Blessings Upon Us

It's Thanksgiving, a holiday I enjoy very much because of all the love and food that flows.

Gratitude does too, for the many blessings our family has experienced over the years.

We often share these blessings by reminiscing after dinner while indulging in pumpkin pie.

Our family is also fortunate in that we get along very well. It's safe to say that we understand and appreciate one another. We are kind to one another. Rarely is there any drama. I am extremely grateful for that.

For some families, gathering around the table with loved ones can be challenging. Rarely does the scene resemble a Norman Rockwell painting.

I found this beautiful blessing for delicate situations such as this and wanted to share it with you.

If only we could with engage each other keeping this in mind:

"Learn to turn to each person as the most sacred person on Earth, to each moment as the most sacred moment that has ever been given to us. This moment may never happen again, because no two moments are alike. Are we perhaps awake a bit more, perhaps breathing together with God?"

~ Reshad Feild

Blessings of joy and appreciation upon you and your dear ones as you share one another's sacred company.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From Where I Sit ~ A Bit of News and a Blessing from a Tree

I'm still on my writing sabbatical, midwifing new ideas, and am having such a wonderful time I decided to extend it for a few more weeks.

I have so appreciated your well wishes and all the kind correspondence I've received in support of this decision to go off-line for a while. It has been truly nourishing! Thank you. I'm not sure how often I will be posting in May, so check back as you can.

I'm going to keep this short (the sun is shining and there is a beach to be walked!) but I did want to share 3 special things with you: 2 pieces of timely news and 1 very soulful blessing a dear friend sent me.

News Blip #1: I am getting ready to send out my Spring "Awake is Good Newsletter" (or Fall, if you are in upside-down land as my Aussie friend, Kel, says.) This season's theme is "Retreat"and why it is so vital to our well-being as women. Also a timely message on what to do to re-center yourself when you CAN'T go on retreat, or even create one-day away for yourself. And there's more ...

So, if you are not on my mailing list yet and wish to receive the newsletter, click here, sign up, and I will send it to you by week's end. I'm sure you'll find it helpful for your journey. :-)

News Blip #2: Drumroll please! I've posted the announcement for the only weekend retreat I'll be offering in 2010. It's titled, "Return to Your Center," and it is a labyrinth-based retreat, to be held in Grand Rapids, MI, June 27-29. (I'm thrilled a number of you are flying in to do this. :-)


Here are some of the amazing features:


~ Cheap, cheap, cheap! Only $185 for the entire weekend, including lodging and meals.
~ Accompanying harp music by Anne Wakenhut.
~ Sessions of Walking Meditation and Metta Meditation
~ Time in nature on lovely acreage
~ Plenty of opportunity to rest and reconnect with your soul

Click here to read all the details, including how to register. Sign up has already begun. I'd love to spend this wonderful weekend with you!

And I'll be keynoting at a "Women's Replenishment Retreat" on June 18-20 in Big Rapids, MI, at Inn at the Rustic Gate. The retreat facilitator is Megan. Read all the lovely details.

On that Saturday, I'll be offering a 2-hr. program, "Blessing Ourselves, Blessing One Another." Special features of this retreat include a women's drum circle, yoga, and meditation led by Megan, who is also a music therapist, so that will be an element of the retreat. You can learn more about her here.

You may want to read a feature article that appeared this weekend in the Macomb Daily on me, my work, and the retreat. It's titled, "Be Kind to Yourself and the Rest Will Follow."

Finally, the Blessing ... 

My dear friend "Mermaid" sent me the most beautiful card the other day. On the cover was what appeared to be a Bodhi tree, not unlike the one I am sitting under while writing in the tropics. It purveyed a blessing so beautiful I just had to pass it on to you. May you receive it and take it into your heart.

"Like a tree ...

Find your own space to grow.

Bend with the winds of change.

Bless the uniqueness of who you are.

Connect with the roots of your own wisdom ...

... Do what you love to do.

Be the best you can be.

Share your beauty with the world."* 

From under the Bodhi tree, I send you blessings of love and joy. 

And may you continue to share your beauty with the world!

(*Blessing authored by Tree of Life Inspirations)

"A Blessing of Angels" for the Season ...

"May the Angels in their beauty bless you.

May they turn toward you streams of blessing.

May the Angel of Awakening stir your heart

To come alive to the eternal within you,

To all the invitations that quietly surround you.

May the Angel of Healing turn your wounds

Into sources of refreshment.

May the Angel of the Imagination enable you

To stand on the true thresholds,

At ease with your ambivalence

And drawn in new direction

Through the glow of your contradictions.

May the Angel of Compassion open your eyes

To the unseen suffering around you.

May the Angel of Wildness disturb the places

Where your life is domesticated and safe,

Take you to the territories of true otherness

Where all that is awkward in you

Can fall into its own rhythm.

May the Angel of Eros introduce you

To the beauty of your senses

To celebrate your inheritance

As a temple of the holy spirit.

May the Angel of Justice disturb you

To take the side of the poor and the wronged.

May the Angel of Encouragement confirm you

In worth and self-respect,

That you may live with the dignity

That presides in your soul.

May the Angel of Death arrive only

When your life is complete

And you have brought every given gift

To the threshold where its infinity can shine.

May all the Angels be your sheltering

And joyful guardians."

Excerpted from To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings
by John O'Donohue.

A perfect holiday gift, by the way, for people of all spiritual traditions.

Today, may the blessings of the Angels be yours ...