Guaranteed to Inspire: My Life List

Somewhere in my internet wanderings, I recently came across a bubbly little number who goes by Goddess Leonie. Because I obviously want to jam my inbox to the limit, I signed up for her newsletter.

Full disclosure here: I love SARK, Louise Hay, Julia Cameron and any number of other creative, uplifting women whose enthusiasm can sometimes border on the saccharine. My new friend Goddess Leonie falls swiftly into this category. If she tends to lean toward the excessive, it's in the form of excessive joy and color, and probably we could all use a little more of that.

Anyway, I finally got around to reading the latest e-letter, and this one was about lifetime goals. She inspired me (see? that's the point) to write a list of my own. Also, I like how she marked items as done and I plan to do that, too.

If you don't care about my list, I understand. But go check out Leonie. She's pretty awesome.

1. Go to Alaska
2. Go to Hawaii
3. Go to the Jaguar reserve in Belize
4. Go on an art museum tour in Berlin
5. Finish Jordan's quilt
6. Have a solo fiber art show at the EDG building
7. Finish my first novel
8. Publish a short story
9. Publish my first novel
10. Get my LMP
11. Teach BodyTalk modules 1&2
12. Make my living through my healing practice and my creative work
13. Learn Spanish
14. Do a half triathlon
15. Hike from Snoqualmie to Stevens on the PCT
16. Take the family to Yellowstone
17. Learn to make some of my own clothes
18. Learn encaustic
19. Do the second Collage Camp: West Coast version
20. Have a Massachusetts family reunion
21. Go to New Zealand
22. Fly first class
23. Go to the next BodyTalk conference
24. Buy a house
25. Walk the John Wayne trail from Ellensburg to Thorp
26. Get my MFA in creative writing (maybe)
27. Learn how to make a decent website
28. Learn how to make Vietnamese noodle soup
29. Go on a one-month road trip
30. Go on one round-the-world plane trip
31. See Bali
32. See Tokyo
33. Take the Trans-Siberian railroad
34. Write a book about conscious prosperity
35. Write an e-book about personal transformation
36. Get new carpet in our apartment
37. Build a chicken coop and install three laying hens
38. Learn to ride a horse by having my own horse
39. Meet Teesha Moore

I reserve the right to add much more to my list. Meanwhile, if you've made it this far, write your own list! Add a link in the comments and I'll totally check it out.

This Important Message

Are you living a big, thrilling, transformed life? Do you wake up every morning giddy with anticipation?

If you answered NO, please stay tuned for this important message.

You are a magnificent being on a magical planet, and everything is perfect right now. You are whole, and well, and blessed beyond measure, right now. All day long gifts are shining into your life and in the night your guides visit and tell you stories. You asked to be here, and when you entered you brought a court of assistants along, just to help you live your extraordinary life, and to find a parking space.

This life is a high-impact experience and so you may have temporarily lost your connection to consciousness. It's okay; just take a deep breath and wake up again. The highest Source is waiting for you like an old friend sitting on your front porch. Just open the door.

Humankind is evolving, and you, my friend, are on the ride. Transformation is the act of leaving your luggage behind. Sometimes it takes a prayer to the God of your understanding to be willing to leave the luggage; so pray. You don't need the luggage. It's full of resentment, distrust and fear. You will be so much lighter without it that you will discover inner peace.

And don't be fooled into thinking peace is dull or monotonous. Inner peace is the fertile soil that allows for huge creativity, expansion and delight. Fear just makes a ruckus, stirs things up and is unruly. It makes lot of drama but nothing is accomplished.

So remember, right now is an incredible time to be alive. All over the globe, human beings are recognizing their spiritual Source and making some amazing changes happen because of it. You're one of these people. No matter what kind of noise is blaring in your outer life, know that you are on a sacred journey. Your task is to wake up, connect with God, and allow the Light to shine through you. It'll be easy because you left your protective coat in your luggage.

Find me on Facebook

Let's face it; I'm a Facebooker.

Yes, there was lots of initial resistance but now that I'm in the swing of things, Facebook is my first home for new photo albums, witty commentary, links, events, and just about any other potentially interesting tidbit.

I'll probably post here from time to time but I'm terribly unreliable about it. If you love me, find me there. And you love me. I know you do.

At last, a simple Christmas

For years I've been flirting with simplicity. It appeals to me the way a green salad with viniagrette dressing appeals to me after a week of fast food and sugar cookies. The restraint itself is a relief.

The one thing I've never been able to pull off, though, is anything close to a simple Christmas. I've written blog posts and essays that vigorously espoused doing less and buying less and refusing to guilty about it, and yet I have always failed. At the last minute, year after year, I have swept through Fred Meyer in a panic, loading up my cart with $10-and-under useless gifts, a hapless victim of social pressure.

This year is different, and I can't even take all the credit. This year no one seems to be playing. In previous years, I started off strong until the Christmas cards starting sailing in and the adorable gifts from my outer circle of friends started piling up. The drive to reciprocate overcame all sense. This year, however, I have received one Christmas card and two gifts from outside of my family. It's wonderful. I think I'm going to make a proclamation every year: send nothing! Save yourself!

Of course, we totally overdid it with the kids; we haven't managed to rein that one in yet. But the fact remains that it is December 23rd and my things-to-do list is: make a chocolate cream pie for Christmas dinner. That's it. No wrapping, no sending, no cleaning, no panicking. I'm working on a bead necklace for fun.

This has been the Christmas season without cards, endless wrapping, over-spending or guilt. An unexpected consequence? Actual peace. Actual joy.

And I wish the same to you and yours.

Halloween (poem by Jordan, age 7)

Hosts

Hosts are ghosts
and lightning strokes
to brighten your eyes
to get the shys
and when something flies it's scary
and if something's hairy it will get bairy
it can't be a fairy and

if an ant will be red
then put him to bed
and if you were never fed
then you'll be dead and
I was holding a head and
when he the monster was folding skin
I was about to screech
when I heard a creek
and spiders creep

I was about to peep
when I heard a leap
and found a dead bird but
he was a turd and when I was in this house
I found my old blouse
I want my spouse
I want to be brave
I wish I were saved
now I am saved
I see my spouse.