Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Answer Is There


    It's hard to find, that small pink flower, that bright spot amidst all the tangles of tall grass and taller trees, all grown together in a maze of bramble.

     When you're tearing your hair out, or at the bottom of your heart with nothing to draw on, or when you've gone around the same U-Turn 16 times, literally or figuratively, or when your heart is broken, plans gone astray, or when the unimaginable happens.  When you are so far down/in/enmeshed.  When you barely see the road in front of you.

    At those moments, with our heads down, we sometimes say, "Everything happens for a reason," and sort of half heartedly hope that it will be revealed down the road.  We assure ourselves by reminding ourselves of the master plan or the grand scheme of things, convincing ourselves that the suffering is for a purpose and therefore, we can bear it.

     Tonight, I was driving around in circles with 42 kinds of technology failing me, dying to get home to my baby, way behind schedule, tired, hungry - not a big deal, just one of those human condition times but an aggravating one.  I felt old destructive behavior arise.  I felt ragingly angry, my Little Me/Ego just rarin' to go.  Blaming the world, yelling at my GPS (we do actually need to have a talk because that was ridiculously poor performance), becoming angry at other drivers...   Old patterns of feelings and thoughts.
 
    Then the Observer in me, the river of consciousness that is more and more available as the days go on, kindly stepped in and opened a tiny crack of awareness in me.  Through the crack, I was able to peer into the silly tiny mess I'd gotten myself into and take a half a conscious breath.  A word floated to the surface: "Why?"

   And the answer for my silly little situation arose to meet me.

    What would happen if we conjectured more often, in the midst of madness?

Monday, January 30, 2012

Biting, spitting, and hitting


     Don't some things just bring out the Demon Mom in you?  Personally, she can tantrum on the floor of CVS over some hideous unicorn Pillow Pet and I do a-ok, unruffled, picture of serenity.  She can spill oatmeal all over the front of my shirt on the way out to work and I can just sail through the whole part about ironing another shirt and being late for work and school without so much as a hitch or a hiccup.  Even the throwing-food-on-the-floor-when-there-are-starving-kids phase didn't phase me.  Neither did hitting once I figured out a little plan and stuck to it.  I was all, "Oh, this is a natural part of testing boundaries and development, it'll pass".

     Then comes spitting.  Holy Demon Mother.  The child is spitting.  In. My. Face.  On. Purpose.  

     And laughing.

    Nuh-nuh-no.  That sweet little yellow-clad nature child up there, spitting in my face and laughing?  It cannot be.  It doesn't fit into my picture of her, all ringlets and sunlight and sweetness and snuggles.  All tree hugging and co-sleeping and Mommy-is-my-idol.  Spitting? We don't spit on our idols!  Am I falling off the pedastal?  Am I losing rank?  Am I sucking at raising her?  

     Rationally, I am sure I'm doing a fine job.  She's a lovely child.  At 10:30pm at a grownup party when other 2 year olds are having completely reasonable meltdowns, Miss Bink is just sighing on my shoulder as we wrap her up to go home.  "I just want to dance," she breathes.  That's our meltdown.  Amazing.

     What is it about spitting (or fill in the blank with your own behavior of maddening choice) that completely, utterly unravels all the serenity parenting I've developed?  I go straight into crazy mode.  Is it because it's willful?  Because it's germy?  Because I'm afraid she'll spit on another kid at daycare if I don't nip it in its horribly spraying saliva bud?  

     Parents, teachers, people who know a kid... what unravels you and takes you from 0-60 straight out of the I'm-okay-you're-okay parenting zone?  Why?  How do you tackle those moments where a few conscious breaths are out of the question?

     I've been working on a  couple of solutions:
     
     1) Come up with a plan as soon as you cue into one of the things that turns you into the tazmanian devil.  A plan helps you stay calm.  A plan takes the reactionary component out of the picture. 

     2) Just walk away.  At least then my inner manic mama doesn't eat her young.  

     3) Plan a replacement behavior and expect it.  It's part of the plan thing.  Having a replacement behavior you can request - "Give hugs, not hits" or "Make fishy face, not spitty face"gives an alternative for them to learn, and gives you a minute to make silly out of serious.

     4)    Give your perspective.  It's totally fair to tell them how it makes you feel.  "Spitting hurts my feelings/feels icky/makes me mad" gives your child a chance to make it right.  

