Recycling Magic

On Wednesdays and Saturdays one of the best places to hang out on the little island of Gabriola that I call home, is commonly known as “GIRO” – The Gabriola Island Recycling Centre.

Think "Field of Dreams" and that's pretty much how GIRO started. They built it, people did come, and still turn up in droves weekly at the social hub of the island (we're still holding out for a cappuccino bar there!) Unwanted items are dropped off and turned around right away to go out again. The goal is to manage not to fill your vehicle up with as much as you dropped off! Hard to do when great bargains prevail.

There's everything you could want for the garden or home, books, movies, furniture (dogs not included) and great clothing for $ 1.00/piece. 

"GIRO MAGIC" is a term that has existed here on Gabriola for quite some time. Ask any regular. They learned and applied the concept of manifestation long before "The Secret" and other self-help gurus even thought about it. I could write an entire book on some of the “great find” stories that people love to share.

It's all a matter of knowing what you want, and putting it out there beforehand. Time and time again, someone's working on a project, needs something or other, heads off to GIRO knowing they are bound to find it. Et voila! They do! Exactly what they are looking for.

It's all in the timing. Forget finding something before you need it. Ain't gonna happen. But when you do need it, and you ask for it, it'll be there.... waiting for you...

As we tend to say here on Gabriola: May the GIRO (recycling) force be with you ~

Everything happens for a reason...

Most of us believe that everything happens for a reason. We may not know what that reason is, and we may not see the reason at this point in time, but we still follow that basic belief. At least we say we do.

We also say that we believe that everything happens when it is supposed to. Again, we may not know the reason behind the timing, but we trust that the timing is right. Or at least we say we do.

So if everything happens for a reason, and everything happens when it’s supposed to, then it follows that where we are at this point in time in our lives, and what is happening (or not happening) to us is EXACTLY what is supposed to be. And when we do something (or do not do something) is EXACTLY when it is supposed to be. If we follow that way of thinking then it means that we can't really get to say things like: “I should have left the job, relationship, city… years ago” or “I should have made my decision a long time ago.”

You are doing exactly what you are meant to be doing, at this exact moment. You may not like it, you most certainly don’t have to like it, but it is this dissatisfaction that will spur you on to the next, exact moment.

This applies also to others. If we believe that everything happens for a reason, and we believe that everything happens when it’s supposed to, then we have to, by default, let go of judgement of others. We need to let go of saying things like “He’s just not there yet” or “She’s in denial” – He is exactly where he’s supposed to be. We may not like it but it’s his right to be there, and it is right for him. She also is exactly where she is supposed to be, for her.

It's about being consistent. Think about it.
Because you can’t have it both ways!

Find your own Way

One of the most reassuring quotes I have ever encountered are from the immortal words of Tolkein: “Not all who wander are lost…” and tonight, one of the last songs in a fairly innocuous little movie that sparked off a whole other way of thinking for me (which I’ve written about on my Life… Writing… Art blog http://byshena.blogspot.com/2011/01/sowing-seeds-for-new-year.html) was a song by James Morrison called “Undiscovered.” I confess that I did not actually listen to all the words of the song, but one line stayed with me, and that is “I’m not lost, I’m just trying to discover…”

We are sometimes so harsh on ourselves, expecting far too much, to always know where we are going, what we are doing, and why we are doing it. I had decided a few days ago that my main resolution for the upcoming year was to have an adventure each day. It didn’t have to be a big one, it could be a teeny, tiny one. I didn’t have to physically travel, it could be a little foray into a book, exploring an art form or even meandering through a thought. But I would venture forth each day, somewhere…

Joseph Campbell wrote: “If there was already a path it would have to someone else’s; the whole point is to find your own way.”

My wish to you this coming year is exactly that: WANDER ~ DISCOVER ~ AND FIND YOUR OWN WAY!

Happy New Year – and have fun getting lost!

The Dance of Life

When I was five, my Grandpa fell ill. I remember being dressed up in my ballet clothes and told to dance for him, so it would make him better. He died not long afterwards. I went on to train professionally as a Ballet dancer, there was nothing else in the world I could conceive of doing. I worked insanely for a couple of years, was accepted into the London College of Dance and Drama, but had to give it all up when I contracted an extreme case of Mononucleosis. In my mid-forties I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia, which studies now show can stem from unresolved Mono.

Seeking refuge for my health, I moved to Gabriola Island in the fall of 2004. In the quiet of winter I finally heard what my body had been desperately trying to tell me for a very long while ~
to take care of myself and to allow myself to heal. I knew inherently that would happen through creativity. Too tired to write, or paint, and not well enough at that time to work as an Intuitive, I returned to my one constant throughout the years…fabric art.

