Category: Uncategorized

A collection of articles/blog posts, videos, and podcasts about serenity.

Continue reading Serenity Roundup

Serenity is the eye of a hurricane.  It’s what happens when we choose to let the world swirl around us while we let peace and calm into our soul.  Experience the eye of a hurricane or typhoon is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced in my life.  After being cooped inside for days listening to the wind howl outside with gusts over 100 miles an hour, see the window panes flex with the wind, and feeling the barometric pressure shifts within my body, nothing could have compared me for the unnatural quiet of the eye of the storm.  All of a sudden there is no wind and there is an eerie sense of calm.  Looking at the weather map, I could see the storm swirling around the island, but for that minute in time there was peace.

Continue reading Serenity: The Eye of The Storm

Forgiveness and amends are both gifts we give ourselves.  Forgiveness of can release the anger and resentment that we feel towards another person who has hurt us and amends can help eliminate the guilt and shame we feel when we hurt others.  Both of these are difficult tasks because they require us to address actions and feelings we might rather forget, but making the effort to both forgive and make amends can bring serenity into our lives.

Continue reading The Gift of Amends

I’ve been working on forgiving my abusive ex since the day he walked out the door seven years ago.  I was holding on to anger over his using me, abusing me, and then throwing me away.  Like many abused women, I stayed because I didn’t know how to survive without him.  However, unlike many abused women I was perfectly capable of supporting myself.  I stayed because I’d been brought up to believe a woman was nothing without a man.  While praying and choosing to forgive were the actions, it was a journey through the fours that helped me to truly find the path to peace and forgiveness.

Continue reading Tarot Tuesday: Forgiveness in the Fours

The following is a collection of blog posts / articles, videos, and books about courage that I’ve found inspiring.

Blog Posts / Articles

• How to Increase Your Courage:  7 Tips–Great article with concrete actions you can take to increase your courage.
• Six Attributes of Courage–An article from Psychology Today that lists six attributes of courageous people and provides an exercise on increasing your courage.
• Courage as a Skill–Harvard Business Review explaining how courage is a skill that can be learned.
• Finding the Courage to Let go of the Familiar and Make a Change–Article about how you can let go of the familiar and change your life.

Videos/Podcasts

• Courage–A Ted Talk Podcast at NPR examining different facets of courage.
• The Courage to Trust Yourself…Listen to the Nudges–A great Ted talk about trusting yourself.
• Finding the Courage to Be Yourself–Great Ted Talk about letting down your boundaries and being yourself.
• You Have One Life:  Live It–Sherry McConkey talks about how she overcame the death of her husband.

Books

• Catching Courage: How To Stop Hesitating, Take Control Over Your Anxieties, And Believe In Yourself – Use Obstacles To Your Benefit–Book to help you grow your courage and stop hesitating.
• Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously (Osho Insights for a New Way of Living)–Book providing insights into having courage in your day to day life.

Riding the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls last year was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.  I’d been to Niagara a couple of times before and had always loved feeling the spray and listening to the thunder as the water washed over the falls, but nothing prepared me for the life changing sense of renewal I felt as our boat was maneuvered closer and closer to the falls.

Feeling the spray of the water, I felt as if my very bones were being washed clean and that 50 years of accumulated nasty energy was being stripped from my very soul.  Standing on the side of the boat closest to the water, I was drenched by the cool, clean water of the falls, but the cleansing was more than that as every sense was engaged through the roar of the falls, the feel of the mist on my skin, the sight of the water tumbling over the rocks, the taste of the water as I licked the mist from my lips, and the smell of freshness in the air.

I felt as if I was a changed person after leaving the falls and research shows that the negative ions associated with waterfalls, rain, and showers do have significant health benefits.  Negative ions are created in nature when energy molecules or broken down by moving air or water or even by sunlight.   Studies have shown that negative ions balance the serotonin levels in our blood and improve our mental functioning, improve our physical health by boosting the immune system, and cleaning our environment.  All of these things can help us feel rejuvenated.  An article at WebMD says, “Once they reach our bloodstream, negative ions are believed to produce biochemical reactions that increase levels of the mood chemical serotonin, helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost our daytime energy.”

I’d heard about negative ions before and I’ve always believed they have some health benefits, but it wasn’t until I stood in the mist of Niagara Falls that I felt the true rejuvenating effects of the falls and realized exactly how powerful they were.  Since my trip last summer, I’ve been longing to go back and feel that super charged energy rushing through me again, but for a variety of reasons, I haven’t been able to head back.  However, I’ve found some substitute sources to get my negative ions fixed and while none have provided the same rejuvenation effect, they’ve all helped to some degree.

Waterfalls, Lakefronts, and Fountains

Niagara Falls is one of the biggest generators of negative ions, according to Fred Soyka, author of The Ion Effect, but the creation of negative ions isn’t limited to Niagara.  All waterfalls and natural places create some negative ions.  Sitting along the shore and soaking up the spray is a great way to get a serotonin boost.  One of my favorite and easiest ways, to get my fix is to sit along the lake front and feel the waves come in.   I’m especially fond of the 35^th Street Beach in Chicago on days when the waves are coming in and pounding into the breakwater.  Sitting and watching the waves hit the wall and feeling the mist from the water is incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating.  The key to getting maximum negative ions is to sit somewhere where the water hits the rocks hard and generates maximum spray.

If you’re not blessed with waterfalls or lakefronts, fountains are another great source of negative ions.  I learned this last summer when I spent an evening wandering around Columbus, I spent some time wading and sitting by fountains and I ended up feeling totally cleansed and rejuvenated.

