The Lights of Winter Solstice

We are nearing Winter Solstice and the "darkest" night of the year but, as I drive across town tonight, I want to celebrate what I see: our city's and my neighbors' efforts to bring light into the world! I relish and am warmed by the polka dot lights outlining our big buildings' edges downtown, a multi-color splash of lights cascading from a rooftop, candy-cane whites and reds twirling up and down columns, twinkly starlights gracing the splayed branches of front-yard trees and shrubs, and tiny warm yellows glowing in their candle-shaped-ness. This year I am thrilled that Hannukah, Christmas, and Kwanza all happen during the week of December 22nd - 26th. I love feeling connected to people beyond my family and friends this time of year. I believe we all are meant to receive blessings sent to us from a Greater Spirit. Tonight, I feel both lifted and grounded.

Warm, Loving and Happy Holidays to you all!

Ever so gratefully,

ARC

Working Hard, Sleeping Hard, Playing Hard: Me and the Sox

A four and a half hour nap I took yesterday, yes. That 1:00-5:30 p.m. sleep was no Sleeping Beauty routine. It was both a blessing and a necessity after the busiest work week I've had all Fall. I consider myself fortunate to be as "in demand" professionally as I am right now, but a work-week like this past one makes me realize just how empowering it is to set my limits. I want to preserve my energy for everything and everybody NOT involved in work (especially my dear family). Just to review what I didn't do regarding exercising this week: Over the course of the week and up to the very minute I chose (or fell into?) rest over exercise yesterday, I had only gone to the gym once. Specifically, I didn't go Wednesday night after work; I didn't do the 90 minute balance ball (yoga and pilates) workout I had said I was going to do in my office on Thursday morning; and, instead of going to the gym from 1-3:30 p.m. after a morning full of daughters' soccer games spectating, I dragged my body upstairs to crash into sleep. (This, after being lovingly encouraged and reminded to "Take that nap!")

Taking the nap ended up giving me almost the right amount of energy to stay up late for Game # 2 of the American League Championship Series. Our favorite Red Sox battled the Tampa Bay Devil Rays into the wee hours of Sunday morning with the game tied 8-8 after 9 innings. But my body's need to rest took over again. I know that sometime during or after the 10th inning, with the game still tied 8-8, I fell asleep on the couch.

This morning I woke up at my usual week-day time. I felt terrific and happy in the cool morning breeze. Yes, the Sox had lost while I slept, but I can tell myself again how wonderful life is!

Have a great rest of October and always be sure to take care of yourself.

- ARC

Taking a Pulse: September 2008

Back to School this September means O, G, and S starting 9th, 7th, and 4th grades, respectively. But school, as in actual academic classes, is just one part of our daughters' days. There's soccer, "Fall Ball," being a new percussionist in The Band, First Lego League, Neighborhood Kickers, Creating the winning design (but not being willing to alter her artistic vision) for the Fall Festival T-shirt contest, cooking Forceful Frittatas, and taking on more responsibilities at home like baking cookies and cleaning out cat litter boxes without being asked. I want my girls to love their lives and, yes, I realize that, currently, they love it to different degrees. But in the big picture, I am diggin' on the way each one is involved in her life and I am proud of the way they are growing up. I want to support my ladies in living their lives like each day is special. And, I want to live my life that way too.

Finally, with the Red Sox sure to be playing in the American League Division Playoffs (post-season excitement for the THIRD time in five years) magic is also heading our way. I've got a finger on the September pulses of my girls and my life and could not proclaim more happily that everything is thriving in its own incredible way.

I love you OCC, GDC, and SFC!

Mama

Ready or Not, Here We Come!

As my husband and I continue to try to conceive a fourth baby, I am moving forward in this process with great Faith. I have faith that I will learn something not only about myself but also about my love for my husband.

Last night, I consulted my Animal Medicine Cards* to see what I could learn. Using the Medicine Wheel Spread, I drew the Eagle in the East position. It is said to represent my connection to the Divine and to reflect my ability to live in the realm of Spirit while also remaining connected and balanced within the realm of Earth. It means that as I learn to fiercely attack my fear of the unknown, the wings of my soul will be uplifted by the consistent breezes which are the breath of the Great Spirit. I am being invited to join the adventure of co-creating with the Divine. (Wow! I'm there!)

I drew Swan in the South position and am reminded that this is a time to develop my intuitive abilities. Swan medicine people are said to have the ability to see the future, to surrender to the power of the Great Spirit, and to accept the healing and transformation of their lives. I am encouraged to relax about my self-transformation and to honor my female intuitive side.

Ant was my Medicine Card in the West. It conjures up the strategy of patience and a degree of self-sacrifice. It talks about Ant people having knowledge of the sweet victory at the end of the line. (Are you beginning to see how I might be relaxing now and embracing what Life has to offer, Ready or not?) Put another way, Ant medicine people are said to be content in knowing that "what is yours will come to you." Such knowing shows trust or Faith in the Universe to provide. (The Universe may or may not bring my husband and me a fourth baby. I have Faith that we will receive that which we need for our greatest further development as a couple.)

In the North position, I drew the Porcupine Card. A card in this position is meant to teach one how to spiritually apply and integrate the lessons of the other directions. I intuit, once again, that I am to relax into the power of Faith and Trust. To trust is to embrace the notion that the Great Spirit has a divine plan. Porcupine medicine is also about innocence and playfulness of spirit, so I am cautioned not to get caught in the messy adult world where things can become too serious and severe. I am to honor the incredible world of fantasy and imagination and to play with the wish that everyone can win.