I began to make a figure from an old top made from stretch velour, and stuffing it with the contents of a plush toy. I started to embroider on the figure, no clear design in mind, simply following the needle. I added beads in the same way, improvising as I went along, letting images unfold. A joyous figure emerged. She remains today, still unfinished, much like her maker.

Different shapes came to me. I would barely complete one before another would ask to be born, As the figures began to emerge, each and every one of them was dancing…

My landlady dropped by one day and raved over the figures, ordering two immediately: "You should put these in Artworks for sale!" I hugely resisted. Hadn't I given enough of myself? This was for me, for my own healing. I needed to take care of myself now. Yet I kept making these dancing figures. I'd sit up in bed or on the sofa and meditatively keep on stitching… Soon there were over forty of them in various stages of being.

One evening I was talking to a wise and dear friend back in Calgary, who is also an incredible Intuitive. This is what she said: "Every stitch that you make in these figures will help you to heal, and each and every one of these figures that go out to others will carry healing for them. You don't have to do anything. Just keep taking care of yourself. The rest will be taken care of." I had been devastated that I was not able to do my intuitive work for the time being, and yet, somehow, the work was still being done through me.

Caught up in this dance was the spirit of friends and strangers alike ~ clothing was kept aside at our local recycling store, friends from near and far sent packages of threads, beads, charms, and yarn scraps, neighbours unearthed old earrings, my mother sent broken jewellery pieces collected from her charity shop in Ireland, people at get-togethers raided their closets, and a wonderful graphic artist friend designed my labels.

Everything I used was either recycled or donated…

For over three years I made these figures. At first they were soft and gentle, and occasionally a message would come to me as I stitched them. "Heart wide open, she danced into another day" was one.

Dancing in the waves, she knew the tide had turned" another. These messages were pertinent to the design that was emerging on the figure, but not so much as to the person who finally bought the doll.

It has been a few years now since I made the last dancing spirit. I still have some in various stages of incompletion. I don't know if I will make them again. What I do know is that they helped me heal in countless ways. And I know they took with them something I may not ever be able to explain or understand, but was honoured and cherished by those who received them.

Inside each and every one of us

there is a

Wild Spirit...Dancing

Don't ever be afraid to begin again.

Me? I love new beginnings! Maybe not all of them but a New Year, a new book to read, a new journal to write in, a new day timer or calendar. It speaks of second chances, new opportunities, untold possibilities…
So how come we sometimes also get that uncomfortable feeling that to begin all over again is slightly tainted with failure, especially when it involves relationships, friendships or other major changes in our lifestyles or career choices? Is it because society still expects us to make a choice in the major areas of our lives, somehow miraculously staying on course for the remainder? All very well and good, but apparently a lot of times life hadn't read the same rule book, and change we must.

As last year slowly wound down, I found myself re-reading a gem of a book entitled "Morning, Noon and Night" by Judy Collins. As is often the case, I gained further wisdom and insight from this talented and thoroughly authentic lady, a second time around. This particular passage truly struck gold for me:

"Starting again can give you a new focus and a new purpose. Beginning again is usually the next right thing, the next step in your journey, with a new view and the new excitement and new challenges. You will be up to it. You only need to start."

Doing good... just because

I'm not that big on karma when it pertains to doing something good so you'll get something good back. It's a little too close for my liking to the concept of being good just so that you get to go to heaven. It's often said: "what goes around, comes around" and "what you give out, you give back."

I have to add an addendum to that: ONLY IF YOU DON'T DO SOMETHING WITH THAT SPECIFICALLY IN MIND! In my experience it is the things that we do from our own truth of who we are, and from our own hearts, with absolutely no intent of anything other than doing something good because it is … quite simply… a good thing to do.

Many years ago in one of my lifetimes in this lifetime, I taught basketry in Calgary, Alberta. Let me tell you, at that time if you could made a success as a basketry business there, you could make it anywhere doing almost anything! To what do I owe that success? I can attribute the better part of 85% of my business to one small thing I did the very first weekend I demonstrated basket weaving.
I had been allocated a young girl for the weekend as my helper. On the last evening we caught the tram together down to the parking lot where she was going to wait for her mother. It was cold and dark, and starting to snow. I offered to let her sit in my car, but, being well trained, she politely refused. So instead, even though I knew it was safe there, and I was longing to get home, I stayed and kept her company until her mother arrived, who was naturally very grateful.

