Authorpreneur Dashboard – Cathy Teoste
A Year of Daily Inspirations
Self-Help
Experience a year of daily self-care, self-discovery and self-expression. Expand your vision of yourself and your life. Improve your health and well-being. Live your life more fully and abundantly. Learn to be present with yourself and enjoy the moments of life each day.
Book Bubbles from A Year of Daily Inspirations
Soul Guided Life
I am trying to lead a more Soul Guided Life. Paying attention to the little nudges coming from within my deeper soul. I find I don't always listen quietly enough. I don't always pay attention. I miss the signs, the gentle nudges. Often there is just too much noise going on in my everyday life. More often than not it is just my mind stirring up thoughts that drown out the deeper voice of my soul. Or the divine guidance that is trying to reach me though the subtle feelings underneath the raging feelings that my mind is stirring up. Yesterday while I was deep in the demons of my own mind, I decided to take a walk on the beach. Upon returning, One simple thought bubbled up from within. And peace came over me almost instantly. It was like the divine had just lifted all my worries from me. Nothing had changed except now I was no longer in fear or worried. I was then guided to a project which began to flow after months of not even being able to work on it. Leading from my soul makes my day and life so much easier. Why then do I more often than not get caught up in thinking I can control what happens or have to do something to make things better? I know I am on the right path following my soul. Living a more soul guided life .All it takes is quieting the mind and listening,.
Weaving the Path of Intentions
I have made my intentions for the new year, roughed out some plans, made some important decisions, I am anxious and trying to make action steps each and every day. And then my mind doesn't want to cooperate or my body just won't move. I am in a hurry to reach a goal and something I desire very much. The path isn't as clear as I would like so frustration even doubt come pouring in, I hesitate. Today I just don't feel like working after working. I want to relax sit down and do nothing. I want to have fun with my friends. I want to just take a walk on the beach, My mind tells me that I need to work, I need to take action, I need to get things done if I want to make my dream, wish, desire, decision happen. I can't just focus on the one aspect of my life dream that I believe will make the changes happen. My heart and soul are telling me that it won't matter if I don't relax, rest my body and mind, have fun, and have good connections with family and friends. I have to relax and enjoy all of life now not just focus on the way I want life to be in the future. It will all come together on divine time. I must weave the pieces together some making more progress forward than others. It will come together in a way that will really matter.
Finding the Momentum of Moving Forward
New beginnings always start with a burst of hope. We hope that this year our dreams will come true. We hope we can change this or that habit. Whatever our resolution or intention for the New Year we always begin with a feeling of hope. How do we carry that hope forward into creating our dreams. Most years I start of strong but fizzle out once challenges get in the way. This year I am carrying over from a decision that I made during last summer, to retire from my regular job and dive more fully into mentoring and teaching women's spirituality. At the very start of the new year, I am struggling to move forward, feeling somewhat uncertain about the direction or next steps to take towards my dream. I have tried all kinds of planning and dream books in the past which at some point during the year get abandon or just don’t give me the push I need. This year I am leaning towards working with my energy and creativity flow in conjunction with my intuition. It still requires times I need to either accept moments of needing relaxation or fun, times of rest and retreat, times of being stuck and contemplation. It is trail and error over finding what works best for you to rebound when you hit those moments of challenges and getting off track. It maybe even that you are stuck because a change in direction is actually what is needed.
Traditions and Memories
I have been watching my friends all decorate their homes for Christmas. I have a few friends who are very into decorating. My daughters are all decorating their new homes. For many years I loved decorating for holidays = any holiday but especially Christmas. I grew up with our house with the largest tree in the neighborhood. This time of year brings the memories flooding up.. I just brought out the one box of Christmas decorations that I still have left. the few that I seemed to not have given away or lost over the last years of moving around. Still, I can't seem to get myself to open the box and take out the decorations. I know that there are others who for one reason or another don't have family to visit or can't travel to be with. It's a pull and tug for me, decorate or don't decorate. Yet I know I need to just get to. If you are alone for the holidays and debating or thinking it is a waste to decorate for yourself- Pull out those decorations, invite a friend over to help if you like, play some Christmas music, have some eggnog or mulled wine. Dance around as you put up decorations that bring the wonderful memories of the past into the present moment.
