In honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 I spent today filling up my cup with creative joy.

As Americans, we don’t ever want to forget such a tragic time in our history as 9/11.  For the creative person that often means we create some kind of memorial that can be in the form of a painting, sculpture, quilt, music, photography, crafting, etc. Really, the sky is the limit.

I decided ten years ago that my memorial project would be a crocheted flag afghan.  I know better (then and now) to start projects like this because they take me forever.  I get burned out and have to put it down for long periods of time.  For whatever the reason I thought that this time would be different, like every other bigger type of project that gets me going.

My girlfriends, the afghan was no different even if it was in honor of 9/11. I actually finished the crocheting part probably about a year ago and only had the loose ends to finish off.  The problem was that there were LOTS of loose ends and I kept putting it off.

So today was the day and I would honor the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by finishing my project.  Perfect!  It felt good working on it and it felt great finishing it!  And it is beautiful!  Even my guys are happy that it is done.

If I may interject here, I know many of you are probably saying I just don’t have time to be creative. I know because I say it too.  In all honesty, we don’t have time not to.

Life always has stress factors in it including crises like 9/11.  For that reason it is important that we do activities that de-stress us and playing with our creative bent will indeed help!  When we de-stress even through our creativity, our energy changes, our body chemistry changes, and it puts us in a completely different place allowing us to see life from a different place.

Creativity is a win/win, which is why it is included in our self-nurture 30-day challenge.  It impacts us in body, mind, and spirit.

How can you include creativity in your self-nurture practice?

In honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, what small memorial  project can you create?

God Bless America!

This moment in time …  mmmm.  Sometimes you don’t realize how much you need something until you get it.

Today my family and some of our friends went to Kennywood Amusement Park for the day.  To their disappointment I did not go.  I felt like I had disappointed everyone, but I knew in my spirit that I needed to stay home.  I knew that being in the midst of lots and lots of people with all kinds of craziness would only add to the stress I was already feeling.  Oh, I’m sure in the end I would have had a good time, but again, it is not what this girl needed today.

Me before alone time!

I have spent the afternoon and evening by myself having what I call alone time.  It took me awhile to unwind and de-stress but suddenly it hit me.  Oh my goodness!  I so need this time and space to just “be”.

Me after alone time!

As the day has progressed the tensions and stress and all the things that made me feel irritated and uptight have slowly faded away.  Even though I have worked today at home, I have still been able to unwind and de-stress with soft music in the background and beautiful weather filling me with happiness.  I’ve been able to breathe and think without interruption.  It sure feels good!

Do you ever feel like you need time alone to just “be”?  Actually, I am a person who requires alone time to recharge and rejuvenate in my body, mind, and spirit.  It’s strange that I haven’t recognized the need, but sometimes life gets crazy with one thing after another to where I miss the signals.  This sure explains a lot of my behavior lately.

So, I am making a commitment to myself to be more aware of this very important need that I have … alone time, space, time to just “be”.

With that, I encourage you to create more awareness around what you need and then honor that need.  What might that look like for you?  You know me, I love your comments so please do share!

*Pictures provided by Home Sweet Home Pet Sitters

Yes, life IS messy!

Many of us try to make life fit into this perfect, black and white little box.  It is more stressful living in that pretend world than in the real, messy world.  The Christian community is particularly caught up in the perfect, black and white little box thing.  Ah! Before you throw darts at me I am part of that Christian community, I know first hand.  Although this is just my opinion, when I have expressed this to others whether Christian or not, I have yet to have someone disagree.  It’s ok if you do.

Can we be real!!… for just one minute!  Life IS messy!  The Bible is full of messy life stuff.  We read those stories and pull out life lessons, albeit really good life lessons, and end up beating ourselves (and sometimes others) over the head with it without love, grace, and understanding.  Lately, I have been thinking over and over … “who knows the mind of God?”.  We put God in a box thinking we know what He thinks and how He acts and moves.  REALLY??!!  Who are we kidding?!  He is the God of the universe for crying out loud.

I love my God, my Abba Father.  He is who I have anchored my life to so don’t misunderstand, but I have come to the realization that there is tons that we don’t know and understand about Him and His universe.  The sooner I quit putting Him and His universe in a box, the better off I will be.  And, may I add, by doing so will only strengthen my faith.  Just my opinion.

Look, I don’t care what religion you are, we all experience a messy life from time to time, although some more than others.  In my striving for authenticity, I am declaring to you, all of my precious readers, that I get that life is messy.  I get that your life can be messy and may be messy right now.  Heck! My own life gets messy … super messy!  I am not perfect.  I do not fit into that perfect, black and white little box.  Dare I say it this way … I do not fit into that perfect, black and white little Christian box.  I just don’t and I never will!  Just sayin.

So! Let’s all become more authentic by being ok with the fact that life IS messy!  Let’s embrace the mess that is currently in our lives to make us better people.  There are many life lessons to be learned in every situation we find ourselves in that can launch us to the next level in our lives.

