Poetic Gratitude

I am so excited to write a blog post, it's been a little bit.  It's because I committed to doing 4 speaking events each month from last July through this June.  June will then complete the one year book launch period.  And while my debut self-help book, Sprouting Spiritual Growth, is about an amazing journey and spiritual journaling, it also includes a story line about the poems I wrote from gratitude lists.  The poems are my favorite part of the book, because their creation and quality were surprising to me.
Not surprising then, is that a lot of my talks have morphed into teaching people how to come up with a list of 36 things they are grateful for from the day before, and then secondarily, how to write poetry from it.  What's so awesome is how thrilled people are about their own poems.  It's because they come from the heart, from gratitude.
Also, each time I give the talk, I write along and create a poem too!  As a result of this, and the year of launch being almost up, I've written up a course for independent study that moves someone from gratitude listing to poetry writing.  If you'd like to try it, email me at cardinaltouch@verizon.net and I'll send you a complementary copy of the course!
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  Do you want to write poetry or some other creative endeavor from gratitude? 

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH 

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

In Search of Direction (Spiritual Directors International)

For a period of about two years each, I've had two different spiritual directors (see Spiritual Directors International).   These separate periods of sessions ended for two different reasons:  the first director moved away and although I could have continued the sessions via phone, I like to meet with someone in person.  The second one helped me significantly work through a childhood trauma and it felt right to stop at a point that I felt closure.  What stuck with me, however, is that she suggested I could now begin to work on the deeper part of my own self.  In other words, I had already dealt with the external forces on my life, and now it was time to know myself.
To this, my knee-jerk reaction was, "YUCK!," "Not yet!," and "No way, no how!" But it stuck with me.  And when something sticks with me, it means there is something there.  Now, four years later, I am feeling an urge.  I think it's because, in talking to other women, I realize that part of my need is due to moving through peri-menopause and towards menopause. I have read about the physical aspects, but I have yet to find much on the feeling side of this stage.
In the meantime, I hope to begin with my third Spiritual Director in the New Year.  Now that it's on my heart, I know that I will be led to the right person.  Thank you God*.     
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  What's pushing your buttons right now?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

"I Wrote Three Poems" (Thank You Readers)

One of the things I've heard after reflecting on whether or not to write a book and asking the question, "God*, what else should I know?" is that if we can help just one person, it is enough.  So even though self-publishing is daunting, I knew that if I could help one person, my heart would sing because it would be enough in God's eyes.  Well, my heart is singing.  Here's why.....

The kind of book I have enjoyed reading in the last ten years (examples:  Sabbath by Wayne Muller, God is Always Hiring by Regina Brett) is the kind of book I wrote.  It is a self-help book with exercises that help us discover our inner spirit wisdom .  So it touches me to hear that the book, Sprouting Spiritual Growth:  A Memoir and a Guide to Spiritual Journaling, is moving people to curiously consider their own spirit wisdom.

Here are some comments:

• "I wrote three poems yesterday." 
• "I looked up the meaning of my name."
• "I am doing the book slowly to allow for reflection of the questions.  They are written differently than what I have seen before."
• "I realize I am also no longer coming, but I am going."         

Being read is one of the greatest gifts to an author, so please know, readers, that you have helped me, too!  I appreciate your comments, your invitations to your homes to do an author's talk, the opportunity to sign a book that you're giving to yourself or someone else, and conversation.  I've met so many new people as a result of this, and for this, I thank you!
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  How can you help just one person today?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH, super moon at dawn, PP meadow

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

Sensibility (from the Looking Back Series, 1/2/2017)

Are you attached to outcomes?  I know I am.  I'd like things to go a certain way and yet if I'm living a life in which I say, "God*'s will be done," how is it that I don't let go?

Here's one example.  I attended a book writer's club this past weekend and obtained a whole list of things I "should be doing" in order to get the most book sales.  I sent myself four emails of things I "should" do in order to be a successful writer.  After about an hour I decided to leave the meeting early because I didn't want to hear any more.  I had gotten some good nuggets, but more would have been too much, overwhelming even.

Today when I looked at the emails I had sent to myself, I felt that overwhelmed feeling again.  The list of to-do items did not seem relevant to me (learning WordPress, finding free writing events, writing to agent's desires, the #MSWL-manuscript wish lists, etc.).  It's not that the speaker should not have spoken about all these things.  It's that not everything needed to be for me and I did not need to take all of it on.  Sensibly, I needed to take the information that felt helpful to me (what to expect at a book signing, for example) and then get back to the stillness (journaling/meditation/prayer space) that leads me to a simpler, God-filled life.

God wants me to know that I should keep grounded and centered, do the work and follow up when I feel an urge to do so.  (Note:  I picked the "badger" meditation card from Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson, Illustrations by Angela Werneke and James Finnell).
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  Do you feel a call to change something in your life but can't let go of it because of some previous notion that holds you to it?

2. What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

Finding Hidden Talents (from the looking back series - 12/26/16)

"You're an angel," is a saying often heard after an act of kindness.  If the defining quality of an angel is an act of kindness, then I have more angels in my life than I can count!  For me, recent angels include those who invite me to showcase my writing or art, people who improve their own craft or skills in order to help others, including helping others find their hidden talents.  This last type really helped me to find a new career in 2009.

At that time, I had left the corporate world to pursue life.  I could not see talents outside those I used in the business world, and I didn't want to use those talents anymore anyway.  One of the angels in my life, a woman retiring from the place I was leaving, had had so many varied careers that she knew I must have talents that were not evident to me.  That's when I began a skills list for myself and I included the gift of touch (my sisters and I scratched each other's backs when we were little).  In 2010 I graduated from massage school.

Now, new hidden talents have been popping out. One is writing poetry.One of the angels I mentioned above wrote "I LOVE your poems!  Very simple and unpretentious."
 
God* wants me to know that I have a strong sense of self that comes from doing the work of spiritual journaling.  To that, I say, "Thank you, God!"
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  Do you recognize "angels" when you see them??

2.  What are your hidden talents?

3. What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling (read more at CardinalTouch.net).