Holidays & Self-Care
As we decorate and plan for the holidays, we are in a giving frame of mind. We are thinking about what we want to give to our family, friends and others. Giving, Sharing, Celebration, Generosity, Kindness, then throw in some magic, miracles, wishes come true, blessing and grace without which the holiday season is all about. In order to Give Joyously you must be in the spirit of Joy within your own heart. If not the giving loses some of it's magic and blessings. Giving to yourself is important too. Make sure you nourish your own heart, soul, emotions and body. Take time out for yourself as you prepare for and enjoy the holidays. Your family and friends deserve your joyful spirit in each moment of giving. It increases the blessing and energy with each give you give and each moment you share with others. Give from JOY. Giving from joy requires a giving happy heart and spirit. Take the time to practice giving self-care, peace, and inner joy to yourself so you can share and give it in abundance to others.
Be in the Holiday Spirit with Soul Care
It is that time of year, holiday season. thanksgiving is past and we turn our attention to Christmas. We can get so busy with the planning and preparing that we can forget to let ourselves enjoy it. Instead of feeling the holiday spirit we can begin to feel more like scrooge or at least more like we will be glad when it is all over. If we remember to care for out souls that we can get into and stay into the spirit of the holidays. Caring for your own spirit with self-care and self-nurturing boosts your enjoyment of the holidays. You will feel blessed with spirit. So as you prepare for this busy holiday season keep your own spirit alive with blessing and care. Maintain some self-care and self-nurturing as well as adding a little extra each day. Take time to relax, renew, and refresh your soul. Meditate, take a walk, have a peaceful moment of sitting and enjoying the decorations. Listen to some music that makes your heart sing. Weave caring for soul into each day.
A Book of Daily Inspirations
Self-Help
A daily book of inspirations reading to live your best life
Rough-Cut Book Bubbles from A Book of Daily Inspirations
Too often I am not Present.
It's not always easy to keep our mind in the present moment. At any moment our thoughts slip into the past or the future. We often drift out of the present moment deep into our thoughts that take us sometimes to far away places. Even with my extensive training in mindfulness, I am still too often not mindful. I may be sitting here reading or writing but without warning my mind is thinking about where I would rather be (the beach) or something else I need to be doing (cleaning the house) or what I have to do tomorrow. Or even something that happened yesterday. I found that even on the beach this morning my thoughts wandered and I had to keep bringing myself back to the beauty of the ocean I love so much. What is your relationship to the present moment? How often are you wandering somewhere else in your mind?.
Realigning with Your Needs and Desires
I wrote this at the beginning of the year. Now it is June and the halfway point in the year. So many life events which I have had little control over sidetracked and stopped my path that I started at the beginning of the year. I have been questioning whether I have been on the right path and wondering about altering it or changing it completely. Sometimes we need to revisit these questions. Life happens and we often lose our way. Sometime too life is shifting and moving us in a new direction. I feel the shifting but I do not see a turn in the road yet. And I am not sure what why to turn. After revisiting these questions and having some life situations I need to work with in this moment, I think that right now I have a fork in the road and I need to pick on to try. What about you? Has your needs or desire changed over the course of these last 6 months?
Contemplating
I spend a lot of time contemplating, simple things like what to eat or what action to take next. The big questions I need to sit down and really take the time to think about. I don't think I always discover the answer to questions like, "What is my life all about? or "What do I truly desire?" I have discovered that it is in those small moments of contemplation and the choices that I make in those moments, unfold into the next. Each choice unfolds into the next. So in a way life is always full of contemplation. Yet we don't really think of those moments we think about the little choices during the day because often we just make them without thinking about them, Contemplating the little choices everyday makes life unfold more consciously or deliberately. .Making for a richer appreciation of each moment.
