Just for You!

We’re reflecting on all of the different ways we have explored slowing down this year. Having tea with a friend, sending a written note to a friend and taking a walk were just a few of the ideas we had. One of our all time favorites is taking time to reflect. 

As we enter into hectic December, remember to take some time for yourself amongst all of the preparations. Enjoy the special moments, the memories and the warmth of it all. It is the end of the year, after all. Before you look ahead to 2019, take stock in the many events that took place in your life this year. They all deserve reflection as we make way for a peaceful new year. 

Enjoy your surroundings! Enjoy you!

Warmest holiday wishes to all! 

Subject: You

“The act of naming the world, in ways uniquely your own, 

is one way to spark the creative energy 

that lives inside each human being.”  

- Rebecca McClanahan

I came across this quote in a magazine this week. It felt so relevant following my last post about being comfortable in one’s own skin. Spend some time alone. Learn to like yourself. Enjoy doing things with yourself. Make time for just yourself. You will see that a great fire burns within – the fire of imagination and creativity. We keep so busy being accountable that we forget to circle back and look within. Children have it but we spend a lifetime dulling that fire. What if we made room for it again? For possibility? For creativity?

Merry Month of May

To all of my women friends and colleagues,  

Have a merry month of May!

Mothers, sisters and daughters -- you are gifted treasures. 

Celebrate this gifted season of womanhood. 

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Take time during the rains of April to rinse off the past. 

Prepare to welcome in the rebirth of spring and new blooms of ideas.  

Be free. Open new creative paths for yourself.

Take a cooking class

Sign up for a hike

Go to a museum

Take an art class

Volunteer in your community

Set up a quiet break to sketch out your dreams, plant new ideas then make way for growth in the new season!

Start Your Life of Creative Adventure!

It is always interesting to read about entrepreneurs and what leads them to pursue their talents and create their own inspirational businesses. I love reading about growing one's passion and talent into a business...or simply turning a hobby or activity that you enjoy into something to share with others. It is so satisfying to share what works for you with others. After all, this is our only life of creative adventure. You have permission! 

In the process of discovering one’s own talents or interests, many of us begin with a list of things we enjoy doing. Often our list of goals and things we like to do are launched and relaunched at the beginning of each year in the form of new year’s resolutions.  I especially like to create to-do lists for projects for home and work that sometimes become a “thinking list” of new ideas and thoughts. 

Yet often during the process of list making, we create a box of restrictions around ourselves in the shape of boundaries, perfections and expectations.  This can take away from the freedom of trying something new, trusting our hearts to explore a dream or even taking the risk of creating something that could blossom into something of beauty.  We often stop ourselves from choosing to live our dreams before we even try a step forward.  As one entrepreneur shared with me, “If you have a good idea don’t wait, just jump in and begin to swim and discover your talents!” Another successful business mentor told me,  “If you follow your heartfelt dreams, everything will grow in your “own” life….and your “own” journey.”

I know there is so much “other” in our everyday: things we must do, responsibilities, and our own self-imposed expectations.  Make  time to open up your box and explore with freedom. Develop your talents and interests and see where the journey will take you.

Welcome Spring!

As we welcome in the Spring season, enjoy new beginnings and appreciate your surroundings!
Have a wonderful and peaceful holiday weekend.
Keep following your heart and living your dreams!

How to Be a Green Leaf

Longer days are an invitation to get outside. All those new buds make me brim with anticipation and excitement for more growth ahead.

Practice being a green leaf by taking part in nature. Get outside -- whether you live in the city, by the coast or in the country, take a walk outside. Make it longer than usual or try a new route just to heighten your senses. Even better, invite a friend.

Marvel at the beauty of nature -- its cycles and the evolving color palette throughout the day and throughout this month.

This is a great time to plant some seeds and watch them grow! Spring is in the air, green leaf! Opportunities are there for the taking!

Life lessons from the garden

This week, I was thumbing through some of my garden books when I was pulled into a story about the virtues of the gardener who tends to the cyclical unpredictability of the land, season after season.

Yes. A garden instills humility in us -- a deep respect of something greater than ourselves. We learn about the gift of nurturing, tending and caring for others – from the heart. 

The author went on to describe the gardener’s deep inner strength and their wisdom to not only grow a successful and healthy garden but to choose to live a life that is able to find joy in all things.

Life, like the garden, is very unpredictable—yet, we gardeners dig, prune, clean and repeat.  We welcome in the joy of the surprises created in the garden—not by us, but by something greater than us.  Hope and inner strength translate beyond the garden.

One of my favorite lines goes something like this:

I thought by being diligent and dedicated to my work, I was growing my garden, yet I learned that actually my garden was and still is growing me.

I am sure I am not the first person to discover that gardening is a wise window into the mystery of life. And, like many who have come to this conclusion in their higher-learning institute of gardening, we discover how to be joyful through all of the seasons of life.  

Plan, celebrate, reflect -- February is full of surprises!

Take a Tea Break

On a cold and chilly morning on a recent trip to China, we were preparing for an early morning hike. Our guide arrived to greet us, appearing through a curtain of mist, with a flask in one hand and a stack of small cups in the other. As we drank from the cups, it was almost magical how our senses were heightened by the harmony of the aroma and our dramatic natural surroundings. The warmth of the tea was as comforting as the camaraderie that came from sharing these moments of time. Once strangers, we were now good friends. The tea infused us all with energy for our trek.   

We began a conversation with our guides about the art of drinking tea. No, having a tea is not a quick drive through a Starbucks or a dash into a local coffee shop, the art of drinking tea is about taking the time to slow down while breathing in the aroma coming from the steeping tea leaves.  As we began to learn about the different types of teas --  their tastes and their regions -- we were intrigued and decided to take a class about tea.

