Maybe She's Mental

I have heard it told from great visionaries.... or great big-hearted people who do amazing things to bring love and understanding to the world.... that when something affects you to the core, you should pay attention.  Your soul is telling you something.  The divine is in on it as well.  You are being led. I think this is the third time I've been moved in the last couple of weeks.  The first was a young girl who built a school for orphans (and adopted 30 of them herself!) in Nepal.  I wanted to do the 5 month internship and was trying to figure out ways that I could work a leave of absence from work and find caretakers for my kids during that time. Next came the Pachamama Alliance which I wrote about in my last post.  I DID sign up to be a facilitator of the Symposium where people come to be awakened to our connected nature on earth and how we need to start to live differently... even if we aren't in the Amazon rain forest. Today though... I just broke down sobbing from o

I didn't know what my part would be. I didn't know when I would find out, but I think I now know...  The Pachamama Alliance I signed up to be a facilitator of these Awakening the Dream Symposiums designed and supplied by The Pachamama Aliiance to educate people about the fog we're living in..... a fog of separateness, consumerism, and destruction.  I'm going through the presentation right now and had to stop multiple times for tear control and just general recovery time.  I can FEEL the meaning of this... it penetrates my heart and chills my skin.  I even felt the pain of the animals as they talk about how we're driving them to distinction and acting as if it's not a big deal. Action... I have to do some reading/watching this weekend!  Then I will plan a way to share this with others.  I already have a willing audience in my Resilience Tribe.  They're very excited to hear about something they can do to change our course as a planet.  In the most brillian

Ah.. this is something that I need to practice!  I love this thought!  I don't have to know everything to teach what I do know....  I can practice how to gently share and learn how to read when my counterpart is open for the message.  The Article ***************************************************************************** You Do NOT Have to Be an Expert to Serve the World Posted: March 13, 2013 @ 11:30 AM | By: Jennifer Louden Categories: Leadership & Self-Development If there is one thing that trips up my clients, it is the belief that a teacher needs to be an expert before they can teach. Yes, there are times I want an expert. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer, I looked for the best oncologist I could find. But I would argue that an expert is often the last person we want to learn from. The “expert” model is a patriarchal model. It tells us that someone else always knows best and that they will hand their knowledge “down.” Asking too many questions or questioning the

This is some GOOD stuff.... for anyone who identifies with The Caretaker archetype.... ************************************************************************* Link to this snippet Self-Care Isn't Just About You – A Message for Teachers, Coaches, & Parents Posted: March 13, 2013 @ 11:07 AM | By: Jennifer Louden Categories: Leadership & Self-Development Whether you're a teacher, coach or parent, when you want to help others change– it’s oh so tempting to believe that means giving your all, 110% of the time. That it means being on call no matter what. Going the extra mile. Being invested in the outcome. And sometimes it does. Short bursts of all-out giving as a teacher, coach, and especially parent, comes with the territory. But if you do it for extended stretches or you believe you must do it to be “good,” or to be worth what you charge, you’re setting yourself up for a big ole train wreck of burnout and soul-sucking resentment. Self-care gets a lot of lip service

I was reading a travel guide book on the Mayan Riviera and ran across some fun folk lore.... It seems the Mayans had 'leprechauns' too!  These little tricky people are called aluxo'ob (alux = aloosh) and they do things like hide your flip flops or other little pranks if you don't believe in them and show them proper respect (like a mini-house on the premises... :))  I love it!  I will construct some kind of dwelling for them when I arrive just because I hope they come and hang out with me! :) Which reminds me of all things magical.... like static in the dark which Sarah decided were our fairies having fun. :)  You can live your life as if nothing is a miracle or you can live your life like EVERYTHING is a miracle - not sure who said that, but I've read it and I LIKE IT!  So... alux and static fairies are a YES in my book! You know what else is magical????  The silence that falls upon the house when the kids are asleep! :)  GOLDEN baby!

