Category: my one word

My 8th day of my first 100 days of Grace

by Karen, posted in Grace, Meditation, my one word

Days 1-4 were amazing. Days 5-7? The Grace was there, but I had to look harder for it.  I had to look harder, but it was there.

philosophy graceSo…Thank you, God. Today is my 8th day of my first 100 days of Grace.  As I was getting in the shower today, I was saying my affirmation and thinking about what would happen today.

After I got out, the pink bottle that contains my shower gel caught my eye. I originally bought it because, in addition to truly excellent shower gel, it contains the name of my word for 2016:

Amazing Grace. 

I decided to read the label again. Here is part of what it says:

“being a humble person can, and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude.”

Ah. So. Grace can show up in unexpected places.

Amazing.

🙂

Ho no!

by Karen, posted in my one word, yoga

I got some unwelcome news today that my beloved Holy Yoga (HoYo) Saturday morning class is ending. graceMoving to Tuesday evenings. When I am at work.

My first thought was, OH NO!!! Then the Big Sad descended. I paused. I breathed (it was yoga class, after all). I could still enjoy this class, today. I could still Be Here Now.

I did my best.

My next thought was this: now there is room for something else to come in. I wonder what it will be?

There are some parting gifts.  A new song that I am listening to now by an artist, with whom I was unfamiliar but with whom now I am virtual BFF’s-JJ Heller. See her Christmas song here-I know! It’s late! But better late than never.

But the biggest gift is this: as I am standing here in my kitchen, consoling myself with a Nonni’s Biscotti and Spicy Eggnog coffee, I checked out the annvoscamp.com website and as I was scrolling around, I saw this quote:

* Grow Brave. Grow in Grace*

Grow Brave. Grow in Grace.

Which is basically the same thing.

This was on it! Brave was my 2015 word! Grace is my 2016 word!

Amazing. Grace.

 

 

Connection

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, friends, Holidays, Karen's Kitchen, my one word

I was just watching Valerie Bertinelli’s new cooking show on the Food Network. It turns out that Karen’s Kitchen isn’t so different from Valeries’s Kitchen. She lasagnawas making a buffet for a Christmas gathering and it consisted of lasagna, salad, and a favorite Italian cookie from childhood.

I realized as I watched that one of my own favorite Italian dinners is the same. The lasagna recipe I remember from my own family dinners of yore, salad, and a different cookie, but still a favorite Italian cookie that I grew up with (I am not surprised that both of our dessert recipes include chocolate… 🙂 ).

Of course there are some differences, the biggest of which is this: Valerie has both of her parents with her. Mine have long since departed.

At the end of the show, I was surprised to hear them talking about choosing a word for next year! Their words were much different from mine (Hello, ‘Butter’? ‘Bacon’? How did I not think of using a food as my one word? Ha!).

Lesson: we really are all connected, aren’t we? We can be connected to people that we have never met by our food and our (Italian) heritage, as in this case, but there are many other ways that we can find connection in our everyday lives.

 

 

My one word, 2016 preview

by Karen, posted in friends, my one word, The write words at the write time, writing

January is coming fast. The past several years I have participated in the My One Word project. In a  nutshell, you choose breathea word that ‘will inspire you all year long’. It’s sort of like making New Year’s Resolutions, but simpler. And harder.

It’s not too early to start thinking about your word. You may already know what it is! A word may have sprung to mind the moment you read the phrase. If so, great. Go with it. Trust your gut. Otherwise, you can start paying attention. A word may present itself to you over and over, and then you will know. Yes. Yes, that’s my one word.

This year, my one word is Brave. I have to say that I have pushed myself to try things and go places that I never would have if I wasn’t being brave. Looking back, I am truly amazed! And there are still more than two months left to 2015!

You can keep your one word private, or you can tell some friends. I will say that having told my friend Sheila this year, she reminded me (when I needed to be reminded-you know, whenever I was trying to talk myself out of doing that hard thing? She reminded me I was Being Brave this year, so I had to do it).

If you choose a popular word, like BREATHE (this is NOT going to be my word for 2016; just an example!), you can find plenty of things to keep around you to remind you after January comes and goes that you are doing this.

Need some help choosing your word? Go to pick your word.

Trying something new

by Karen, posted in Angels, fitness, my one word, yoga

I have not been practicing yoga much these past few weeks, since my yoga teacher (you know who llamasyou are!) moved to NC . I drove the road to North Berwick to get to yoga, about a half hour away, over and over and over, and was happy to do it.

