A Poem to Ponder

I have recently come across this poem and it challenges me to the core - I hope it serves as an inspiration to you as well!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.


Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people
won't feel insecure about you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

So as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence
automatically liberates others.


by Marianne Williamson

Summer Salads

This time of year brings about an abundance of tomatoes in my garden. Thankfully, most of my family and myself love tomatoes. One of my favorite things to do with tomatoes came from my trip to Greece in 2006. We consumed Greek salad daily, maybe even twice a day, and I loved it! It is the most refreshing salad on a hot summer day. My recipe is simple...I don't even measure! Equal parts quartered tomatoes and sliced cucumber. A nice collection of red onion (depending on how much you like onion), Kalamata olives, a sprinkle of capers, a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar, goat or sheep's milk feta on top (a must - cow's milk feta tastes bad!) and a sprinkle of oregano (preferable fresh, but dried is just as good) I also like to sprinkle a little kosher salt and freshly ground pepper on mine. If I had to, I could live on this!

What type of foods do you crave when the heat turns up?

Beading gone wild!

I've been participating in an on-line creativity circle through Hip Tranquil Chick. One of my new endeavors is to start beading. Well, I took the Beading 101 class through Beadology here in Huntington Beach. Needless to say, I had a blast! Thankfully I was the only student, so I was able to ask all types of questions of my teacher, Erin. I finished my first necklace and was really happy with the results! I came home and tried my luck with matching earrings. Pleased again with the results! Well, the beading bug is still bitting, so last night I worked on necklace & earrings part deux! I'm turning into a lean mean beading machine!

Buzzing Bush

While in my garden weeding the other day, I heard a mesmerizing buzzing sound. Not just a faint buzz, but an overwhelming, all encompassing buzz. Lo and behold, my African Basil Bush (it's actually not suppose to be a bush, but it doesn't need to know that!) was entertaining and entire swarm of bees! They were humming along joyfully amongst the basil blooms! I was grateful to share my morning and garden with these lovely creatures. And I felt a sense of pride that I was supporting bees.

Viva la Carnival!

In my quest for creativity, I have enrolled in an online “Creativity Circle” thru a really fun site www.hiptranquilchick.com. We are assigned bi-weekly readings from “Artists Way” by Julia Cameron, “12 Secrets of highly creative women” by Gail McMeekin, and “Hip Tranquil Chick” by Kimberly Wilson. In my readings last night from “Artists Way” the author suggests that in areas for guidance, if we ask our selves or our God for answers in the evening before bed, we should listen for answers in the morning. For fun, I gave it a try – thinking how wonderful and simple this would be, waking up from a restful slumber with all my questions answered, what should I do with my life, what creative works are within me and by what means do I release them. I could almost taste the clarity! What I received instead was a big surprise!

The only clarity I had was the grand, vividly colorful carnival that I attended in my dream. There was a swarm of activity. I remember a swimming pool with people dancing around – almost like a music video. There were different booths of arts, crafts, tattoos, piercings, etc. At the piercings booth I confronted a young girl who had a piercing, that there are numerous hazards to piercings such as infection, crooked holes, etc, etc, etc.

I participated in a lottery type drawing where the tickets were not scratch off, but opening up a tissue type of contraption – like the tissue bells for weddings. While I was figuring out my tickets, someone knocked into me sending all of my belongings flying. While frantically trying to gather all of my belongings, I find other paper tissue things that I picked up as well. As we were leaving the carnival, I noticed that my tickets were not with the papers – I was frantic! I rushed back towards the carnival, but notice that the carnival had closed and all of the carnival workers were dancing their way out of the carnival. My tickets were long gone by that point. Then I woke up.

So am I destined to be a carnie? (Not that there is anything wrong with that) I highly doubt it though, I think it was a combination of “Ella Enchanted” and Celine Dion in concert that I watched last night, as well as a conversation I had with my teenage daughter yesterday that had accompanied a girlfriend to who was getting her belly pierced. My mind is a wild and crazy place to be!

I must begin by formally apologizing for my lack of - say... eloquence in my writing. I am not a writer, blogger, novelist, etc.... by a long shot! But I do desire to put out "there" my travels. Mostly for myself, but if you happen to come along, hey, your always welcome - enjoy the ride! I will return this weekend for a history and where this all may be heading. I'll see you soon! TTFN