A friend of mine with great intuitive abilities once told me that any animal that allows itself to be seen by you (in the wild) comes to bring you a message.  This has made me more aware of what animals present themselves to me.  This week... pheasants, honker, coyote, and rabbit.  SO I looked up the coyote because that seemed to be the most unusual viewing of my week. This is what the shamanic animal spirit web site said about a coyote.... Coyote's Wisdom Includes: Understanding that all things are sacred--yet nothing is sacred Teaching that only when all masks have fallen will we connect with the Source Intelligence Singing humans into being Childhood trust in truth Teaching us how to rear our young Brings rain Ability to laugh at one’s own mistakes Placing the North Star Shape-shifting Teaching balance between risk and safety Illumination Stealth And for the rabbit I saw with an injured face hopping around my car where I park in the downtown area... Rabbit/H

I have realized as of a couple years ago that my main form of expression is dance.  Dancing makes me high in a most pleasurable way!  I love movement with music.  It doesn't even have to be a certain kind of music or certain kind of dance... if I'm inspired to move with the music, I do! Alanis Morissette says it so well in her song 'Incomplete' (an incredible song by the way) "One day I'll be secure, like the women I see on their 30th anniversaries"  Why are they secure?  Well because they know themselves and have accepted themselves.  I love seeing these women in the locker room at the gym.... they walk around not caring one little bit about what they look like.  They walk around with great big smiles (maybe being retired also has something to do with that smile.... :))  knowing...  If I happen to find one of these women in the locker area I choose, I most always start up a conversation with them.  I just love to get their take on things.  Not all conve

 So I'm seeing another side of performance art.... the side of the parent.  GOOD LORD it's INTENSE!  It's so much easier to be in the show and learn the lines/music/choreo over hours and hours of sewing and supervising and re-doing hair and dealing with your OWN kid as they're over-tired, excited and nervous....  Can I get that flex capacitor now?  I'd like to go back and do it all again... knowing this....:) Also, the ballet director spoke tonight at the cast party and mentioned that he loves to direct students in this area because he said they are some of the best students he visits.  I didn't know this, but he travels around the country and does similar shows with students from all over and he always enjoys his stop in MN because the students are 'supported'.  I personally loved his speech before the first show where he said something to the effect of this:  (they were doing the show for about 1000 school children)  "You know that every kid o

Today I took my daughter to her children's dance (ballet) theater rehearsal.  I meant to stay to help sewing costumes, but there were tons of helpers and I slipped out to watch the rehearsals... hehehe...  What I saw was a true art form.  I saw the director dancing with the dancers and saying what the dancers were expressing through dance to assist them to use facial expressions and movements to convey this.  It was incredible!  The director is living his bliss!  You can tell he enjoys EVERY SINGLE moment! And he's incredibly good at seeing how it all fits together:  Take for example the flamingos... they are a group of about 8 teenage ballerina girls who have been directed to move like flamingos... and it works!  They completely look like the birds!  Twice they are even used as croquet mallets.... oh so gracefully.  And the croquet balls that they smack are tap dancing hedgehogs... :)  I just love the imagination involved to bring this to life! I also saw the movie Find

Yep... I have some sunglasses goggles this evening after my saunter in the woods today.  It was SOOOO beautiful that after I walked to the bookmobile (LOVE) I hit the trails at the local county park for a hike.  There were only a few out there like me.  I ran into 5 people total in 2 hours.  That's how I like it... getting in my tree time! I had a moment here... beauty took me over... Oh and I guess my sun time since I did get a tiny bit pink over my outing... :)  The sky was so darn blue - no clouds and the temp just wonderful for a nice hike in the woods sans hat even.  Ideal MN winter hiking weather. The bridge on which I stand is the same bridge from one of my first posts that has the sign hanging down from it that says 'Danger' and has an arrow pointing down.  That cracks me up every time!  You can see the shadow of the sign that cracks me up here.  :) And here's the bridge and the shadow.  It really is a cool walking bridge.  I just love th