This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. The prompt is link for 7/18/20 #SoCS

We are links in a chain, connecting one to the other. But it’s not a chain of steel that holds us prisoner; it is more like a daisy chain that enriches each of our lives with its simple beauty. I never know who will be added to my daisy chain of friendship.

Traditionally, daisies are associated with love, purity and innocence. I’ve also read that tithe is associated with new beginnings and transformation, which resonates with me. The daisy is such a happy flower, you can’t help but smile when you see a field of daisies, with their white petals and yellow sunshine button disc at the center. I remember on at least one occasion pulling petals from a daisy while chanting the words, “He loves me, he loves me not.” Granted, that was a very long time ago!

My mother is from Norway, and I love learning about and incorporating the stories of the old vikings into my modern life. In Norse mythology, the daisy was Freya’s flower. Freya was the goddess of love and childbirth, but she was also a warrior goddess. Of warriors slain in combat, half went to Odin’s Valhalla, but Freya chose half to come with her to her own halls, and all women who died a heroic death also spent their afterlife with Freya. So the daisy is a warrior’s flower, given as a charm to wear into battle to convey the protection Freya and her valkyries. How cool is that?

The daisy is so small and yet so mighty, filled with rich symbolism from many different cultures. I try to stay open to who is around me each day, because I never know when a new person will enter my life, and become a link in my daisy chain of love and protection. It is a relatively new perspective for me, and letting in these little sunshine rays of mystical thinking brings me joy.

This post is part of the Ragtag Daily Prompt #RDP

I was never a good dancer. I think it’s because I always needed to be in control of myself and of everything around me for moat of my life, and freestyle dancing requires you to let go and let the music move you.

Then a few years ago my husband and I decided to take dancing lessons as part of a project to get to know each other again, after many years of marriage.

Finally, controlled and step-by-step lessons in how do dance, that’s perfect for a control freak like me! It also allowed us to reconnect and learn to have some fun. Dancing is a team effort when doing it with a partner, and it helps with communication on and off the dance floor. I highly recommend dance lessons to all couples who want to connect or reconnect on an intimate level.

Nearly all beach sand is quartz. That fine bright quartz crystal feels so soft beneath my bare feet, so relaxing and soothing.

I miss the beach. I’ve visited a beach somewhere in the world nearly every year for as far back as I can remember. This is the strangest year, and so many annual rituals are put on indefinite hold. Earlier this year I was supposed to visit New Orleans, where I would make my first beach visit of the year. This fall, I was going to Bordeaux in France where I would have dipped my toes into the Atlantic Ocean.

For me, connecting with the ocean waters that touch the shores of each continent is an exhilerating feeling. I am renewed. In part, this is because of the sound of the surf, the smell of salt water, and the feel of the sand beneath my feet and the water moving around my body. The ocean is wild and powerful. Being submerged in the water rejuvenates my body, mind and spirit, washing away negative energy and making me open to everything positive and enlightening.

This year I will have to be satisfied with pool water. It isn’t the same, but it is also renewing for me. Yesterday I went swimming in a pool for the first time this year, and it was wonderful. My son is living in his grandparent’s house, taking care of the property, and he let me know that he finally had the pool cleaned up and ready for swimming. No quartz sand, no sounds of the surf or taste of salty sea water, but I am grateful for everything I do have today. This year will be different, but if we can stay healthy we will have unique and beautiful memories in spite of everything going on around us.

This post is part of Fandango’s one word challenge #FOWC for July 16, 2020. “Nearly” is the word of the day.

#Nurturing Thursday

This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday 7/11/2020 #SoCS

This was so funny. The instructions were to locate the picture closest to me, and use the first song that popped into my head as the stream of consciousness writing prompt. So I grabbed my tarot deck, pulled a card, and voila!

The first song to pop into my head was Billy Thorpe’s Children of the Sun. I couldn’t help it, it just came to me. I haven’t heard this song in decades, and I think this may be a universe-speaking-to-my-subconscious moment.

This song is about hope, and the fantasy that we will be saved by an outside force. I think the real salvation comes from within us. We are thinking human beings and are capable of so much when we don’t get into our own way. It is comforting to think that someone or something might come to our planet and fix all that is wrong with it right now: climate change, the pandemic that continues to rage, bigotry and abuse, oppression, and the poisoning of our world with the byproducts of engineering and technology. Maybe some of what is going on right now is the result of the earth fighting back to save what is left of the natural world. I don’t know. These are all random thoughts that run through my head. So many of our problems are ones that we’ve inflicted on ourselves as a whole, and other problems are inflicted by individuals on other individuals. We all need healing on so many levels, and I hope we figure this out in time. The song that prompted these thoughts describes a science fiction tableau, and I loved sci-fi novels when I was growing up. Thinking about what could be, and who we are at our best and our worst, took up a lot of my imagination as a child and adolescent. I want to continue thinking about how best to move forward as human beings, and how to become Children of the Sun.

How do you conceptualize wellness? Is it a purely physical construct for you, on a continuum with illness? Is it more about finding a stress-free comfort zone? Or a consistent yoga practice? Is it a home you’re building for your spirit?

Recently, I’ve begun imagining wellness as a flower, with each petal representing a different aspect of wellness.

When I first began teaching and coaching people on wellness, I used the concept of the Wellness Wheel, which is a circle divided into pie slices, with each slice symbolizing one facet of wellness. These are usually defined as physical, intellectual, social, emotional, environmental, financial and spiritual wellness.

The wheel suggests that we are starting from one point and traveling to another point. The emphasis is to GET SOMEWHERE and, until recently, so many of us were intent on getting somewhere in the quickest most efficient way possible. Get to school, get to work, get a promotion, get a bigger house, etc. This version of the world has dramatically changed for many, with the COVID19 pandemic sweeping through our world over the past months.

Now, instead of rushing from one place to the next, many of us are settled at home. We are concentrated on staying healthy, out of a concern for the well-being of ourselves and our at-risk loved ones. This virus has changed our lives, and changed how we interact with the world.

As I was drawing the Wellness Wheel on my blackboard recently to help me visualize what I was discussing with my clients, I realized the wheel didn’t sit well with me any longer. We are organic biological beings, not mechanical constructs, and our approach to wellness should reflect this.

Each aspect of wellness can be conceptualized as a petal on a wellness flower. With a wheel, each part must be equally proportioned for it to function properly, and wellness isn’t like this at all. Flower petals, on the other hand, don’t have to be exact replicas of each other for the flower to be beautiful and functional and perfect. In fact, when have you ever encountered a flower with perfectly proportioned petals, when you get up close and look carefully?

We can be well, and not be perfect across all aspects of wellness. All that is required is that we put some effort into each portion, and establish goals for each aspect to help us grow. We are not really trying to get from one place to another, and there is no finish line; instead, we are growing and learning and transforming, each in our unique and special ways.

So what are you waiting for? Start blooming!

It has been a few years since I posted anything on this blog site. In part, this is because I was very busy with clients during that period and did not have the time or the patience to sit and write a coherent piece for this site.

I was also keeping a much more personal blog of my internal journey and thought processes, which was invaluable for my personal growth. It is now deleted; but I’ve saved some of the writing, which I believe will be useful to share on this more public blog, as examples of how I have moved forward.

Now, I am excited to begin here once again. Please join me as I continue my journey. I would love for you to experience the joy of internal transformation!

Today is a new day. Grab onto it, love it, let it move you.