A little New Year’s Day fun and procrastination tool.  I saw this meme over at Queen Heroical.  Five things you don’t know about me: 1. My great grandfather Walter Von Bruckner (on my father’s side) was a general in the Austrian army and I am also related to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (son of my great grand-uncle). 2. I skipped my senior year of high school to begin college a year early.  After college I joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps which brought me out to California. 3. While in school, at different times I played the violin, clarinet, and flute.  Never the cello though, I think

What fun that so many of you jumped in on the “Things I Love” meme, I had as much fun reading yours as I did writing mine!  Here are those who participated (click on their names to go read a celebration of gratitude!): A for Kayce at Diamonds in the Sky with Lucy B for Antony at Coming to the Quiet C for Krina at Queen Heroical E for Chartreuse Ova F for Lisa at Groggy Froggy H for Bette at B’Oki Journal I for Rachel at Swandive M for Me at Those Northern Skies N for Trish at Story Midwife  (coming) P for

This is a “Things I love” meme that I found at Cathy’s blog.  She assigned me the letter T.  A little holiday fun and a good time to reflect on some of the things that mean a lot to me. Ten things I love beginning with T: 1. Tea with cream and sugar, although I mostly drink decaf now because I find the caffeine aggravates my migraines.  Right now I am drinking Ginger Peach Decaf from The Republic of Tea.  My husband and I love the tradition of High Tea and the best one we have had is at the

Please mark your calendars for our December Monthly Gathering: (click on the link for more details about time and place) Tapping Our Dream Wisdom:  Come share a dream or learn from the dreams of others, all are welcome to explore the intrigue of our nighttime visions.  Why do we dream, what might our dreams be opening us to?  The dreams of our ancestors moved them to action and invited them into peace.  Jeremy Taylor, a renowned dream work facilitator, advocates that all dreams come for health and healing, as such, this is your invitation to crack open the mystery, challenge

Join us for our next Monthly Gathering on Friday, November 10th! We will explore the Holy moments of encountering the Divine at Mount Sinai using bibliodrama, a spontaneous role playing method for exploring sacred texts.  Participants will be guided throughout the easy process.  Sacred stories have profound energy and meaning.  When you take a step inside them and speak from the spontaneity of your Soul, new understanding as well as deep personal relevance can emerge.  All are invited to participate; and it is okay to come observe. Facilitator: Cynthia Gayle, MC, LMHC, CP is a psychotherapist, and a psychodramatist, with a specialty in bibliodrama, the exploration of

  Friday was a wonderful and very full day.  Crystal Sygeel led us in our morning gathering and I want to share here the process she led us through.  We gathered together and welcomed everyone there and then introduced ourselves and answered the question, “what are we letting go of?” or “what are we making space for?” as a way of becoming present to each other. Crystal offered some lovely reflections about being the leaf falling from the tree, and asked us to imagine what the tree we are holding onto represents, the desired trajectory of our falling (what do we

Scroll down past the photos for Part One.  I have lost 51. both of my parents (I am reminded here of that Oscar Wilde line: “to lose one parent may be regarded as a misforture, to lose both looks like carelessness.”) 52. my innocence. 53. my sweet animal companion. 54. friendships I thought would never end. 55. all four of my grandparents. 56. faith in moments of despair. 57. my ability to move my wrists freely. 58. my connection to my body and then over many years slowly re-discovered it again. 59. my Austrian citizenship (I had dual citizenship as