Hi to all! I hope your December has been going well so far. Today the sun is sparkling on fresh snow outside my window, bringing me a lot of joy!

I have been following Hannah Braime’s Advent Calendar of writing prompts again this year. I have been enjoying writing in response to her prompts about the year that has passed, and tomorrow we will begin to write about hopes and dreams for the year ahead. Today, at the midpoint of her writing invitations, she offered a really fascinating one:

“ Create a haiku that represents the last 12 months for you.”

Oh boy, I really wanted to do that, and a haiku arose very quickly! For me, it really summarized the year well. Although from December 1-12 I had written quite a few pages in my journal about 2022, the 3 lines of the haiku captured the essence of it the best.

I want to hasten to add that I didn’t end up following the formula for a haiku exactly, and yet the number of syllables in each line seemed to be just perfect for today.

This lovely experience had me want to write to you today to tell you of this haiku invitation. If you give it a try, I think you will be amazed at what arises!

Hello there! I felt the urge to write a blog this morning and I was, as always, surprised by how much time has passed since I wrote the previous one.

It’s almost the writing time of year again for me. I look forward to January so much! I love to hunker down, wrapped in a cozy blanket, laptop on my knee, and write what is on my mind to write, each day for the whole month.

This year I am feeling called to write the sequel to my last book, We Are Already Whole. The feedback I received from readers of We Are Already Whole was that although it was great to learn that we have a True Self, they wanted tips on how we stay connected with it.Since February 2021, when the book was released, I have been pondering that and writing little bits here and there on the topic. So I am very excited to begin to write in earnest again in January 2023. The title of the sequel will be Fully Connected.

It’s been a busy and productive fall. I am more than halfway through the certification program to become a CSL= Certified Sage-ing Leader, for Sage-ing International. This has involved attending training sessions on the 6 core topics of Sage-ing, and learning how to facilitate Sage-ing International’s signature program Awakening the Sage Within.

It’s been a wonderful time of learning and doing and yet, January approaches, and I am excited that writing time is almost here again! Hallelujah!!

Today’s church service at my home church was so sweet. The summertime services are very relaxed, being held out on the side lawn of the church as weather permits.

Today’s worship leader was speaking on the Lord’s prayer, so the Scriptures and hymns were all focused on the topic of prayer.

My favourite part of the service was when Mary taught us a way to pray that she said she used in Sunday School for teaching children how to pray. It was so sweet, I couldn’t help wanting to share it with you.

She held up one hand and said we would use our fingers to help us remember what to pray about:

1)The thumb- is the finger closest to our hearts- so when we hold up our thumb, we remember to pray for the people we love- our family and friends.

2) The forefinger is the one we use to point, so when we hold up our forefinger, we pray for those who guide and teach us- our teachers.. anyone who guides us into truth.

3) The middle finger is our longest finger, so when we hold it up we pray for those who lead us- our government officials, all those who need wisdom from above to do their work well.

4) The ring finger is the weakest finger. When we hold our hand in a fist and try to raise the ring finger on its own, we can’t do it! (Try this- it’s true- I didn’t know this before today!!) So when we raise our ring finger, we remember to pray for those who are weak and helpless. Those who need our help and our support.

5) The baby finger is the smallest finger. As we raise this finger, we think of ourselves. We want to bring to God our own concerns. Though we are just one person, we are very beloved and important in God’s eyes and God loves to hear our prayers.

I just went for a walk, and as I walked, I looked at my hand and at each finger and found it a great way to pray as I walked. I hope you enjoy this simple, childlike and effective way to pray too!

Again, time has slipped by so quickly since my last post. Since April 22, I have packed up and moved from my office of the past 14 years at 370 Burnham Street. It was a lot of work physically, and a lot of work emotionally, to finally leave the beautiful office that I had the privilege to design, build and decorate to my own taste. So many beautiful, happy memories were made in that space, and I got to know so many people there. Penny, my nurse, was feeling emotional about leaving as well, so we decided we needed a closing ritual. Mel, our wonderful drumming facilitator and friend, came to facilitate a drumming circle for Penny and her 2 children and me. We read aloud the blessing that Rick Webster wrote and offered in December 2008 when we moved in, and then read a blessing of John O’Donohue’s for new beginnings. We shared many memories of our times together in the office, amid laughter and tears. It was a blessed and a healing time.