Starting with Hope
New beginnings always start with a burst of hope. I guess that is why we look forward to a New Year. We hope that this year something good will happen. We hope for a new dream to come true. We hope we can change this or that habit. Whatever our resolution for the New Year we always begin with a feeling of hope. How do we carry that hope forward into creating our dreams. For some reason this year I decided instead of reading a book of inspiration, I would write my own book of inspirations each day. And so I am moving forward with hope that I will continue to write each day and that somewhere in the words will be a ray of inspiration
Through the Woods to the Sea A Journey of Becoming Me
Biographies & Memoirs
In blind faith, following what she believed was divine guidance, Cathy walks away from her life with no plan, no dreams, into the unknown woods of Wisconsin. During the eleven months she spends at The Christine Center, she walks the paths of her past confronting the issues that have fragmented her sense-of-identity; dissociation, depersonalization, depression, death and grief. Hearing the wind in the trees calling her to the sea, she leaves the woods and goes to the ocean to find her dreams again. In her connection with the ocean, she flourishes into her true-self and discovers the desires in her soul. Through the woods of Wisconsin to the beach in North Carolina, Cathy has taken her life, sharing her experiences in a way that allows you to go along for the ride with her, through every experience, every feeling, and every thought. "I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. What a journey you have been and still are on. I laughed, I cried, I rejoiced in your life experiences." Marie
Book Bubbles from Through the Woods to the Sea A Journey of Becoming Me
Recovering Broken Pieces of Me
Every year at this time while everyone is getting ready for the 4th of July and vacations, I am lost in the memories of losing an important part of my heart. This time of losing my father and the days that followed were a blur of heartache. Even after all these years, a sadness falls over me when this time of year comes around. It is a bittersweet time of year. the mix of happy memories and sadness intertwine. The pain eases as years go by with the wonderful memories that now come up to ease the pain. Still I feel like I am missing a piece of myself. I still find a sadness underneath all the happy celebrations of family and friends. Time eases the pain. Life goes on.. Yet no matter how many years pass a piece of heartache still mixes in with the joy of happy memories. A part of me felt completely lost that day. It has taken years to recover those pieces through Memories. Celebrating the Life of someone who is always and still is a piece of me.
Cultivating Resiliency and Happiness
At the time I wrote this, I thought this would be my last big life change. Life transitions sometimes arise from outside circumstances such as moving, getting married, having a child, divorce or a death, or children leaving home. Sometimes those transitions come from our own evolving and growing, stirred from inside our heart and soul. As women, transitions happen not just once or twice in our life but many times from teenagers through old age. When transitions happen and our identities shift and change our greatest challenge is to find a new sense of self and purpose for our life. With each new transition, I keep thinking that this will be the last major transition but as I reach getting older, I know now that even if this transition seems like it should be the last one, that there will probably be at least one more or even two more depending on how long my life is. Cultivating resiliency, going deep to find the truth within ourselves, focusing on our strength and joys, having faith, move us through each new transition. Each time we pass through a new life transition we learn skills that allow us to adapt to any situation or challenge we face in our life. As long as we are growing through each stage, we develop the wisdom and skills of gratitude, kindness, joy, and the ability to bring meaning into every day. We develop the capacity to build happiness into our lives.
Dark Soul of the Night
It's been 15 years since I wrote those words on a journal page. My life did come out of that dark soul of the night. And I changed and life changed. Funny thing about Dark Nights of the Soul, the come around again every time it's time to evolve deeper into your soul. Transition times in life usually are the place that the soul pushes you back into a darkness deeper into yourself. I have been feeling the changes inside for awhile I just had no idea how to make the adjustments in the outside. I am ready to move into another phase of my life. Time to move in a new direction. I still don't but I am now stepping into the transition. It seems slow when I want to leap, but I am not ready to leap yet. I have known in the past when to leap so I will know this time when that leap has arrived. At the moment exhaustion has set in, so resting, healing, letting things unfold and be revealed is the order of the moment. I know that the answers will unfold as long as I do not fall back into safety and allow the unknown to exist. Through faith magic will find me, I am on the verge of another new adventure. Don't be afraid when another Dark Night of the Soul bubbles up from within you, Know that you are evolving deeper into your soul and your new adventure awaits!
School Changed the Direction of My Life
I lost my sense of self at 5 years old. From that point on I began compromising myself. Even as I discovered new parts of myself I folded them into a package, an image of someone I was creating. I was never being- I was always acting- always recreating a new character- reshaping and reforming her to adjust to perceptions of what I thought I was being told who I was supposed to be. Maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe my perceptions were misunderstandings. In fact, often times I believe now that they were. But as a child one is vulnerable to outside influences. I was stripped of my very self unintentionally but it happened. I began molding a new self from outside direction, interactions and responses. I never developed from within. And my life journey became one of finding my true self, the person I was created to be not the person that was created due to a reaction from an experience in the world. This has been my path to share with others who somehow lose their own identity. From my journey came this memoir in hopes of helping others know that they too can reconnect and find their true self and begin life again living the life they were born to live.
