Allowing myself to flow...................
I committed to practice and write about Gratitude for 31 days.  I decided to write about what I am grateful for and also my observations of birds each day.  What a wonderful start for this journey.  I found along the way that I didn't want to follow this exact format every day, so some days I just wrote about birds, some days just gratitude.  Some days, I found pictures and other days not.  I skipped writing some days and then finished this blog by writing the last 4 days all together.  I noticed myself being critical - you are not following the rules and then realizing, hey what difference does it make? I created the rules.  I am not hurting anyone by changing the format, in fact the changes have helped me to keep interest and hopefully the people who are reading as well.  I am allowing myself to take breaks and set one thing aside that is not interesting me and coming back later refreshed and ready to begin again.  So as I complete this Gratitude Blog today, I look forward to continuing to be grateful for the birds and all the wonderful people and activities in my life.

I am thankful to everyone who has read my blog!  May your days be filled with much gratitude, peace and joy!

                                          Being who we are!
Today, Jack was paddling along with his orange flipper taking turns flapping back - flap, flap, flap.............  Then he stopped to scratch his head with one of his orange flippers.  I've seen my dog Lilli scratch her head many times, but never a duck.  I found a picture of a white duck scratching but not while in the water.  Jack is quite talented.  Jack is who he is, a white duck, hanging out with the geese that are bigger than him, the mallards that are smaller than him and having a grande time being himself!

The Soul Connection workshop was so wonderful.  Eight people, all experiencing themselves in different ways.  I am always amazed that we can all look at the same picture and have very unique interpretations and those interpretations can change from day to day.  I feel so grateful that Linda and I create a space where participants feel safe to be who they are - beautiful, unique individuals and souls  sharing themselves!

Letting go......................

I have been thinking of getting rid of some materials that I don't use anymore.  When I was meditating, I realized that I need to get rid of blankets.  Just as I had that thought, crows made a lot of noise outside my studio window.  Later in the day, I was thinking that I needed to get rid of some of my old notes from a course I took.  Just then I noticed a hawk circling over my car and I felt warm energy moving through my heart.  Are the birds confirming that what I am thinking is moving in the correct direction for me.  Maybe.  This is new to me.  I do know that after giving away the blankets and recycling those papers, I felt lighter, freer and also some wondering at what will come in to fill this empty space.  Maybe nothing, maybe the space is all that I need:)

     Food, Glorious Food!
I am so grateful for yummy and nutritious food! 
Breakfast: 
Whole wheat pancakes with raspberry sauce from
raspberries that we picked from our garden.  Yummy!
Lunch: 
Mixed greens salad with some arugula, cilantro and parsley from our greenhouse, plus lemon olive oil dressing and greek ricotta salada from the Famous Deli-licious Italian Deli in Middletown.  Scrumtious!
Dinner:
Goat cheese ricotta cake over wilted spinach and a creamy mushroom sauce, mescelun greens with raspberry vinigarette and maple covered walnuts, topped off by chocolate custard.  Something Sweet is my favorite restaurant in the world!  Amazing!

Plus, my wonderful friend Melly was with me for all of these delicious meals:)

I am so grateful for all the people working to raise money for Wings Over Haiti.  Listening to "Ammo without a Gun" practicing the other night was wonderful!  Their enthusiasm for their music and the Haitian art that we are raffling off is so wonderful!  I am amazed at how many people help to put a big event together.  Anna created beautiful artistic labels for all of the paintings.  She spent 3 hours creating names, translating them into Creole and hand lettering each label on hand made paper.  The love and care put into small things is so important.

I love to drive on Interstate 84 because I always see so many hawks.  Yesterday they were sitting in trees and on the ground.  One hawk appeared to have its head down towards the grass, maybe listening for moles scurrying underneath.  Nature creates the perfect balance of predators and prey.  I usually label all hawks, red tailed hawks as my friend Peggy and I joke about.  Yesterday, I noticed variations in the hawks and suspect that there are different varieties that I have not yet learned to identify.  More to learn:)

            Doing a belly flop in front of a crowd and LAUGHING!
I gave my first "Awakening into Action" webinar last night.  I practiced and had everything set up, did a run through with a webinar consultant who said that I was in really good shape.  There were sound and technical difficulties that made the webinar challenging in many ways.  I learned how much I rely on and enjoy  feedback from participants when I teach.  I was in good spirits after the webinar because I knew that I had done my best and am determined to continue on this path, making positive changes along the way. 

