A message for us all- Day 29

Love it, my friend Arlys sent me this meassage she recieved today from one of her daily Universe subscriptions. I thought it was totally relevant to ALL of us and will share it here, my give for today. And a reminder that the Universe is always willing to give, or if you wish to word it otherwise, God is always willing to give. And for that I am so grateful....

I've got a feeling, that 2010 is going to be your kind of year. That you'll be happier than you've ever been, laughing harder, smiling wider, standing taller, walking lighter, dancing crazier, hugging longer, living grander, loving louder, and if you want, selling the pictures to a tabloid to raise money for your new charity.

Can you feel it, too?
The Universe

A Beautiful disaster- Day 24

I love giving! Though I have a few different gifts I am giving this year, one in particular gave me some trouble. I found some beautiful individual ceramic mini-loaves and decided to make gingerbread and give them out. Unfortunately on my first time out I filled the loaf pans a bit too full and ended up with a disaster in the oven.


No worries, we don't always get it right on the first try. And I did get it right the second time through. Merry Christmas and love and blessings to you in 2010!




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Reciprocity/ you give and you receive- Day 9

Believe in your dream!

I know I touched on this already but I must reiterate, only because I want to be clear, and I want you to be clear, that what you give out comes back. Not only does it come back, it doubles, triples, quadruples, what have you. When you live your life from your soul's dream you can't help but have beauty, it manifests itself, without any effort at all.

As an example, think of all the times you have tried to "force" something to happen. You wanted it, you pushed for it, but you didn't believe it could miraculously happen and so you went about MAKING it happen no matter what. And what? What did you get? Were you really happy with a forced result? The things we most admire in our life, the times we look back on, are the ones that we enjoyed in the moment, the seconds we spent in the "zone", living, loving, being. It didn't require effort, it didn't require exertion, we just WERE.

I imagine this is how my cousin, Catherine feels when she is knitting hats for the homeless, I am sure in fact that the hours spent knitting pass by her, and the hats seem to knit themselves. I am so inspired by this and I KNOW knitting is not my forte, but I am inspired to do what I love and allow it be effortless. In what ways can I give effortlessly, and have it be a work of art for others?

In answer to that not so rhetorical question I say, my window boxes are not an offering to the homeless, however, it feels so good to dress my house for the season and share with others, driving by, how in love I am with this time of year. I proudly share my weekend work in the above pic, I was so excited to have it done before my sister came into town for my brother's wedding.

This weekend is a big one for sharing for me...Matt and I are sharing our house with my sis and her family, we will be sharing with everyone we love in my brother's wedding festivities, I have bags of clothing I went through to share with charity, and I continue to look forward to sharing time with my students.

Be sure to stay tuned for more of this. After all, sharing is a form of giving, and also a form of receiving, there is no better way to celebrate the gift of this season than an abundance of this.

Giving without expectations- Day 6

My experience is going so well and I am especially engaged in ways I can give up for the enviorment. I have not used any throw away cups in 6 days and I am forgoing the cardboard cup cozy as well (even though secretly I love having it on the glass cups, it is so comforting). I had a challenging Saturday as I "gave up" my day off to get a number of things done that were on my list. This sort of giving up didn't feel so good and I did my best to remain connected to what I needed to get done without feeling bad. Ashley (my sis) and I went to Michael's to get a few things for my window boxes and the holiday lines have certainly begun (if you recall I did say I would give up complaining about being in these lines). Ashley waited in line and I popped my head into the $1 store next door and grabbed a few things and popped back over. Yes, she was STILL in line. I smiled. Here's my opportunity to be pleasant and accept that where I am is where I am. Even though it is in a holiday line I can still make the most of it, right? The woman behind us was CLEARLY upset about being here. She was huffing, and puffing, and if I had been one of the three little pigs she surely would have blown my house down. Again I smiled. And then....I offered her to move in front of us. I said, "you seem to be in a hurry, go ahead". She was definitely caught off guard and perhaps a bit embarrassed that she had been making such an obvious fuss? because for whatever reason she went ahead and did not offer any gratitude, as a matter of fact she acted even more put out. As we witnessed this Ashley commented on her lack of appreciation. I agreed, but also said, "you know, it's not why I did it, I didn't need to get anything back, and it is sad that she is so unhappy, hopefully we offered a spark of hope that all is not lost and she can let go and enjoy where she is". I certainly enjoyed the extra time with my sister and another opportunity to give AND be reminded that when I give from the heart, I receive, whether it is recognized or not. Tomorrow I will give my heart, full of love!

Past 30- day 36

Ok, so I have been negligent in my posting duties and I am on day 36 of new meals and abundance. And I have made a myriad of different menu items, though my list never dwindles as I seem to continue to add new dishes I want to try to my 'to-make' list. Ah, well such is the life of abundance right? I will never run out of new creations to try out and that is quite alright.

With Thanksgiving over I find myself still feeling grateful for so much. I enjoyed my time with family in KC, Kansas. The weather was beautiful, the food impeccable (and plenty), the nephews a crazy blend of fun and outrageousness, and the adult interaction meaningful and engaging.

I am again in awe of Sarah, my sis-in- law, and how she handles three boys so amazingly and effortlessly. Though she might not agree with me that is definitely my impression after 3 days with those rambunctious rascals.

Jody and Bruce were the perfect hosts, stuffing us with yummy food and not one of us had to raise a finger to do dishes, clean up, or cook. KC is beautiful and the weather was warm and sunny and you really can't ask for more than that.

In the spirit of the season I have contemplated how I can take on a 30 day experience that really em body's the season's meaning. With this in mind, I feel like this month needs to be a month of giving.

So, for my next 30 I will practice the art of giving and each day ask myself "how can I give today"? In conjunction with this I will be "giving up" many of the things in my home that feel stifling or cumbersome. Also, I am going to look for things I can give up in my life in exchange for things I can give out to people in need or to my earth.

A few things I am sure I can give up this month:

Buying into the consumerism of the holiday and purchasing more needless items that will end up in a land fill.

Giving up any plastic, or cardboard cups when I buy coffee or tea

Giving up some money that would be spent on those needless items and giving it to a charity.

Giving up complaining about waiting in the long lines that seem to accumualte this time of year

Giving up whining about traffic

I am sure these are only a few of what come to mind at the moment, stay tuned for more ways I give or things I give up over the next 30 days.

I anticipate a giving month filled with love!