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The Spiritual Compass

Posted in Comments, Musings, tagged , , , , on March 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

The Spiritual Compass

Some years ago, when I was buying everything that I could see, but not really understanding why I would ‘need’ a particular object, I found that over the years the knick-knacks, which I purchased or found in different corners of this wonderful country of ours, have become very useful as I’ve grown older. Many objects that I purchased on faith, have justified my faith. I realize that  part of what I needed to do was to put together or synthesize my trinket world and my concrete world in a way that made sense. After much internal struggle this past year, I was able to finally recreate a little sanctuary to replace the space that I had in Singhampton.  Above all, I did not want to lose the energy which helped to build that original space nor a vision of the benefit of a having a small quiet corner in the midst of a busy world.

Rediscovering objects that I saved over the years has enabled me to look at life and look at what look at what I can now make useful, not just to myself but also to others who utilize @womenzpace  now open at Discover the Path.  The compass, which hangs in the window, is fashioned  from metal and  stained-glass.  It serves as a reminder to me every single day that life is full of points of light and dark,  soft and sharp. All of these things meld together to create our own guideposts to choosing paths for living life when we hit the inevitable crossroads. However, the compass is so much more than points.  Attention to its non verbal message helped me to realize that I could add some non specific cues for each of the sixteen points and to this end, I have started working on a draft of the way in which I hope our visitors, meditators and healers will find a helpful resource, which can be individualized, in the search for balance.

We all have a spiritual compass. Our great difficulty is determining how that spiritual compass can be utilized to make our lives better. The complexity of a compass should provide an understanding of the self within the self and how each aspect of the self can serve the other.

A compass, like so many other tools or events in the daily life, can point or drag you in many directions. Life is circular and while we may sometimes feel that we are walking in a straight line through an endless desert, truth is that we will wander out of it, encounter an oasis of peace and beauty before entering yet another period of desolation. It’s always a circular path. That give us hope, which is heartening, because we know there is change ahead. A wheel/circle has 360 points on it and each of those points can certainly impact your life in some way. Moving degree to degree won’t necessarily make you feel like you have exited a prescribed route, but when you look back from time to time, you will see where you have been, what you have experienced and know that there is a future which is different. In my mind, there is a great need to create some grouping. It has been done with Astrology for millennia.

Personally, I created groups or sections in the compass in which I can identify tools or find cues in the visual circle of our life which will will help us to utilize the best of a particular grouping by choosing from a portfolio of elements, senses, and energies. Our goal is to help the individual realize all that nature has to offer  in terms of foundation, color, feeling, sensation, sight and sound needed to support  health and well-being every day.

Moving forward,  we are looking at this spiritual compass as a template for our present and our future and we offer anyone interested a chance to frame their own compass in ways which are meaningful to them.

I am posting a picture of its beauty. I have no idea who is the creator but will remain eternally thankful for its inspiration in helping me to define and concretize the mission of the Sanctuary @womenzpace

Spiritual Compass

Spiritual Compass

 

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Healing through meditative practice

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on June 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in a dream nearly 15 years in the making. As a child I was profoundly affected by the way in which Sunday morning televised church services used to hold my interest. It wasn’t the message although that came through but it was the way in which several ministers, particularily Oral Roberts used the power of ‘laying on hands’ to heal the sick. I know that some of that may have been made for TV style but at heart I also believed in the power of prayer and a strong personal belief to affect cures. I think I have spent a lifetime trying to understand how to help people through the worst times of their lives using as little as possible from modern medicine.  I recognize the value of medicine to work its own kind of science but there have been times when only prayer has made the difference.
After getting my degree in Divinity, I worked with my partners to establish a community organization which would provide the kind of healing support which falls between active medical care and the end of life. In my experience, only prayer and more prayer or meditative practice can bridge the gap.
Healing is an individual process which can be helped by support from others. Today the healing ministry which was started with such high hopes so many years ago, comes back to life. We will welcome all to our serivces. The title of our opening song, written by Dan Fogelberg’ is, ‘There’s a magic every moment, and goes on to say that ‘there’s a miracle each day.’ I sincerely believe this to be true. I don’t think we will rise to the level of Oral Roberts in our size and scope for our little place in Creemore is limited but we hope to make change in the lives of those who share in our vision for wellness and healing.

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New novel – Suspect: Love

Posted in Suspect, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

On the 26th of May, 2011, AuthorHouse published my second book, Suspect: Love, A Profound Prophecy.  I am very excited about its release.  Like The Will to be True/In the Shadow of the Blackbird, it was written some time ago.  The draft of it sat for years on the shelf waiting, like Cinderella,  for the right time to be turned into a soft cover novel.  I received my first copy in the mail last week and with its completion, I feel that I have fulfilled a promise to a couple of  people who were  instrumental  in encouraging me to write stories from my heart.  They have both passed away now but their spirits were guiding me all along.

