Raiders of the Lost Spark

This past Thursday, I delivered a speech entitled “Eat, Pray, Love… Gratitude“. Inspired by the book Eat, Pray, Love, I was made aware of the parallels between the book and my own growth/development and chosen path in life.

Eat: Raw and living foods. Even though I am detoxing and relatively miserable at times, I know it’s a temporary state and I’m willing to push through it. The fact is: I am more concerned these days with what comes out of my mouth, rather than satisfying addictions going into it. I miss eating certain things, but I am enjoying and relishing the process and learning experiences that come with having to deal with one’s feelings head on… I can no longer eat them!

Pray: My growing involvement with church/activities. I am finding my new community to be loving, inspiring, and supportive. I’m happy to be a part of it. I am attending weekly service, as well as a Bible Study and Encounter Group. This is becoming an important part of my spiritual journey.

Love: My relationship. Am I really considering committing myself to someone with 2 young children? Am I willing to put aside most of the “me” to become a “we”. The answer is yes. I love him deeply and want to spend my life with him. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to say this – calmly, rationally, and without a drink or 5 2. Everything I am and will be, I want to share with him.

I eat. I pray. I love… 1 Cor 13:13b “But the greatest of these is love.”

As of late, I have been making a concerted effort to practice constant gratitude. I find it very nourishing for the soul! My Gratitude List

“Joy can be real only if people look on their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

It’s not just a romantic love… I am filled with such a love for life these days. My heart and soul are full and everything is magical.

I am currently reading The Mystery of Love by Marc Gafni.

I don’t believe in New Years resolutions; I believe in goals and dreams. This is what I wrote at the beginning of 2009. My life has certainly changed since then. While 2008 was fantastic, 2009 was challenging. It was brilliant, painful, inspiring, and heartbreaking – a cornucopia of deep feeling. Love lost, self found. I shed enough tears to fill an ocean, but discovered the hope and strength to find my way through the darkness.

I was laid off from my project management job and spent several months finding myself and redefining my goals. Similar to 2008, I traveled and studied. I spent a good deal of time touring Ontario wine country, and visited my favourite haunts in Ottawa, Quebec, and Michigan. I drank tequila in Ensenada, explored the mysterious beauty of Iceland, and stood at the top of Mount Baker, Washington. I learned some additional modalities in energy work, applied to the American Institute of Holistic Theology, achieved my ACB (Advanced Communicator Bronze) in Toastmasters, and joined the Guelph Guild of Storytellers. I took several advanced CSS 2.1 courses and became a whiz at designing table-free web sites. My client base has grown exponentially and I am enjoying the prosperity that comes with repeat business from work well done.

2010 has seen me make some serious decisions about my future – in terms of career, finances, health and human connection and I am excited and passionate about everything that this year will bring.

Goals for 2010

• A full detoxification of my body, mind, spirit
• Be continually conscious of my health and diet / fully embrace a raw food lifestyle
• Get back into yoga and martial arts
• Finish and submit all coursework for yoga teacher training
• Attain my Zend Certified Engineer designation
• Achieve my ACS (Advanced Communicator Silver) designation in Toastmasters
• Become the Guelph Area Governor for Toastmasters

2009/earlier goals that didn’t make it

• Learn Flex – not sure I am going to bother anymore
• Return to Halifax (Easter?), visit San Francisco (in the Spring perhaps)
• Apply to grad school – not sure I am going to anymore
• Get my Registered Practitioner status with the Canadian Reiki Association – still a goal
• Write my exam with the Certified Personal Trainers Network – not sure this is a goal anymore
• Master of Herbology with Dominion Herbal College – still a goal

Happy 2010… and may the new year bless you with health, wealth, and wisdom… and hope.

“Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.” – Vaclav Havel

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.” – Nelson Mandela, inaugural address, written by Marianne Williamson

Last week, I attended “Bear Night” at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. When the Rangers scored their first goal, everyone was to throw a bear onto the ice. Sure, a number of folks were bear-bonked on the head; I know for certain that I hit someone with mine! However, the entire event was infused with such a wonderful energy! There was a thorough spirit of good-will, generosity, and the shared purpose of providing toys to children who could really use something to hug. It was a truly heart-warming event.

FREQUENCY + INTENTION = HEALING

VISUALIZATION + VOCALIZATION = MANIFESTATION

Several months ago, Book 1: Anastasia of the Ringing Cedars of Russia Series made its way into my hands. At first read, I was not inspired – in fact, I was downright angry – frustrated, threatened, put-off. I was extremely challenged. These books were against almost everything that I enjoy (sometimes to excess) in this (mostly) modern, technocratic world. Despite this, I kept an open mind and continued reading the rest of the series – finding inspiration in unlikely places. I was a skeptic.

I have enjoyed my fine dining, fancy shoes, and opulent European vacations – and it’s quite conceivable that I may continue to do so in the future. However, I am 100% convinced that life does not have to be the cold and stressful existence that many experience it to be. Life can be warm, creative, succulent, and exhilarating! The Ringing Cedars books have made me look at life in a different way – I find myself more positive, optimistic, and hopeful. With an undergrad degree in Classical History, College diploma in Programming – and having furthered my studies to become a Reflexologist, Herbalist, Reiki Master, and Yoga Teacher, I am certainly open to new ideas and concepts. I also enjoy combining my technological/IT background with my love of holism.

It was suggested to me that an excellent (and beneficial) project would be to take the contents of the Ringing Cedars Series and create a reference library of their contents, cross referenced by category and with authors/experts in related fields. The challenge, is of course, to do this in a way that does not violate copyright infringement

What a project this is going to be – the books contain a vast plethora of information/advice on nutrition (raw food in particular), farming, spirituality, relationships, child-rearing, education, and politics.

http://www.ringingcedarsreference.com/