The Ultimate Yes

Sacred Life Sunday ~ Returning to the Light

 

And darkness shall give way to light...Sweet Solstice it is today.  After the longest night of the year, returning to the light we shall go tomorrow. YIPPEE!  It's been a day of reflection (thinking about this past year), contemplation (pondering what's next in the New Year), organization (I'm in major decluttering mode right now) and preparation (my husband's birthday is tomorrow).

It's been a wild week weather-wise in the Pacific Northwest and even the Oregon coast wasn't spared from the so-called Artic Blast.  Making snow angels on the beach was truly a sacred and utterly delightful thing.  The photos and the memories still make me smile and bring me to a lovely place of quiet and stillness.  Happy Solstice to you!

 

Ho Ho Ho Haystack Rock!

 

Ha Ha Happy Snow Girl! 

 

Beautiful and BRRR...it's cold Beach.

   

Got skis?  

 

Yes it is!

A Year of YES!

I decided not to wait until the last day of 2008 to reflect on this year's adventures and ponder the ones I've got planned for 2009.  When the clock strikes midnight and the calendar turns, I want to be very clear about what I'm letting go of and what I'm moving towards in the New Year. With a little more than two weeks to go before we pop the corks and partake in the festive celebrations, I wanted to spend some time revisiting the things I've said "YES" to in the past year with a few words and pictures.  What have you said "Yes!" to this year? 

YES! to starting off 2008 with hosting a fabulous retreat with six amazing women.  Despite feeling under the weather and losing my voice, it was grand to spend a long weekend being reminded of how much I love working with women and inspiring them to show up, get real, and play big in their lives.

YES! to having spent two weeks in the South Pacific sunshine during the Pacific Northwest winter.  Even though I won't be joining my husband on his next trip to New Zealand in January, I know I'll be spending more time down under the older I get. This is a very good thing.

YES! oh YES! to creating BeachDance this summer.  It was a defining moment in my life to see thirteen people, alone in their own dance and yet very much together, moving to the music while at the same time being moved from within.  Out in the open...out in the elements...out in nature. This is the path I will continue to follow and lead others to find here at home and around the world. 

 

YES! to finding the courage and following a feeling that gave me the opportunity to work with one of my favorite women at a beautiful retreat center in July. 

More to say and share about my YESES (is that actually a word?), your YESES and how we can help each other out by saying it more often, but a YES! calls to me now...it's time to go facilitate tonight's class at Tsunami.  YES!

Sacred Life Sunday ~ Before Dawn Breaks

While I wish I had had a few more hours sleep last night, I'm happy to be awake now surrounded by candlelight and the beautiful salt lamp seen here in the photo.  I'm happy today is Sunday and in just a couple of hours, I'll be dancing.  After facilitating two classes, I'll be venturing off into the woods for two days of rest and relaxation.  A couple girlfriends and I will be spending time soaking, sweating, sleeping, eating yummy food and just being.  No computers.  No cell phones.  No street lights.  No noise to disturb our retreat.  

When I get up before the light does, I often feel like I'm on retreat.  In the darkness, there is a silence and a stillness that speaks to me deeply.  I recently read an article in a previous issue of Tricycle magazine called "Commit to Sit" and I'm considering taking on their 28 day challenge of exploring meditation in a way I never have.  I know the most challenging thing won't be the sitting itself (although I do wonder how uncomfortable my body will feel sitting for 20 minutes to an hour at a time).  It will be quieting the ever-present chatter in my head. It will be acknowleding my thoughts and letting them go rather than getting all wound up in them and about them.  It will be listening to my spirit rather than my voice. I know Spirit is with me at all times, but it always seems more palpable and present just before dawn breaks.  

The light is beginning to appear now.  Candles will soon be blown out.  A shower and breakfast will be had.  A new day gently unfolds.  It doesn't take going on retreat to know how blessed I am to have another day.   It just takes a moment to say "Thank You, God."  

One More Week Before 40

   

Wait a minute...there's not THAT much difference, is there?  

