Teachers, Technology, Time to Reflect...

It's been a challenging few days, I've been up against a few things. I have had a lot of change swirling up from the depths of me, asking me to answer the call to Unite with my Soul's Urge... This is a turning point for me, one of those "Seven Year Cycles" beginning. I've been in England 7 years, it is no coincidence that I am up for change. Change isn't easy, but finding the GRATITUDE in the middle of it is a big key to finding Joy.

So, the past few days I've been Grateful for (though not always Smiling about):

1. Teachers. One Teacher to be exact, who represents everything that a great teacher should be: Inspiring, Caring, Steadfast, Honorable, Giving, Expressive, and a true Individual. His name was Dana Brown and he is one of the best people I ever knew. http://www.tdn.com/slide_show/dana_brown/index.html
Recently I have re-discovered my desire to teach and lead others to personal freedom through Improvisational Workshops. I have been thinking of him and his impact on me, and my vision, a lot. Then, this past Sunday I found out that he passed away March 1st. I've since processed a lot of feelings about my days in High School and what this teacher meant to me. The overriding emotion has been GRATITUDE. Thank you, Dana Brown. Thanks for being YOU.

2. Technology. I am constantly Grateful that I have a great laptop, that Digital technology is flourishing (and not difficult to use), and that many of my creative urges are able to be expressed with all of this technology. Also, for "fun" things, technology is all good: I missed a TV show the other day and my husband brought it home on his memory stick, as a friend of his downloaded it for me! I gotta figure out how to do that for myself!

3. TIME to reflect. I am so Grateful that I have the time to reflect on and process the things that happen to me, that come up in my thoughts, or that urge me creatively. This is one of the best things that I have ever been blessed with: TIME. I have to remind myself not to take it for granted, as it is a precious thing that I have been given. "To whom much has been given, much is expected." (Bible verse). I now ask myself "How can I serve?" Time has been given to me as a Tool, and I am intending to use it for a higher purpose. My soul agrees that this is who I am, so we are smiling...

Creating Space, Colds, and Conversations...

Interesting weekend, productive, yet lazy, happy, yet grumpy. Sometimes when you want to accomplish something you have to bring up or deal with some CRAP. But I'm grateful for the crap because is it a means to an end, it is part of the puzzle of life. (Funny that Crap begins with a "C" too).

1. Creating space - We decided to rearrange a lot of our furniture in our cottage, needed to gain some space. Grumbling about lack of space hasn't worked, you see. As we shifted things around, the space got more cluttered, more clogged up, before it got better (a bit like a cold, see below!). It was frustrating in the middle of the project, and at times the solution of "where to put things" didn't seem clear. In the end, we made our home feel much more spacious, and energy can flow properly now. I got tired of complaining that our house was "too small!" Now I can say that it is spacious, light, and enough room to enjoy my life. And I plan to manifest more of all that!

2. Colds - I have one, yes. It's been coming on for a few days. Ugh. My son brings colds home from pre-school (some of the kids attend with horrendous, snotty, coughy colds, and no one seems to mind!). Crap is coming UP and OUT of my sinuses, there's a definite theme of crap-dealing-with here... Well, I'm not happy about the cold, but fighting it means being "anti-cold" and maybe that will end up prolonging it!? I will just accept it and be one with it (oh dear me, I sound nuts). But I am choosing to find the thing to be grateful for about the cold. It causes me to sit more still, take better care of myself, and reassess what I might be doing to create dis-ease in my body. Always a chance to reflect, and that's a good thing!

3. Conversations - My dear husband and I had a few this weekend, as I was determined to talk about the direction our life is taking. We have some big decisions to make soon, and we were ignoring that fact (it has felt like ignoring the proverbial "elephant in the middle of the room."). We both got grumpy, as sometimes it isn't easy to express what it is we are feeling. Feelings don't always allow themselves to be described in mere words. Needless to say, some CRAP came out. Well, we finally got to the root of things, albeit it took until midnight Sunday night to get there. SO having conversations, really working the crap out in words, is wonderful.

However, my sore throat today is telling me to hold off having any more just yet!
CK

YELLOW, YOUTUBE, AND YELLING

Okay, now that's an odd list, but I swear that these are the themes of my day!

1. Yellow: I am grateful for the colour yellow today. I felt a bit down so I wore my yellow hooded top. Colin came home from shopping with a yellow daffodil pin for me and a yellow balloon for himself. I love the colour yellow this time of year, we are so desperate for colour! I bought lots of kitchen doo-dads last spring, which were yellow, but that wasn't really me, so they have gone to thrift shops.