The last card in the Medicine Wheel Spread is the center card or Sacred Mountain Card. It asks me to look at the present, to see myself embodying a melding of my spiritual and physical realities. I drew Butterfly and just smiled intuitively before I even consulted my book. It is a perfect symbol of metamorphosis and change. Butterfly medicine invites me to think about the project I am undertaking (trying to conceive a fourth baby; or is it more fully embracing the family of three amazing daughters [ages 14, 12, and 8 1/2] we already have?) and to ask myself which stage of this project I am in. Am I in the egg stage where the project is just an idea? Am I in the larva stage where I may need to make a decision? Am I in the cocoon stage where I am developing and doing something to make my idea a reality? Or am I in the birth stage where I am sharing my completed idea? Butterfly medicine helps clarify my mental process and helps me find the next step for my personal life. (Interesting that this Blog entry is about my personal life and it feels so right to share it as a link some of you might find on my career website.) So where am I? I feel like I am in the cocoon stage. I am ready to undergo some type of transformation. The Butterfly Card at the Sacred Mountain position suggests that I consult the cards further using the Butterfly Spread to understand the Animal Medicine cards found in the four stages of my current project.

This is what I learned:

Wild Boar energy (contrary) in the East or egg position tells me that I can call on Wild Boar energy and use its tusks to help me cut through feelings of helplessness or weakness. I also can reclaim the warrior self that I may have unintentionally abandoned.

Weasel energy (contrary) in the South or larva position means my abilities to observe may have become dulled allowing doubt or confusion to create a barrier to my progress. I must remember that honesty to myself and others is of the utmost importance.

I drew Tiger in the North or cocoon position but don't know what it means because my 14 year-old daughter created this card with one of the blank cards that came with the book.* So I'll intuit what Tiger medicine means to me in the cocoon stage. Am I doing something to make my idea a reality? Yes, I am growling and prowling back and forth guarding my Basal Body Temperature charts - which I use to help me track when I'm ovulating - with a ferocity that scares me sometimes. Uh-oh. My Porcupine Medicine (in the North position with the Medicine Wheel Spread) cautions me to be playful and not too serious or severe, so I know I've got things wrong in this cocoon stage. I must not be Tiger-like. Being Porcupine-like will be the key to connecting with my higher-self's purpose. The key is having Faith and Trust vs. letting Ferocity and Tenacity predominate.

The final card I drew was Bear energy (contrary) in the North or butterfly position. The card in this space helps me answer the question: Is Great Spirit walking hand-in-hand with me? And, with Bear medicine in the contrary position, I am to know that the time has come for me to regain my authority because no one knows better than I do what is proper and timely for my evolution.

So I will go with the flow and share this with my husband so he can know that my work on this project is to stay true to myself and connected to him. If we are meant to bring a male baby into this world then his name will be Ready (pronounced Reedy) McFie, and if we are meant to bring a fourth daughter into this world then her name will be Ready Mireille (Mireille being the French word for miraculous). Am I sharing personal, private information here? Yes. And how good it feels! Stay tuned...

* Thanks to Jamie Sams & David Carson for their 1999 Revised, Expanded Edition of Medicine Cards

- ARC

On the Shores of a Tidal River

Being on Virginia's Northern Neck, along the shore of the Rappahannock River, with strong winds, temps in the 80s, and a bright sun (along with plenty of shade) made my Spring!

I love water more than I ever let myself know or feel because I so rarely vacation or visit there. I'm not a sunbather or a strong swimmer or even an avid boatswoman. I just love the rhythm of the steady waves, the bobbing of the boats, the sight of a dog's head thrust upwards as the pooch paddles feverishly to fetch a stick.

Restorative - that's what the water is for me - fully capable of making me slow down and soak in the largeness of life.

There I was, totally enjoying myself with my family, our two dogs, and friends who've been going to The River for four decades. It most certainly did not escape me that we were there on a day off - Memorial Day - because of the thousands of men and women who have given their lives to protect our country. I am grateful that I experienced the largeness of life on the day set aside for them and their greatness. Hats off to the shores of a tidal river!

- ARC

Tools for Creativity

Here they are! Happy, functional, inspiring, stimulating tools for growth. I have had these wooden ink stamps for nearly 10 years now. They are proudly displayed on my office shelf more as decorations, truthfully, than as actual stamps I use. But the other day a 12 year-old boy who works with me noticed them on his way out of my office and expressed anticipatory delight at the thought of using them the next time he had a session. His eagerness infected me. His desire to be creative fed my creative belly. And so, perhaps with a palette, maybe with music, possibly with a (quill) pen, conceivably with lots of nourishing "water," he and I will grow the next thing he needs to cultivate in his garden.

The tools are pure and simple, everyone. And what you grow will feed you. Thank you, dear client, for gravitating towards your creative path. I'm skipping along right by your side!

- ARC

Thriving in Your Niche

What does the word "niche" connote to you? Is it a place like a tight little prize-fighter's corner? Not to me. That kind of corner is the place where you go when you're exhausted, a place that leaves you nowhere else to go. To me, a niche should be an opportunity. A place where you can be yourself. I see it as a place where you stand out. You own this space and from it you speak your truth. Speaking from this authentic place, you reach others passionately. You are heard and dialogue with others.

Talking isn't what it's all about, though.

Finding one's niche also means that you have found a way to make an impact in the world. But a niche should come naturally. Perhaps you are a teacher inspiring year after year of elementary school students to "Go the Extra Mile!" Perhaps you are a waiter who anticipates nearly every need of your customers to the extent that you consistently pull in 20% tips or more. Perhaps you are a grandparent who plays or talks with your grandchild in a way that always lets him or her know how cherished he or she is by you.

Whatever niche you occupy - be it a career or relationship - stay out of the corner and be like the winning prize fighter whose arms are raised in victory. Strive to do your very best in this "ring" of life.

I'll be the one in the front row seats, jumping up and spilling my popcorn as I applaud every moment you thrive in your niche.

- ARC