I loved finding this Joseph Campbell docu.

The Hero's Journey from Malcolm Kelly on Vimeo.

Girl Walk (Girl Talk/ All Day)

My good friend and neighbor Jim introduced me to Girl Talk, and all summer long I ran to "All Day"- an eclectic mashed up mix that was perfect for my newbie running cadence. However, it kind of made me dance a little with my running.... it's been so much fun to keep up with this ongoing release of Girl Walk, it's what I look like when I run/dance. Sort of. Not really at all.... Girl Walk // All Day: Chapter 3 from Girl Walk // All Day on Vimeo.

knitting, and exploring my relationship to winter

I am making an attempt to explore my relationship to winter a little further.
After having grown up in sunny sub-tropical Queensland, Australia... and now living in the Midwest of the USA, this time of year is harder on my system than I often care to admit.
I don't relish the dark and cold.
My body doesn't do cold well.

Perhaps with a project like this in my hands this winter, I could make an exploration of the weather, and wear a season... the winter of 2011/2012.



Sky Scarf from Leafcutter Designs on Vimeo.

L brings his whole self to the dance! I love a good dance party with him...

Sharing my desktop background

In an effort to create some organization on my laptop screen, I made myself a background that I can organize. I took a photo of the journal that I got in Paris, shaded it, and can collect the files that clutter my desk top on it. Plus a quote, just because my desktop images always seem to have quotes. 

I thought I would post it here to share! 

{10 Days Of Open Hearted Thanksgiving}

Today is 10 Days before Thanksgiving.

This year I am choosing to celebrate Thanksgiving in a different kind of way.

I have so much in my life that I am thankful for, and so I am choosing to celebrate the art of Giving Thanks, by passing on kindness that has been done for me.

This is an intentional act of practice: I am intending to move the ways that I am Thankful through my life and out into the world, in ways that can be experienced by others....  I feel so grateful for the many ways that I have been blessed in my life lately- kindness shown by my neighbors, gratitude for the health and well being of my father, I could go on and on...

In order to share this, I am going to make 10 acts of kindness in the 10 days before Thanksgiving. The first will be bringing coffee and a treat to the kiddo's teachers this afternoon at school pickup.

What will be next? I am looking forward to including the kids, and getting their input for some acts of kindness!

Here are the jpegs of the card that goes with the random acts of kindness. (I made some up, to kind of explain it, in case any of my kindness acts might be misinterpreted!)

 Feel free to use! I printed them out as wallet-sized photos to cut up. (One is singular, and I added one that is plural, for those working with their children. Thanks for pointing that out Tammy!) 

An interesting article

Here's an interesting article from today's New York Times.

I just wanted to have a place to book mark and share my virtual Sunday paper!

Fall Wilderness

John Muir had the right idea... spending some time outdoors today was clearing to my mind and soul.... the clear way right into my own inner universe.

Cooking apps- making cook books obsolete, and me drool over an ipad want.

Are apps making cookbooks obsolete?

An interesting article from the New York Times. Thinking about how we make and share food, and how after reading this, I have to agree... I will probably buy an occasional cookbook that has beautiful images... but for the most part I have been more 2.0 with my cookbooks for a while. I like to collect and share recipes digitally, (and in analog form too! Thank you church ladies who write our recipes!) and print out the really good ones to save if I need to. I use allrecipes.com a lot.

This article talks about how the newest cooking apps contain information embedded within a recipe- for those that need extra help with particular things... and the ability to flow over the places of following the recipe that a seasoned cook might not need the detail for....

Sweet.

I am drooling for an ipad all over again now....http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/11/09/dining/20111109-RECIPE.html?ref=dining#11

{Heart}

Baby G's birth, a photo by annamaren on Flickr.

A dear friend of mine had her baby yesterday. So much heart was in the room at the birth. It was such a beauty-filled and sacred birth... I was absolutely honored to be there and to support her.
Here she is with new Baby G and baby G's sibs, who were over the moon to greet their new sibling!!