Falling Apart to Come Back Together
It has happened more than one time in my life. Pieces of life or pieces of myself fall apart. Panic sets in. Confusion and unsettling thoughts. Worries and fears of what will happen next. Or the feeling like I can’t accomplish my dreams or create anything worthwhile. In those day to day moments life was unfolding, I was unfolding. I was entrenched in the journey of becoming. And I did breakthrough The current world situation has broken apart and unsettled parts of me and my life. Still, I am still unfolding even though I feel like I am stuck in a holding pattern again. I have to wonder what the breakthrough will be. What will come in to take the place to replace the missing pieces? I hope some of the missing pieces will return. But what is rising out of the empty spaces? The weaving of myself and my life with the world are beyond my creation. It always surprises me and impresses me. So on days I feel like the outlook is shadowy, and nothing makes any sense and the confusion is unsettling when I am wandering lost in the wilderness. I remind myself that amazing new creations rise out of the empty spaces.
My Connection to the Sea
My life revolves around the sea. Every day I wake to the sound of the waves and the view of the blue ocean out to the horizon. My days are planned around the tides and the conditions of the sea. I have wanderlust. Sailing the ocean to far off places brings me alive. Exploring the world by the sea, exploring her shore side villages brings me alive. It is an inner and outer journey of life. It is my life. Right now as I am stuck shore side I crave my days on the beach and my time playing in the waves. While I dream of cruising the world. I become more of who I am. I step more and more into who I am. I am more understanding of others, and of myself. It allows me to step out of my comfort zone, to stretch myself, to be comfortable with the unfamiliar and unknown, to conquer fears, to discover what I am capable of, and who I can be. I become more of who I am. I long for the day that I return to sea. In the meantime, I stay by her side and enjoy her shore-side.
Routines of Life
I remember how simple and routine my life was when I was at the retreat center. My life was also simple and routine when I first moved to the beach. As time has gone on my life has filled up with more and more - work, people, events, obligations, fun, friendships. And yet within the more complications and more to do is a routine structure to life and my days. Our life and daily routines for many is now disrupted. People are looking for new routines to fill their day or a new way of doing their old routines. For me my routine hasn't changed much I still get up do my morning rituals and go off to work and return home late in the afternoon. The part of my routine that has changed is my social life. I feel lost without my friends and our times of friendship, music, food and drink. the new alone time is a great time to get back to practicing mindfulness, and gratitude for the simple things of life. For being present with my self and taking care of myself. Time for some of those creative projects that I have put aside. What have you put aside you can do for yourself now?
We are Characters in Our Own Life
I am no longer living at the retreat center but people are still front and center in my life. I now work in a local grocery store I see individual characters every day. I spent so much of my life keeping distance from people. Now everyone I meet is a character in my life. I guess I am a character in their life too. Being myself and being true to myself sometimes makes me the character that others see. Dancing as freely as I do, I think I am the character more than others are the characters to me. I see each person as a unique expression. It makes us all characters in life. I don't make up characters as I write non-fiction so all the characters in my books are real. But all that reality revolves around myself. No need to make it it up for life brings our individual character to life and we share it everyday Sharing who we are enriches life.
Perspectives of Storytelling
Most of my life I thought I didn’t have a life. I just existed, mostly invisible. I took up space. Nothing significant happened. I didn’t do anything worth mentioning. Then one day I was asked what my story was. I told my story. Several women were interested. It began to question my perspective on my life. I wrote and told my story. My story expanded. I told more of my story. How that changed everything about how I see myself and my life. I know as a writer that how you tell a story – the perspective is how the reader gets to know the characters and how the reader sees and becomes a part of the story. You show them what you want them to know, experience, feel, think and understand. I just never thought about how it could change the story of my own life. Perspective is what changes everything. How we perceive an event or experience is how we experience our lives and ourselves. It’s simple but sometimes it takes someone else to point out a different point of view and you have to be open to it and receive it. I know all I need is a shift in perspective of what is happening in that moment and it magically changes.
