Category Archives: Uncategorized

Be Not Afraid

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Be not afraid.

I go before you, always.

Come follow me.

And I will give you rest.

  
Those are a few of the words from one of my favorite Christian songs that bring back so many great memories.

When the Parisians were stuck at the stadium and were attempting to exit, they began to sing the French national anthem. They sang to unify and comfort one another and to connect and to be stronger than their attackers. They did not give into fear.

There is evil surrounding us, not only in Paris, Beirut, Syria, but  around the world and it is up to us to fight and band together against evil. We are connected through our humanity and we need to practice our courage and love, every day.

One love.

One truth. 

Have courage to be loving, BeLoveRs. Stand up to hate.

Share the love. 

Liberté, égalité, fraternité .

nAMaste

Hope in Humanity

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Source: @jean_jullien

Paris, you’ve been hurt and are in pain. Yet the love of humanity surrounds you. Your people are opening their doors to help one another. Hold on to hope. 

This is the best of our lives. We love one another and rise up together, supporting each other and our light shines in the darkness, across the world. We lift you up and are so sorry that such evil has been inflicted upon you. 

We will hold on to hope.

We will hold on to love.

We will hold on to each other.

We will fight evil and ISIS and terror every step of the way.

We will never surrender to hell and evil. 

Love wins, always, as it is the greater force.

We will love ourselves and love those who are different than us. This is how we will shape our world. We will teach our kids kindness and compassion and love.

One love.

Love you. Love me. 

Love us.

nAMaste BeLoveRs. 

  

Happy Veteran’s Day 2015

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Today is Veteran’s Day and we all took the day off to remember what this day means to Americans. This year we visited Santa Clara University, where they conducted a brief program, wreath laying, and had a special celebration to mark the 240th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.

My take away from listening to one of the service men, was that the people who choose to serve in the military, choose to serve others. They choose to sacrifice and give up their comforts and freedom to protect our American values and to represent us and to keep us safe. They go off to Afghanistan and Iraq and other places to fight evil and to protect our freedoms. They give of themselves to give to us. Isn’t this an amazing concept?  What are we doing to serve others? We need to continue thinking about what we can do to create a better world vs. thinking about what’s in it for me?  We get to shape and live our American values through our choices.

Tonight at our children’s gathering at church, the kids and kid leaders worked together to fill over 140 lunch bags with healthy food items and love notes and rain ponchos to give out to others who might be less fortunate.



We are living our values. We are loving each other. We are making a difference, one tiny step at a time. Each child took home 1 to 3 bags so that they could give them out to people they meet in the community who may need loving and comfort. They are learning American values to take care of the less fortunate and to be giving. I am so proud.

So many people fight over religion or race or the color of Starbucks cups, but let’s remember that we get to choose because we are free. We can make the world a better place with one bag, one hug, one smile, one tour, one love. You have power. Use it wisely. Love yourself and love others – love is the great equalizer.

nAMaste and thank you, veterans for your service and for churches who bring people together to serve others.

My Yoga Practice

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I love going to yoga and am always so thankful after my practice.

My body needs to stretch and move and exercise and relax.

My mind needs the calmness and centeredness that yoga delivers.

I love my yoga teacher and seeing my friends in class, by my side.  I feel connected.

I love the feeling of completion and accomplishment at the end and I always look forward to going back again.

Yoga is my thing.  What is your thing?  What grounds you? What do you love to do?

nAMaste

Teetering

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I tend to share the ups on the teeter-totter of life. 

I thought I’d share a teetering moment as I try to find my balance again. 

I am transitioning from a stay at home mom to a part time working mom and I don’t have it quite figured out yet. 

I am trying to let go of some of the expectations from my previous path  as I journey on down this new road and it’s a bit bumpy, as I want to do it all. 

I think there is always chaos in the transition and once I master the steps, it’ll seem easy again. But right now I feel the stress and it’s ok, it just is and I have two pimples on my face as proof. 

I’ve decided my priorities are:

1. My family. I want to cook and to pick kids up from school and drive them where they need to go. I want to be present when they are home and be able to listen and share stories together while we can.

  
2. Exercise. I have to exercise for my sanity. It’s a requirement that’s not negotiable and I keep forgetting this. Today I remembered and it felt so good, especially on a Monday.

  
3. My work. I’m excited about my new job and creating something new and being part of a great team. I like using my brain and like that I’m actually making money again, after 15 years of volunteering.

