Show and Tell: Inner Excavation Wk 1

 I am really enjoying working through the prompts from Liz Lamoreux's book Inner Excavation.
 One of the first assignments was to  'set an intention' for what I wanted to focus on or learn from the next 7 weeks:

After that we could focus on whatever prompts or activities we felt connected to.
 One of my favorite exercises was to create a 'word toolbox' by grabbing a book off of the nearest shelf and making a list of words--then writing an "I am..." poem using the words we found. 

 I was blown away by how easy it was to capture what I wanted to say by using the list (I used a few books and a magazine)  I wasn't thinking about writing the poem when I was picking out random words--I was just writing down words I liked. So much fun!

Inner Excavation: Week 1

I'm participating in a 7-week read-along of a book called "Inner Excavation" by Liz Lamoreux. Liz is participating right along with the group. I've had the book for several months and I'm so excited to be working through it with a community of folks across the world.
 I'm talking 5:10 am excited! I was up way before my alarm, got my tea and jumped right in. SO. MUCH. FUN!

Everything is an Adventure

My mom tells me that when I was a kid she could come in my room when I was sound asleep and say "Shelley, wake up! Do you want to go __________ with me? (insert any destination--grocery shopping, the circus, the typewriter repair store...) and I would open my eyes and and sit right up no matter what time it was and say "Yes!" 

I'm sure I get my sense of adventure from her. We'd be driving somewhere and see a sign for a scenic overlook or an ad for an out of the way cafe/boutique and she would look at us in the back seat and say "Let's go!" I love that about her! And now I realize I do the same thing with Sadie. Yesterday we were trying out a new eatery (Granny Gert's in Rushford--for local friends it used to be Jack and Mary's...) and on the way back I thought I was going to the boat launch area of the lake, but realized that I had taken the wrong turn and ended up at the top of the hill with a great view of the valley. We could see the one-lane bridge in Caneadea and I pointed it out to Sades and said 'Let's Go!'

We stood in the middle of the bridge and looked down through the metal at the river below, and I felt almost as breathless as I did when we stood at top of the CN Tower and looked down at Toronto through the glass floor. Then we found a path that led down to the cement girders under the bridge and had fun looking up at a couple on bikes who had no idea we were there.

It really was an adventure!

Hooray for Sparkly Pens!

 Oh Amazon, I adore you. Especially since I live at LEAST 45 minutes from oh, just about EVERYTHING.

This is what I've been doing with sparkly pens lately: 

So many possibilities now--I was getting sick of neon orange.

The Worthiness of Trees

I was wandering around in the woods yesterday and thinking about trees.

Here is rambling, rantish excerpt from my journal:

"... I think trees are a-moral created by the Creator. Do trees see themselves as fallen or evil or drenched in sin? If they are eaten from the inside by an Asian Longhorn Beetle, do they need to repent for their rotting insides? Are the beetles 'bad' and the trees 'good?'

Did the trees ask to be created--did they have any say at all in their existence? "No thank you--I'd rather be an Oak. I can't stand all that sticky pine sap..." 


I believe we all come from one Source--created and sustained lovingly from that same Source. The energy of this Source never leaves us--it is in us; around us. It is the oxygen we breathe and the gravity keeps us connected to the earth. It is the wind that shakes the birch leaves when they greet me--waving madly--so happy to see me as I walk down the road.

Maybe Human Beings are worthy too. As created--just the way we are. Stamped from the inside with the image of the Great Creator. Do trees trace their 'fallen-ness' back to their sinful ancestral seed and believe that because it was 'bad', all of the trees that spring from that one will be 'bad' too?