The beautiful sight that greets us at the home we rent
I'm off to the mountains of the Highlands, NC to celebrate life :) I'm retreating for two days of unplugging from the world and connecting with amazing women as we reconnect with ourselves, our purpose and Mother Earth.
The view from the front porch
I will be calling many of your names and if you too would like to hold us in prayer &/or send good vibes we'd appreciate it.
I'd also love to hear what ways you renew yourself? What self-care habits to you cultivate in your life?
Wrapping you around with infinite love, peace and play,
This morning I found myself awake at 4am after I heard a banging noise. The night before I was up with the 12 year old who was having trouble at 3 am so I jumped up to go check it out and see what was going on.
Everyone was asleep, including the cats and dog, and after investigating the whole house I determined the fan was causing a picture to bang against the wall making a thumping noise. Random!
I crawled back in bed wanting to get in a couple more hours of sleep and immediately realized this had been one of "those" wake up calls.
Do you know what I mean?
Ready to jump into the day (picture by Ruth Showalter)
I call them my angels, some folks say guides, messages from God/Universe or we could call them random calls to pay attention.
For me they are the unexplained noises or the knocking I sometimes hear in my dreams that wake me up and call me to action.
This morning I felt the tug.
I'm prepping for my upcoming women's retreat so I used the extra two hours to gather supplies, meditate on the "plan" and clean up around my home and fill it with love before I take off for the weekend.
Most of the time when these wake up calls occur I remember to stop and ask, "What are you asking? How can I serve you today God."
Fall colors 2014 - Aldi parking lot :)
I am grateful for the extra time that I was given this morning.
Have you ever gotten the "call" in the middle of the night to create? How did you answer it?
Sunrise on the way to Lee Arrendale State prison for InterPlay on a recent Friday
Wrapping you around with infinite love and sunrise prayers,
Christine
Day 4
Effortless Creation
CENTERING THOUGHT
My desires are fulfilled from my true self.
SANSKRIT MANTRA
Ahrah Kahrah My desires have the power to manifest.
"Memory
is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the
things you never want to lose." ~From the television show The Wonder Years Today I am grateful for many things in my life and wanted to share one with you...
Dinner on the fire (Salmon not Mickey Mouse)
After a day filled with retreat preparation and an upcoming school function I was delighted when my 16 year old daughter decided to make a fire in the back yard fire pit and then proceeded to cook dinner!
She and I ate salmon and Italian veggies over rice around the fire as the early Fall night surrounded us.
Even though it was a simple moment, it was delightful and filled my heart with joy. I know it will be a memory I treasure as this beautiful young woman prepares to leave the nest sooner than later. What memories do you want to hold on too? Wrapping you around with infinite love and warm memories, Christine P.s. Day 3 of the meditation series:
Day 3
The Source and Goal of Desire
CENTERING THOUGHT
My true self contains every possibility.
SANSKRIT MANTRA
Ananta Swa Bhava My Being is without beginning or end.
One of the many things I love about this time of year are the sunrises. This morning I was writing my morning pages and I peeked out my back deck and caught a glimpse of deep pink.
Heading out to chase the sunrise.
I got so excited and I KNEW I had to see this sunrise! I realized as I threw my sweater and boots on and grabbed my keys that I had not sought out a prime vantage point for watching the sunrise since we moved this summer. What? How can this be? We are lucky enough to live in a tree filled area with hills so sometimes the sunrise/sunset can be elusive.
Pulled over to catch the colors
I called my good friend Shelly who's an award winning photographer and lives close to see if she had any special spots :) Great thing she's also an early bird!
At the stop light
Shelly did not have any tried and true places but recommended due to time I head over towards the local park to at least cut out the "industrial" background.
Sunrise at Bunton Road Park
Sunrise 11/04/2014
Election signs & vote here signs guided my way into the park where I caught the last of the sunrise colors even though I couldn't actually find a spot high enough or clear enough to catch the actually breaking of the sun.