Rain

From soft summer showers to raging thunderstorms, rain clears the air and creates negative ions.  These negative ions are, in part, the reason that everything seems so fresh and clean after a raging storm.  The rain and the lightening create negative ions that induce us to sing in the rain, jump in puddles, and generally feel good about life.  While being out in a thunderstorm might be a little dangerous, you can get the same effects by sitting on a snug porch watching nature’s light show or going out and jumping in puddles after the rain.

Showers

If you’re in need of a serious negative ion fix now and don’t have time to drive to a waterfall or wait for a rainstorm, you can take advantage of your own personal negative ion generator:  Your shower.  As Dr. Bob Mcauley said on his blog, “The average household shower produces a substantial amount of negative ions , which is one of the reasons why people often feel better after showering.”  I’ve found that the best way to reap the benefits of negative ions in a shower is to visualize the warm water cleansing away not only the physical grime, but also the energetic grime accumulated throughout our days in the busy modern world.  As I stand under the shower, I imagine all this nastiness going down the drain.  It seems to work as when I walk out of the shower I do feel rejuvenated.

Conclusion

When you’re feeling stressed out and overwhelmed by all that life has to throw at you, take a few minutes to recharge and breathe in negative ions.  Even if you don’t have time for a full blown shower, I’ve found that taking a few minutes to run your hands under cool running water can help alleviate stress and soothe the soul.  Another easy way to get the benefits of negative ions is to make a copy of tea and inhale the steam into your soul. 

For most of my life Chicagoland was my home.  I was born in a suburb, lived in another suburb, spent four years living in the city, and another year working downtown and staying in hotels on the Mag Mile.  To say my times to the city are deep would be an understatement and even though I made a deliberate choice to move to Cleveland, I still haven’t truly cut my ties to the Windy City and it’s made it hard to grow my roots in the Cle.

The first year after my move in October 2015, I traveled back to Chicago every week for work.  I had no need to find good Mexican restaurants in Cleveland because every Monday (and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday), I could log on to Grubhub or walk a few blocks and indulge in chicken enchiladas from Spanglish.  Most times I didn’t even have to tell the guy behind the counter my order because he knew it by heart.  I had no incentive to find a new favorite New Age shop because I could just head to Augustines or   Alchemy Arts and get my fill of essential oils, rocks, and the like.

Worst of all, I had no incentive to make friends in Cleveland because I could always wait a few days and see my friends in Chicago.  I’ll be honest and say that it’s really hard for me to make friends because I have to be so extroverted at work that all I want to do on the weekends is relax, read, etc.  My pattern for the past 16 months has been to identify something that looks cool, decide I’m going to go, and make a lame excuse when it’s time to actually execute.  I’ve not gone to book clubs, I’ve not gone to church, I’ve not gone to a host of activities.

I guess deity got fed up with my lame excuses because about six weeks ago my project in Chicago came to an abrupt end and I’ve been home in Cleveland without easy access to my friends or Spanglish.  I’ve had to choose between sitting home and being lonely or getting off my butt and going out to meet people.  I have to be honest and say that while I haven’t been great about getting out and meeting people, I have been making an effort.  I’ve gone to Indivisible Meetings, meetings at our library, and concerts.  I can’t say that I’ve made friends, but I am putting the energy out there.

My son is on his way to Chicago for the weekend and he invited me to go with him. It wouldn’t have cost much as he was going anyway and I have enough points to stay in a hotel for free and I really wanted my Spanglish.  However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that going to Chicago for the weekend would give me another excuse to put off moving my heart out of Chicago and into Cleveland.  Going to Chicago would mean I’d get to hang out with friends and could put off meeting new friends, I could go to restaurants I know I’m going to love, I could explore neighborhoods that I know well.  And doing all those things, would mean my incentive to move my heart to Cleveland would be delayed yet again.

As hard as it was to say no to a quick trip to Chitown, I’m choosing to cut the cord and say no to spending time in my old hometown and yes to spending time in my new hometown.  I’ve even gotten out the calendar and started circling events that look interesting and getting my butt up off the couch and out the door.

Many women will not be working, studying, or shopping today as part of the Day without a Woman activities, but as for me I will be working, writing, and marching for women.  I freely admit that I am a woman of privilege.  I’m white, well educated, and work a professional job and because of all those things, I could easily take a day off with pay to show unlike the millions of women who do not have access to paid leave.

The Washington Post published an article called the Expensive Problem of the Day without a Woman that cited Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that among women of privilege (i.e.  the top 10 percent of earners) 90 percent could take a day off and still get paid while among the bottom 10 percent of earners, only 28 percent could take day off without pay.  Additionally, as was shown in the case of the day without immigrants when workers were fired for taking the day off, taking a day off not only means a loss of pay for one day, it could also mean the loss of livelihood.

How can I as a woman who has so much ask my sisters to take a day off and jeopardize their jobs?  The simple answer is that I can’t.  Although many in the women’s movement justify taking the day off as taking it off for women making less, I can’t do that as I believe that taking the day off while other women can’t afford to is just flaunting my privilege.

So what will I be doing instead of taking the day off with pay?  I will be wearing red, marching (after work hours) to support International Women’s Day, I will be seeking out small women owned businesses to patronize, I will write letters begging lawmakers not to defund Planned Parenthood, and I will donate money to organization’s that support victims of domestic violence.  And on Thursday, I’ll participate in CSU’s Women of Power event.