Author: Regina Reiter

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Healing Dance with a Piano

Healing Dance with a Piano

I’m sitting at a piano feeling anxious, immobilized, indecisive and deeply sad. Why? What could a piano  be doing that has me stopped in my tracks? Haven’t I been writing about how wonderful it is to be out hiking, even in deep snow at low temperatures.  Haven’t I been making presentations about what I’m willing to do to be in the presence of overwhelming beauty?  Didn’t I declare 10 months ago today that I was now a nomad?

It’s just a piano! I don’t have a house, I can’t have a piano, right? Well, that’s just it! This isn’t just any old piano, it’s the piano that I bought 30 years ago to lighten my heart. It’s where sang songs with my children.  It’s the instrument that freed my inner musician while I mastered the first two books in the Suzuki School. It bonded me with my son as he blossomed as a cellist, giving voice to the duets we played together. It was an instrument of healing in the community Shepherd’s Play that softened my heart to forgiving the Waldorf Community for dashing my dream of taking a class through their 8-year schooling journey. read more

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“Everyday Miracles” wins!

I won a contest!!
Colin Tipping, author of Radical Forgiveness, Making Room for the Miracle, posted on my Facebook timeline that he had chosen my suggestion for the subtitle of his new book, 25 Practical Uses for Radical Forgiveness.

“Everyday Miracles”, I had submitted. Why? Because using the simple tools of Radical Forgiveness gets results! When I use them, things shift so wonderfully in my life that it seems like miracles!

And the more I use Radical Forgiveness in the small, everyday upsets- fear in my business, disagreement with my partner, separation from others, feelings of unworthiness in my family, judgment of government and social leaders – the easier it gets to experience peace, creativity, and connection. read more

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The Real Work

The Real Work — Wendell Berry

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

~ Wendell Berry ~
(Collected Poems)

The impeded stream is the one that sings

My friend, Barbara Hotz, another master of words and rhythms in my life, sent me this poem on the day my hiking partner of 5 years announced that he was going solo for a time. It wasn’t so much that I was surprised with the news, just the timing. Are we ever ready for those changes we intuit or have even secretly wished for? Even though our relationship had been strained with lack of common, heartfelt purpose for the past month, we had kept willing ourselves to be together. He was the brave one to take the bold step of leaving. read more

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Shirley Valentine

Burdened by the weight of Unused LifeI had the delight to see my future daughter-in-law, Teralyn Tanner, perform beautifully as “Shirley Valentine”, in this one-woman play by Willy Russell. The play was surprisingly similar to my own Life!

Trapped in her middle class housewife life, Shirley breaks free, realizing that “There’s so much Unused Life!” She laments that people get bogged down, and live as dead after middle age, “All weighted down by the burden of their Unused Life!” What a poignant metaphor.  It’s not that we’re just empty and lifeless if we don’t manifest our dreams, saddened and unmotivated by the fear of going after what we really want, relinquishing our dreams for the safety and comfort of resignation. No, Shirley observes, we are actually weighted down by the Unused Life.  I just love that metaphor – Unused Life! read more

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Pete Seeger Heartsinging

http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WDTh5mb4

My sister sent me the announcement of Pete Seeger’s passing. You know, he’s one of those pure souls who will live forever because he was willing to get out there and share. I don’t know if Pete Seeger was scared to get out there, but he sure made a bright spot in the world with his songs. He made some pretty bold political statements too, got in trouble for it, and kept singing.

He kept singing until he couldn’t sing anymore. And then, he spoke the words and invited his audience to sing them. His songs are so easy to sing that just about anyone can sing them, and this he gave us all a voice! read more

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Posting with Joy

Today, I worked outside all day in cooperation with other people who also love working outside all day. I did not miss working on my computer.
I had the idea to start creating posts that are fun to make. Here’s my first one! It’s a photo of a multi-colored rendition of a favorite tool for turning a trouble into a blessing. Enjoy it!

image

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Winter Walk Complete

Well, we did it! Walked in the mountains of Pennsylvania for six days in snow, with temps down near zero a couple of nights. It’s strange how significant this rather short walk seems, even though I’ve walked so many other long walks in the past six years.

Why is that, I wondered.

Is it because the wintry conditions were challenging and this was a new trail for me?

Is it because walking is my new lifestyle and that perhaps my walking has value not just for myself but for others too?  Is it because now, as I walk, I’m more keenly aware of the transformational qualities of the journey and I’m flooded with the metaphorical  qualities of my walking for other aspects of my life – my general way of being, my business? read more

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Walking Again

I’m going on another walk.

That’s no surprise, right?

You ask, “Where to now, Regina, the Camino de Santiago, or some other long trail for 6 months or something?”

No. It’s a six-day walk – in Pennsylvania.

I’ll be walking the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. It’s 70 miles long and traverses the Laurel Ridge, one of the westernmost ridges of the Appalachian Mountain range.  For a seasoned long distance hiker like me, this is a “short” walk, one that keeps me in shape. I know what gear to take. I don’t have to buy anything new. Choosing food is like shopping for an ordinary week, in fact, I accepted my hiking partner, John’s, offer to do the shopping and love his choices. read more

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Story Power

Great Allegheny Passage

I looked up from my map, wondering “Where IS that trail? I’ve got to get going so I can meet my hiking partner!”  I’ve been doing car support for him as he walks the Great Allegheny Passage Trail in Pennsylvania.

Next thing I knew, he was standing there beside me, already finished for his day’s walk, and wondering where I had been!

“I couldn’t find the trail! Where did it go!” read more

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Can “Bolder” be “Safer”?

It’s 2:00 in the afternoon and my alarm song plays. The clear voice of my friend, Barbara, sings,
Wild Wind calls me to be braver, safer than I’ve ever been before”

At that moment, I understand why I might have needed a daytime nap!

I’ve been stretching outside my comfort zone! Stepping boldly into my dream and my calling, trying new things every day, creating a new life and new friends every day!  Sometimes, like a new baby sleeping a lot because it’s growing a lot, I need to pull in and let the newness get integrated into my body! read more