Your day is about to get sweeter...

Murmuration- a beautiful video...

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Apple pie time of year.

Apple pie time of year., a photo by annamaren on Flickr.

About 7 years ago I printed author Joyce Maynard's pie recipe off the internet. I am not sure that she has it on her website still, but she has done some great writing about pie and the connection she feels to her mother through making her pie.

Here's a link to her writing about pie:
http://harlotssauce.com/guest-writer/2009/07/28/pie-by-joyce-maynard/

Here is her recipe:

Joyce Maynard's Pie.

Ingredients
3 pounds (6 to 7 large) apples (Granny Smith, Cortland, Empire, or McIntosh)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Crisco vegetable shortening
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon chilled butter , cut into pieces
1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water
2 tablespoons Minute tapioca
1 tablespoon milk or cream
1 tablespoon sugar
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Let stand, stirring occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, work in the shortening and 1 stick of butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the ice water over the flour mixture, stirring gently with a fork. Continue adding the water just until the dough holds together. Shape the dough into a ball and divide it into two discs, one slightly larger than the other.

Place the smaller disc on a sheet of waxed paper, and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, dust it lightly with more flour. Lay a 9- to 10-inch pie pan facedown on top of the circle; flip the pan over and remove the paper. For the crust, on a sheet of waxed paper, roll out the other disc to form a 14-inch circle. (An alternative method is to roll out each disc between two sheets of waxed paper.) Do not roll the dough more than necessary.

Sprinkle the tapioca on the bottom crust. Add the filling, mounding it in the center, and dot with 1 tablespoon butter. Lift the waxed paper with the remaining crust and flip it over the filling. Peel back waxed paper. Trim the edges of the crusts and pinch together the top and bottom crusts. Optional: Roll out the trimmings and cut into decorative shapes. Brush the pie with the milk, and arrange the shapes on the crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Poke fork holes or cut vents in the top crust. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

My favorite tree in Irvington

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/xmGBvYsde3Y/

I don't have a tv, but I still wanted to watch the halloween special with my kiddos before we carved pumpkins tonight! : )

Life Is Good

I just discovered that the apparel brand Life Is Good has their own radio station that streams live online!

Click here for Life Is Good radio!

Ahhhh

How to know you are human and you belong- Read.

Early Enrollment

Hero's Journey Foundation is beginning early enrollment for the 2012 season of Journeying. If you hear a the call to adventure, and are wondering how to answer, taking a Journey is certainly one wild way of saying YES.

Song for Autumn

by Mary Oliver

In the deep fall don't you imagine the leaves think how comfortable it will be to touch the earth instead of the nothingness of air and the endless freshets of wind?

And don't you think the trees themselves, especially those with mossy, warm caves, begin to think of the birds that will come - six, a dozen - to sleep inside their bodies?

And don't you hear the goldenrod whispering goodbye, the everlasting being crowned with the first tuffets of snow?

The pond vanishes, and the white field over which the fox runs so quickly brings out its blue shadows.

And the wind pumps its bellows.

And at evening especially, the piled firewood shifts a little, longing to be on its way.

Inner and the Outer

Some interesting reading for a Sunday evening

Relationship between the Inner and the Outer, beautifully written.

Elle Me Dit- Dance Dance Dance!!! Oh, how I love this song...

#OccupyYourLife

Go check out what my friend Neal wrote.
I find myself nodding along with what he is saying....

Occupy Wall Street is a great idea, born of much frustration, and perhaps anger and bitterness also. However, directing all of that energy toward something with drive behind it would be incredible! What could be done if all that frustration was channelled into something productive, instead of holding signs?

As Neal said "So put the sign down and start doing the real – and much harder – work of changing the world. #OccupyYourLife"

City of Light. 

After a week of love, connection and deep joy as we shared my little brother's wedding day with him, the kiddos and I are now spending some time in Paris. So beautiful here! 