• Same smile.  (Thankfully, teeth are noticably straighter now.)
• Same hairstyle. (I never quite got over the one time in my life I had short hair.  When Brenda Carroll asked me in fourth grade if I was a boy or a girl, the Dorothy Hamill haircut was banished forever.)
• Same 70's style of fashion.  (Wild and crazy prints never go out of style, but thank God one-piece jumpsuits did.)
• Same girl.  (I may have grown older, but I'll never grow up.)

Seriously, though..I can't believe I'm turning 40 next Saturday.  I remember when I graduated from high school in 1987 and thought it would be a very long time before I'd be the age my parents were at that time. I'm still shaking my head that that day will arrive in one week's time.  And so...in celebration of being on this planet for almost four decades now, I'm having a big ol' party.  Yes, it's just another number and yes, I'm now old enough that I don't HAVE to have a party, but I'm excited that many of my friends and family members will be coming to the coast next weekend to be with me.  Makes a person feel pretty damn special and loved. 

But it's not the yummy dinner that awaits us or the delicious dessert we'll consume or even the dancing that will take place at my studio (although dancing with 30+ people I love and care about stirs me up quite a bit) that brings tears to my eyes and causes my heart to beat faster.   I'm in the midst of planning a surprise that honors each of my guests in a way I hope they'll never forget.  It may be my birthday, but I'm the one who'll be giving the gifts.  With age comes perspective and with that, wisdom hopefully follows. 

I've always been somewhat of a wise-ass, but I can now see...slowly...ever-so surely...I'm becoming wise.  Bring on the Big Four-Oh I say!  I'm just getting started. 

The oh-too-quick days of December

Undoubtedly, we have all experienced moments in our lives when time seems to stand still and when time appears to pass on by at warp speed.  As a kid, the month of December always took FOREVER to arrive and when it finally did, it then took FOREVER for my birthday to come around.  There may be only twelve days from the 13th to the 25th of the month, but it seemed as though there were many more days in between before Christmas FINALLY showed up.

I'm not quite sure when the change happened.  I just know when it did I was really disappointed.  Nowadays the last month of the year appears to come and go as suddenly as a sneeze.  With the clock ticking ever-so quickly towards my 40th anniversary of being in this body on this planet, I'm finding myself acutely aware of time and how I spend it, waste it, use it, cherish it, want more of it and yet have more than enough of it.  

And so in celebration of slowing down and really relishing the next thirty days of December, I'm going to spend some time here at my blog saying YES to one of the things I love most...writing what's in my heart and sharing it with others.  The timing couldn't be any better for it as there will soon be a lot more of that going on here come January.    

Sacred Life Sunday ~ Sailor's Delight

"Pink sky at night.  Sailor's delight.  Pink sky in the morning.  Sailor's warning."

I know not whether the above is true, but I do know this...sunset is the only time I love the color pink in all its glorious hues.  This picture was taken this evening from one of my favorite spots near home.  Traveling south on Hwy 101, just before you exit right to Cannon Beach is a place you can pull over and see the expansive horizon.  Every time I come over the mountain and catch my first glimpse of the mighty Pacific, I am reminded how blessed I am to live where I do.  

Other than a smattering of rainy days, the Oregon coast has had an exceptionally lovely autumn.  I am especially grateful for the sunshine these days as it gets dark by 5pm.  There more weeks and we'll be moving towards the light again.  YES!

The quote above makes me think of two sailors I use to know. Sigh...

One was a bonafide Navy boy.  And boy oh boy was he ever YUMMY!  He was a brief, but very fun fling twelve years ago.  And then there was the sailor who danced his way into my heart and has never left.  Even though we sailed on from each other in 2001, I wonder about him still.  I hope he's happy.  I hope he's still dancing somewhere.  The memories of us...the OceanPrincess and the Sailor...they still bring me delight.  I hope when he thinks of me he remembers the delight, too.

That soft spot in our hearts...the place where old lovers live...it's sacred and it's bittersweet.  I have no doubt it's pink. 

Having Let Go...What's Next?

