Going Within

“From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.” – Aeschylus

Greetings to all, and I hope the last two months of summer were wonderful for everyone.

Wow, it has been quite a while since I sat down and wrote. What happened to me? I was simply living life. My sons and I took a trip to New Mexico and Colorado. We spent time with close friends, and time together with just the three of us. We watched for bears, hiked, visited places we loved and explored new ones. I worked my nonprofit-social work job and within that created two day-long presentations, brought a few projects from my mind into reality, all the while feeling blessed that within my work there is so much room for expression and creativity. 

We got the school year started, and last week at work I facilitated a retreat for a group of non-profit executive directors at a state park called Quartz Mountain. In preparing for those three days, I took of my usual professional hat, creating room to develop a presentation that enabled us to explore neuroplasticity; have fun, new experiences and bring what we learned personally to our jobs.
 
But I wasn't writing and it bothered me. I felt unusually silent. Yet, within my silence I was aware of a deep, inner stillness. I felt peace. I felt a quiet joy.
 
There is usually a reason when we feel we need to be quiet and go within. Often there is a seed - an idea, wisdom, or understanding- that is taking root.

I feel myself emerging from my quiet space, and am going to trust that from a small seed a mighty trunk may grow. As autumn approaches, stirring the mystical inside of me,  I am awaiting epiphanies.
 
Wishing Epiphanies for Us All,
 
Sheryl

Honoring "the nudge"

Hello Kindred Spirits!

First, thanks to all who have responded and signed up for the email list after the technological travesty that resulted in its demise. Perhaps it will rebuild and be better than ever, yes?

It has been an interesting few weeks for me. My “real” job has been quite turbulent, yet at the same time I have been feeling oddly creative. I want nothing more than to hole up with my laptop and let it pour out of me -- Which brings me to what I want to share with you today: honoring “the nudge.”

Last week, a small book idea that came to me last summer as I sat on the beach was front and center in my mind. It is a little book about burnout for executive directors of nonprofits, which I am in my day job. I sat down, and over the course of a week, the  bones of that little book was written, just like that. Imagine me snapping my fingers for full effect! It literally just poured out of me.

Around the same time last week, I started feeling the strong sense that I am supposed to rewrite Timeless Waters in the first person, which it actually was in its first draft. I am asking myself, why on earth would I need to do that? When will I find the time?  But I have felt the nudge, heard the call, felt the pull. Needless to say, I imagine sometime soon I will sit down and try a rewrite….

            The nudge can be an inspirational idea that makes you want to act. It can be a nagging feeling in your gut. It can be a series of roadblocks that keep redirecting you until you finally get it, or it can be a faint whisper on the wind that you might not even realize you heard.

We feel the nudge to do things; call an old friend, take a different route to work, create, start a project, go back to school. Yet, when receiving that gentle push, we often don’t listen. We tell ourselves it is a silly idea or all the reasons we shouldn’t even bother. But what if that nudge you feel, that “crazy” idea, is Spirit’s way of gently guiding you in a direction that will make you happy, enrich your life, or help someone else? 

Spirit communicates, in a multitude of ways. Our one and only job is to listen.

Many Blessings,

Sheryl