Water

I don't have any images of the water I swam in this weekend. I didn't take any photos of my travels.

I just want to remember how it was to swim in such a huge lake like that... the warm early morning air... the feeling of just wanting water on my skin...(I thought for a moment, second guessing how cold I was going to be if I went skinny dipping without a towel, how I would have to sit and dry a little... who else would be around to see... )

But then.... how easy it was to simply take off my clothes and leave them on the steps that led to the dock... and then just slip into that beautiful lake and start swimming.

I swam out into the open water. Quick, strong strokes, keeping my head above water though, since I could feel how strong the current was, and how icy the water felt to my naked body... I didn't want to reach past my own ability to be out so far... I wanted to see how far out I was!

Then just floating... letting the current take me a little... then swimming into the current- feeling my freestyle stroke meet the resistance of the current... feeling the tiny waves take my floating self...

I felt so woken up and alive. It was cold, and I could feel that all over, but I knew that I was OK in the cold water, it was safe enough to be enlivening and not hypothermia inducing. I felt strong, and free.

I miss living near water I can swim in so much. I know that I need more of this in my life, more open water, more experiences like this to feel so connected with this particular element in this way.

I feel so grateful for the experience of this.

yes- love is a place... i stand here.

love is a place


& through this place

of 
love move


(with brightness of peace)


all places



yes is a world


& in this world of


yes live


(skillfully curled)
all worlds

-e.e.cummings

Sharing the writing of a friend

Here is another of Michael's blog posts around the Art of Self Reflection.

It's inexplicably good!

http://www.herosjourneyfoundation.org/blog/?p=512

Return

This was last Friday Night's pre-sunset at the Heros' Journey for Women. Streamers of light from behind a building rain cloud, mounting the ridge from the valley below. It made for a beautiful sunset, but this moment before the sunset was what made every woman on the deck stop what she was doing and take this in.

After a week of togetherness and deep mindfulness each of us was ready to simply stop our activity and action of preparing and eating our dinner, and take a moment to notice this beauty. Knowing that our taking this moment would not adversely affect anyone else, knowing that it was actually very important that each of us who wanted to take this beauty-pause be able to do so. It felt magical.

I want to keep pausing like that to take in moments of beauty. I want to let this photo remind me to do that.

Silence

Over the last few months, I have begun a practice to get more comfortable with silence.
Just being able to weave it in and out of my daily life, as I often do with music.... including it as a conscious part of  a day, rather than just what is left over when I don't have music playing.

Within the silence, I am finding quite a lot of sound! The appearance of crickets makes silence sound like summer, a joyful noise that celebrates the season.

Hafiz

All the Hemispheres

Leave the familiar for a while.

Let your senses and bodies stretch out

Like a welcomed season

Onto the meadows and shores and hills.

Open up to the Roof.

Make a new water-mark on your excitement

And love.

Like a blooming night flower,

Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness

And giving

Upon our intimate assembly.

Change rooms in your mind for a day.

All the hemispheres in existence

Lie beside an equator

In your heart.

Greet Yourself

In your thousand other forms

As you mount the hidden tide and travel

Back home.

All the hemispheres in heaven

Are sitting around a fire

Chatting

While stitching themselves together

Into the Great Circle inside of

You.

From: 'The Subject Tonight is Love'

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

The leaf has a song in it....

What Can I Say

 

What can I say that I have not said before? 

So I'll say it again. 

The leaf has a song in it. 

Stone is the face of patience. 

Inside the river there is an unfinishable story 

and you are somewhere in it 

and it will never end until all ends.

 

Take your busy heart to the art museum and the 

chamber of commerce 

but take it also to the forest. 

The song you heard singing in the leaf when you 

were a child 

is singing still. 

I am of years lived, so far, seventy-four, 

and the leaf is singing still.

 

~ Mary Oliver ~

 

(Swan)

 

Story Water

[STORY WATER]

-Rumi
A story is like water
that you heat for your bath.

