Life in my corner has been a bit on the crazy side! Jeffrey has been dealing with a kidney stone (that is refusing to cooperate), kids are being shuttled to and fro for summer activities, and we are packing and preparing to move to our new home in a couple of weeks!
So, while I would like to give you a whole lot more content than I have been, here's a quick sampling of what I have coming down the pipeline over the next couple months:
Natural treatments for high blood pressure and diabetes
Social media marketing strategy and tools
Permaculture design for suburban homes
... And in the meantime, please enjoy some free ebooks and beautiful desktop wallpapers! New wallpapers are being added weekly, so check back often for more of Jeffrey's amazing photography. ;)
Here in the lovely Pacific Northwest, spring has been slow to give us any sunshine. While we are beginning to see a glimpse here and there, what we DO get lots of are flowers. Here are a couple I spotted on my way to work this morning; may they add a little color to your day, no matter how grey! :)
"Waiting On" Wednesday, a weekly event, is hosted by Breaking the Spine. The purpose of this event is to get bloggers to spotlight and share the books they are anticipating on being released.
This week's eagerly anticpated novel is:
The Awakening
by Jeffrey Pierce Release date: Friday, May 13th
What if everything you thought you knew was wrong?
We're taught in Sunday School that angels are benevolent beings who watch over us, who love and protect us at every turn. Yet the Revelation of John from the Christian Bible states that it is the angels who will pour out God's wrath on humanity, murdering billions of people. If you were an angel and truly loved those you watched over, could you destroy them, even if God commanded you to?
And if you couldn't, who would God send to do the job in your place?
Suspenseful, thrilling, and controversial, in The Awakening we find a world where nothing is quite what it seems, where the truth of spiritual reality has been distorted by millennia of folktales and mythology. While angels exist, they aren't what we believe them to be. They are the Old Ones, living among us from the time they were sent here, over 2,000 years ago, with a dark mission they chose to reject. Having fallen in love with mankind, some of the Old Ones work behind the scenes, teaching our great spiritual leaders while other immortals have entered into relationships with humankind, their angelic blood mingling with our own, manifesting in gifts widely considered to be psychic abilities and prophetic dreams.
Seamlessly weaving Hopi, Mayan and Christian prophesies with current events and the theories of quantum physics, The Awakening is a novel of the ending of a reality, of the reclaiming of a dimension that we call home. Told from a perspective beyond the filter of mythology, the beginning of the end is shown from a non-religious perspective while embracing the spiritual origins of our own existence.
... The first three chapters of The Awakening are available free on Jeffrey Pierce's website, and signed copies are available, as well. I can't wait!!
I have organizational challenges. This is no great surprise to anyone who has spent any amount of time with me. I also love gadgets and systems and things, and am forever trying out the new latest and greatest way to keep my life (brain, house, what have you) in order.
The latest nifty tool I've stumbled upon is so simple it almost seems silly. I've been playing with it four a couple weeks now, and am really enjoying my personal Kanban board! What is "Kanban", you ask? Well, from the Personal Kanban website, "A kanban is a tool to visualize, organize, and complete work." Todd Clarke at GetLit (an IT blog) offers his usage of the board, complete with pictures. I love the layout he has used, and thoroughly intend to copy it. LOL The whiteboard I have setup at home is much simpler, but doesn't quite do the trick.
Todd Clarke's super-cool Personal Kanban board at LeanKit Kanban
In a fantasy world, I would have a big flat-screen monitor on the wall of my office, displaying my own personal Kanban using something like the LeanKit Kanban site - and everything could be done with a few clicks of the mouse! As it is, however, I think I'll make do with my whiteboard, colored dry erase markers, and different colored sticky notes. :)
(Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for inviting me to post on your blog!!)
For those who don't know her yet, Elizabeth Petrillo Marcellin is another fantastic author. I will be reviewing her book, Element Keepers, here when I get the time - and it is highly recommended!
We began discussing self-publishing about a month ago, and she mentioned I should write an article helping newbies to the game... So I did! You can view my post on Elizabeth's website.
Several years ago, on the evening of a full moon and the summer solstice, I was hit with a sudden and burning need to proclaim my devotion to the Goddess. Standing barefoot in the moonlit night, surrounded by comfrey and ripe blackberries, I announced to the universe my promise: To pledge my life, and that of my daughters, in service to the Goddess.
Little did I know what that would mean...
Now, as a little background, I am not a religious person. Spiritual in an all-encompassing, earthy kind of way, sure - but not tied to (or particularly involved in) any one path. But for some reason, that evening, I was Called. Please feel free to substitute "God", "Energy", "Aliens", or whatever word works best for you in place of Goddess - that is just the aspect of the divine that rings truest for me!
Since that promise, I have experienced both the worst and the best life has to offer. I have been literally broken, physically and emotionally - and I have learned to heal, truly and wholly, and to love and be loved. I have discovered that the greatest of life's challenges also offer the greatest gifts - although we have to work to unwrap them, and they often need aging and the right catalyst to ripen. I have also realized what it means to "serve the Goddess" - and that it is not just a verbal promise, but a commitment to work my arse off!
Rather than saying devotionals and prayers or taking a vow of celibacy (which I did do for a time), the way I can best serve and celebrate the Goddess is by embracing my own power, beauty and wisdom - by becoming as true an embodiment of divinity as I am capable of and realizing my full potential. My girls will grow up learning to do the same, and I will do my best to help every woman I befriend discover her own divinity.
Goddess, I am incredibly grateful to you for the gifts I have been given - not least of all my husband, who is the light of my life and the sun to my moon, and my children, who are are the most precious of jewels and the shining stars in my sky. Thank you for always giving us enough, and for providing me with the raw materials to make something incredible. Thank you for the strength, beauty, compassion and wisdom you have given to me - and for showing me how to find it in every person and situation.
We've been having parenting challenges with a couple of our little ones lately, primarily revolving around a lack of ability to focus and pay attention. They can be told something - instructions, a rule, or what have you - and moments later it is as if they never heard it. As you can imagine, this is rather frustrating. Admittedly, they come by it honestly... I was diagnosed with both ADD and "absent seizures" as an adolescent, and these two definitely share those tendencies!
However, I am of the opinion that behavior is learned. While they may have tendencies toward spaciness and forgetfulness, they can (and will) learn ways to deal with it - as I continue to do even today. Staying on top of things is a constant struggle for me, and I see that reflected in my girls' behavior. It's not out of any sense of laziness or malice, just a simple "Oops; I forgot!" ... But it does have real-world consequences, some of them pretty serious. As an adult, if they "forget" that they have work on a certain day, for example, that could very well be the end of their job - setting in motion a whole crazy CHAIN of consequences!
I am finding that there is no easy answer to teaching my children how to pay attention, focus and think through their actions. It is a constant process of learning (or teaching, depending on where you stand), and is different for every person. An excellent article I came across that offers some practical and effective suggestions for teaching children to focus is titled (prepare to be shocked) "Helping Children Learn to Pay Attention", by Jane M. Healy.
Many of the suggestions Dr. Healy offers are things we already do in our household. Many others are things I understand and support, and just haven't had the time to put into practice! Family martial arts and yoga have been on my "must-do" list for a long time now, for example. *laughing*
I have to wonder... Would so many kids (and grownups) have "ADD" and other focus difficulties if we didn't spend so much time indoors and plugged in?? I highly doubt it. Someday, we'll move out to the country and test that theory. :)
