WALKING MY PATH!!!

I just finished participating in a Forgiveness Retreat held at Rock Ridge Retreat Center.  I came with the intention of removing some old "stuff" and hopefully planting the seed of total healing.  For the past 6 years I've developed a severe case of eczema, so painful at times I've contemplated the possibility of moving out of my physical body.

As I was sitting in the workshop room, with about 25 other women, a phrase passed into my mind --- "you've swallowed your anger".  In that moment I knew this was exactly what I had done, taken an incident and truly held it in, swallowing it up.  At that moment, I raised my hand to express these thoughts and a whole lot of anger and rage came up.  My dear friend, spiritual mentor, sister spirit, and facilitator of this workshop, offered to role play with me.  Without going into any of the details,which are only important to me, I was able to release quite a bit of the energy that I had held inside for all these years. 

Last night, we finished the weekend with a firewalk.  As we circled the fire seeking our guidance about whether or not it was for each of us to walk, I heard "it is yours to do!"  I know, through all my experiences of firewalking, God has my back and supports me in traveling this path (of fire).  So, across the coals I went.  When I stepped back into the circle an enormous amount of emotional energy went through my body and I started to cry.  What I realized was that even though I know God works with me and through me, there is still the seed of an old message of "not being good enough, or worthy enough".  You see, my intention in walking this fire was for a deep healing of my body.  Hence, the doubt!  So I asked again whether or not to cross the fire and again I heard "it is yours to do!" For the second time I crossed the fire with the intention of the fire healing me at depth.  Again, as I stepped back into the circle, the emotions sprang up, and so I asked again, "am I complete?" and I heard, "three is the Holy Trinity, complete it!"  Three times I crossed the fire asking to be healed at depth.  Whether or not it has happened, the seed was planted this night and in deepest gratitude I accept and give thanks for this!!!! 

Along this same train of thought, I received information about a commencement speech that was given at the University of Pennsylvania this year.  Please check out the talk at this website:
www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=236   It's one man's reflections on walking a path through India.  In peace, I send love!!!

A FEW LITTLE HICCUPS!!

Many of you may know I had lithotrypsy (sp?) done last week to break up another kidney stone.  What you don't know is that I was scheduled to leave Sardis Lake, Mississippi on Tuesday morning, bright and early, headed to Fall Creek Falls in middle Tennessee.  The night before my departure, I went to bed with shooting pains in what felt like the bladder area.  I thought I might have a bladder infection.  So, in the middle of the night I made the decision to go to the urologist, bright and early, and have it checked.  The good news is I woke up feeling so much better and did go to the doctor.  Was in the office by 8am and left a urine sample and was gone within 30 minutes.  I was able to get on the road by 11:30 am, later than planned, but I still had only about a 6.5 hour drive.

I am currently in Mentone, Alabama at Heartwood.  My friend, Teresa, drove in from Winston-Salem, NC to attend a Forgiveness Retreat hosted by my spiritual mentor, Rev. Edwene Gaines.  I knew as soon as I heard about this workshop it was something I needed to do for myself.  Thankfully I had a deep realization of having swallowed some anger and was able to do some emotional release work with Edwene.  Quite powerful and empowering.  Shelia, I tell you all about it when we talk.  Speaking of my friend, Shelia, the picture of the donkey to the left is her buddy.  We pass him every day on our way to Rockridge Retreat Center.  On this particular day, we stopped to take his picture and I told him his girlfriend, Shelia, sends him love.

Shelia, you see in this picture, he has just let out this extrememely loud bray and at the end I caught him with his mouth open.  You can just imagine him talking to us.

I have been somewhat out of communicado being up at Fall Creek Falls.  There is very little phone service and my internet access is very sketchy.  This particular blog is being written at Cathy and Ted's. 

Hope everyone is having blessed days and gentle nights.  I love each and every one of you!!!

SPRING IS IN THE AIR!!!

 I've been at some homes recently with some of the most beautiful flowers planted in their gardens.  Here are some of the pics.  I hope you enjoy this "walk" through these gardens!!!

SAND SCULPTING, SIESTA KEY, FLORIDA!!!

Here we are, the bathing beauties!!! Kirsten in the middle with, of course, me on her right and Alpha on her left.  We arrived at Siesta Key sometime around 10 am.  The sand on this beach is like walking on powdered sugar, it's so very fine, it doesn't even feel like sand. 

The contest began at 9am and the judging takes place at 1pm with the winners to be announced at 2pm.  Some of the sculptors had been doing this type of contest for over 25 years.

One man I spoke to said the sand was so perfect to work with.  He said you didn't have to add water, just pile it up, pat it together and start sculpting.  The picture to the left is of Chip Perling creating Pirate Pelican.  He took 1st place in the category "Adult/Humorous" with "Pirecan".  You can see the beginning, but, sadly, not the finished product.

This is Ken Shields and Mollie Morgan creating "Castle By the Sea" which took 1st place in the "Adult/Miscellanious" category. 

We had such a great time walking around, talking to the sculptors, the kids, the guys who had been around for many years competing in this.  Fascinating!  I spoke with two brothers, Chris and Bud Richardson who were sculpting a castle in honor of their parents' 100th birthday.  Chris has been competing for over 25 years and here you can see the beginning of their efforts.  I'm sure they placed, but I could not find the list of all the winners.

Gives me something to think about, becoming a sand sculptor!!! Hmmmmmmm!!!

WHERE IS HOME?