This experience reminded me of when I was on the Junior Varsity Diving team in 10th grade.  There was a Varsity meet when one of the team members couldn't compete so they asked if I would.  I had to do 4 dives.  3 of the dives were no problem, but I needed a fourth dive of greater difficulty than I had never tried.  The coaches and team were explaining how to do a full twist which I tried to feel and practice for the 10 minutes before I went up onto the board.  Needless to say, when I attempted the full twist (in the see through red bathing suit we had to wear), I did a big belly flop that splashed out to the pool decks.  When I came up, I was laughing so hard, swimming to the side was challenging.  I was totally exposed in more way than one and the best reaction was to laugh and enjoy!   So with my webinar, I am doing the same, laughing at all of the technical challenges and ready to begin again with new learning.  This morning, I recorded the webinar again so that people who couldn't attend can listen:   Awakening into Action.   As you will see, I experienced the lesson that I am asking people to learn:  Awakening into Action by doing things in new and different ways, enjoying the process as it unfolds.  The picture to the right is Anna jumping off a rock ledge in Bristol Vermont.  We both took this plunge but I like her picture best.  I plan to keep jumping! 

What helps me to have the courage to keep jumping is all the encouragement from friends and family.  Thank you for your support!

I am grateful for a relaxing day to prepare for my webinar this evening.  I usually feel that I have to DO a lot of things to have my day be worthwhile, but today, I enjoyed more peaceful moments than usual.  There were really cool clouds in the sky which I took a picture of but it didn't turn out too well.  The picture to the right is from google images and much clearer, plus I learned that they are cirrus clouds.  I enjoyed seeing Jack with both his duck and geese friends today.  Last night, Jack was sleeping alone in the water below the bridge.  I often feel sorry for him being all alone in the water, but he may really enjoy his solitude.  Since he has natural insulation to keep him warm, maybe floating while sleeping could be pretty cool.  I am realizing that my perception of a situation can be very different from the person or animal in that situation.  My friend Pam reminded me today how lucky I am to have this time during the day to walk in the beautiful sunshine:)

                                                   We are back!
The geese are back now that the ponds are thawed out and I am back after releasing my cold.  It feels like Spring is here in January with my bulbs emerging, the water flowing quickly and my grass sprouting.  How unexpected for this time of year.  Part of me worries that something is not right, but then I appreciate the moment and enjoy walking in the warm sun.  I have no control over the weather, so going with what is happening at the moment seems to be the best way for me to stay happy.  I enjoy my renewed energy and am starting to plant my seeds for the garden.  Maybe we will get an early start this year.  I've enjoyed picking arugula, parsley, cilantro and kale all winter from our unheated greenhouse.  This will be the first year that we will have produced some food all year round - a start and more to come:) 

                                              Taking a break!
I have felt a strong need to get my webinars up and running despite a nasty cold and sore throat that has had me sleeping and sneezing and resting a lot.  I am so grateful that I have the webinars set up and ready to start on January 31st!  I allowed myself a break when teaching yoga tonight and played a healing light relaxation for everyone.  For once, I joined in and did not sneeze or cough the whole class.  Listening to my body and admitting to my students was not easy but worked out so wonderfully!  I will write my gratitude journal for 31 days, but just not all in a row as planned, which is just fine.  Acceptance is a wonderful feeling:)
                                                  Jack's friends
My white duck friend Jack has a group of about 7 dozen mallard pairs who have been hanging out with him - very cute!  Jack is about twice their size and seems happy to be surrounded by duck fellows.

I started Joanna Powell Colbert's "Candlemas:  Winter turning into Spring" course today and am having such a wonderful time with the creative, reflective projects she is sharing with us.  This week's theme is Emergence and I chose this fern unfolding to represent my emergence.  One question I was asked to answer is:
"What is my true path and how can I make a commitment to it?"
After seeking my intuition, Simplicity, Honesty and Connection came up.
I asked the same question and pulled one of the Gaian cards and picked:  Guardian of Earth which to me represents: 
Hard work, observation, patience and love.  I look forward to my learning with this course over the next 5 weeks!

The birds were so busy today flitting to and fro from the feeders to nearby bushes and trees for protection.  They are so quick and fun to watch!  Lots of varieties and colors today:)