Amazing views from Rancho Palos Verdes retreat this weekend. Check out Los Angeles at the foot of the hills.

Extraordinary evening candlemaking last night, wonderful re-entry. The wolf, blood, super moon during a total eclipse, oh my!

Creativity is not just freeing your thoughts but also about making connections.

Check in with your soul, stomach and brain today.

Perhaps it is easier to just have one thought a day, all day, on a daily basis in order to uphold a lofty resolution.

• 8. Find a silver lining. Look for a lesson you may have needed to learn.
• 9. Renew your action plan. Adjust to the new normal without censoring, diminishing, conceding, compromising, conforming, constricting or sacrificing authenticity.
• 10. Let go. Allow what doesn’t belong to you or is not your responsibility to run its course. Let it fall away while you work on moving forward.

• 2. Reach out and speak to people you trust. Commiserate, vent and sob with good friends. Seek an experienced professional therapist or an established group of survivors. Find a safe place to express your feelings without judgment or limits.
• 3. Write about your most destructive, ugly thoughts and throw away your ranting into little tiny pieces or burn it. Punch a pillow. Cry in the shower or the rain. Shout, scream and rave with wild abandon.
• 4. Open, don’t shut down. Be willing to allow the wonder of life to enter again, gently and without a trace of guilt. Invite the light to shine on your darkness. Use prayer. Release a chuckle. Crack a smile. Just a smidgen to start.

Instead of asking why can’t I do this or that, ask “Why don’t I do this or that?”

Feeling stuck like a stagnant, muddied swamp is like having a spiritual tantrum.

I am having one of those humdrum days.

” When you reach out to follow your calling, the Universe supports you with a world of possibilities.” – Diane Dreher from Your Personal Renaissance.

I have read many of Diane Dreher’s books. Amongst them, The Tao of Woman hood and The Tao of Peace. Each of these tomes are literary examples of non-fiction in its most relatable yet academic form. Your Personal Renaissance is taking me over a year to digest as she loves to sprinkle exercises and deep writing prompts that delve far into your psyche. I am just not always ready for it. My next Dreher read is Inner Gardening wherein she cultivates the soil and the soul. Yet, I must be disciplined and finish Personal Renaissance first!

Today’s wise thoughts to self:

Be kind to self

Practice faith (whatever that looks for you but keep it positive and uplifting- not faith that the other shoe will drop out of the sky or a cynical belief).

Live in the Now

What is Power?

For me, it’s a belief.

I exude confidence. I believe in myself. I know my purpose. I follow my bliss. I take great joy in accomplishing even small tasks. I ask my divine Goddess, the source of my experience and learning, to guide me. I listen intently. I attend to my needs.

Be generous with praise *

Stay in Gratitude

Kindness* in all things

Compassion for all sentient beings*

Forgiveness is for the giver 

Happiness is a choice

Make peace, joy and love your motto

Feed people*

Observe nature

Take whatever comes your way today and roll with it

*And don’t forget to apply this to yourself

For me, I cannot watch horror movies. I wish they would stop making and promoting them. I think as a mass idea in our consciousness it contributes to normalizing violence or worse, scary monsters cause anxiety in some people, like me, and apathy in everyone else.

I believe the fascination with zombies and end of the world scenarios is making it come true. Hopefully, not literally, but certainly people walk around like zombies when they cross the street these days, eyes glued to their phones and the heightened terrorism, testing and making of weapons of mass destruction and talk of trigger fingers on a possible nuclear bomb doesn’t hurt my theory.

I believe I the religious might want to become more faith filled instead of fearing others outside their realm. I would like everyone to use more common sense. I get the feeling if we all really looked into our heart of hearts, we’d find a common denominator called love not hate. Call me naive. I still have wonder.

I wish the leaders in this world were less egocentric. Imagine if our own president elect were not greedy, competitive or an attention hog.