What took me so long?  I don’t know.  I love both the stories and I hope that readers will too.  I am thankful to my brother-in-law Bryan Davies for providing me with lovely photographs of Italy which grace the front and back cover.  He has an extraordinary talent for capturing the right moment, or the right spirit, or both, in everything he photographs.  I am also grateful to my family and several close friends who have been very supportive and of course my sister Gertrude who helps me to edit all my work.

A couple of quotes from Suspect: Love….

‘Rosanna knew her thoughts were unworthy, but fear of an unknown circumsatnce flickered along nerve endings, sending a clear signal that, if she continued, her life would never be the same again.  Fate and free will warred witin her.  In a heartbeat, fate had taken over.  The elevator landed with a soft whirr on the ground floor ending any thought of retreat.’

‘Love can remove many boundaries, including and especially those built by fear.’

Here is a synopsis of the story.

Rosanna, a highly educated, professional nurse in her mid-thirties is hoping for a promotion from a dead-end supervisory night job.  She is on the shelf as far as her old fashioned Italian family is concerned.

During a crisis, she ‘meets’ Angus Howard, a dedicated pediatric specialist who leads a dynamic research project close to her heart.
Stepping outside of her comfort zone, she spends a passion-filled weekend with him, engaged in some unexpected research into her own long dormant feelings.  Before the relationship gets off the ground, a long awaited promotion comes through.  It is the opportunity of a lifetime!  As part of her new duties, she is appointed, as a lone female, to participate on a powerful hospital executive committee whose mandate is to investigate a charge of fraud by the very man who has already engaged her heart.  Her sudden defection from his life leaves a trail of pain and suspicion in which he believes she used him to further her career. 

Their large and remarkable families try to intervene and help save the relationship but Rosanna knows that she has no choice but to fight to preserve the integrity of his career.  Her decision only serves to keep them apart.

The title will soon be available for purchase at AuthorHouse or any of the other online book sellers.  I keep thinking that I will not write another book but since I decided to get cracking and finish these two books, I have written 9 full length adventures for Fanfiction.  Online stories count.  I thank the many people around the world who enjoy the Beauty and the Beast series and encourage me to keep finding challenges for the characters in an updated version of the original 1987 TV show.

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With regret

Posted in Comments, tagged , , on May 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Today as I walked around the boxes which contain artifacts and treasures from the past ten years of my life, I reflected on the sadness which loss always brings, even as I look with anticipation towards the future.
I have never been one to dwell on negatives but I often think about the difference between losing a loved one and losing a dream.
Our family and close friends are tied into the plans we make for our future but a dream is born of ourselves and represents the creative forces which drive our soul forward to its life lessons.
Women have traditionally had this creative force  realized with the conception and birth of a child. What of women who never conceive?  What do they have to drive their lives forward?  It has always been a question in my head and a reason why I celebrate all women on Mother’s day.  I was once told that the ability to create is not confined to procreation but all things which are born of our desire.

I have been lucky to have children and a strong creative drive. I thank my teachers past and present for their input.

Many years ago, I realized a dream to become an interfaith minister.  My hope was to establish and operate a small church or sanctuary which would be the home base of  services geared towards women affected by a challenging history.  The Sanctuary at Hestia’s Hearth became a reality. The loss of my business partner and best friend just after our opening didn’t derail the program and services,  but the energy needed to sustain it.
Five years after her death, I finally acknowledged the realization that the dream was not to be fulfilled in the way it was first envisioned. With a few prayers, I found a loving couple, or rather they found me and chose to live in the home attached to the Sanctuary.

As I survey the boxes  filled with treasures and collectables which had been chosen to grace the walls and tables and corners of the sanctuary, I have come to understand that they represent nothing unless I choose to make them the symbols of a failed enterprise.  They are not the dream nor are they  attached to the dream.  The dream is with me and dies when I die unless I allow it fall by the wayside of self defeat.

So I have said my goodbye to the dear friend who taught me much about life.  I will say my goodbyes to the building, the things, the space and even the person I was ten years ago and move on to a future whose enterprise is yet to be realized but whose dream is alive and well.

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The Will to be True

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Our Web master has created a page for my book on the Discover the Path website. Amazing that she has been with us for well over ten years. I know there is an explosion of people on the web these days but back in the nineties, not so long ago really but long in terms of computer, it was rare to find a woman working on these projects. Ag has been a pioneer. Anyway, she keeps things simple in a world where fancy action seem to draw the crowds but really simple has worked for us. So I thank her for doing a consistently clean, clear and precise job on presenting both my book and our work space to the public.

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