a Place Called HOME

  Life doesn't add up it OPENS up! ~Mark Nepo My husband and I share a belief about relationships; be a well, not a fence. Imagine a horse in a corral where the boundaries are clearly delineated. It is unable to run to its full potential; always stopped by the parameters setup by the rancher. Whereas a wild horse can run free and knows where to go for hydration.  In a relationship, any relationship[self, others, God], much the same thing can happen. Expectations and judgements and opinions all work to create a limited space within the relationship, thereby limiting its potential. When we carry expectations or get disappointed because of an action or an opinion, we close down that relationship and make it smaller. You may decide to stop engaging that person in outings or conversations or even on social media.  However, when you stay open, you are a well! The ability to set your ego aside, create a space for understanding, then provide an opportunity for communication that creates c

In ALL that I do, may I be a channel for Your Light to shine through In the past few years I have been gifted with a slow and steady removal from the traditional workforce. The days of punching a clock, scurrying from one meeting to the next, and being on constant call are behind me. It was exhausting! Running at someone else's pace and responsible for someone else's agenda pulled me far away from my center. I was too tired to even look inside to know who I wanted to be and how I wanted my Light to shine in this world.  It takes courage and discipline to silence the noise of the world so that we can really listen to what matters. Courage means cutting through the chatter; even after you've found some time or space for yourself - are your thoughts/feelings your own? Or those of an ingrained pattern from reacting to the world around you? Unprecedented worry, unprecedented depression, unprecedented emptiness are there because we try to fill up on the "empty carbs" of

Yellow Blazes mark the direction on the National Ice Age Trail here in Wisconsin. I've walked many segments of the trail, volunteer to field edit the trail, and have a "home" trail segment near Holy Hill that I walk frequently with my dog.  When I took the picture the word MANTEL kept coming to me.  Since movement opens me to inspiration, I allowed the word to enter though it didn't really make sense or seem to fit.   A mantel is where we place our most loved pictures of family & friends and seasonal decorations that make us feel at home. The hearth warms the house and makes it a home. It is the center; the heart of our gatherings. Consider the direction we each take in our lives. What informs that direction? How is our life impacted by that direction? And truly, there is no wrong direction because the markers, the Yellow Blazes, lead in all directions. During this season of fall, it's not about LETTING GO of what no longer serves us but rather LEANING INTO wh