Spring, Beltaine, and Blessings BE

OK! So it's been a while since the last time I wrote something. But life got busy, as it will, and until I'm a work at home mom I won't be that goddess of leisure I so long to be.  That being said, I have to say this Spring has done sprung SO many changes this year.

Spring is always a time of renewal, starting new things, or watching the Great Wheel turn on long term projects. Spring has usually been a time of "meh" for me, however, until this year.

I've graduated from the Artist's Way course, and I totally know what I want to be when I grow up...well I should say for a living since I don't plan on ever growing up in the boring old sense.  I have rediscovered how cool it is to be on a clear Path that is leading you somewhere you actually want to go, vs. those creepy, overgrown paths which tend to lead to those "omg a serial killer lives here" kind of places.

Now just what the heck am I talking about?!  Be clear, woman!  :)  OK OK. Sheesh. Shall I list all the grooviness that is before me?  Yeah?  cool.

1) I'm a total grad of the Artist's Way. That's right - and feeling really good about that.  Got a pretty certificate with a butterfly on it and everything! (the whole symbol of transformation - 'tis a good thing). I made it through the 12 week course, and it has altered the direction, or I should say added clarity to, the Path before me. Going through the exercises and taking to heart the wonder that is rediscovering the artist within (whatever form that manifests) has pushed me past all hope of mediocrity. Never again will I be able to tolerate, or be content with, a life not manifesting my creative desires, joys, and personal gifts to share with the world and in service of others.  ah-ho!

2) I received the blessing of my Sisters to go forth, no longer JUST a Seeker, but as a teacher as well, and on Beltaine (May 1st) received my 2nd degree initiation into the Greenwood. It was one of the most powerful, inspiring, life-altering experiences I've had on my spiritual path. Prior to the ritual I was "sequestered" away from the circle to meditate, focus, center. I did that and spontaneously went on a shamanic journey which took me through an initiation in the Otherworld before even the This world ritual began. I won't go into details as that is something sacred to me, but suffice it to say that I have never felt so much love and support in all my days. Life will definitely never be the same again.

3) I have change the way in which I interact with others. Formerly I was totally a-skeered of conflict, and would do my utmost to try and make sure that no one would get upset or have hurt feelers and all that such nonsense. I say nonsense because the more you try to do that you are either lying through your teeth, stuffing your own feelers down your throat 'til your choking on them, or acting out in passive aggressive ways which always bites everyone in the proverbial butt. I should point out that this is a trait which pretty much runs in the family, so you can imagine what fun communicating between us can be at times. So I took a stand (yay me!) when one family member acted disrespectfully toward another, and told them in no uncertain terms how I felt about it. The results are still out, but there's a little more clarity before me, and a family-wide dialogue is opening up on how to be better communicators.  Baby-steps fo' sho', but at least the door has cracked open.

4)  As a result of all of this shifting of energies, receiving more clarity on things that are important to me, and in general taking responsibility for my own happiness, I am developing a very clear roadmap on how I will get to where I am headed.  My goal is to be completely a work-at-home mom within 3 years - as a holistic health practitioner. There are steps which are very clear to me now that I couldn't fathom even a few months ago. One of my biggest goals is to achieve optimum health for myself first, and to share that with my immediate family (my fabo hubby and amazing daughter). The beauty part of that is that I can use techniques toward this goal which also lead to my ultimate goal of being an independent holistic health practitioner!

• Step one:  Start taking yoga classes with Vina (the facilitator of the Artist's Way). She is also a yoga instructor-instructor, so she is a great resource for helping me toward my goal of becoming a yoga instructor myself.
• Step two: Start study with EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) which have been calling me to learn about and start practicing. The premise of EFT is it identifies the root causes of ailments of all kinds: pain, weight issues, emotional issues, etc., and helps you to release them through "Tapping" on certain energy meridians on your face, hand and body. I can easily see myself becoming an EFT Practitioner using these techniques with my clients in the future.
• Step three: I'm taking the plunge and have started a 21 day Raw Food Detox Challenge! It's through the fabulously supportive and charming folks at The Raw Divas, aka the Green Smoothie Queen (www.greensmoothiequeen.com). These are the same folks who did the WISH teleconference I believe I mentioned in an earlier post.  Anyhoo - yeah I'm doing this green smoothie/raw food detox! I just bought the groceries for it tonight and it felt good just buying the stuff I'm going to be eating! Whole pineapples, raw spinach, mixed green leafies of all kinds, TONS of fruit - and the recipes! Oh heaven help me they sound good!  So, yeah, I'm totally doing this, and I'll be blogging my little heart out about it - at least that's the goal. I'd like to document the experience for posterity. And perhaps my posterior will start to get smaller for it!  :P

This might mean I might actually have to give out some personal facts about where I'm at with my physi-cal-ity, but hey, all in the name of .... something appropriate to the occasion. Having a great success story to tell to inspire others - if nothing else. I know success stories seem to be a dime a dozen these days, but I can't deny that though they can be cheesy as hell sometimes, they do inspire!

So there you have it - the main reasons for my non-bloggy-ness. Soon I will be setting up my first herbal challenges for myself and be writing about them. I'm allowing myself to stay grounded a bit for awhile before I throw more and more stuff on my plate.

Oh yeah! Speaking of plates - I've been gardening! Oh such fun!  I've planted some ornamentals in the front yard (my favorite bush flowers, gardenias - got some Rue herb goin' on, with some pansies and a sick old rosemary who might not make it, but I'm hoping he'll pull through). Tomorrow, I'm going to pick up my daughter from daycare early (after a mother's day wahoo at the school) and come home to plant our HERBS and VEGGIES!  I have broccoli, spinach, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, stevia, peppermint, sweet mint, sunflowers, chamomile, etc. My daughter will be my little digger pal and we will plant us a garden that will hopefully feed us through the summer and some of the Fall.  It will be an organic garden, which will help greatly to defray the cost of being a RAW vegan! Right now, I can't really afford to go all organic, but at least it's more greens and goodness, and wiping out all the packaged, processed foods, and this garden will give me many more organic veggies than I could get from the store!

Wow, if you made it through this doozy of a post you get 40 sunflower seeds of goodness! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more from your burgeoning sunflower diva!

Peace!