Penny is working in a different clinic in town now. And I am getting to have a new beginning in my ‘she-shed’, whose name is Safe Harbour. I was lucky enough to find a builder who could construct it for me last winter and then finish it this spring. I have been enjoying times of dancing and making art in Safe Harbour over the winter, and now I am going to be able to see coaching clients and offer Zoom based workshops in this space. I am excited! God has been good! I am taking some time to rest, reflect and rejuvenate in July and August, then looking forward to welcoming one and all to Safe Harbour in September, COVID permitting!

May you likewise be enjoying times of, rest and rejuvenation this summer! Have fun!

Oh boy! Another 2 months has passed! Spring is on the way, although we had a dump of snow a few days ago!

I am just beginning a year long journey to become a Certified Sage-ing Leader (CSL). We started our training yesterday. I am excited about it! I love teaching others how to do a Life Review, how to write their Ethical Will, how to create a legacy and how to be a mentor for younger people around them. This certification program and qualification will take me deeper and wider into my ability to facilitate workshops for others on these topics.

We did a simple, yet beautiful and effective exercise yesterday. I thought of you all immediately and wanted to share it with you. It’s an exercise to help us access the feelings of strength and flexibility in our bodies.

Here are the instructions:

“Stand for a moment. Imagine an oak tree in front of you. Now stand like an oak tree- sturdy, and strong. Stand with your legs apart, firmly planted, and raise your hands gently, but steadily towards the sun. Feel the power. Feel your strength.

Now, imagine a willow tree. The weeping willow bends with the winds of change. It is flexible in difficult times. Now stand gently, softly, like a willow, and allow your arms to move gently as though they were the limbs of willow tree in a breeze. Feel how limber and flexible you are, ready to move with changes, to grow, to go with the flow of life.

Remember, whenever you need strength, to feel the power of the Oak. Whenever you need to adjust, grow through, and move with change, feel the flexibility and joy of the movement of the Willow.”

I loved this! To lock it into my body further, I went for a walk down a nature trail near my home and found an oak tree to stand beside and practise standing like an oak. Then I found a willow tree to stand beside and practise feeling and moving like a willow. Then I walked along the trail stopping every once in a while to practise standing like an oak and then standing like a willow.

We need to stand strong sometimes, and other times we need to be flexible. This little practice I have described helped me to embody these feelings. I am going to go for a walk each day for awhile and practise being like an oak and then a willow. Hopefully this will translate into being able to access the feelings of strength and flexibility more easily during times when I need to feel them.

I hope it works for you too!

I can’t believe that 2 months have passed since I last wrote a blogpost. It’s been a busy time, celebrating my birthday in January, offering a course on how to write an Ethical Will, working on my next book, and dreaming of what I would like to do once COVID passes, and we are free to meet in person again.

I think I have that next thing sorted out, but for now, it’s still February and I have been wondering what to do with the feeling of being somewhat housebound. Yes, spring is coming, but not quite yet. What can we do for enjoyment and comfort while we wait?

While sorting through all my expressive arts supplies, yesterday I came upon a beautiful Adult Colouring book called Colour Me Happy: 100 Colouring Templates That Will Make You Smile. Today I sat down with my favourite coloured pencils, opened the colouring book and have just spent a very happy half hour or so colouring one of the pictures. I got the feeling of accomplishing something, while at the same time, relaxing and enjoying the process. The perfect combination!

In the Introduction to her book, Lacy Mucklow writes, “ Why make a colouring book for adults? As children, many of us enjoyed colouring in our favourite characters or scenes in books with our trusty pack of crayons, but as we got older, added responsibilities came along, which pushed aside all those things we used to do for sheer enjoyment. But there is no rule that says we should stop all the fun!…. The act of colouring is fun and meditative,bringing joy just through the simple act of picking up a coloured pencil or crayon and focusing your creativity and thoughts on a single colouring exercise.”

Yes! I can highly recommend colouring for fun, and I wanted to remind you of it if, like me, you have been experiencing a bit of the winter blues.

This month I have been enjoying Hannah Braime’s Advent Calendar. Hannah is an expert in journaling and has written an excellent book on the topic called The Ultimate Guide to Journaling. Each year she offers an Advent calendar which she describes as ‘ a review of the year that has been and the year to come.’ When you sign up for it, you receive a daily journaling prompt. For me, each prompt has been so engaging, that I want to immediately open my journal and start writing. When I came to the prompt for December 15, I found it so interesting to think about and write about that I realized it was time to share with all of you about the availability of this resource.

Today’s question was : “What three qualities or traits do you most want to embody in 2022?”
Isn’t that a juicy question?

