Category: friends

Kary Oberbrunner, Exposed! Behind the scenes at the Igniting Souls Conference 2017

by Karen, posted in author, Being BRAVE, books, Brave books, Catching women being brave, Clarity, education, friends, no fear, Travel, writing

Ever wonder about this Kary Oberbrunner guy?

I first met him online in a chatroom…No–wait! Kidding! I first met him online at one of the free webinars he hosted:

How to Turn a Book into a 6-Figure Business

My expectations were low.  Full disclosure: I watch a lot of free webinars. I am never motivated to buy anything at the end of them.  Anyway, the information that I got was so interesting and so in alignment with what I already knew and was currently doing (or trying to do), that I had to find out more about what this guy was teaching.  Also, I had to find out more about this guy in general.

So I did what women everywhere have been doing since the beginning of time when they needed to find out more about a guy:

I googled him.

Not one bad thing. Not one. On the entire internet.

This led to me becoming part of the Igniting Souls Tribe, which led to me going to the Igniting Souls Conference this year.

This was a much bigger deal for me.

I was taking big risks to go to this conference! 

  • I hadn’t flown alone since 1990 and had never changed planes before to get anywhere. If changing planes was required, it was a deal-breaker.
  • I would be leaving my daughter alone for a few days, and she didn’t want that.
  • Who would feed the chickens while I was away?
  • How would I get to the hotel from the airport?
  • What if I got stranded there? (I did, actually)

Yep; I was feeling the fear (nod to Susan Jeffers)

In the end, though, I did the thing I thought I could not do! (Nod to Eleanor Roosevelt)

I packed up all my fears and I went to Ohio. Alone. On the plane–two planes. No, four, counting the fights home!

In the morning before the first session of the conference started, I heard a song playing over the speakers. I could feel it inside me. This wasn’t just any song.

This was one of my favorite songs in the world:

Con Te Partiro by Andrea Bocelli.

Translation: Time to Say Goodbye. And I realized that I had done exactly that. By making this trip, I said ‘Goodbye’ to my fears and ‘Hello’ to my faith and confidence in myself. When I heard this song playing, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was supposed to do.

So, who is this Kary guy? He’s the guy who you can’t find anyone to say anything bad about. And at the Igniting Souls Conference, there were hundreds of people saying only good things. About him. About each other. It was one of the best gatherings that I have ever been part of. Ever.
Thank you, Kary, and thank you to all the amazing members of this tribe, in which I am blessed to be included.

I am leaving you with this, my favorite version of Con Te Partiro, which Andrea Bocelli sings with Sarah Brightman. I hope you feel it, too.

Here is a slideshow of some moments from my trip and #IgnitingSoulsConference17

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My birthday

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, Adult children, books, celebrations, friends, italian, local fun, Party for one, the beach

 

I hope you all had fun with me this week. In addition to the week of cakes, my daughter gifted me with a cake today, bringing my total to eight for the week, and this is the one with which we celebrated with singing and candles.

Here is today’s cake from Wells IGA: Caramel Sea Salt Cake!

Here is a slideshow of all seven cakes in the BirthdayCakeWalk2017.

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For my actual birthday today, I did more than just eat cake, if you can believe it! I ate whatever I wanted. A chocolate bread from Boulangerie in Kennebunk for breakfast. Sausage Flatbread with a salad from Pizza Napoli in Ogunquit for lunch. So far, that’s all. Oh, and the Salted Caramel Cake from my daughter!

And I tried to include things I love (besides food!) in my day. Connecting with my family and friends! Lilacs! The ocean! Reading! Writing! And of course, a visit to a bookstore!!

Now, for the point: It is my birthday wish that all of YOU have a day like this, too. Why wait for your birthday to be kind to  yourself? Do it now. Today.

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Birthday Week CakeWalk (BWCW) Day 6

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, celebrations, friends

Getting to the home stretch! Today’s cake was a present from my friend, Jane. Thanks for taking the pressure off with the cake-finding mission today, Jane!

Actually, I should have said today’s cakes, because Jane gifted me with a Cake Trifecta! Lemon, Chocolate Bomb, and Fruit Tart (because fruit is healthy!).