     5) Wig out an apologize later.

     6) Finally, remember that discipline means "to teach," and in such a framework, our job is to help children navigate these developmental, emotional phases safely.  

     Next time Demon Mom pops out, I'll try to snag a picture.  
     

Saturday, January 28, 2012

LOVING SHUT OFF SUNDAY....





Shut off Sunday... Enjoy!

Serenity Parenting


     .....And then they're gone.  All the agonizing! Cry it out or rock to sleep?  Baby sling or too much coddling?  Juice or no juice? Time out for hitting or talk about our feelings?  TV or no TV?  Co-sleeping or to each her own crib?  The list of parenting choices and their infinite varieties goes on... and on... and on...

    Beyond the list of parenting possibilities are the Advocates.  You have to let them cry it out or you're creating a life long insomniac.  If you don't nurse, you're ruining your child's changes of good health and secure relationship with you.  If you let them sleep in your bed, they'll be there until they're 48 years old.  I'm finding as I navigate the minefield of parenting possibilities that the possibilities are polarizing.  

     I'm wondering how I know that rocking my child to sleep is the right choice for every child, or every family.  I'm wondering how that mama knows that cry it out is right for my child and my family.  In fact, I'm wondering how I'll even know if rocking my child to sleep is right for my figurative second child, even if it was right for the first one.

     Serenity parenting, folks.  I haven't looked it up, but it's the phrase that floats to mind when I hear parents ripping each other to shreds over one another's choices.  Within limits of humane treatment, the rightt parenting choices feel right.  They feel right to you, your partner, and your child.  They do not cause you additional stress.  They give you a sense of inner calm, they give you what you need and what your child needs.  

     Let's do this - a serenity parenting village.  A village that says, "That choice sounds just right for you! How did you do it?" and "I love that idea, I'll add to my tips and tricks when we get to that bridge".  How about a village of parents supporting one another's unique lives and environments, offering love and guidance drawn from the pages of all our parenting dogma books?

Serenity parenting.  Parenting that feels right to adults and children.  

Friday, January 27, 2012

End-Of-Week-Encouragement

"If we do not want to change and develop, then we might as well remain in a deathlike sleep." 
-Bruno Bettelheim

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived.” - Henry David Thoreau



   

    Next thing that happens to that plant up there?  IT EXPLODES.  I mean, it doesn't just shyly unfurl like a fern, and it doesn't seductively open its sweet bud to gradually reveal a full bloomed and fragrant rose... it just EXPLODES into a hundred thousand lilac-purple flowers, like magnificent purple suns on earth.  Like, WA-POW, in-your-face, I ain't got time for messing around, I-AM-HERE explosion of Being.

     Once upon a time, I had a bedroom of my own, before I was married, my early-20's, chandelier dripping, fuscia-accented, deliciously-linen-ed bedroom.  One wall was an alarming but at the same time soothing "hot lips" pink.  People felt strongly about it - loved it or hated it - but after 3 tenants (all male!), that Hot Lips Pink still stood.  And though I've moved on from that bedroom and that stage of life, I've always looked for a window into which to sneak that Hot Lips pink.  Even just a tissue box!

     Today in my new job, I finalized the details of the furniture for my shared office.  I waltzed into IKEA, only to find the darling desks I'd picked out for us in one of those amazing IKEA inspiration displays... with HOT LIPS PINK  as the accent wall!  I danced inside, texted a pic to my boss/officemate, and rejoiced at even the little possibility that I could be living the hot lips life again soon.

     I got back to the office and once again, that color elicits strong opinions.  Too unprofessional.  Too girly.  I could see my boss/officemate longing for it but hesitating to speak up.  So, I exploded into a hundred thousand hot lips flowers.  Like, I-AM-HERE exploded, made an executive decision, and tomorrow morning at 9am, I will start slapping the dark primer all over those walls in a glorious expression of femininity AND professionalism.

     Instant uplift: Ask for what you want.  Demand it.  We have rich people problems - celebrate them!!! "LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH AND BE HAPPY!!"

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Drugs and Reality





     Can we talk?  The original goal of this blog was to paint a realistic portrait of how spirituality can fit into the ordinary lunatic life we all live today, and how a normal, messy, flawed, not quite enlightened person can really draw the marrow from life even while juggling all the hats we wear, and all those cliches.