To join in to receiving a daily prompt from now until Christmas Day, go to www.becomingwhoyouare.net. Once there, scroll down the homepage and you will find information about how to sign up for the Advent calendar. I am not sure that you can receive the journaling prompts for December 1-14, so if you can’t access them and would like to know what they were, please email me and I will be happy to share them with you.

Have fun!

Love, Sue

This morning an interesting question came to my mind. I asked myself, “What is your favourite word?” Our favourite word is the one that makes us vibrate inside with excitement, lifts our spirits to hear it and we want to live our lives by it.

The answer to the question for me is actually a term, made up of two words- ‘personal growth’. I knew I had the right answer for me because I did experience a delightful shiver down my spine thinking about it!

Our favourite word, or term, can guide our lives in the right direction. There is a workshop that I love to facilitate called The Bigger Game. (www.biggergame.com) Co-founder Rick Tamlyn says, “Where you put your attention designs your life.” When I first heard that sentence 12 years ago, I didn’t understand it. But now I think I do, and combining that with our favourite word, I think today that if we put our attention on our favourite word, trying our best to live according to it, our life will become one that is personally very exciting and satisfying to us. Conversely, at times when we feel blah and blue, we could say our favourite word to ourselves and see if there is a way to bring more of it into our life that day. I have found, even during this pandemic, that if I choose to focus on facilitating a little personal growth to happen either for myself, another individual, or for a group, my mood immediately picks up, as well as my level of hope.

What is your favourite word/term today? Are you allowing it to design your life?

I came across a very encouraging website yesterday which can be found at www.viacharacter.org. The home page states: ‘In the early 2000s, something groundbreaking occurred in the social sciences. Scientists discovered a common language of 24 character strengths that make up what’s best about our personality. Everyone possesses all 24 character strengths in different degrees, so each person has a truly unique character strengths profile. Each character strength falls under one of six broad virtue categories which are universal across cultures and nations.’ The six virtues are Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance and Transcendence. Under these virtues are the 24 character strengths which include such things as creativity, curiosity, judgement, love of learning, perspective, and bravery.

The Via Institute offers us a free survery to ascertain what our unique blend of character strengths is. The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. I love what they say about the uniqueness of each individual. “The number of potential character strengths profiles is exponentially greater than the number of people living on the planet.” Wow! That’s a mindblowing and exhilarating thought!

I did take the survey and was astonished at how accurate it seemed to be. I really enjoyed reading the descriptions they offered for each character strength. For instance, Honesty is described as ‘speaking the truth, but more broadly, presenting oneself in a genuine way and acting in a sincere way; being without pretense; taking responsibility for one’s feelings and actions.’ I liked that more extensive definition.

I think we all love taking surveys that give us more knowledge about ourselves. This one is a truly enjoyable one. I hope you get as much pleasure from taking it as I did!

The Psalms Project is a two CD collection of music which has been my soundtrack for the pandemic. Written by Mike Janzen, a gifted songwriter and pianist, this CD came out in August 2020, and I have been listening to it almost daily since then, especially at times of stress.

In the liner notes, Mike explained that he had been asked by a good friend to write some music based on the Psalms, but he hadn’t gotten around to it. Then he suffered a debilitating concussion severe enough that he couldn’t read or look at screens. He decided to take one or two lines of the Psalms at a time, and meditate on them. He said he found the ancient words ‘were full of cries to God in times of great distress. They lifted my spirits even though my circumstances weren’t changing. They gave voice to my despair when I couldn’t gather up the strength to call out for myself. They morphed from third person to first person. They carried me.’

With nothing but time on his hands, he gradually found himself writing music and words inspired by nineteen of the Psalms. In time he was able to gather and record the songs in a studio with 14 other musicians, all socially distanced and wearing face masks. He said as the first notes of the recording session were played, ‘tears filled many of our eyes. The sound was rich and resonant, and you could see each face taken aback by the fullness of the music soaring in the studio.’

Mike goes on to say, “and that is how hope works. We are sidelined, weary, sick, sad and feel forgotten. But when the music plays, we are taken aback and we remember the God who holds us. And in the remembering we are renewed and remade to hope again.”

I have found these two CDs to work that way for me. Within a minute or so of sitting and listening to any of the songs, I have felt my stress levels fall and calmness return. I thought it was time to share about this treasure with you!

If you would like to read more about the Psalms Project, go to www.mikejanzen.ca and you will be able to learn more and order the CDs if you so desire.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!