Kindred Spirits of the Sea
Other authors, I have read and in my community have inspired me with writing, becoming myself and living my dreams. There have been many who have offered me encouragement, knowledge or wisdom along the way. One author in particular inspired me profoundly. Joan Anderson encouraged and lead me as I began a slow journey into finding myself even though I was deep into a life I couldn’t see my way out of. She gave me guidance as I step out of my fears and took small risks and then bigger ones. Her books, A Year by the Sea, A Walk on the Beach, and The Road Back to Yourself: The Second Journey opened up possibilities and gave me courage to believe I deserved to connect with who I really was and what I really loved. It gave me the courage to walk away from a life that no longer suited me-that didn’t fit anymore. My first step was in stepping away from my life. Deep into the woods where I finally heard that deeply buried call to the sea. And when I arrived at the sea, I wrote my story Second Journey and becoming me. Today I am celebrating living by the sea for ten years now. Thank you Joan Anderson, for helping me find my way to the sea.
What if I was just me? Who would I become?
When I began my own personal journey many years I ago, I began with those questions of what if…. What if I knew who I was? What if I could be myself? Who would that be? What would I be like? My memoir is really the journey of wondering what if…and then stepping into living those what ifs. As I leaned into each what if to discover the answers many more what ifs emerged. It wasn’t an easy journey. Wondering the what if was easier than stepping into the possibilities of living the what if. It was the dreaming about what if….that lead to trying to see if the what if was possible and following steps towards living the what if that lead me to discover the answers. The what if…was no longer a what if because I knew the answer. It is in wondering what if…that leads me down the path of life to fully living and being. Discovering the answer to what if opens a door to possibilities of what ifs expanding life is ways I can’t even imagine. What if you followed your what if where would it lead you? The only way to know is to lean into then step into your what if.
Finding Holiday Blessings
It is hard to believe that over 10 years have passed since this first holiday away from family. That first year was actually a blessing. I was able to experience the holidays without the traditions that were holding me hostage. It gave me time to contemplate which ones were really important or special to me and which ones I didn’t enjoy but did anyway. Once I moved to the beach, I begin starting my own traditions with a few of the old ones I loved. My first Christmas at the beach I spent with one of my daughters. And another of my daughters came for New Years for several years. Now I have enjoy wonderful friends’ holiday celebrations. It has been a blessing to have such a community of friends during the holidays when family is so far away. This year, however, I am very much missing family especially my daughters and my grandson. Sadness flows our of my heart as I feel a longing to be with them during the holidays. Friends are my savior this year with all our gathers and celebrations of friendship Thanksgiving was spend at friends among friends. It was a heartwarming fun evening I will spend Christmas with friends again in the company of love that will hug me through the missing of my family. And I look forward to the time I will be able to spend Christmas with family once again.
Storms of the Sea and Life
I have been absent from my everyday life as the storms of the sea have interrupted and disrupted my life and many people around me, Now people I do not know are also risking the dangers of living by the sea. Hurricane Florence moved over our island and sat here for days it seemed. Having been evacuated it seemed an eternity before I could return and see what might be left of my life. As we began to pick up the pieces and shift through what remained we have barely begun the recovering process when Hurricane Michael headed towards the gulf coast and beyond. We watched in disbelief. As I write this Hurricane Michael is still coming toward North Carolina. For our island this is more of a wind experience rather than the rain that we had with Florence. But inland they are getting more rain and water they don't need. For so many our lives will be changed from these two storms both on the outside but also on the inside. Storms have a way of making life altering changes upon the land and upon the spirit. The strength to rebuild is within. As a community and with help we will return to the beach that is the heart and soul of our community, life and spirit.
Soul Walking
I had never contemplated the fact that I had not conceived any of my self or life by by own hands or from my own being. When this question first appeared I wanted to avoid it but it began incubating within me. As I stayed present with myself it open the passage way to see myself in a new perspective. It opened the door for the past to finally come unraveled. It opened the door to be able to finally see myself from a different perspective. I could move forward again present and with myself, my being,and my soul that was covered up and hidden inside the outer shell of the person I created. How much of your life have you allowed to be contrived by culture and the expectations of others?
Friends Enrich Life and Self
Most of life I felt distant from others with no connection. People were just on the surface of my life. I felt.alone. Now everyone I meet touches me or reaches me in some way. What an amazing shift. It has enriched and enhanced who I am and my life in amazing ways. I bonded with strangers at The Christine Center. I now live in an amazing island community that has become family to me. My family now has me whole and connected in their life even as we live miles apart. This week I have been reminded that people are inherently good, generous and kind. Three times this week I have watched a stranger pay for someone else's groceries in the local grocery story. Local's helping out a tourist, tourist's helping out a local. I have family and friends I know I can count on for anything I might need as they too know I am here from them as well. It is such a lesson to know, feel and experience when the larger world around you wants you to believe otherwise. Connecting with family, friends and strangers has changed me. It has changed my life. And with this book I share my story to connect with you knowing it will enrich my life and hope it enriches yours.