Oh, and the cakes came with a side of flowers.

What a treat this was!

All three of these cakes were delicious. All pass. Full disclosure: I didn’t eat all of them all! Only half! I swear!

🙂

One more day to go.

Goodbye, my friend

by Karen, posted in friends, good grief, Grace, relationships

A very dear person passed away over the weekend.

I met Karen when I worked with her at Sirona several years ago. We worked together via the telephone, so actually our voices met first! As many of you may know, you can tell a lot about someone by their voice. I liked her right away.

She was a supervisor, but she was every inch one of the gang as well. She was always a calm, reassuring, even loving presence at work. If Karen was on the job, I always felt better knowing that. When I was new in my role, of course I made some mistakes. When Karen was the person in charge and I needed to reach out for help, she was one hundred percent there for me. She somehow made me feel like she had made that exact same mistake dozens of times, just last week in fact. And hey, it was no big deal! Oh, and here’s how to fix it. And by the way, here’s  how to do it better next time. You may have heard that “Nurses eat their young.” Well, Karen never got that memo. Karen nurtured her young.

There is little that is more comforting in nursing than knowing that your supervisor has your back.

I did get to meet her in person as well, in 2013. We were part of the Sirona Seedlings at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. I was new to the company and didn’t know a lot of people yet. My daughter came with me, and we walked the track for a while, and we lit votives to honor my parents who had both died from cancer. My mother had the same cancer that Karen endured. Anyway, I was humbled by the grace of this woman who, just a short time after the event, sent out a heartfelt email message to thank each of us for coming, by name, and she included what it was that each of us had done to participate.

I still have this message. I still have my Sirona Seedlings T-shirt. And I still have Karen in my heart.

Farewell, Karen. Like so many, many others, I am better for having known you.

Birthday Week CakeWalk (BWCW) Day 5

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, celebrations, friends

Day 5! Today’s cake had to be great to make up for yesterday’s fail. I went to Mike’s Clamshack Fish Market. My friend Barney said, “It’s that time again already?!”

I bought cakes here for last year’s cakewalk too.


Anyway, I got the Lemon Blueberry Cake with Lemon Buttercream made by Something Different. This is a tried and true cake. No indecision or angst here.

I am further celebrating by eating it at the ocean! Sublime. This cake surely is a ‘pass’ on the pass/fail scale, and then some.
I am taking a chance and posting third from my phone, so apologies if it’s not looking right. I’ll check it on the computer later.
Onward!

The BRAVE Interview #8 March 2017: Jennifer Greiner

by Karen, posted in friends, Interviews, local fun, Metaphysical healing, The BRAVE Interviews

Here is #8 in The BRAVE Interview series! It’s the Who, What, When, Where, How, (and sometimes Why) of YOUR ‘one brave thing’! December’s interview is with Jennifer Greiner. 🙂

jen-greinerWHO are you? I am Jennifer Greiner, a strong, individual woman who knows what she wants and works hard to get it.  I am passionate, caring and considerate.  I am professionally a therapist but also an essential oil and hula hooping enthusiast! Part of my identity has become being a significant other to a first year Med Student.

WHAT is your One Brave Thing (so far!!)? My One Brave Thing was starting my essential oil business, Green Thinking.  It is something I have never done, nor have ever particularly wanted to do.  It was very scary for me to jump into selling products to others that I, myself, love.  Not only did I just start Green Thinking, I was also adjusting to a big transition: moving to a new state and vicariously beginning medical school.  Thank goodness I was brave enough to launch into this wonderful endeavor as it helped keep me busy, adjust and gain a wonderful new community!

WHEN did you do it? I officially started Green Thinking at the Saco River Market on October 29th, 2016.

WHERE did it occur?  The Saco River Market had just changed locations from Saco Island to a church in Biddeford, ME.  It was an adjustment for the whole Market and was crushing after that first market day, to learn that we would be moving to another new place, 40 Main St., Biddeford.  I could easily empathize with other vendors as it was normal for me to move around and wait a while to get used to a place.  I have been able to easily settle into our new space, as I believe, so has the rest of the market.


