perfect hairstyle for me, that would be a dream come true! Maybe even bigger than running into Oprah in Chicago.

9) Take my writing to the next level. Okay, that's vague, but that's what I wrote down. Maybe the next level is clarity.

10) Go to Blogher and have a blast. Okay, this wish bubbled up out of nowhere and REALLY surprised me. I didn't think I had any interest in ever going to Blogher, but there you go. That's the kind of thing that happens when wishing begins. It takes on a momentum of its own.

11) Ditto for Squam. You know, this wish makes me feel more vulnerable than Wish #10, because it's more intimate. For both events, it would mean a whole lot to me (and make me a whole lot braver) to go with a buddy. So if this is something that you've got on your wish list too, let me know and we can encourage/support each others attendance ... or triple-dog-dare, if that helps even more.

12) Facilitate a retreat. As with the e-course in Wish #2 above, I've got all kinds of ideas for all kinds of retreats. I just need to sort things out and craft a plan. After that, it's a matter of mustering the courage to put it out there and hope that people sign up. Piece of (birthday) cake, right?

13) Write a book of poetry. Didn't say publish it. Just write it. Maybe 44 poems for my 44th year? It all begins with one.

14) Learn a foreign language. I've got two (half-hearted) years of high school French under my belt. I can remember how to ask where the library is. Otherwise, consider me hopelessly lost in Paris. My daughter is in her third year of Spanish and itching to go on the school field trip to either Costa Rica or Spain. *Swoon* I would like to go along as a chaperone, but I would also like to be able to communicate my way back to my lodgings once she and her travel companions ditch me. So, yeah, maybe Spanish is the way to go.

15) Skinny dip. Never done it. Rather ashamed. Not about the wish, silly. I think everyone should skinny dip at least once. But I guess I had better add "Learn to swim" as a prerequisite.

16) Get back to San Francisco, but this time as a tourist. I should probably question mark it like Sedona. Oh, I'll definitely be back. Just don't know if it will be this year.

17) Get a colonic. Too much information? Maybe. I understand the importance of keeping the plumbing clean. Frankly, I'm really curious how it works. Especially about implants. That's all I'm going to say. If you want to learn more, get thee to Google.

18) Teach a Reiki I/Animal Reiki Basics class. I have been working on a manual for months. Just haven't felt like it is the right time to teach. This year I really hope it comes together and happens. Might need one of those triple-dog-dares.

19) Start piano lessons. I was the kid who was jealous of the kids who couldn't play outside because they had piano practice. Maybe this is my year.

20) Get my passport renewed. Just been lazy and haven't really had any need for one. But it's silly not to have one handy these days, because who knows what kind of cool opportunities may present themselves.

21) Salsa dance lessons with my husband. In the summer, they have Salsa on the Square downtown. It looks like so much fun ... so sexy in the heat. Sign. Me. Up. Now I just need to convince Dan.

22) Plant tulip bulbs this fall for spring. This should be easy. But the more appropriate wish may be to successfully thwart the squirrels that will come in behind us and dig them back up. If they leave any behind for blooming, they will be eaten in the spring by hungry deer. Why bother, then? Because it's my birthday and I dream of red tulips in May!

Okay, that's half the list ...

Part 2 will follow once I wish it.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Mandala Monday

At long last, a fresh new mandala for you to download and color!

Magic Beans Auction

I am delighted to announce that I am auctioning my entire inventory of wire-wrapped pendants for a very good cause. Earlier this year, Esme Kenney, the 14 year old daughter of my dear friend, Lisa, was murdered when she went out for an afternoon jog near her home here in Cincinnati. This auction will help to raise funds for a memorial scholarship being established in Esme's name. Bidding starts today and runs until noon on Sunday, November 15. Please spread the word and consider bidding: http://magicbeansauction.blogspot.com.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

The Here and There of Mandala Mondays

I had posted over there that Mandala Mondays would resume here on Monday, October 5.

That is partially true.

See, I spoke before I tested. Can't upload the PDF here. Shucks.

So it WILL resume on Monday, October 5, but posted for download there as before.

Which means that this blog may eventually move here.

But first things first.

Thanks to all of you who have missed coloring as much as I have!

Master Class

Day 16,068. Although I haven’t talked about it much since then, I attended Shinpiden (Reiki Master Teacher class) exactly six months ago. Anyone who has been through anything like this knows that the learning goes well beyond the time in the physical classroom. The teaching (and testing) can go on for weeks, months, a lifetime. Our homework is to treat ourselves ... heal what needs healing within us. No small feat. But we can be of no assistance to anyone else if our heads, hearts, and hands are full of our own baggage.

Working at the Master level has deepened my compassion for our human-beingness, but at the same time I can see more clearly than ever before just how powerful, magnificent and, well, WELL that we really are at our core. Our well-being truly abounds, although our circumstances can sometimes make it difficult to see it that way. Like the sun behind the clouds, the light is always there. The truth of our inherent well-being has taken root within me as a knowing over these months of practice and contemplation. Which isn’t to say that I don’t forget sometimes in my day-to-day life. As a recovering dramaholic, I do. But it is getting easier to bounce back and remember in a (gentle) thump-on-the-head, could-have-had-a-V8 kind of way.

To the frustration of some around me, there are some things that I can’t do anymore, now that I know what I know. “I won’t go there with you.” I said these words recently and I could tell that they wounded the one who received them. The only thing that I am sorry about is that my point was misunderstood. This is my truth. I won't go there. I won’t to go to those dark places with those who have forgotten ... the ones who tell themselves scary stories that I know aren’t or don’t have to be true. I won’t pretend that they are or could be real, even for the sake of comfort. I don't do pity. Ever. The two of us in that abyss can be of no help to each other at all.

I would much rather have you believe that I have abandoned you in your time of need than to be anything less than grounded in my powerful vision of you as healthy, strong and blessed. My role as a healing “facilitator” is to hold that space for and picture of you so that maybe, hopefully, you can (at the very least) muster the hope to see yourself and/or your situation that way. From that hope can be borne willingness and from that willingness is borne belief. Once you reach belief, you will (re)discover the truth that I knew about you all along.

Now I know full well that my positive attitude in the face of your anguish is going to seem cruel and piss you off. That’s fine. I can take it. Please be angry with me rather than repeat that story again ... the scary one that makes you sad ... the sad one that makes you scared. I know that someday, when you discover that you are back to living happily ever after, you will realize that quiet in the background, I was not only on your team all along but also your biggest supporter of all.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Mysterious Apple Bush

Day 16,066. They say that magic is all around us. Caught up in the day to dayness of it all, it is so easy to overlook ... er, um, underlook, as the case may be.

We have lived in this house for 7 1/2 years. Every spring, I watch the shrub by our beer garden burst into furious hot pink blooms which don't last nearly as long as I wish they would. This year, this autumn, it has gone above and beyond the call of duty and surprised us with fruit. Dan and I have been standing around scratching our heads in fruitful befuddlement. Are we being horticulturally punked?

These little gems look like green apple golf balls. I've cut them in half and they even smell like green apples (of the Granny Smith persuasion). It's all I can do not to munch, but my mama taught me not to put things from trees and shrubberies in my mouth without first clearing it with her. She hasn't gotten back to me yet.

So unless you can tell me what it is I'm dealing with here, I will henceforth refer to it as our beloved apple-bush-from-which-we-shall-not-eat. But I sure would appreciate it if someone could solve this mystery. Anyone?

UPDATE:
Thanks to Susie, the bush has been identified as a Flowering Quince. Hooray!