No Longer Me
It was this one defining moment of my life that changed who I was into who I became. I became someone who was not me. This moment that I misunderstood changed the direction of my life. I sometimes wonder who I would have become if I had not become someone other than the person I truly was inside. Yet it opened doors into worlds I would never have traverse and taught me lessons that I never would have learned. In becoming two different distinct personalities it actually expanded who I have now become. I had created parts of myself that I might not have discovered if Mary hadn’t emerged from within my mind. It is why I began this journey into learning about feelings, connections and becoming my authentic self. Do you have one defining moment where the direction of who you were changed who you have become?
The Answer is always in the Present Moment
When chaos is going on inside me or around me or in my life the only answer is to become present. I learned this a long time ago from Jon Kabat-Zinn but sometimes I get so wrapped up in either the past or the future and feel out of control. Be here now- it is what balances me. The answers only come from being present with myself and in the moment. Life is always just fine there. The best part is - is that once I get into the present moment and be where I am right now- when I am at peace and focused on the now- the answer to whatever it is that I am struggling with or fighting with in my mind always comes, sometimes it is a thought or a clear answer but sometimes it just unfolds in daily life. It comes in the peace, in the silence, or in the joy of the moment that is happening. This one thing alone changed my life – It can change your life too.
Pause and Rest
We are taught to get through whatever is happening, and get on with life. There is no time to stop and absorb life changes; graduating school, getting divorced, moving, or changing jobs. It doesn't matter that we need to absorb the changes or what is happening to us or how it is disrupting out lives and our sense of being. I stepped back and paused out of fear and panic not because I was allowed to step away and rest. But it is an acceptable choice. It is a very valid choice. I have come to believe in this idea of pausing and rest. It is more than that just stepping back, or stepping away, it is regrouping and focusing on present moment rather than getting stuck trying to live in the past or rush into the future. Reflecting, contemplating and just coming to acceptance of what has changed and what you are changing. It is important. A pause or retreat doesn’t have to be a year. It depends on the life changing event or situation and how you feel or what you need. I believe that it is vitally important to step back, step away, and pause before you rush forward into the next chapter of your life.
Mothers and Daughters
I was so focused on the main theme of identity and sense-of-self and finding and becoming my true self that it took my sister to point out that the underlying theme is this mother-daughter relationship. I believed that I took my identity from my father - that I was like him, associated who I was to my relationship with him - that I didn't see that my relationship with my mother was a huge factor in my denying my identity - denying and hiding who I was inside. My identity or lack of a solid strong identity and connection to myself was entwined to my relationship with my mother and with myself as a mother.
Inner Strength
Each time I faced a moment of fear and panic, I felt weak and incapable. Yet in those moments of fear, somewhere there was some inner strength that pushed me through. My sub-conscious counted on others who believed in me to push me into that inner strength I couldn't see. It is in looking back that I now see where I was strong and when I was strong. Though in that moment I didn't see it or recognize it. When in your life have you had inner strength that guided you through a difficult situation? Who supported and believed in you when you couldn't believe in yourself?
Nature"s Wisdom
One day I decided to take a walk on one of the wooded paths at The Christine Center, When I got back I wrote a poem describing what I had experienced. That poem became the foundation of this chapter. That walk began the journey into excavating the past. The insights I gathered from the trees, and the woods were the first step into acceptance that the past was still holding me back. I don't know what it is exactly but outside in nature I seem to hear and see things that come to me from someplace other than my mind. The insights and wisdom or information seems to come from deep within yet from some unknown source without. Wherever it comes from it only happens outside when i am surrounded and connected to nature. It is an awareness of myself and of life. .
Starting in the Middle
I began my Memoir in the middle- where it all finally broke apart. Everything came crashing down yet I wasn't ready to face it all yet. Instead I stepped out of life to a spiritual retreat center. There I focused on the present moment until the pieces of the past finally unraveled. Writing this book has been a long process of trying to put all the pain and joy into words. In this book I expose my life, myself - or lack of self. My journey had many starts and stops along the way. The blessing were inside the dark moments as well as the people I met along the way and the experiences I had that have led me to find my one deep connection with myself. In finding that connection I have transformed myself and my my life. I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride. In my story I hope you find your story of personal transformation.