I wasn’t familiar with that area at all when I first started going, but I got to know it well enough. It was a nice ride. I got to meet some wonderful women that I might not have met otherwise. I went to shops that I liked on the way home sometimes. It also gave me the opportunity to listen to my audiobook of the moment, which was a nice bonus. (Oh, did I mention I passed a Dunkin Donuts on my way…? I always invite coffee to my yoga practice :).)

Change is hard.

Anyway, I decided to try a new yoga class, and (since I was out of my comfort zone already) a new yoga (to me) entirely: Holy Yoga. My class is in Sanford, and is taught by Susan Hampton (find her website here: soulfulstretch.com).

I was the first to arrive (hello? I am a first-born) and as I was waiting, I started reading the notices on the bulletin board.

It’s important to note here that I am always looking for clues to know that I am in the right place and doing the right thing.

This is what I saw on the board:

  1. Llamas. I LOVE llamas. My husband and I have a collection of about a million (conservative estimate) of them, all different sizes, shapes, colors with one noteable exception: living. None of them are living.
  2. Another posting said something about Brave Girls and my one word this year is BRAVE!
  3. There was a posting about a Drumming Circle and not too long ago someone suggested that I try drumming.

Do you think those are enough clues?? Plus, Susan is a fabulous teacher: welcoming, funny, and caring. All of the other women were lovely. It was a pleasure to be in this class.

 

To boldly go, part one

by Karen, posted in Adult children, family, my one word, teens, Travel

disney blog 1My daughter has been asking to go to Disney since she was about 9 years old. I would always listen to her ask, nod, smile, and say that tried and true line that I’d borrowed from my own mother: “We’ll see.” I got away with that for, oh, 5 years or so. Five years during which she watched many of her friends go to Disney. Five  years during which she watched her older brother go to Disney (in fairness, I never took him either-he was an adult and paid his own way when he went). Five years during which she got older and smarter and my “We’ll see” was starting to fall a little flat, even to my own ears.

A few years ago, she changed her tack; instead of asking to go, she started asking to go for her sixteenth birthday. That changed the game completely. That was a line in the sand. “We’ll see” is timeless, fluid, eternal. “By my sixteenth birthday” was a finish line. I stopped saying, “We’ll see” to my daughter and started thinking, “What if…?” to myself.

Since my one word this year is ‘brave’, the ‘what if’s’ have become more insistent. So what if I haven’t been on a plane in, oh, 25 years or so? So what if my vacation hours at work are precious and few? My daughter will only turn sixteen once. So what if park passes cost more than the airfare? So what if we live far away from an airport with a direct flight to where we are going? So what if the idea of getting us there and back is, um, terrifying?

We’re going.

Reiki, baby

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, Meditation, my one word, no fear, Reiki, SoulCollage

crystals and rocksI have just completed my Reiki II class and I loved it! Chris Ann from Wells was my teacher. Truly, there is nothing like spending a day with like-minded individuals to make the time fly by. At no point did I even feel the urge to see what time it was. I didn’t even think about eating lunch until Chris mentioned that it was about 12:30 and asked when did we want to eat. Please note: I never am not thinking about food! Except when I am fully absorbed in what I am doing. Like when I am spending time with family or friends, or working on my SoulCollage cards, or reading, or writing…now I can add practicing Reiki to the list.

What I didn’t expect was that the class would incorporate so many of my favorite things!

 

  1. I am a member of the ‘First do no harm’ branch of health care (yes, we are a small group…small but growing), and Reiki is perfectly aligned with my philosophy.
  2. We can use crystals in Reiki healing (I. Love. Rocks.) I am a collector of rocks and crystals. They are all over my house. In the pockets of most of my clothing. On nearly every window sill. Scattered on my desk. Edging my bookcase. I have a heart rock garden. No plants…just heart shaped rocks. 🙂
  3. Meditation is part of the process. Mediation is my new BFF.
  4. Did I mention being with like-minded individuals is awesome?
  5. Aromatherapy can be incorporated into Reiki healing sessions. I have studied and used Aromatherapy for more than twenty years. Lavender, Tea Tree, and Peppermint are part of my daily life. A bottle of Lavender Essential Oil shares the windowsill (with the rocks) in my kitchen (you know, near the stove?) and is my go-to remedy for burns. Okay, so I have two bottles in the kitchen. Better safe than sorry.

Those are just some of the great bonuses I received along with my attunement Sunday. The biggest bonus, however, is this: I am stepping out of my comfort zone this year. I am being brave and taking chances. I am remembering “My One Word” this year for more than just the first month.
🙂

 

A welcoming place

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, my one word, teens

Bean Tree WestbrookI had the great pleasure of attending the Bean Tree Open House today with my daughter, Izzy. Their Facebook page describes Bean Tree as “a studio for creativity and growth”.

