Fiery leaves gather around the base of our two Blaze Maple trees. Most will form a winter’s blanket over gnarly roots. But two handfuls of leaves will be part of this afternoon’s workshop, Schmoozing Your Muse. Once gathered, I carry them into the kitchen where they’re carefully washed before I head out. Workshop participants, a […]

My garden won’t be hurried. She steadfastly makes her seasonal changes. Summer’s exuberant growth is now giving way to autumn’s bright colors. She’s unfolding. Watching her natural rhythms make me question my own. What guides my changes? Am I moving with inner guidance or racing ahead to finish my “to do” list? When I am

Snip. Snip. Snip. Black spotted rose leaves fall into my hand to be tossed into the bin of yard waste. Gathering flowers and tidying the house and garden as I prepare for my friend Robin’s visit reminds me of my mother. Few were the times she would scurry with such delight. Yes, family celebrations and

“Jump! Jump!” Screams reach my ears and the shaking in my legs gets worse. I want to back up and crawl off the high dive board. But an impatient crowd of bathing suit clad divers stands in my way. I close my eyes and fall into the gapping maw of the pool. This childhood memory

Seeing an Old Story through New Eyes by Guest Blogger Katie O’Connell My mother died 34 years ago. I was 14. Nothing prepared me for the depth of that loss. In my teenaged mind I believed I was almost an adult. In truth, I was a lost child wearing an adult façade, too frightened and

Loving the Ragged and the Beautiful By Guest Blogger Beverly Menninger Tonight I stand outside mom’s room as she is dying. I observe from some other place. It feels surreal. Time stands still. She is dying the way she imagined she would. Physically she reached the place she feared most. As a soul I see

Egos get a bad rap. Most certainly it’s my ego that urges me to do a reading in the iconic Paris bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. Mingling my words with legendary authors was my goal. Then I will feel like a “real author.” Thwarted attempts to read inside the bookshop leads to my “Occupy Shakespeare and

Resolutions were something I kept to myself. The 5 pounds I was going to lose by March, the money I was going to save and my pledge to work out five days a week were secretly held. Resolve was often strong in early January. By month’s end frequent snacking returned, purchases robbed the piggy bank

Yogi brand teabag tags have wonderful little sayings. I love discovering them as I drop a teabag into a waiting cup of hot water. They are cosmic communications from the great beyond — fortune cookie messages for the soul. Today at the Unfolding retreat I read one and have a different response. Maybe because hesitance in claiming