HOW did you make it happen?   Pretty easily, looking back on the year.  I had been making my own products for myself for months.  I had tested them out and shared with friends.  When I learned of the Saco River Market, I went down there to speak with them about becoming a vendor.  I printed out the application, sent it in and discussed that I would start at the end of October.  Then it was the scramble to get products made, labels on and purchase a table!  I was able to make it all happen and be ready for that first market.


WHY did you do it? One of my many passions is essential oils.  I want to share them with everyone and teach how you can incorporate them into your lifestyle, to help elevate your life and live naturally, chemical free.  I’ve always admired market vendors and was eager for the opportunity to become one myself.  I consider myself a people-person and looked forward to talking with and meeting new people to immerse myself in my new community.  I am so happy to have persevered through my One Brave Thing to feel successful and accomplished!

If you’d like to read the other interviews in the series, click here for the list: https://kwrites.com/?s=the+BRAVE+interview

If you’d like to be interviewed for this series about your own ‘one brave thing’, email me at kmcwrites@gmail.com.

 

Taping an interview for TV

by Karen, posted in author, books, Brave books, Fashion Sense, friends, Interviews, no fear, writing

It was my great pleasure and good fortune to be invited to be on Write Now with Gayle Heney.  I met Gayle at the New England writenow3Authors Expo last summer. After the taping date was confirmed, a helpful email arrived with instructions for how to get there, what to wear, where to park…

But back to that ‘what to wear’ part. The part where it mentioned to avoid wearing black because that was the color of the backdrop of the set. Oh, and a collar or a lapel of some sort would be good so there is a place to clip the microphone.

If you want to discover really quickly how much you think “Black! I’ll wear black!” when you are in a dress -up situation, be advised not to wear that color.

I realized pretty quickly that I was, you know, in big trouble. Plus, collars? Lapels? I was bereft of them.

I tortured my friend Sheila with photos of dress and sweater combinations. Right up until a half hour before I left for the studio this morning. In the end, it wasn’t about the clothes at all, because it was about the BOOK. I was getting to talk on TV with a skilled interviewer who had read my book, about my book.

How great is that?

My episode should air in April or May. I will post the link when it’s ready! YAY!

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The power of one

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, author, book reviews, books, family, friends, Holidays, local fun, writing

I have been giving a lot of talks at local libraries. For my most recent one, I personally invited and Facebook invited a lot of people.

yorklibraryphoto2

A lot.

Plus, it was a full moon in Gemini (my sign)! At 7:05pm! And my talk started at 7:00PM!

I know this is a busy time of year for us all, but I was expecting at least 10 people or so.

When it 6:59pm and still no one had come, I began to consider that maybe I had saturated my geographic location.

If no one came (as I have heard sometimes happens, but thankfully had never happened to me), my Plan B was to have my husband make a video of me reading so I could post it on my YouTube Channel (still evolving–don’t judge it). At least this would be time well spent, right?

What I learned: Don’t accept a time slot that starts when the library is CLOSED. Duh. I’m not sure why they even did that… oh, wait. Yes, I do. I took the slot because I was hoping to sell a lot of books before Christmas, and this was the only December slot they had. They had one slot available in January, but I thought people might not come out in the cold when they weren’t possibly out already, shopping for the holidays (books make great gifts!). Note: the temperature was in the 20’s last night.

And then, at 7:05pm, one person came into the room.

My audience had arrived. She probably didn’t really feel like going out, but she wanted to support a fellow writer/author, and guess what?

SHE DID.

Thank you again, Katherine. ❤

For some reason, this song was in my head on my way home from the event, so I am including it here for your listening pleasure:

The BRAVE Interview #5 December 2016: Jeanne Emerson

by Karen, posted in Adult children, Angels, family, friends, Interviews, The BRAVE Interviews

Here is #5 in The BRAVE Interview series! It’s the Who, What, When, Where, How,  (and sometimes Why) of YOUR ‘one brave thing’! December’s interview is with Jeanne Emerson!

jeanne-emersonWho: Hi. My name is Jeanne Emerson.  I’m a grandma, gardener, artist, yogi, retired social worker and grieving mother.  I’m fortunate to live in a peaceful and cozy home in southern Maine…it is my sanctuary.  I am calm here, reflective, often tearful and recently, joyful…again.  And, I’m about to celebrate my 65th birthday.  WOW.