The next day, we met May, who invited us into her world of tea.  She told us how she fell in love with it at a very young age.  She was from a small village where both her parents worked full days, 6-7 days a week.  Yet, once a week, her mother would always find time for the two of them to go to a local tea shop. They would spend hours talking and laughing as they sipped on their favorite teas accompanied with sweets from the local market. 

She knew from these early experiences, that she wanted to make it her mission to introduce the art of tea appreciation to everyone she could meet. 

As we slowly sipped on a variety of teas, we shared in many stories with much joyous laughter. We found ourselves lost in time…not rushing to grab something, text a note or pick up the phone for a two minute call. We stopped. Time stopped as we took in the moments and the layered aromas of the earth. We learned how to taste the flavors of these aromas, and as we sipped, we were walking through the humid forests, climbing to the tops of mountains and traversing golden plains with our eyes closed! "The essence of the tea will quench your adventurous spirit," she said. 

Our special May closed our class with a request. She asked that we remember her with our next cup of tea and that we continue her mission to invite others for tea.

As I write, I am sipping on a Snow Blossom tea (May’s favorite). And, I've invited a friend who will be here very soon. To May, we will raise our teacups! 

Sit and sip a cup of tea. Let it warm your soul. And let the sharing of tea invite conversation. It is truly a special gift of time, of peace and of comfort. 

Reflections: Preparing for a New Year

When the year winds down and you're crossing off the last few days on the calendar, where do you go to reflect? Do you reflect? 

I find that there are so many mixed emotions this time of year. Relief. Dread. Optimism. Excitement. Abundance. Calm. Anxious. Accomplishment. Disappointment.

A windfall of 365 days to fill is a gift. Each one of those days is a gift. 

It's very helpful to try to grasp the year ahead all at once and try to give it a shape, an intention. Yes, an intention.

It's so important to shed the skin of the previous year, whether it was bright or lackluster. 

Mark the transition and give yourself permission to reflect. Sometimes it helps to go to a familiar place at an unfamiliar time. For me, there's nothing quite as comforting for my soul as the beach in winter. It seems to encompass all of me: past, present and future. That expansive horizon line gives me perspective and hope. The beach is ever-shifting but it is always beautiful in its unpredictability. And every tussle in the clouds is followed by glorious, luminous light at sunset. 

Take time to make note of your transition into 2018. This way, you will be ready to embrace with gratitude the unchartered course of the next 365!

Look forward and make this your motto for 2018:

Lend a Helping Hand

Remember to be helpful this time of year. 

Helping is Healing, Empowering, Loving, Peaceful!

Three things to be thankful for

November is a magical month for me. The month opens a wonderful season of giving -- around the globe. Like the trees that give us magical colors this time of year, we come out of our "me" cocoons, spread our wings and share. We look out rather than look in. 

We think about others. We are helpful. We extend a hand. 

Here's my best advice for November. 

Name three things to be thankful for. 

Do this right now. Do this every day for the month of November. 

Don’t make it complicated. Take in the essence of what is surrounding you. 

The power of this exercise will stay with you long after November has passed. 

Embrace Change

Why do we avoid change?

So often we look at change as negative.  Yes, change is not always a choice; it may be a loss, or something we had not anticipated to take place in our lives.  How much my life has changed this last year and, even more recently, these last several months! And though some of the changes seemed to be ever so difficult, many of the changes have really helped me to grow, learn and stretch myself in new directions.

The more I welcome and embrace change as a gift of opportunity, I find I actually think differently. Change simply means not getting “stuck” in the routine.

Every six months, I like to do a self-assessment to make sure that I am tuned into the changes that are happening around me so that I am still reaching and growing. It’s a lot like pruning and cleaning a garden to keep it fresh and healthy through the seasons. During a process of change, take a moment to be quiet and listen.  You’ll start to enjoy the new precisely because it is different! 

As we begin to welcome in the cooler air and rich colors of the autumn season, I encourage all of us to embrace the many changes ahead as a positive experience of “newness”—a refresh and refill for one’s soul.

A Mountain of Challenges

Don't let a mountain of challenges block your path. 

Endurance and the Summer Garden

The utopia of a Spring garden—its newness and bloom surprises—is quickly followed by the Summer months of July and August. The garden grows double-time, basking in the vitamins from the sun and warm weather. This is the season that puts me to the test. Longer and more frequent days are are required in the garden, trying to stay ahead of the growth, the bugs and other challenges. The peak of summer gardening is all about endurance.

I often find myself asking, “Can I ever get ahead of the upkeep and care?” And, the funny thing is, after a long week of labor in the garden, I am always rewarded.   When I sit in my favorite spot over looking the garden at dusk, I relax and take in all of the joy it brings me. I know that it is never fully complete or finished. I accept that it is a work in progress. Actually, I love that it’s always a work in progress. Isn’t it all? The splashes of colorful flowers dotted across he varying hues of green are a backdrop for a very special kind of dance where humming birds and butterflies flow to the rhythm of the gentle breeze.  And it’s never the same performance twice.

We must all endure through seasons of extra work, some emotional or physical strain, and longer hours at different times in our lives. But no two days are the same. Each day is a new performance in the greatest work-in-progress of all: life.

As we endure through the peak summer months of a garden in full abundance, we welcome in the cooler and shorter days of the autumn season. In these periods of rest, we rebuild, prepare and find the strength to endure through all that is put in front of us -- every day and in every season.