Dancing on the beach
Travel
Through this collection of essays expressing my deep love and connection to the ocean and my own inner spirit. I hope to inspire you to connect with nature and your own authentic essence, hear your own deep inner wisdom, discover your own song in your heart and dance the steps to your own unique dance fully embracing life in all of its wonder and awe. Through these essays you be inspired to: • Become centered in present moment • Connect to nature and your inner spirit • Awaken your senses, learning to experience life through all your senses in every moment. The wisdom of the beach has guided me into my own inner wisdom found deep in my heart and soul and leading me to learn to hear the song of my own soul and the steps of my own joy. I am now learning to dance beyond the breakers.
Book Bubbles from Dancing on the beach
Moving through the Storms of Our Life
Last night a Tropical Storm came through our island. Rain, wind and some flooding, nothing that much affected the community that has weathered several major Hurricanes over the years. Many of our nearby areas south of us, however, didn't weather this storm so well. My heart goes out to them, as I have been there. What I know is that neighbors and strangers come together and help pick up the pieces of our life. It may go back to close to what it looked like before the storm or it may look completely different. Inside us is a place of strength and courage and resiliency that allows us to pick up the pieces and start again. The storm we are weather may have been created by mother nature or maybe it has been created by outside circumstance. Often the storm has been converging from within ourself. Know that you have the strength and courage to move forward, to take action, to step through or pick up the pieces to create a life that reflects who you are at your deepest core. Help is always available when we need it, both earth help and divine help. Trust yourself, Trust the Divine, Trust Others, Trust the Process of Life.
Dance and Sing Even When Someone is Watching
It is mid-January and the island isquiet finally. It is a nice day, sun, clouds, a breeze coming from the south. Alone on the beach. Time has changed how I feel about being along. There is more of a balance to my life between solitude and being surrounded by people. After a summer and fall full of tourists it is bliss to take a walk on the deserted -well mostly deserted beach. Certain stretches have a few people out enjoying the nice winter day. If you walk far enough to areas less populated you will have miles to yourself. The sun, the ocean, the shells along the beach, the sea gulls all keep my company. I may be the only person but I am surrounded by beauty, nature and divine light, The wisdom of the beach in the winter touches me and reaches into my being. Without the business of the other seasons, I reconnect with the ocean I love. I breathe deeply. I am one with nature and the divine. I am no longer feeling alone at all. I am filled with life. It surrounds me. It gives me life. The freedom of an empty beach provides me with the courage to sing and dance to my own song, What the beach is telling me today I don;t need to be afraid to sing and dance my own song even if I am on the otherside of the dunes.It is always there guiding me through the currents of my life.
Dancing on the Beach
When I hit a wall either with my writing when the words won't flow or anything in my life that is not flowing creatively and smoothly, I need the ocean. There I can reconnect with the wisdom within. I hear the ideas as if on angles wings. Whispering softly to me. As I dance they become more expressive and flowing. It reignites and inspires me. The emery returns that send my creative flow moving again. And the words begin to flow. Excitement send me to my notebook or running back across the dunes to the house and my computer. Nature and movement bring me into alignment with myself. It is the combination combination of being at the ocean, seeing the ocean, smelling the sea air, hearing the waves, and moving with with the music of the earth and of my inner self that give rise to the return of my creative flow.
Laughing with the Dolphins
Humor has never been a big part of my life I don't see the humor in many things other people find funny. For me humor is in the moment of fun, the smile, the delight, the magic moment. Play is humor for me. It is where I find something to laugh about or joke about even if I am the pun. Watching the Dolphins play in the waves, watching the children running in and out of the waves laughing in glee, I laugh. Humor is in the fun of the activity or the magic of the moment. I must admit right now I am finding it hard to find the dolphins at play or feel the laughter of the waves. Yet every day after I return from feeling unsafe and stressed at my day job. I come home and look out at the sea and know that the dolphins are out there somewhere playing for me until I can join them again. And I smile and feel a moment of laughter. Their playful spirit sets my humor free.