     Lately I am feeling awesome, more divinely and calmly in touch with consciousness, spirit, God, however you call it.  Lately, I have also been on anti-depressants for the first time in my life consistently.  I have no doubt that that tiny alteration to my sort of messy brain chemistry has lifted the fog I typically live under - not a depressed fog... a "I take in too much stimulation at one time" fog.  Sort of.  

     If you have experience with anti-depressants or related medications, have you also had experience weaning off once a crisis is over, or once you feel confident and more secure?  I'm curious to know if the analogy of the diabetic is a true one: If you have an imbalance, there's no problem in regulating it medically.  I have no doubt whatever is going on in my grey matter is real; I've experienced it since I can remember, before I had a "story".  I do however doubt that medication is the only real way to "workaround".  I truly believe there could be a way of living, and deeper practice, that could manage this beast.  Medicating it does not align with my values and doesn't feel right to me when I can almost visualize another way.

     So I'm curious to know - since we're talking about real life and I don't live on a mountain top (I do live at the bottom of the mountain, if that counts for anything):  If you have experienced the effects of some kind of imbalance, have you medicated them so you can move forward out of that mental state?  Have you found other workarounds?  Have you accepted it? Moved through it?  

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Teeny Tiny Freebie

     Happy Hump Day!  Click for a downloadable Marrow 'Minders (that's short for re'Minder, I am admittedly grabbing at alliterative straws here).  You can throw it in your car, tape it to your front door or nightstand, cut them out and put them in your coat pockets for unexpected little marrow treats.... go forth and breathe!

    Meanwhile, I am happily drowning in my new job and spending a little more time doing what this lady, the Simple Living Lady, tells me to do!


Blessings,
JJ

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Seeking Evening Marrow Makers!

feeling a little overwhelmed


    Heading in a new direction is oh-so-exhilerating.  Thanks to my Goddess Guidebook helping me pave the way with peaceful intentions, and a solo ceremony cleansing the way to move forward in peace... I had a slam-dunk, whiz-bang, do-i-really-get-to-design-the-entire-office first day at my new job.  Now I am all a-buzzy buzz, looking at office inspirations completely failing to follow my own advice!

     We talked about some 5-Minute Marrow Makers but quite honestly, I'm pretty dissatisfied with my evening rituals.  Typically I drink a cup of Tazo CALM tea with my honey and we dissect the day or just sit quietly together absorbed in our own books... but tonight I need something to help me come down off the day!

     Taking suggestions for evening rituals, evening Marrow Makers!

Monday, January 23, 2012

5-Minute Marrow Makers



     Get the family out the door.  Get yourself out the door.  Get yourself out the door with shoes that coordinate with your outfit.  Forgot the cellphone.  Can't leave the baby in the car.  15 minutes late.  Oh-what-a-day-already-and-I-need-a-vacation....

     How about a 5-minute Marrow Maker?  How about something you can pull off right in your car, in your cube, in your office, on the go, or in line at Starbucks?  How about tips and tricks you don't have to fit into your life.. because you already do them?


  • Candlelight Cleanse.  You have to shower.  You shower alone most of the time.  Turn off the lights and light a candle.  Even on the most hectic mornings, this tiny trick is like a day at the spa.
  • Starbucks Sweetness: Leave your cell in the car when you go into Starbucks.  While in line, take a 3-point check: What do you smell?  Hear?  See?  Starbucks are usually designed like a senses feast, but we rarely notice it.  Your latte will be so much more delicious after having anticipated it!
  • Car Kids:  What are the kids doing in the car on the way to school? Texting? Watching DVDs?  Is there a possibility this could be some quality time - a time to set intentions with them, or just to ask what they want from today?
  • Car Cruise:  I love Oprah's old Spirit Channel podcasts.  If you are mindlessly choosing the 9:30 Z100 phone tap... try a spiritual podcast instead.  They're thought provoking and usually put you in the frame of mind to work mindfully.
  • Twilight Tea:  Do you have that cup of coffee after work to plow through the evening? Choose a tea.  The sensual experience will be greater, bringing you closer to the present moment, and you will sleep better if you choose a delish decaf like Tazo Calm.
  • Goddess Goo:  Skip the sh!tty Suave discount lotions.  Dump them all and indulge in one, gorgeously scented, skin-friendly, paraben free body lotion.  You have to moisturize - why not treat yourself like a goddess while gooping up?
  • Night Nurture:  Instead of mindless flopping around Facebook (#1 culprit) the 10 minutes before sleep, set an alarm on your computer/phone/iCal to shut down the visual stimulation and open up something peaceful.  Create a stack of inspirational books, or a gratitude journal, and spend the time before bed invoking meaning into your sleep!
  • Dishes Dance:  Turn on something stimulating for your ears while you wash those dishes.  Keep a little iPod speaker on the sink so it's no big deal to throw on some sweet, soothing tunes, meditations, podcasts, or soundscapes.  Wiggle your butt around!
There are so many ways to bring delight to your everyday life, tiny ways to connect to the source - call it God, consciousness, presence, Being, Goddess... tiny Marrow Makers will bring you happiness and make you smile at the folks in line with you!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

