Finding Ourselves

December 22, 2012December 22, 2012 / still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Unwrapped Christmas gifts are calling, laundry’s going, and a million other things are turning in my head. How about you? It occurred to me quite some time ago that if it weren’t for women, there would be no Christmas, no Thanksgiving, no birthday celebrations, no parties celebrating milestones in someone’s life … we sure do keep it all going. But I digress.

Either life looked simpler when we were growing up or our mothers were masters at hiding the juggling acts we now perform nearly 24/7. I opt for the former. There is always so much going on, so many demands, that one of the first things to get lost is us … ourselves. As regular readers of this blog know, there are always 2 books to the right. A novel, (usually), and below it a book that provides me with some sort of inspiration for the current time in my life. Sometimes we need some enlightenment … some guidance … a little light to show us the way and brighten our tomorrows.

At the top, Paradise by Toni Morrison is an unbelievably fabulous book, but it’s been sitting there for awhile because it’s not the kind of book you can just leave off and pick up – you want to really read it. So until I can devote that time again, Toni will wait until I can give her my full attention. She and Paradise deserve that much. The book below represents the third one I’ve been in and out of, trying to find what speaks to me now.

And the winner is …. Something More by Sarah Ban Breathnach. Her first book, Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy was also a winner, and one I’ve read more than once. What Sarah does is speak to the woman in us who is longing to find herself amid the million things that tug at our sleeves, and even amid a life where we have it quite good in so many ways, a life for which we are truly grateful.

But what’s more? What is it that we never quite have the time for in our lives? Our dreamer … our true self who gets buried or abandoned for so many reasons, the woman with whom we’ve lost touch along the way. Sarah brings us back to that self.

In the beginning section, Our Authentic Lives, she tells us, ” ….How many conversations would I not only have started but finished if I had known I possessed a warrior’s heart? I wish I’d known that I’d been born to take on the world; I wouldn’t have run from it for so long, but run to it with open arms.”

It’s hard to argue with that. So here we all are, amidst the hustle and bustle of the holidays, being stretched in every direction from what’s related to them and what’s not, but we needn’t be lost. We can search out and still find that beautiful woman, (or man), who wants to take on the world in the most meaningful and authentic way. Yes, it does take a wee bit of time each day, however we do it, but aren’t we worth it? Right now, my gentle illumination – my reminder to remember me – is in this book. You may find yours elsewhere, but that wee bit of time is yours for the making and taking.

Just as we have so much more love to give when we genuinely love ourselves, we have that much more to give when we have found our true selves and are living the life we are meant to live. We are given today.

A Moment of Peace

December 12, 2012December 12, 2012 / still a dreamer / 4 Comments

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours…. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.”

~Henry David Thoreau

Farewell to A Book

November 23, 2012November 23, 2012 / still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Putting a book away when it has offered such insight and wisdom can be quite difficult for me. When the author has brought information that is new, or even what we may know, but framed in a completely different way, it is a gift. Especially when we are being reminded throughout of the magnificence of our spirit … who wants to let that go?

In Wishes Fulfilled by Wayne Dyer, I found a reframing of things I have been learning in a different and practical way … simple tools to practice regularly to help me change some of my thinking that would result in my being happier, lighter in the world and more able to manifest my dreams. His referencing some of the renowned spiritual teachers who have walked the planet, some of whom still do, has brought home the universality of direction we all could take if we open our hearts and minds.

As with so many things, incorporating his suggestions into everyday life is something to not just keep in mind, but practice. It’s a way of changing our concepts of ourselves and all for the better. If you are seeking to manifest your dreams, which may be as basic as having improved health, you might enjoy Wishes Fulfilled, available through Hay House, its publisher, or Amazon. (The price is the same at either location, and at Hay House you will support a smaller company dedicated to growth of all kinds.)

So Dr. Dyer will go in a particular bookcase in my home and join other books that have offered their wisdom to me. On the final page of Wishes Fulfilled, he summarizes the concepts he’s shared, and then quotes the following from Rumi, the 13th Century Persian poet, which is a great reflection of this book’s direction:

You were born with potential.
You were born with goodness and trust.
You were born with ideals and dreams.
You were born with greatness.
You were born with wings.
You are not meant for crawling, so don’t.
You have wings.
Learn to use them and fly.
– Rumi

Shop Small on Small Business Saturday

November 20, 2012 / still a dreamer / 2 Comments

It’s that time – to support and celebrate the many small businesses that make our country great. Yup – this Saturday, November 24, is Small Business Saturday and you may still have time to sign up!

American Express founded this day to promote small businesses, and if you have an AmEx card, and spend $25 on your card at a participating small business – and believe me, this is growing! – they will credit the card you use with $25.00! Can’t beat that, can you? Check it out here and don’t wait – there are a limited number of registrations, and they just opened on the 18th. Want to go straight to the enrollment page? Here it is.

Small Business Saturday is the sane person’s alternative to Black Friday with its crushing crowds and bargain driven mentality. The big box stores are now opening on Thanksgiving – yes, on Thanksgiving!! – to get your business. Really? UGH! Getting your Christmas and holiday shopping started is a great idea, but it shouldn’t have to be a fight to the finish and/or on a treasured holiday that celebrates family and friends.

So check out online which shops in your area will be participating, help them thrive in this economy, and earn $25.00 back from American Express. Everybody wins. Extra bonuses – you get to reconnect with your neighbors, enjoy human scale shopping, peruse goods and services that are often tailored to your own area’s preferences, and find cool stuff that isn’t repeated a thousand times over in big box stores all over the country.

Happy Small Shopping!

Baby Loves Black

November 15, 2012 / still a dreamer / 4 Comments

I wouldn’t say my Mom was a fashionista. She wouldn’t have said it either, even if that word had existed back then. She was a conservative dresser in the time I knew her, that is, growing up my whole life. When I was a child, she wore simple clothes for the most part – straight skirts, (now known as pencil skirts), quasi-fitted short sleeve sweaters or printed or solid blouses, shorts in the summer. I remember her in wedgies in the warmer weather and medium high heels the rest of the time. Always on the simple side. In her daily dress, my Mom was not an adventurous soul.

And then … she had her evening/party clothes. An entirely different woman appeared. My Mom had the most fabulous skirts, tops and dresses for when she went out, and they were almost exclusively black. She wore black taffeta flared skirts, black silk tops and she had a gorgeous pair of black (real) velvet pumps. She positively glowed. To this day I can vividly remember one of her shirts … it was black crepe with cap sleeves, solid in the back, and in the front, there were chevron stripes of sequins, about 1/2″ apart, in alternating pale colors – gold, silver, aqua, pale rose and green. Even as a child, I wanted that shirt.

I believe those fabulous evening clothes – and possibly how happy and confident my Mom seemed in them – inspired my own love of black clothing. I’m typing this blog in a favorite combination – black jeans and a black sweatshirt over a black long-sleeved polo-type shirt. Garnet earrings are the only color at the moment, but then … I’m home. I love wearing black and honestly, I could wear it all the time, but it somehow seems a good idea to vary my wardrobe colors. Still, it’s a lifelong attraction.

Pan back in time when I was 6 or 7 years old. In school we were given these horizontal booklets each year; we filled them out with photos of ourselves, “My Best Friend”, “My Pet” and some of our favorite things. I may still have that book; my Mom saved a lot of our school stuff. On one of the pages, they asked you to fill in your favorite color. Undoubtedly inspired by my Mom’s fabulous evening clothes, I happily wrote “black.”

And that’s when they called home.