Gifts within the Dance
Dance has always been in the foundation of my life, of myself. I may have started dancing because Mom had me taking tap dancing lesson at 3 years old but it became deep rooted in me. The form of dance has changed and evolved over my lifetime. Still I find myself dancing on the beach, even in the rain.This little book that I just wrote from my feelings while I struggled with writing my memoir taught me about myself. I have been amazed at the reaction I have received from others how it lifted their spirits or inspired them. What I learned the most from this book is to continue to dance to my own true self no matter what it looks like on the outside to others. So I dance when my friends play music and I dance to the sound of the ocean on the beach. It is where Freedom is for me. It is where Joy finds its way into my heart when it is raining outside.
Standing Strong through Storms of Sea
Once again a storm is disrupting everyday life at the beach. Living on the coast-on a barrier island has with it certain uncertainties of storms. Yet those of us who live and work here still would rather deal with this disruptions of everyday life for the beauty of the ocean. Last year this week I was cruising in the Caribbean to come home to the chaos of hurricane evacuation. Now one year later, I am evacuated again while another hurricane is heading along the coast. We are hoping it stays out to sea but it looks like it will pass dangerously close. It gives me time to pause & evaluate where I want this storm to take me. I find that I just want to be on a cruise ship! I want to cruise all over the world. I want to experience different ship and discover new ports of call. Yet the comfort of my homeport is important to me. It is here I can dream new dreams and enjoy the routine of the beach life including friends and community. Storms just make me love the ocean even more. They may cause disruption and even some destruction of my homeport but the friends and community hold together even stronger and better each time we unite in riding out the storm.
The Dance of Becoming a Writer
I have been writing all my life. But I never called myself one. As a little girl it was mostly poetry where I expressed the feelings that were buried inside me. Emotions I couldn't express. Afraid to feel anything I wrote words on a page yet I didn't "feel" them. I gave up the dream of being a writer as a teenager. For years my only writing was in a journal. When my kids were little and I was lost, I wrote a story that poured out of me. I hand wrote it in notebook after notebook..That manuscript is still in a box in my closet. Then years later after my children were grown I was telling my story of my journey to strangers in a dining hall and was encouraged to write my story. When I began to write it I was struggling wondering if I could write it and finish it and actually ever publish it. Another friend challenged me to write a short book and publish it. She even gave me the title, 'Dancing on the Beach' because I never walked the beach I always danced down the beach. And so 'Dancing on the Beach' was the first successful step into being able to say I was a writer.
Dance in the Rain!
Rain, Rain, Go Away is what everyone is saying right now. It has been raining everyday for a week now. Sometimes it is a steady rain but most often it is wild thunderstorms rolling across the sky. It is summer at the beach after all. I have had to be inside and often where I can't see the lightening or see the storm clouds rolling. I love thunderstorms and they make me feel close to my dad whom I miss very much especially at this time of year. Today I realized why the sadness seems to be lingering inside me. I haven't been out in the storms where I can feel its energy, its strength, its power. It revitalizes me and connects me with my dad. I need to dance in the rain! Time to go Dancing in the Rain! And watch the storms release its magic powers and wash away the sadness within me. .
Hurricane at Sea
Since I was a little girl I have loved storms, thunderstorms in particular. I would run outside watching the clouds and the lightening. It would frighten my mom. She would yell at me to come inside. My dad would come out and we would end up watching from the porch. When I was 19, on a cruise from Boston to Bermuda, the ship got caught up in a hurricane. No matter how the captain and crew tried to avoid it the hurricane seemed to come back at us. It was the most exciting experience of my life. I loved every minute of it. I would go to the bridge (back then you could) and look at the charts of the ship and the storm. I would go out on the inside promenade and watch the waves go over the ship, feel the ship be engulfed by the wave and then bounce back up upon the sea. I live on an island off the coast now. My first approaching hurricane I headed to the beach and watched the storm clouds roll in and the tossing and turning ocean approaching the shore. I stay out on the beach watching until it is unsafe to do so. Well unsafe in my eyes but I probably push it a little too far sometimes.
My Connection to the ocean
I have always heard the call of the ocean in my being. It gives me breath and life.The ocean is where I need to be whenever I need nurturing or care. For many years I lived in the woods and didn't understand why I felt disconnected with myself. Life changes sent me further into the woods where I heard the ocean waves in the wind. And I knew I had no choice but to go to the sea. Once I arrived at the shore I knew I was home. this book came out of my affinity with the ocean and how she revived me to myself.