A Ritual for New Beginnings

The Road More Traveled

    It's like the night before Christmas and all through the house... candles are burning, tea is brewing, and I'm preparing for a fresh start.  Tomorrow, I am giddy to announce, a new job awaits me.. just 20 minutes from my child's day care.  It would make sense to take some time and talk about my last job, but that's between me and the cleansing part of my ritual.  Suffice to say that I'm so excited to start a normal life.

     To boot, tomorrow is 1/23/2012, which begins the Year of the Dragon.  My mama gave birth to me in that year! 
     
     This is one ritual sequence I've used in the past, so I'm offering it to you in peace and with intention that if you are experiencing a new beginning, it will help you sustain the excitement of this time.

I gather the following: Salt water in a beautiful vessel, a candle and light, something green and living, some essential oil.  

1.        Cleansing - I use salt water, as I commonly have this around, sprinkling it on myself and the ritual space.
2.        Grounding - I walk the space, sensing the energy
3.        Creating a Sacred Space /Casting the Circle / Creating a   
      Vortex of Power & Protection - I usually light a candle, and I have a bowl of seashells I might use to create a circle, as they invoke the ocean, the great and constant washing away of the past.

4.        Calling on the Powers of the Elements and Directions.  I've collected:
    a.       East –air.  The smoke from the candle. b.       South—fire.  The flame in the candle. c.       West—water.  The salt water in a lovely glass vase.  I will likely use the snow outside, it's fresh! d.       North—earth.  If I can use actual earth, I would.  Right now I will have to borrow some from a nearby plant. e.       Space—sprit.  I use an essential oil, today it will be lemon, to breathe in cleansing spirit.
5.        Invoking the Deity or Deities.  I close my eyes and become still, sensing the energy in my body which is my connection to all things living.
6.        Statement of purpose / clarifying the intention of the ritual.  I say aloud, "Through this ceremony, I give myself permission to walk forward completely free of the past.  I open my eyes to the possibilities that tomorrow brings.  I walk forward in peace, not bitterness".
7.         The working
    a.       I will light a smaller candle for each of the blessings the new job bestows on me: Time with my family, etc.  I will pack my attaché for tomorrow with intent.
8.        Raising and Releasing the Power
    a.        I will repeat my intent, until I can hold the energy no longer and it is released into the Universe.  If moved, I will use Delilah's drum softly, but drumming does not usually feel authentic to me unless in a group.
9.        Centering Communion / Meditation
    a.        After the exhalation of releasing sit quietly and relax into ALL That IS b.          When one is completely calm and at peace you might softly hum OMM or Auuu—ommmmmmmmmm
10.        Ending the ritual
    a.        Thanking the Deity / Deities b.        Releasing the Powers by thanking them c.        Returning the circle to the mundane world by walking in a           counter clockwise direction

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Ever have those days?

Oops.
     Ever have that day when you try, you really try!?  I tried to balance quantity with quality: being inside with the family all day because of a snowstorm; writing in my Goddess Guide 2012; create fun snow day stuff for my darling girl; clean out the bedroom closet; run the laundry; organize myself to start my new job on Monday; relish a family nap; play in the snow; finish my e-course; learn to use the e-course website.

