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beach rock with heart shape hole from water sitting on green moss and sand A Heartfelt Journey

The Hero Making Something Beautiful from Broken Glass

  • August 17, 2023August 2, 2023
  • by admin

 

Guided drift. A term coined by the late Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers fame to describe his life’s path, and as Ann Saunders McCarty’s story unfolded, I kept hearing these two words. Guided drift. A path previously unseen making itself known. A trajectory changed. A willingness to follow new opportunities. A resilience to learn from plans that didn’t work out and take a different tack. Ann ultimately understands that previous experiences, good and bad, joyful and painful, lead her to where she is today.   Read more “The Hero Making Something Beautiful from Broken Glass” →

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mountain view with yellow flowers in the foreground and blue sky in the background A Heartfelt Journey

Less Comparison and More Compassion

  • August 3, 2023August 2, 2023
  • by admin

It’s easier for you because you are smarter.  It is easier for you because you are stronger.  It is easier for you because your situation is different.  It is easier for you because… fill in the blank.  It’s easier for you because is a refrain I have heard throughout my life.  And perhaps things have been easier for me.  I really don’t know because I only know what I experience.  What I do know is that when these words are given back to me, even when I have said nothing about the subject at hand, what I hear is, ‘Your experience isn’t valid.’ Read more “Less Comparison and More Compassion” →

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beach rock with heart shape hole from water sitting on green moss and sand A Heartfelt Journey

The Hero Who Believes in Serving Our Community

  • July 21, 2023July 21, 2023
  • by admin

Many years ago, at an evening meeting to discuss recreational opportunities for the youth in our community, I first became acquainted with Pastor Bernie Federmann, or Pastor B, as he is affectionately known. I knew little about him, so I had no preconceived ideas of who he was apart from his profession, but Pastor B didn’t quite fit the pattern of a religious leader I had determined from others with whom I had worked. His compassion for people, whether a part of his congregation or not, was so apparent that the air practically vibrated with this belief. His peaceful, measured tone was reassuring and hopeful, even when relaying undesirable information. It was a brief encounter, one that didn’t occur again until many years later, but one that I kept close to my heart, aspiring to emulate when possible.

Read more “The Hero Who Believes in Serving Our Community” →

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sandy footpath with blooming orange and yellow nasturtiums on either side A Heartfelt Journey

What is the Perspective of Fairness?

  • July 7, 2023
  • by admin

‘It’s only fair, isn’t it?’ Such a common phrase, but I was a bit bewildered when my mom uttered it as a defense of wishing to be treated with simple respect and decency. Fairness had nothing to do with the issue at hand, I tried to explain, but she clung to this concept of fairness in having set a boundary with someone.

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beach rock with heart shape hole from water sitting on green moss and sand Heroes Among Us

A Hero Among Us and a Mother of the…

  • May 26, 2023May 17, 2023
  • by admin

I believe every person’s story could be made into a major motion picture, complete with all the things we hold dear. Joyous celebration, heart-rending grief, challenges to overcome, and lessons to learn. These are the things that make a movie enjoyable, and these are the moments that comprise our lives. As Veronica Williams generously shared her story with me, it reminded me of this. She also reminded me how each of our stories matters because we matter. A reminder we matter not for what we have done, but for who we are.   Read more “A Hero Among Us and a Mother of the Community” →

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Reflections and Lessons

Holding My Mother’s Hand in New Found Awareness

  • May 11, 2023May 11, 2023
  • by admin

It’s ugly, it’s beautiful, and it’s complicated. There is pain, and there is joy, frustration and acceptance, gratitude, and sadness. With so many contrasts in one relationship, it is hard to define my feelings for my mother. It is also why I feel a contradictory ambiguity, sprinkled with guilt, as each Mother’s Day approaches.

Read more “Holding My Mother’s Hand in New Found Awareness” →

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blue sky with trees and hawk soaring above Reflections and Lessons

Abundance, Enough, and Energy Flows

  • June 23, 2022
  • by admin

There is an energy flow to everything. In some things, it can be seen as a river flowing. In others, like ice, the movement is not seen. Science teaches us all things have energy, little tiny particles in constant motion. Even though a rock appears only to exist, or thought seems to be ephemeral fluff, both have energetic qualities. And like a river, we can change the flow of energy; redirecting it so that it goes around us untouched, letting it flow through us supporting our needs, or stopping it much like a dam, either before the energy reaches us or trapping it inside. Viewing life through the lens of abundance has taught me much about these energy flows, how I influence them and they influence me.