 

Having just sent out the last issue of Lighten Up to several hundred subscribers, I'm feeling a bit emotional right now.  There was a part of me that didn't want to hit the send button even though I've known it's been something I've needed to do for awhile.  I've written a monthly newsletter for the past five years and it was time to let it go.  Despite the sense of freedom that comes with letting something go, inevitably there's also a feeling of loss.  Even though I'm happy to be moving closer towards the writing my heart has been begging me to pay attention to, I'm a little sad. 

A lot has happened in five years time and my newsletter has been one way for me to document what has transpired in my life while at the same time providing me a venue to share my musings with others.  I know I have other means to stay connected to the people I've met over the years through my newsletter, but it will be different.  I have to remember that change is good and remind myself that this was the right decision for me to make.

So...what's next?  Growing my business every day.  Launching my book blog in January.   Loving my husband, family and friends for the rest of my life.  Dancing on the beach right now.  

Sacred Life Sunday ~ The substance of string

 

I've worn the blue strands around my wrist for four months now.   When a good friend of mine tied the ends of the string together back in July at Leadership Camp, I had no idea they would still hold steadfast to my body today.  A sweet symbol of friendship has turned into an important daily spiritual reminder.  I was told that my blessing bracelet represents love and strength; two very good things to ruminate about and remember every day methinks.

This morning as I danced at our studio, I studied my hands in depth as the last two quiet songs played.  I looked at my rings and thought of my husband and my friend, Layne. I'll wear those bands of white gold and silver forever.  I was intrigued by my veins and the blood that coursed through them just underneath my skin.  I'll be of flesh and bone as long as I'm alive in this body.  And then there was the string...how long it will continue to make its home around my wrist remains to be seen.  I won't cut it away so until the strands break on their own, I'll remain adorned. 

These were just some of the thoughts I had as tears rolled gently down my face and merged with the studio's hardwood floor. Love...it is what each of us wants and needs. To love and be loved...there is no greater task, no greater reward.  Love of self.  Love of others.   It takes strength to love that which we don't understand.  Strength to continue to do what we love.  Strength to live big and fully even on those days when being smaller sounds safe and more reasonable. 

When the day comes when the blue strings break...love and strength will be the invisible bracelets I'll continue to wear. 

President Obama...YES!

 

"Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark." ~ Rabindranath Tagore

It's been a time of tremendous joy, profound gratitude and many Thank-You-God moments since I heard the sweet words, "Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States."  My heart has been filled to the brim with hope and happiness.  With every ounce of my being, I feel this country has chosen not only the best candidate to lead this nation forward, but the most genuine and inspirational politician I've seen in a very long time.  Throughout his entire campaign, I believed in him. I just knew this was the man who America and the rest of the world would say "YES!" to.

While I don't consider myself a religious person, my faith in all that is good and true...things like love and compassion, hope and the human spirit...was never in doubt during these past two years.  I know I worried way too much at times, but my belief in big change never wavered.  Even during some of the darkest moments, I kept on believing that the will of the people would prevail and the man who inspired millions would be president.  YES WE CAN has become YES WE DID. 

I know there is much to be done in the coming days, months and years ahead, but right now I am celebrating the fact that Barack Obama will be this country's president in a little more than two months time.  I am ecstatic that I will soon have a president I can be proud of...a president who listens and who values honesty, integrity and authenticity.  I believe in this man and in the American people to bring about the changes our country needs.  We did it.  We really did it. 

God didn't vote.  We did. I can't help but say it though...Thank God.

in the stillness of the morning...

In the early morning light before my head becomes filled with thoughts of the day ahead, I look at the candle my friend, Carla made and the words that appear on its front move me deeply... 

"We are the people we've been waiting for.  We are the change we seek." ~Barack Obama

In one more week, our country will choose a new president.  In doing so, I believe we'll choose a new direction that will empower and unite this nation's people in a way we haven't seen in forty years.  It's time for a BIG change and that change is here now.  We are the people.  We are the change. The world will soon see we really can make wise choices.

I've already exercised my right to vote and I am praying (and I don't do that often) that every person who is eligible to vote in this election will do so.  Today, tomorrow, on November 4 and on every day thereafter, each of us can be the change.  I will take the stillness of the morning with me as I go about my day. 

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Gandhi