What:  I never really thought that I would feel brave about this but I do.  My one brave thing is to allow the feeling of joy back into my life.  My son Scott died three years ago.  He was 35 years old, funny, handsome, loving and very artistic.  His death came as a shock, no preparation…but even if I had been expecting it, it still would have been a shock.  No mother could prepare for this.

When:  The call came at 8:45 on a Tuesday night. (Tuesday has become my least favorite day of the week ever since).

Where:  I was home, the phone rang and the police officer had the nerve to say, “I’m sorry to inform you that your son is dead.”  How could he say something like that about my child??  I hated that officer at that moment.  I couldn’t spare any compassion for him then, no ability to care about how awful that call must have been for him to make.  Compassion could and would come later.

Why:  I’ll never know.  I won’t know why Scott died at such a young age, with so much more to offer, so much more to experience.  (please believe  me, I have driven myself to extreme exhaustion trying to understand).  But here’s what I do understand…healing can happen, life does in fact go on (as much as you may not want it do)…joy can enter again.

How:  This part of the interview is perhaps the easiest to explain.  My joy has come back because of trust.  My husband, Tim, my son Matt, family members and very precious friends believed in me.  They trusted me when I was a wailing mess on the floor, they trusted me when I couldn’t get through a conversation without crying, they trusted me when I couldn’t eat, sleep or get out of my pajamas, they trusted me when I would sit and stare, unable or unwilling to talk.  Somehow they trusted my process, that I just had to go through this my way (albeit dramatic and probably frightening to witness), but trust they did.  AND, miraculously, bit by bit, I started to live again without my son (well, without him in the way I knew him before his death….this is another interview but I KNOW that he is still with me, guiding me, encouraging me in my artistic pursuits, laughing with me and still loving me).  I feel very brave for laughing, running, playing, creating and loving.  This is my most important brave thing….so far.  

Jeanne, thank you so much for your brave, powerful words. ❤

Check out Jeanne’s designs at FOUND in Kennebunk (42 Main St; 207-604-5009) and on her website: emersondesigns.net

Fashion Plate

by Karen, posted in Fashion Sense, friends

So many people have said, “Hey, where’d you get that blouse?” to me lately that I felt compelled, for the first time ever, to discuss my clothing.

Yep. This blog is about my blouse.

northstyle

I first saw this blouse about 4 years ago in an online ad. I loved it! I thought, it would be the perfect thing to wear for Christmas!

I followed the link over NorthStyle to see how much it cost. And that’s where my love story ended. Seriously? Sixty bucks for a blouse?

I didn’t get it.

The following year, the same thing happened. I admired it from afar. I didn’t buy it. I wore my Wal-Mart Santa Sweater for Christmas instead.

Year 3, same old story. Saw it. Wanted it. Talked myself out of it. Wore the Wal-Mart Christmas Tree Sweater for Christmas.

The fourth year, I said, that’s it! I’m buying it! It was December. I followed the link over to discover my blouse in my size was backordered…until frikkin’ February! That wouldn’t do! No Plaid Georgette Blouse for you!
This year, I was ready. The first time I saw that sucker pop up on an online ad in October, I was decisive! I wasted not one moment! I figured if I wanted this blouse for 4 years, that counted for something, didn’t it? I bought it and I’ve never looked back.

I love it! Everyone else loves it, too! It’s got long-ish sleeves but is lightweight, so when you start feeling the heat, no one can see you sweat! It covers my bum! It really is floaty and swirly! You can throw it in the washing machine and don’t have to iron it! I’ve already worn it more than I’ve worn half of the clothes in my closet, so I am sure I will be wringing every dime of my money’s worth out of it. It’s every bit as awesome as I hoped it would be.

Moral: If you want something for four years, it’s probably okay to buy it.