2. YouTube: I had a grumpy day, which led to an introspective afternoon. I spent some time on YouTube, on my 100 Day CCOR Challenge group and got some great insights, ideas, and comments. Thank the Universe for that group!

3. Yelling: Well, this is because I had an arguement with my DH today. I didn't yell much, though I felt like it. I was home alone and yelled about the things that are bugging me (yelled at the walls) and it was a good release. I am glad that I do let these things out...and also that the yelling makes me realize that something isn't right and I need to look inside. I don't like to yell, but it is teaching me things about myself.

Cuddles, Community, and Comments...

WELL, it was a different kind of day yesterday, had some ups and downs. I didn't get enough sleep which always leaves me emotional. I walked my son to preschool and on the way home I felt really alone and down (saw lots of Mums chatting in the park, and I realized that I need to make more friends).

BUT:

1. Cuddles! My son woke me up by jumping into bed with me and giving me a kiss. We often have a cuddle in the morning and talk about what kind of day we are going to have. Precious...

2. Community! I came home from my sad walk and found some messages from YouTubers that confirmed that I DO have a community, I do belong, I do have a place to be me. I cried because the messages were so heart-felt and just what I needed. Thank you Universe...!

3. Comments! Being grateful for both supportive comments and critical comments, as I've had several of each the past few days. I am smiling about both types, as I always learn something about myself when I read them and take them in. I am getting a broader picture of who I am and what I feel strongly about. Live and learn!

Sunshine, Sheets, and Sillyness!

Tuesday here in England, and its been beautifully sunny!!!!!!!!!!! Hoooooooray!
(we have had tons of rain lately, storms, wind, etc.)

1. Sunshine! Need I say more?

2. Sheets - Bedsheets are great, especially when they've been worn in enough to be a bit silky on your skin. I just love the way it feels on my feet when I am stretching out first thing in the morning, and the last thing at night.

3. Sillyness! - Love being silly with my son, we dance along to Boogie Beebies, we make silly voices, silly sounds, silly faces. I make sure that I spend part of each day being silly with Colin. :-).

Friends, Food, and Flowers

Lazy, rainy Sunday here in England. Didn't go out, but yesterday we shopped at a crowded mall, so we're tired... But last night was so great, my best friend and her family stopped by on their way home from a holiday and they ended up staying for a few hours (said they could only stay a few minutes). It was a great evening!

I am smiling and grateful for:

1. Friends--well what can I say except that the true, ones are fun, flexible and magical, and you always feel at home with them.

2. Food--we had some fantastic Thai take-away food with our friends ( I didn't have to cook, hooray!)

3. Flowers--my friends brought me a huge bouquet of daffodils which smell so great and make the house so cheery! I was thinking of buying myself flowers when we were out yesterday, but just didn't follow through, so some manifested this way, which was cool. I intend to always have fresh flowers in my home from now on. :-).

Sunshine, Showers, and Support

A quick three today:

1. Sunshine!!! It has been a rainy week, and today it was sunny and gorgeous all day--an early spring bit of love from Momma Nature.

2. Showers. Taking a great shower, to be exact. There is a very nice shower in our rental house, separate from the tub, which has good water pressure. Our last rental did, too, which has been fabulous, as for 5 years living in our old house we didn't have a good shower (it sort of dribbled and was only hot when it wanted to be). I appreciate a soooooo much now!

3. Support! This is the support I've been recieving since day one on YOUTUBE. The people in the 100 Day Challenge group are phenomenal, I don't know what I would be doing without my connection to that group right now (well, I suppose it is the connction to myself which is the main thing, but the other group members are highlighting what is going on inside of me).

Not as quick as I thought, but wanted to jot this all down before bed!
CK ;-)

CHILDREN, CROCUSES, CONNECTIONS...

Well today I helped out at my son's preschool and it was such fun! I just love hanging out with those kids, love the funny things they say, and there is always a little surprise (a boy I thought was a bit of a ruffian turned out to be super-sweet!). Brightened my day to be able to read a story and wipe a few noses of our future leaders ;-).

1. Children really made me smile today!

2. Noticed purple and yellow flowers popping up all over the park across the street from our house.

3. I am so enjoying the connections I'm making in my 100 Day Reality Challenge group on YouTube. I have never done anything so interesting and I feel uplifted, challenged, humbled, exctied and honoured to be a part of these people's lives. Thanks everyone!