Let’s be real!  Let’s be authentic!  Let’s admit to the fact that life IS messy and be ok with that.  Let’s embrace the mess and allow it to launch us!  Let’s allow our mess to reveal more of our authentic selves.  And most of all, lets embrace each other and love one another through it all!  That is why I am here!

With much love & a big heart,

Shileen

Image found here.

So many people come to The Wonder Woman Challenge website looking for help in the area of stress.  I believe that stress is the root of all dis-ease and stress seems to rule so many of us.  So what does that tell you about our health condition?!

Today I am going to discuss stress in a very simple way and give you a little challenge.  Then in the next couple of days I will address weight loss, because weight loss is another big topic for so many of you who visit this site.

Are you ready? …

Winter!  The winter season is really helping me with stress!

Tell me … are you loving winter as much as I am or at least as much as I have this week?  I don’t know why, but for some reason I have fallen in love with the beauty of winter.

As I wrote in my recent article, Journey Into Winter With January’s Fresh Start, I am simply spellbound by the stillness and peace that this winter has been offering me and I don’t want the spell to be broken.  I told a friend on Facebook the other day that I am not only spellbound, but I have romanticized this whole beautiful winter thing.

You have heard me so say many times that it is the simple things in life that can offer us the most joy.  For example, a couple of days I go I made a crockpot of split pea soup.  Tonight I sat by a blazing fire eating the yummiest bowl of spit pea & ham soup with warm homemade cornbread all while it was freezing cold and snowing outside.  It was so fulfilling, I mean really fulfilling in body, mind and spirit.  It was self-nurture totally defined by the simplicity of the moment, noticing and observing, turning the ordinary into something extra-ordinary, and allowing the winter moment to melt away my stress.

My question to you is this. How can you turn to the beauty of winter to help you de-stress?  How can you incorporate the winter season into your self-nurture practice?

Please don’t let winter pass you by no matter what part of the country you may live in … or world for that matter.  This season has it’s own unique expression of beauty to offer to you.  Let it speak to you, let it embrace you, let it de-stress you, let it fill your cup with joy, peace, and stillness that no other season can.

As beautiful as the Christmas season is, it can be stressful.  No matter how organized you are, no matter how many lists you are checking off twice, Christmas stress can still creep up on you and bite you in the behind.

For that reason I highly recommend that you create a sacred space to de-stress.  If you have created a sacred space to heal as Georgie Holbrook and I shared about in a teleconference call, then creating a sacred space to de-stress should not be foreign to you.

It is very simple.  Choose a place in your home that brings you peace and joy.  It can be an entire room or it can be a corner nook.  You don’t want to create more work for yourself so if your home is a bit overwhelming right now, please choose a little nook that you can clean up quickly.  Be sure to add candles and whatever else that will bring you peace and tranquility.  You will also want it to have holiday cheer so add some simple decorations.

I am sharing with you one of my favorite spots in my home.  My guest room is what I call the happy room.  It is bright and cheery and always feels calming and safe.  I added a simple little lit Christmas tree, a poinsettia, and window candles, which all gives the room a beautiful peaceful glow.

Yesterday I was feeling the holiday stress so I grabbed my holiday novel (“The Christmas Letters”) and a cup of coffee and spent an hour reading in my happy room. =)  Oh my gosh!  It felt heavenly!  It is such a simple thing but I kid you not, the beautiful atmosphere and the time out for reading filled my cup with so much Christmas joy and peace.

And as a result I have had a much better day today feeling under control once again.

Don’t let your checklist of things to do steal your Christmas joy. Yes, you do have time to de-stress.  You don’t have time NOT to de-stress!  Why?  The more rested and well balanced you are the more you get done.  It is that simple.

Do yourself and your family a favor and stop right now for 15 minutes to create a sacred space to de-stress special for the holidays.  You and your family will be so thankful that you did!

The holidays are upon us … ready or not the beautiful Christmas season is here. My question to you is this. What do you want?

No, I am not asking you what you want “for” Christmas. I am asking you what do you want your Christmas celebration to be.

If you have your celebration defined, it helps take a lot of the stress away. As I wrote in an article for 21st Century Apothecary Holistic Magazine, we cannot do it all. We must wisely pick and choose being realistic as the holiday plays out.

With that, I suggest that you practice being in the moment, especially now. If you don’t, you will be ruled by your to-do list and miss out on all the beauty, joy, and peace this holiday season can offer if you allow it to.

Take moments out to notice things. Notice how beautiful the Christmas lights are when you are out and about and even in your own home. Notice the lovely aromas that we often only get to experience this time of year. Literally stop what you are doing to notice these things taking it all in for that moment. Allow the sites, sounds, and smells of the season to give you moments of joy, peace, and might I add miracles.

Truly, with this simple practice of noticing, you will be surprised in the difference it will make in your personal Christmas celebration.

This month I will be giving you hints and ideas on how to fill your Christmas celebration with more joy rather than stress. In other words, I will be giving you holiday self-nurture hints and ideas.

Merry Christmas!

Share with us below in the comment section how “being in the moment” is impacting your holidays season.