It was a beautiful start to this Tuesday where voting is one of the first things on my to-do list this morning. However, I knew I better go home first and put on some undergarments I neglected in my rush out the door to catch the Sunrise!! :)
Have you ever felt the pull of nature so strong you just had to respond? I'd love to hear your stories.
Wrapping you around with infinite love and beauty,
Christine
p.s. After my invigorating early morning adventure I sat down for Day 2 of the Meditation Experience - Loving starting my day this way!
I love Mondays, fresh starts and Fall Daylight savings time!
This morning I decided it was time to get back to basics and give myself a fresh start.
I woke up at 5am feeling rested and ready for this terrific week.
I did a quick swish and swipe (Thanks Flylady) to get my house back on track and headed downstairs for my morning cup of tea and to start getting my plan together.
I was delighted to discover a new meditation series starting today over at Deepok Chopra's Meditation Center with Oprah and Deepok. I've participated in two of these in the past and they were wonderful. Here is my doodle as I listened to the explanation before we went into meditation:
11/03/14 Doodle
So meditation is done (check), morning routines are done (check), blog for Inspired Blogging Group is done (check) and I am ready for a fabulous week!
Lift off!!!
In what ways do you want to give yourself a fresh start?
I would love to know. I just read a fellow blogger Nancy Jambor's offering and it reminded me that I want to add back in Morning pages to my morning routine!
Wrapping you around with infinite love and the power of purpose, Christine
Day 1
The Nature of Desire
CENTERING THOUGHT
My life moves forward through desire.
SANSKRIT MANTRA
Eecha Shakti Namah I honor the universal power of desire.
I joined the challenge so I can get back into my blogging groove since my over scheduled Fall put up some road blocks for daily writing. I could tell you all about the challenges and struggles that I've been wrestling with the past 2 weeks but better yet as we say in Interplay I would like to affirm the good. My life is full and messy and fun and here are a few of the things that make it so....
THE DAILY CREATIVE PRACTICE is a destination for anyone who is flexing their imaginative muscle with
loving persistent daily dedication and wants to share results with
other like-minded souls. Whether you are a visual artist, blogger,
dancer, poet, lyricist, singer, musician, scientist, entrepreneur,
teacher, yogi, knitter, philosopher, or peacemaker, your images,
performances, writings, or thoughts are welcome here.
Daisies in my friend Sharon's front yard
The Daily Creative Practice (DCP) reminds me to create every day and look for the beauty around me. It is a fun group made up of talented artists and creative people! Even when I'm not posting everyday I am thinking about fun ways to be creative through blogging, photography, art and life!
A bee and flower from Sharon's yard
This year I have been training to become an InterPlay Leader and I have connected to the beautiful InterPlay Atlanta community.We just celebrated 25 years of InterPlay last weekend and you can read all about it here: Celebrating #InterPlay 25 . In addition to the leadership training I've become a part of the newly formed SoulPrint Players an Atlanta InterPlay Performance group. We had a terrific rehearsal yesterday as we prep for an upcoming performance.
Ruth, Jennifer & I (Atlanta InterPlayers) photo by Sharon Levering
On the home front we are continuing to enjoy our new house and neighbors as we settle in and recover from the move. We are finding ways to "art it up" and play with our space.
Joe adding planet symbols to the bricks in the fireplace :)
Relaxing on the front porch and enjoying the sunshine & shadows
We love backyard fires with family & friends
I am very grateful for all the amazing people I have in my life including my husband, Joe, and our two daughters. They continue to grow and bloom.
This week we attended Sammie's Fall Orchestra concert where she played the stand up Bass and the music was delightful!
My teenager and I have both been working in a fun, local, paint you own pottery art studio owned by our friend, Ashley: Eye Candy Art Studio. I've loved connecting with downtown Duluth, GA in a different way and getting to experience the people, the artist and the musicians that often play next door!
One of the highlights of this week was meeting my friend Ruth, +Hallelujah Truth, in town for one of our bi-weekly sessions where we study InterPlay and play with the concepts we will be teaching. This time we met at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.
I hope you have a moment to enjoy this short, fun video Ruth compiled and edited from our time together as another way to celebrate #InterPlay25:
"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls."