     Oops.  Looking back, I set myself up for failure there, didn't I?  I woke up full of ambition and when my husband had to spend most of the day shoveling us (and the neighbors) out... plans went to hell in a handcart and I couldn't seem to recover.  I spent the day seeking that little window of solitude and realistically, it wasn't going to happen.  I made myself suffer and started telling the old stories of blame ("If he would stop shoveling out all the neighbors, I could have a moment to write my e-course") and of my small life ("All I do is clean and take care of the baby...").  In truth, I love my husband for helping the neighbors, and I actually have a lot of time to myself usually.  "The Story" loves to find a chink in the spiritual armor, a low moment, and leap in to make sweet love to The Ego.  They attach themselves to each other like a clique of Mean Girls and eat your brains like Mean Girl Zombies!

     What's a Mama to do?  Go with the flow? Abandon daily goals when the wind is blowing the other way?  Just start drinking? Search the soul to see if any of the tiny Little Me voice has a grain of truth to it?  Bitchslap the Ego and send it packing?  

     Well, this Mama fought the flow, cursed a lot, slammed a door, and finally got over it enough to put the baby to bed in a peaceful, present, happy way.  All in all, we had some fun, made hot chocolate, played in the snow, mashed together some stickers and glue stick, built a fort, and watched Winnie the Pooh.  I'd say from her perspective, probably a successful day.  I managed a candlelight shower and a long nap with the whole family.  From Mama's perspective, I quote the ever-tenacious Scarlett O'Hara... "Tomorrow is another day".

     

Friday, January 20, 2012

Bad, Bad, Energy

Emotional Trash
   
    It's not uncommon - I'm sitting peacefully at Starbucks or somewhere between clients, daydreaming over a latte, or working on a project, and into my happy place creeps... bad energy.  Not mine.  Someone else's. I will start to hear people bitching and moaning about their jobs, or a customer complaining adamantly about something like coffee... and my own energy field shifts like WAM BOOM.  As soon as it creeps in, I can't get rid of it and I start to see it, hear it everywhere like that kid in Sixth Sense.  And sure enough, to the tune of "Bad Medicine," the next thing I know I have "Bad, bad, energy" stuck in my head and my day is completely ruined until I find an equally bad 80's tune to replace the song worm.  Also, if I hold my fingers in my hears and shout "amazing grace" at warp speed, I can usually get rid of the song worm.

    I digress.  When I visualize my peaceful energy field, it's soft.  It isn't a powerful bubble shield, like the iron wall that is a amniotic sac.  It's more like a simple soap bubble, easily popped (but so, so rainbow pretty when it's around!)  Other people's energy enters me easily, and I tend to have trouble shaking it.  I used to have a hard time managing at parties or around more than 2-3 people at one time because I couldn't sort through everyone's vibes at one time; it was like trying to attend to a conversation when 4 other secret conversations were also going on.  Mind chatter - mine? theirs?

     I have learned to manage in a crowd through presence, giving my complete all to the person I'm with at the moment seems to lift me out of the clutter.  I'm still learning how to hold space for strangers whose energy is stronger than mine.  I picture it like a big public game of pokemon.

     What's your strategy?  How does your paper beat rock?
   

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Intentional Living

Intentions help us blossom to our full potential!

    A bundle of nerves had settled itself comfortably behind my sternum for weeks.  The truth had begun to arise:  I had scored my dream job... and 6 months in, I hated it.  HATED IT.  Could not even move beyond the hate to get to a place of acceptance.  I did what every 35 year old woman on the verge of a job crisis does: I called my Mommy.

     My Mommy isn't just any wisdom-from-experience Mommy, she is a certified life coach who can size up a situation in 5 seconds flat and, like a fortune teller, usually give you just the little simple thing you need.  In this case, as I had turned my car around, heading in the opposite direction of my office and headed toward a new company run by old friends, she said: "What's your intention for this meeting?"
    How simple is that? I believed I was just running up there to buy them lunch and pick their brains about how to handle the job-hating thing, that my intention was to get advice from friends in the same field.  But when the question was posed in an explicit way, I realized: My intention was to gain a job offer from them.

    That simple question and the simpler answer changed the tone of the 4 hour meeting that followed, from what could have been a bitchfest into a productive, inspiring conversation about values and company culture.  During that conversation we agreed our values were aligned in service delivery, and at the end, after delicious sushi, bonding, and brainstorming... they offered me a job.  I start on Monday.
   