To read my full article at 21st Century Apothecary Holistic Magazine click here … “Finding The Joy In Christmas”

Holiday photo provided by http://www.williamshouse.com/christmas.html

This month we celebrate Thanksgiving and here at The Wonder Woman Challenge we are actively cultivating an attitude of gratitude.  Gratitude certainly comes easier to some than others, but regardless, when we are under high levels of stress it is harder to focus on gratitude.  Whatever we are stressing over becomes our focus and I know for me I can go into an obsession mode in my thoughts.

Having said that I believe, though, that we can control our thoughts.  It may not always be easy but, yes, we do have the ability to take control over our minds and our thoughts.

Today I am feeling stressed and I am having a hard time focusing on anything but my stress.  I decided to take my mind captive and in doing say I needed to set the atmosphere for my mind to make the change so that I could work.

I immediately tidied up my work space, made a cup of tea using a pretty tea cup, lit candles, and put on soft music.  Why?

First of all the candles and soft music relax me inside and out.  Secondly, this type of atmosphere is beautiful to me and beauty is a core value that touches my spirit.  It is like a sweet balm to my spirit.  And third, I pulled out Rescue Remedy, a flower essence that I take internally to calm me down.

Just as I have challenged the followers here at The Wonder Woman Challenge to cultivate an attitude of gratitude in a fun creative way,  I am cultivating my own attitude of gratitude by keeping a journal, at least at this point. I do have some other ideas floating in my mind that are not fully developed yet, but for now journaling is what I need.

So after setting the scene, I then got out my gratitude journal and began to jot down things that I am thankful for.  Do you remember the quote by Joe Vitale about gratitude in the last post,” Add Gratitude & Stir”?  Take a look if you don’t remember, but know that gratitude can be a very powerful tool in our lives!

Are you feeling stressed out today?  Are you having trouble focusing on the tasks at hand?  Take a few minutes to bring calmness to your spirit and enter an attitude of gratitude.  It doesn’t have to be anything grand … just something simple.  And, I invite you to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Remember, 15 minutes a day in a self-nurture activity is all it takes to begin to fill your cup with joy, which is exactly what I did today.

The afternoon sun was hot but I found a bit of shade to play under. I had left the house early. Normally I would hit Starbucks before going into work especially when I had about 30 minutes to kill but for whatever the reason I didn’t feel like doing that.

Wanting to stay close by I ended up driving around in back neighborhoods, you know, just driving around exploring. I saw the town park one that I had never been to so I quickly began to scan the place until my eyes landed on a place to play … on something I had not done in eons.

Do I dare? I mean, I am by myself and more than that I have no kids with me. Well, of course! I certainly don’t care what people think particularly about this kind of play even though it is intended for children.

Oh my gosh! My heart began to pump as I wound my way around to the parking lot. There was no one around which made it better only because I wanted to be alone with my thoughts with no distractions from others.

And so there I was … playing! At first it felt weird like the feeling you get in your stomach when you are falling (think roller coaster but not nearly that bad). I don’t ever recall as a child getting that feeling but it *has* been a few years to say the least. Ha ha!

I continued and as I did that stomach feeling went away. What a beautiful day! Hot, but beautiful. As I connected with nature allowing the universe to support me while feeling the warm breeze all over, the stress of the day began to melt away. I could feel my muscles relax especially in my face. The longer I played the l more I released.

About ten minutes into my play when I was really feeling free, an elderly gentleman drove by very slowly as he took in the site of a middle-aged woman swinging in the park by herself.  Yes, I was swinging!  I looked back at him and for a split second I was looking through the eyes of a child as I thought, “What are you looking at, mister? I’m just a kid ya know!” What a sweet moment.  I chuckled at myself and then I really did wonder what he thought, again, not that it mattered at all.

What fun I was having. Talk about therapeutic! Yeah! I have another really cool tool for my self-nurture tool box! Swinging!

I was only there for 15 minutes but I walked away feeling all giddy inside like a schoolgirl. Well wait, that is not entirely true.  Towards the end I noticed that I was beginning to feel a bit nauseous. What?! Motion sickness … really? <snicker>

I have convinced myself that I am just not used to swinging and that in time I will not be bothered with funky feelings in my stomach at the beginning and/or end of my swing times.

Yes, I plan to go swinging more. I can’t wait for fall when the air is cool and the leaves are turning beautiful colors. It will be a gorgeous sight to behold while I am spending time with one of my best friends on the swing.

That would be me! =)

Remember that the universe is our playground. Girlfriends, let’s get out there and play … play like a child! You will be amazed at what it will do for you … like fill your spirit with joy! Don’t get caught up in thinking that you don’t have time. Hogwash! We make time for the things that are important to us. Fifteen minutes is all it takes!! Fifteen minutes!

If you don’t know what I’m talking about then you must not be registered for The Wonder Woman Challenge. Go right now to the homepage and sign up. Then you will know and you will be taking a stand with many other women around the world who have chosen to love themselves enough to say, Yes! I AM IMPORTANT!

YES! … You ARE important!

Luv & hugs, girlfriends! … Go ahead! Go play! I dare you!

Shileen