4. My clean house. I need order and chaos under control in my outer environment to maintain my inner sanity. This is teetering today but I’ll get it back in order before I go to bed. 

5. My girlfriends. I need them. They are my emotional support and I love sharing our stories together. 

6. My volunteer commitments. I still love giving back to my community and this one is a little bit harder now. Today I let go of one of my commitments and it did not feel good. I can’t continue in the role I had and work too, at least not right now. I’m ok with the decision now, but in the moment I struggled.

7. My writing. I’m still enjoying this outlet and love that so many of you find a connection with me and share your ideas and comments. I may try writing at different times of the day and maybe skipping a day or two, to let go of the pressure and expectation to produce new content daily. We’ll see. I’m not ready to change this process just yet, but I don’t want to teeter too long. 

I like balance, amidst the yin and the yang.

How about you? Are you feeling centered or are you teetering too?  Are there things you need to change and burdens you need to let go to find your core again?  Change is good. Embrace it and enjoy the ride.

  
xoxo thanks for reading xoxo

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

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It was raining this afternoon and it seemed like so many people decided to get out to the mall. The lines to find a parking spot were long and it was challenging to secure a spot.  It gave me a feeling of what’s to come.  

Are you ready?

I’d like to get my family to boycot presents and to have a shared experience instead. Do you think it’s possible to change tradition? Hmmm…

Merry Christmas Spirit to You, BeLoveRs!!

xo

Walking Date

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Jeff and I decided to walk to our downtown farmer’s market this morning.  

  
Surprisingly, all three kids decided to join us. Walking together reminded me of the times we walked together through Amsterdam and I was thankful they were all with me. It felt weird walking a mile and a half through residential streets when most people are not out walking. We don’t live in a walking kind of town, but it felt good to be an outlier.

I loved walking and people watching and tasting fresh fruits and cheeses.  We liked seeing all the vendors, fruits and veggies displays, and listening to the music performers. 

   
 
I loved the lighting on the veggies.

Each of us chose something for brunch and we found a table where we could sit together and share a family potluck meal, even sharing utensils.  It felt like we were camping. The crazy thing was that both Jeff and I felt the same way and we both said the exact same expression simultaneously. This was so eerily weird and cool at the same time.

While walking back home, we stopped in to see our friends and shared a cup of coffee.  I love that this was even a possibility.

   
 These are the best days, simple and sweet.

 
Life is good, outdoors.

Cozyness of Home

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It’s been a very busy and stressful week and it’s Friday night.  I am happy to just be home, with everyone home too by 7:30 pm and no where to go and no one to pick up and nothing left to do. We can take comfort in this simple fact. This is just like what Melissa says to us at the end of our yoga practice and I love the feeling of being done and resting.

  
Our week is complete and now we get to take comfort and rest and enjoy the week-end. Best night ever.

I wish the same to you.

nAMaste

Courting

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Have you ever thought about courting in terms of friendships and platonic relationships?

Courting means to pay special attention to (someone) in an attempt to win their support or favor.  Typically courting is used when trying to pick a mate to marry. But what about when you think of the friendships and relationships you wish to create? Is there an element of courting involved? I think so.

Friendships take time and investments of self. It takes two interested parties who choose to engage equally or near equally with each other to build a connection. I love connections and so this topic is very interesting to me and I’m surprised I never really thought of dating my friends or family or husband this way. Hmmm… learn something new everyday.

I realized that I am not typically the one to initiate the courting process with friends. I usually wait to be invited or asked out and typically am not the initiator.  How about in your friendships? Are you the planner and organizer? I always love when someone else does the planning and inviting, but now I think I should be the one who holds court more often. It feels good to reach out to others and to be the first one to say, “hi, how are you? what are you doing? wanna meet for coffee?”

I tend to let busyness fill my time and when busyness becomes still, I relish in the stillness and don’t feel the need to reach out and court someone. That sounds funny, but it’s true.

Today, I decided to reach out and connect first and loved it. I loved when I had a few moments, that I decided to text a couple of my BFFs to see how they were shining today. 😉 It’s the giving part that creates happiness, that I forget. I have to be better at this courtship thing, because I think it works, and I’m definitely interested in my friends’ lives and strengthening our bonds.

I have a courtship that I maintain with my mama and sisters almost everyday. I’m never too busy to listen and to share and to connect with them. They are part of my inner circle and it takes time to invest in them and to strengthen our bonds.. It’s so worth it.

Does this make any sense to you?

Here’s to making the time to court our friends and spreading love and joy.

nAMaste, BeLoveRs

xoxo