Turn Your Troubles into Blessings
May 20, 2016
We have one day in Big Bend National Park. Color adorns the mountains and the badlands. What if I paint the Nonsenses colors suggested by the landscape?
The emotional landscape also provides space for dancing as well. I’m uneasy with John’s style of exploring in constant motion. I prefer making fewer stops for a longer, reflective experience. I realize that I’m playing out an old story of being alone, being separate, needing to ignore my own needs to accommodate his.
May 17, 2016
Nonsenses Immersion is fun and enlivening for me as the liquid paint colors flow and blend on paper. Traveling in a car, however, motivates me to adapt the exercise with a more portable medium – colored pencils!
May 9, 2016
Today’s Nonsenses Immersion started with words. I was inspired to write words that expressed each of the Nonsenses on the blank paper, anticipating their respective colors. The words informed, energized, and balanced each of the colors as the dance unfolded. What surprised me was the appearance of that form! It was first a vague form, then seemed to need refinement – and feet! Feet are important for standing on the ground, on the Earth! This immersion speaks especially to me today about an invitation to express in words. That’s perfect for my focus on getting out an email to my list on May 10th! That’s the date that I’ve chosen to begin my 62 Days of preparation and community-building for HeartSinging Walk! It’s time for words!
Here’s what I’m taking into my NonSenses Immersion today: I embrace all my life’s experiences with confidence and joy. Where did that come from? Louise Hay’s list of affirmations. My arm has been hurting for a while and her view suggests that’d a sign of resistance to receiving. Interesting!
Another suggestion that receptivity may be a challenge for me was my reaction to watching Milana Leshinski’s invitation to join her Joint Venture Insider’s Circle. “It wouldn’t work for ME! I’m too different. My idea doesn’t fit.”
My PACK brain, that is! In my constant effort to lighten my pack and still have what I need I took out a few items in Monson, Maine. It’s been a week without them and all is well! I sent away my pack brain, knitted scarf, extra pack liner bag and didn’t miss them.
At Caratunk, I took one more step and ordered a lighter sleeping bag. What’s more, I wore my short sleeved shirt instead of my long, hot shirt. I could even wear the short one at night, so maybe don’t need a second shirt! I sent the extra shirt away from Stratton, Maine.
Lightening my pack gets done one piece of gear at a time! Trying a few days without things. Taking chances. Trusting.
What a lovely walk John and I had for 6 days in the snowy mountains of Pennsylvania! Enjoy this 5-minute slide show featuring Barbara Hotz singing “Wild Wind” and a few words of explanation from me! Highlights of this walk included:
The journey that I’m on now has a name – Journey to the HeartLand – for its significance in my life. I thought that this one would be different than other trail walks I have done. Wouldn’t an off-trail journey be different than a month on the Benton MacKaye Trail or on the Appalachian Trail?
What I’m discovering is that this journey has the same essentials for success as a walk on a physical trail.
During our first week, we’ve been looking at our “Stories”. Stories are those emotion-laden, repeating patterns that seem to happen over and over again in our lives. They usually have a consistent disempowering “story line”. In addition, our biggest Stories are ones we have been playing out unconsciously – until now! Now, we’re awake to their insidious repetition and we’re tired of their presence. We want to get rid of them, but don’t know how!!!
That’s what Journey to YOUR HeartLand is all about! We’re taking a loving and safe look at these stories and walking step-by-step into a New Story of vibrance, creativity, and fulfillment.
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?
After a full week of walking along the Miami-Erie Canal Towpath, along country roads, and through small towns in rural Ohio along the Buckeye Trail, I’m convinced that walking is my calling.
Meeting people used to be scary for me, but now that I am living my own favorite expression, meeting people is a delightful stream of magical encounters. This week, my hiking partner, John, and I have met over a dozen generous people just by doing our walk!
Here are the stories of a few of them:
Minnie walks for exercise regularly in St. John the Evangelist Church in Delphos, OH. “I walk for 30 minutes a few times a week. While I walk I say my rosary. If I get finished with one rosary, I just start over and say another one. “
Reframe The Story: A New Chapter
My Dad the Healing Angel
Today is the start of my new way of being with my dad.
Here’s the old story:
I’m 24. I’m the program director at Woodland Altars Outdoor Education Center. I love my job! Every day I walk the trails. I’m connecting children and teachers with nature, helping them experience Nature as a nourishing and vibrant sensory exploration. I’m recruiting a record number of schools, welcoming teachers and chaperones, and training my own staff of teacher-naturalists. I love my job!