My friend, Cathy, wrote a beautiful piece about being back at Heartwood and the "physical home space" that nurtures the spirit and the soul.  Then there is the essence of the "spiritual home" where the true journey is when we remember our true home resides in the "Light of Love".

I've been thinking about this today as I drove from Flagler Beach to Sarasota, Florida, following my dear friend, Alpha.  I've just spent the past four days being in the Light of Love in the presence of this dear woman.  She allows me to be me, to be present when I can, and to attend my own needs, and at the same time, she loves me in a quiet, simple way.  We wake in our own time, we flow into our day at our own speed and move into the fullness of the day easily and without stress. 

As I'm writing this, I am aware of how many people in my life are also this way.  My friends, Cathy and Ted, who created the beautiful circle garden above where we firewalk, are just as easy to be with.  In fact, Lynn and Judy, in Maine, surround me with love every time I visit.  Although, Lynn, I must say this past September nearly put me under the table.  I had such a great time, sitting out in the yard, having our first vodka martini with the great "pupu" platter Judy made for us.  I had so much to drink that afternoon and evening, I don't remember sitting down to dinner and eating.  What a marvelous time I had with you two!!!

I guess what I'm trying to say is my "home" lives in many different places.  While I love being in my camper, I also love being able to travel to the homes of my friends and my loving family.  My heart is fed by so many different people in so many varied ways.  The old adage "home is where the heart is" holds true for me.  This weekend my heart is in Sarasota with Kirsten, Scott and Alpha.  By Sunday, my heart will once again  be in my "rolling palace"!  Life is GREAT!!!

To all of you who have opened your homes and hearts to me, I say, THANK YOU!!!  I am deeply grateful for your love and your generosity of Spirit!!!!

A WRINKLE IN TIME!!!

Remember when I said we were going to Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp yesterday?  Well, that didn't happen.  Yes, we did start out for the camp about 1pm, following the directions on the brochure which said to go north on the Interstate.  We did that and soon saw an exit 305, which we passed up.  Then we noticed exit 311, and I said "I think we're going the wrong way."  The exit we were looking for was exit 249.  So we turned around. 

As we headed back, Alpha looked at her watch and it said "10:00 am", which was certainly not the time.  She said "You know my clock on my computer this morning said 3:00, I wonder what this is all about?"  As we were driving south she decided she needed to stop and check on her home because they had recently experienced some electrical problems in a couple of the condos and she wasn't too sure the problem had been totally solved.  So back to the house we headed.

Moments later, back into the car we got.  We decided that perhaps we weren't supposed to go to Cassadaga and instead we headed to one of our favorite eating places, The Present Moment.  This is a restaurant that specializes in "live" food and totally organic meals.  There is nothing that is really heated  to the point of destroying the nutrients in the food.  I had a wonderful black bean soup with a dish they call "peace hummus".  There is no meat served, but whenever they make a dish like a hamburger it's made with nuts, mushrooms, vegetables, etc.  The food is like no other place I've eaten and every dish I've had there is delicious.  The picture to the left was taken in the restaurant of Alpha as she backed up to the window.  You can see the beautiful piece of stained glass that comes halfway down the window. 

We also stopped at one of the local fruit markets that advertised "Pecans, 1 lb. for $3.99, shelled".  We both were excited about getting shelled pecans for such a low price.  Well, you guessed it!  It was a come-on, the 1 lb. bag of shelled pecans was a bag of ground pecans to use for coating meats and fish.  I did, however, get a bag of fresh oranges, so not all was lost.

By the time we got back home, it was almost 6pm.  We had been up and down the expressway several times and laughed about falling into a time warp.  Where the day went, we had no idea.  Once we got back though we went out for a walk and headed for the Intracoastal Waterway, just a couple of blocks from Alpha's house.  You'd really have to see for yourself how beautiful an area she lives in.  Palm trees, beautiful flowing plants and bushes, lush green yards, and million dollar homes surround the Intracoastal Waterway.  I feel like I've died and gone to heaven.  The only thing missing for my piece of heaven is a game table with people waiting for me to sit down and play with them.  I hope God is listening, because I fully expect to be able to play to my hearts' content when I pass beyond this world. 

In the meantime, don't forget to play whenever you can!!!

I'M FINALLY HERE!!

 Bright and early Tuesday morning, I left New Orleans headed for Florida.  As I was crossing Lake Ponchartrain, about 6:45am, I noticed how beautiful the sky looked and took this picture.  I had a glorious day of blue skies, white clouds, and easy traffic as I made my way across the state of Louisiana, Alabama and then Florida. 

Nearly 11 hours later, I arrived at my friend, Alpha's, home.  Was I ever glad to finally be somewhere!  The last two hours of the drive were the longest of the whole trip. 

After unloading all my "stuff", we settled into our seats on the lanai, sipping a wonderful Pinot Grigio and catching up on our lives from when I was last here, which was March of last year.  Being with Alpha is like being with family.  You know you may not agree on everything, but just like family, you know they will love you anyway.  No matter how long it is between visits, there is never a time of getting to know each other again, you just fall into the friendship again, as if no time has elapsed.

As we sat on the porch, she told me the watering system had been pushed back to about 7:30 pm so we might not get any rainbows.  But just as the water began to flow, we both looked out to see this beautiful rainbow taking shapen to our left.  I grabbed my camera and took several pictures of it.  It was like a "welcome home" celebration.

Today, we are headed to a "spiritualist camp" called Cassadaga.  Alpha is taking me to the hotel which has an amazing restaurant she says.  Cassadaga celebrated it's 117th birthday last year, having been formed