What I had no way of knowing, was that her mother was the organizer of the whole weekend. Not only that, she was the commissioner for girl guides for the entire Calgary region. I lost count of the basketry badge workshops that I did for brownie, girl guide and older girl troupes, guide leader workshops, quilting groups, events this person recommended me for… the list is endless. No amount of marketing I have ever done for anything brought me as much business as this one lady. Just because it wasn't in me to leave a little girl alone in a dark, cold parking lot for fifteen minutes.
Recently something happened to remind me of this again. If you are interested in the whole story go to http://www.youcanbethedifference.blogspot.com/ March 1, 2010 entry –once again I acted spontaneously from the core of who I am, writing quite an emotional thank-you letter in response to something I felt strongly about. And through no planning or scheming on my behalf, the story of my letter has gone across Canada, and even further afield. I have no way of knowing how where this is going to lead, but as an Intuitive, once I saw how things were evolving, I know that good will come from this. Will it be for me? Who knows? And anyway, does that really matter?
What matters is the good. My gift is the wonderful reminder that if I always stay true to myself in every situation, and speak my truth from my heart, good things simply happen.

Taking a different look at Self-Esteem

I came across a phrase in an email recently that I thought deserved a closer look.

"Usually we have low self-esteem when we believe we should be different from who we truly are. So we feel "wrong."

The topic of self-esteem has been extensively explored in books, workshops, and therapy. The definition of self-esteem is: "a good opinion of one's own character and abilities." And yet unless an adjective like "excellent" is attached in front of the word "self-esteem" it always seems to come through as a negative trait. Often the word is used in an accusatory fashion. "You need to work on your self-esteem" or "you obviously have an issue with self-esteem" we're told.

So what if instead we looked at the whole issue of self-esteem in a completely different light? What if we were willing to approach our self-esteem in a far gentler, kinder way? What if when we are labeled with self-esteem issues it is simply a matter that we have temporarily lost sight of our true self. And, in the eyes of others, and ourselves, we appear less.
And that all we really need to do is acknowledge this momentary lapse, quietly take a moment to take a deep breath, and reconnect with who we truly are.

Bearing witness to Haiti

There is such a sense of powerless when tragedy strikes, especially one of humongous proportion as the recent earthquake in Haiti. We wonder what we can do as the images haunt us and we try to imagine the unbelievable: of losing everything we own and facing a daunting and uncertain future while still not even beginning to comprehend the loss of our loved ones. Surrounded by death and disease, no food or water and little or no help a week after the earthquake first struck, despite what the mass media reports.

I remember after my father died the thing that struck me the most was that after most people's initial shock and reaction wore off, their lives continued. I simply could not comprehend how life could… well… just go on… People went on with their lives as if nothing had happened.

Didn't they know someone had died? Didn't they care? Of course they did. I knew it was my pain talking, but since that time I have made a point of acknowledging any tragedy by lighting candles for those who have died or are in peril.

I was taught to "pray" by simply offering up my thoughts and energy to whoever or whatever I believe created me; and that in turn, these good thoughts could be used where they were most needed.

I have made it my business to follow reliable news sources, which are generally not the mass media, for the duration. Somehow by following what is really going on, either by reading or listening to reliable reports and looking at pictures, is some small way of bearing witness to what has occurred, and is still going on. I may not personally be in any position to help those in trouble, but I don't have to pretend that it isn't happening. In that way at least I am paying my respects. In such a way, maybe, a small amount of my energy is passed on to those who desperately need it.

Light a candle, say a prayer, be willing to bear witness. Seek out the truth of what is really happening in Haiti. Please don't let these people be forsaken.

Tides of Life

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart..."

Rainer Maria Rilke

Letter to a Young Poet.

Years ago someone observed that quite often, women, when asked the question: "What does the tide do?" reply: "It comes in!" Men, on the other hand, generally reply: The tide goes in and out." As always with generalizations a lot of people tend to disagree, but given some quiet introspection many women have admitted that indeed, we are seldom comfortable with the times in our lives when the tide is definitely on its way out, and at best, we barely tolerate it.

Even harder to bear are the times in our lives when the tide seems to be neither coming nor going, when life itself seems to have come to a halt. When nothing appears to be happening, nothing is moving. We are impatient, we fret that things are not going as planned... that something is blocking our way... we were so sure we were on the right track...

Tides of Life I

Yet it is when it appears that absolutely nothing is happening, that everything is. It's in that time when everything seems to have stopped, that the most is going on. Could it be that it is the unforseen forces in our lives that are at work? As is, almost it seems, that same force is getting its ducks in a row? And once everything is in place, things can then unfold?