Sign me up for that.

When we entered the house through (after much discussion) the middle of three doors, we found ourselves in bright, cheerful kitchen. Nancy Carroll introduced herself and offered us the option of having some tea or to poke around the studio a bit first. We decided to poke.

Everywhere we looked there was something beautiful to see: a silver angel on a key ring, colorful mosaics hanging on the walls, lovely pottery pieces of all kinds. The energy in the rooms was warm and inviting. The pottery studio is on the left side of the house, and the collage studio is on the right. The kitchen is a central area where the aforementioned tea was brewing, and (nice surprise!) some plates of small baked goods were available: cookies and sweet rolls and scones, oh my! 🙂

bean tree como collageThe collage room drew me because I am interested in one of the upcoming Intro to SoulCollage (registered trademark keyboard symbol…where are you?) workshops Nancy has planned. There were tables of images available and a poster board on an easel so that today’s guests could contribute to a community collage for the Open House. Izzy and I took our time choosing our images. I found one that shrieked ‘brave!’ at me and after taking Nancy’s advice to trim it a bit, made my contribution. You can see it there on the left. Guess which images were from Izzy!

 

And then I ate a cookie (note to self: ask for the recipe-so good!).

Was that wrong?

There is another class mentioned on the website that I am interested in finding out more about: The Power of Home: An Art Journal Workshop. Yay! So much to look forward to!

What about you? How are you staying creative these days? Add your comment below.

Also, please consider helping me achieve my goal of reaching 1000 followers by clicking on the ‘sign me up!” button on the upper right corner of my blog. If you are already a follower, thank you so much! Here is a virtual cookie to show my appreciation!

cookie

 

New kid in town

by Karen, posted in Angels, local fun, my one word

abionesMaybe you, like me, have wondered about the new signage in front of a house on Rt 1 in Wells, the one that says The LoveLight Center.

What’s up with that?

I saw a flag waving “OPEN” at me yesterday so I took a chance (remember, I’m brave in 2015!) and ran in. I met the most lovely woman, Emily Karparis, who mentioned that the interior is still evolving, but then she took some time to introduce me to the space and invited me to come again.

Which I did. Today.

🙂

I have so many good things to say about The LoveLight Center! The little shop inside, Abionesa, has so many of my favorite things on display! Every one of women that I met who work there are so welcoming! The playing of the crystal harp for which I was lucky enough to be present was very powerful!

In this post, I’m going to tell you about the Angel Room. For ten bucks, you can sit in the Angel Room for (up to) fifteen minutes. And do what? Think. Meditate. Pray. Listen. Ignore the pleading bleats of your cell phone. Appreciate the beautiful blue color of the walls. Contemplate the enormous crystal (like, ‘as big as your head’) on the table in the center of the room. Watch the vortex of swirling snow outside the window.

I did all of these things.

It was worth every cent.

Before you enter the room, you can pick up a typed affirmation from the basket, or choose a stone to hold, or just ‘come as you are’. I chose the affirmation-if the universe had something to say to me, I wanted to hear it.

Here’s what it said:

IMG_1057

 

 

 

 

Done.

There are pictures of the Angel Room on their Facebook page. Check it out. Oh, and stop by and say, Hi!

 

My one word 2015

by Karen, posted in movies, my one word, NaNoWriMo2014, no fear, quest for the best, The write words at the write time, writing

IMG_0743I have written about My One Word (MOW) in the past. The premise is this: you pick just one word to inspire you all year long.

If you are a writer, the appeal of only writing ONE WORD in a writing session is seductive.

It is, however, also deceiving. It’s harder to choose just one word to write down than you might think. There’s actually an entire website devoted to this topic, with a section devoted to just choosing your word.

When you can only choose one, you want it to be the best word ever.

The contenders this year for me are, in no particular order:

Write Meditate Breathe Focus Declutter

I thought I had a good list from which to choose when I made the mistake of visiting the MOW website’s ‘Pick your word’ section and another word, a bright and shiny new and different word, popped out at me: BRAVE. This word, this BRAVE word, showed me that I had unconsciously been thinking that MOW must be a verb. Every word that I thought of was a verb.

But Brave? Brave can be an adjective or a verb! Or even a noun! And Brave is a big, important word. There’s an entire Disney Movie about that word! I have written other blog posts that contain that word!

Oh, I just thought of yet another (verb) word:  Decide.

I think maybe I just did. 🙂

What do you think about choosing One Word versus making New Year’s Resolutions?
What would YOW (Your One Word) be?

If you are BRAVE, please comment below with your choice!