Abundance mentality, the acceptance that resources are enough, successes are enough, and there is enough of everything to support everyone, recognizes and acknowledges that we are all connected. More important, it brings me into the present moment, letting go of how I believe things should be and accepting how things are. It leads me from a victim stance to one of empowerment, feeling energized and not drained, hopeful, not hopeless. It opens up opportunities and choices, leading to clarity instead of reacting out of fear or lack of choice. Abundance has taught me life is not as hard as I once thought, but enjoyable, creative, and even fun. 

Approaching life with an expectation of enough or abundance allows the energy to flow, unobstructed and supportive. For example, when a deadline for a project looms and I realize perhaps I may not make the deadline as hoped and accept this as fact, I can feel my body tense. Thoughts become constricted, focused on the premise I will not finish in a timely fashion, which will likely result in a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, when I take a mindset that there will be enough time to finish what needs to be accomplished, I can feel the energy flow again. I notice space for my thoughts and, with space, clarity for how to proceed, given the parameters in place. Please don’t misunderstand. Time doesn’t magically appear and allow me to finish the task, but I can work with the time given more constructively and often, if not completing the job, at least arrive at an acceptable point.  

I am not suggesting that we approach all our resources with the attitude that there will always be enough no matter our actions; this would be foolish as we are all called to be good stewards of the world. What I have found, however, is that by viewing my life with abundance versus scarcity, I open up my choices, able to flow with the surrounding energy instead of swimming against it.  

Here are some key ways that have helped me adopt an ‘abundance’ approach.

  1. Gratitude for what I have-I focus on three things each day, not always material things; sometimes they are experiences and can be as mundane as listening to birdsong as I walk my dog in the morning.

  2. I center myself in the present moment. I do this usually with breathing exercises or using my five senses to anchor me.

  3. Developing and maintaining a growth mindset, I don’t have things all figured out, and there is so much to discover in this wondrous world.  

  4. Being curious about the people with whom I interact. Asking questions about their lives and experiences, trying to understand and trying not to judge.

  5. Approaching things using a beginner’s mind or with my inner child and a sense of awe and wonder.

  6. Being aware of my dialogue with myself and others and reminding myself when I recognize I have put forth a scarcity view that perhaps there is another way.

Wishing you, dear friend, enough, no matter the situation on your heartfelt journey. ~♥~

 

 

Understand that abundance is a flow through energy and not about holding anything or counting anything, because that is when it becomes finite and you are expressing infinite energy.  
~Steve Rother~

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beach rock with heart shape hole from water sitting on green moss and sand Heroes Among Us

A Hero Among Us and the Hometown Boy

  • September 23, 2021September 23, 2021
  • by admin

I truly am not sure when I first met Charles Sommer, aka Mr. Lompoc, but it seems it must have been at a youth sporting event of some sort. Perhaps it was at his mother’s deli, but it was definitely through sports that I got to know Charles a bit better and came to witness and appreciate how he interacted with the youth in our community, giving them respect and genuinely listening to their concerns, hopes and dreams. And yet, it took many years for me to learn how involved Charles was in this community into which he was born.

Read more “A Hero Among Us and the Hometown Boy” →

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Large sunflower in full bloom with blue sky in background Reflections and Lessons

Making a Difference Makes All the Difference

  • October 22, 2020
  • by admin

It was a dreary morning as  I was walking my dog in the neighborhood.  Treasured time for me most mornings as I cleared my thoughts and prepared for the day ahead but on this one particular morning I was lost in thought, not in preparation for the day, but in dread.   My business was closed due to the pandemic and I felt lost in the myriad of information presented from so many different sources of how I should be moving forward.  My shoulders were heavy and the way forward seemed dim.  

Read more “Making a Difference Makes All the Difference” →

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beach rock with heart shape hole from water sitting on green moss and sand Heroes Among Us

A Hero Among Us and the Fearless Voice

  • August 27, 2020August 24, 2020
  • by admin

Though we had lived in the same small community for many years the first time my path crossed with Ashley Costa was just after she had won a seat to Lompoc’s City Council.  The Council for many years had been comprised primarily of middle-aged males from our community with the occasional middle-aged female, but never someone in their twenties.  To essentially be a lone representative in both gender and age as well as probably ideals was a challenge I couldn’t fathom anyone desiring but I  admired her for taking on those challenges.  When she did win my first thought was, “Awesome!  You go girl!” but that was followed with thoughts of how much work she had before her.  Little did I know at the time how Ashley thrives on challenge and hard work.

Read more “A Hero Among Us and the Fearless Voice” →

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  • A New Year, A Word, A Signpost
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  • The Hero Who Believes in Serving Our Community
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Words for Today…

Text Learning to embrace the uncomfortable, at least at times, has allowed me to be me, the good, the bad and the amazing.
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