Tides of Life II

May we learn to love the pauses in our lives. It might be nature's way of reminding us to take a breath, letting us catch up with ourselves, rest awhile... and be ready to welcome the treasure that the incoming tide is bound to bring us.

Journalling to My Self - Part I

"This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."
William Shakespeare

To thine own self be true. If only it were that easy. Most of us ... after many years of questionable upbringing, sibling rivalry, an education system that seemed bent on knocking the stuffing out, and a society where everything, even the pain we suffer, is measured ... are still striving for a perfection that seems forever just beyond our reach.
So we talk to our friends and we buy self help books (occasionally reading them), go to workshops, see a therapist, do some counselling, visit psychics and commune with whoever we pick for our higher power, desperately trying to be better, to grow, to become healthy, balanced, grounded or whatever the term is at any given moment. I can admit to all of the above, and a lot more besides, over the years. Approaching that magical age of 40 I got to thinking.

I create... We all create. I won't get into the intimate details, but as either man or woman we have the ability to create a child - and it don't get much more creative than that! And whether I build a bookcase, write a book, set the table, prepare supper, I create the best bookcase, manuscript, dinner table, meal, that I can.
I was created... (and I'm going to keep this so non-denominational, it's not true) ... Whoever, Whatever, However ... I was created. Somehow I don't think that He, She, It said: "I know, I think I'll make a really lousy Shena today!" I believe that what was said was: "I think I'll make the best possible Shena that I can."
Meanwhile here I was trying to be better, improve, change, grow, ground myself, you name it. Wasn't that like someone bringing me over a nice dish for supper that they had created, and I blithely add spices, whip up a sauce, or sautee it in brandy ... without even tasting it first?
How insulting! It occurred to me that maybe all I really had to do was to stop trying so hard to be perfect and just be who I was created to be ~ my self.
Which is where this all began, being true to my self ...

Journalling to My Self - Part II

Now in no way am I demeaning therapy, friends, counselling, psychics, books, workshops or anything else that we can try. All of the above have helped me enormously and besides, I actually now do most of the above, for myself and with others.
But the single most thing that has been with me day in, day out, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and joy, in quiet moments and in celebration, in the depths of despair and the heights of the awesomeness of life, is my journal. You see, there's a special relationship between me and my journal that has yet to be found elsewhere. Think about it: a journal doesn't disagree with you, doesn't argue back, doesn't criticize, is always there, and best of all, LISTENS. It’s a safe place to scream, to be silly, vent, explore feelings and beliefs that I might not just yet feel comfortable sharing with others. Mine goes EVERYWHERE with me. I am totally indiscriminate about what I put in it. My days, my thoughts, great quotes that inspire me, recipes, photos, the fortune cookie message from last night's dinner that was unbelievably meaningful. Notes on a book I'm working through, a class I am taking. Cards, I keep copies of letters I have written to other people. Stuff I don't know where to put but don't want to part with. I have no rules. I buy sturdy, ring bound, inexpensive notebooks with a pocket inside the front cover, and decorate it, making it mine. I make sure I have an abundant supply of pens I like to write with, one permanently clasped inside the rings. I do have some really beautiful journals that I have purchased in a weak moment (they were on sale) and a couple that friends have given me, but I am afraid they lay abandoned on my bookcase. It's really hard to make a mistake in a lovely book, it's even harder to be nasty and I absolutely cannot, for the life of me, swear on ivory colored paper. I just can't. And I'm not saying you have to swear, but sometimes writing an entire page of the rudest word you can think of is very cathartic. Doesn't happen on ivory paper, trust me.

Journalling to My Self - Part III

I have no special time to write, no particular topics, and especially no set amount a day. This is my best friend remember. Unconditional love on both sides. And because I get to be really who I am, it becomes a joy to visit, a treat to pick up and write a little, and yes, a huge comfort at three o'clock in the morning when I feel very, very alone and the dog is snoring soundly in my ear. My journal is my friend, my confidante. I have always been able to see things more clearly when I am writing them down. It calms me, and helps me to feel all the things that I'm trying not to feel. I don't seem to be able to fool myself when I write. It helps me see myself differently. My journal is my reflection, a mirror to the inner part of me. When I look back over the pages at a later time I can relive the good, positive feelings I had about myself, I can actually see the changes that are coming about, and sometimes, just sometimes, I catch a glimpse of the wonderful person within. Why journalling? Because however honest I like to think I am, to a certain extent I can still B.S. my way through or out of most things. Especially when it involves my own stuff. When I write, it's really, really hard to lie. And when I do, I know full well what I'm doing. And word by word, journal by journal, I find that I am becoming more true ... to my self.
©2000 Shena Meadowcroft