It takes messages between the fire
and your skin. It lets them meet,
and it cleans you!

Very few can sit down
in the middle of the fire itself
like a salamander or Abraham.
We need intermediaries.

A feeling of fullness comes,
but usually it takes some bread
to bring it.

Beauty surrounds us,
but usually we need to be walking
in a garden to know it.

The body itself is a screen
to shield and partially reveal
the light that's blazing
inside your presence.

Water, stories, the body,
all the things we do, are mediums
that hide and show what's hidden.

Study them,
and enjoy this being washed
with a secret we sometimes know,
and then not.

A thought with the coffee...

New post from Michael

Here's my friend Michael's thoughts on deep listening, a summery reflection of presence of self to another, and self to oneself.

http://www.herosjourneyfoundation.org/blog/?p=487

Fluent- By John O'Donohue

I would love to live / Like a river flows / Carried by the surprise / Of its own unfolding. 

Thoughts from a friend- Michael's blog post about The Art of Listening Deeply

http://www.herosjourneyfoundation.org/blog/?p=474

Here is the art of listening deeply- how to listen to another, and how to listen to self.

"When I reflect on the fact of whether or not I know that I am loved, I cannot undertake that possibility without coming to the rather definitive conclusion that being loved feels much like being listened to, deeply.

When I speak something of personal meaning or significance to another, particularly as I feel my own personal nature or feeling being revealed to another, I feel exposed. I am vulnerable as myself, being revealed. It is in these moments that I am immediately aware of how it feels when the other can hear what it is I am saying. It is the distinctive feeling of being received; it is like the other can take a sip from the cup from which I have been drinking."

Running

For the longest time I said that I wouldn't be a runner.

(My left knee still sometimes talks to me in the language of a previous injury. My right knee compensates and translates!)

So, I said that I wouldn't run unless something (like a bear) was chasing me. I have many friends who run, and I confidently kept saying that running wasn't going to be my thing. Ever.

Only 2 weeks ago suddenly I had an urge to run... I went with it, laced my shoes and ran out the door. I have been running regularly ever since. I realized that running *toward* the idea of better health and well being in my life is a better thing than running *away* from things. Like bears. Or the idea that I don't have time for my own well being.

I am running with an awesome app that helps me track my pace, my mileage and when to take a break. Also running with this awesome music that Jim shared with me.
http://illegal-art.net/allday/
(Parts of it are just nasty, but it keeps me moving! )

Create yourself

Here's a quote that speaks to me, as I am entering into a 10 day retreat period where I am making conscious choices about how I want to live out my life. I am mindfully creating a life that I would want to live,  exploring the things I need to create well-being in my life. Health, well-being,  work, play/creativity, relationship, personal growth, personal learning. 

I have felt so liminal in the last past 6 months, and it's time to step into some life changes that feel solid. Creating them with mindful conscious small steps. 

If you want a free print-out of this awesome Carl Jung quote, 

click here to visit Heather Carson's great site!

Blooming in my garden today.... Purple poppy from NewZealand....

Fuzzy Love

A dear friend is in a hard place. She needs some softness. I could use the meditation that knitting is for me... so I will cast on some softness to share with her. My kiddos helped pick the colors... they gravitated toward this wall of fun!

A while ago I wrote a blog.

A while ago I wrote a blog. A homeschooling blog. It was a good blog for the time in my life when it served... when I was living homeschooling as a creative and thriving way of being in the world.

Now I am in a process of shift. My process became internal, and I stopped blogging as it became harder to share.

This is a blog for me now.

The Art of Self Reflection- thoughts from a friend.

http://www.herosjourneyfoundation.org/blog/?p=404

Last week Michael offered an opportunity to reflect on what love really is. An interesting thought and reflection on a quote from Father Anthony do Mello. How is it that we can really see, witness another as he/she truly is? And then-to love that, not what we project?

Heart-opening questions for reflection.