     After that, I started intuitively creating a bit of space before and between.  Before clients.  Between lunch and going back to work.  Between getting out of the car at the end of the day and coming inside.  A teeny space to set an intention for the next meeting, moment, greeting.  To greet my daughter in a way that _______.  To keep the meeting focused on ________.  What a powerful practice it has become - and even more, how powerfully it seems to shift the people around me.  When my intention is strong - for example, my intention in meeting with the school director is to create a better environment for my daughter - others come around.  In the meeting with the school director, she started out defensive, her ego and identification with the school method was very, very dominant.  As I gently stuck to my intention, the conversation shifted dramatically and suddenly, almost like a bubble popping, her ego seemed to vanish and we commenced a very productive, calm, and constructive solution-focused conversation.  Intention!

     Try this: Put a little post it note on the dashboard.  Create it with intention.  Write something on it that will remind you to give yourself the gift of space and intention between events.  On the back of my visor, it says "I am becoming the person I am".  This little reminder helps me move toward that goal a little more every day.  Post your post-it message, if you're comfortable, and let us know how it changes your day-to-day harried world!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Celebrating and Releasing 2011



     On Facebook around, oh, Dec 31, I noticed a lot of good riddance to 2011.  It seemed to be, among my tribe anyway, a year that symbolized a lot of struggle, challenge, and frustration with the status quo - personally and globally.  On the other hand, it seemed to me that same frustration drove folks to find the road less traveled, to passionately forge new ground for themselves because it just wasn't working anymore.

    The categorizing of years by polarizing good and bad and meh doesn't quite jive with me.  It's convenient, and it's nice to have a date to revamp, revisit, and revise.  In fact, let's set a few, shall we?  March 24th.  Nov 5th.  Let's throw in Feb 15th too, it's really soon!  Let's use it though, because it's a common milestone and it resonates with people.

    As you may know, I happened upon this gorgeous manual for truly creating and manifesting the year of your dreams, driven by your Goddess self.  I've completely glommed onto the concept of the Goddess as the guiding light in life.  Through most of my own challenging 2011, one wild, scratching, biting, kicking, clawing, screaming, primal voice surfaced over and over, no matter how many times I tried to silence her.  I didn't see a way out of our situation anyway, so why honor the voice?  In the end, it was the voice of my inner woman, my Goddess, the force of creation, life, consciousness... the source of creation to which all those words, including God, point.  I can get on board with her.  She makes sense to me.  Which brings me to the Goddess Guide, which you can find here if you are interested in going the journey with me.

    I wanted so badly to dive into the now, the 2012 part, the leave all the rest behind, join the good riddance group.  Goddess Leonie has other plans for us, however.  She asks that we celebrate and release 2011.  How tedious.

    How liberating!  By posing some critical questions, Leonie helped me reframe the year into the gains, not the losses, and to be intentional about that which we would like to leave behind.  For me, I realized that the howling inner Goddess that landed me in the psych ward actually set all my limiting beliefs on fire, and that instead of being ashamed that I had to go there, I feel proud that I have a fierce fighting source inside of me.  I realized also that I want to leave the "story" behind... all the bitterness and blaming.  How can I bring it with me into this great future, which is unfolding this exact second?  All that seemed unfathomable is now true and glorious.  (Except maybe the school switch... we'll see how that plays out).

    The exercise of celebrating and releasing 2011 invigorated me, but I honored the heavy feeling that came over my hands at the end of the pages guiding me through that process.  I set aside the remaining 95 pages of the Goddess Guide, and will spend some time meditating and searing the lessons of 2011 onto my soul.


     Whether you join me via the guide, or via your own inner guide, share your thoughts about the gifts of the past year.

2012

Could it be that my last inspiration was in August 2011?  I don't think so... I feel inspired all year round.
Could it be more likely that my creative life takes the back burner to oh... everything else?  That I have no true intention, just a willy-nilly stolen moment kind of approach that obviously...isn't...working.

Look what I found!  I am so, so excited that someone has created this gorgeous to look at, inspiring, and powerful book (all 101 pages!) to help me set my intentions for 2012.  When I spent $9.95, I expected a little 20 page e-book - not so! This is an incredible manual and calendar for making 2012 the year your inner goddess takes over and guides your life.

  I will be committing to 15 minutes immediately after my child goes to bed to start the journey.  Will you join me?  We can share via this blog, which I had originally imagined as a place to collaborate about bringing meaning into our daily lives.

Check out this beautiful guide to a deep, intentful (is that a word?) 2012!   Goddess Guide Book