A Confession and a Decision

A Confession

Here is my true confession. I want you to sign up for Northern Naturals' e-letter.

http://www.northernnaturals.com/contact.html

Many of you already have, and this tickles and delights my heart. If you haven’t, I would LOVE it if you did. This is a way for you to enjoy further discounts, information and announcements, as well as track what I am doing and where I am headed with the business.

I have a little conflict running inside.

*I want your support as I navigate this new world of internet business.

*I want to share my enthusiasm for this business with you.

*I want you to be part of the growing Northern Naturals family.

*I want to offer you some of the best products on the market at affordable prices.

AND, what I don’t want is for you in anyway to feel pressure to sign up, or to buy anything from Northern Naturals’ expanding line of natural and organic products for the home and office sanctuary.

“Wants” and “don’t wants” are looming. I know full well it may not be your desire to come on board with Northern Naturals, and so it is. As with all desires, here is my opportunity to surrender and allow things to be as they are. So do as you please, please.

A Decision

Also, my blog has been a creative and wonderful place for me to land during this past year while journeying far from home. It is not like I will never talk about Northern Naturals here again, but I would like to use blogabout-lynda as a forum for reflection with a few cool pictures thrown in.

Well there you have it, a dose of honesty on this very last Monday of December.

Still Snow

Today is the solstice, a full moon and a lunar eclipse. Winter pivots on this day, as if the sole purpose of lighting all our holiday candles is to announce the coming of these longer days.

Last week, there was a winter storm here in the City Different that left eight inches of snow. This mantle of white ignites my love of winter as it transforms the hard edges of contrast while blending, connecting and unifying all things. I think snow is “grace in form” displaying no discrimination as it blesses everything from the dumpster to the trees. It is this beauty that seeps inside reacquainting my heart with wonder and love while snowflakes land without a sound.

In this stillness the outer world pierces my mind’s assessment of wonder. Beyond all the painted words is this place of trust and direct connection with the absolute truth of our existence. As I celebrate the snow, the solstice and the coming of the light, I send you this peace that has no edges, no form, no beginning and no end.

Bless you all.

Blind Faith & 15%

Yep, Blind Faith. That sums up the energy behind purchasing Northern Naturals, my online drop and ship business. With David Castle, my Business Director, standing behind me I leapt into this venture pushing aside everything accept the ‘Yes’ that is propelling me forward.

There is a bigger vision driving my compulsion to become a business owner. I have worked in the non-profit arena for several decades now. The question arose how do I continue to follow my heart and be supported? During the summer I looked into becoming a grant writer. I signed up for a course, got the materials and knew instantly that this would not be for me. So when Brett presented me the possibility of buying his business, something instinctually knew that having a business could be a way to bridge two worlds.

I see that Northern Naturals can be a platform for grassroots non-profit projects acting as a conduit for information, education, networking and funding. My creative juices are being stirred. Perhaps I can feature a certain non-profit each month in the newsletter or highlight particular products that will support an initiative. The question is, how can a business, which sells all natural, sustainable products, be a channel to educate and inform its customers about grassroots projects here at home and abroad? Is there really anything standing in the way of this vision? I want to see Northern Naturals as a beacon for sustainable grassroots projects.

In celebration of my new endeavor and vision, I invite you to sign up for our newsletter http://www.northernnaturals.com/contact.html providing the latest products, monthly specials, coupon offers and yes, non-profit initiatives.

Also by mentioning that you are my friend or family member, you will receive a 15% discount on any item purchased before December 15, 2010. Come, enjoy my excitement, sign up now and stay tuned.

Technical Snags

Let’s see if this one works correctly.

Northern Naturals can be found at:

www.northernnaturals.com

A New Relationship

I have unexpectedly fallen in love and find myself cozying up with a new relationship in my life. It feels like a dream, it is happening so fast.

Well, I thought that headline would grab your attention; my new relationship actually is a business venture. I am buying a business! Check it out:

www.northernnaturals.com (please copy and paste, ran into technical difficulties linking blog to website).

It is a long story but the short of it is I have been networking with the previous owner since my time in Sedona last fall, not over his business but his non-profit organization, Bodhi Tree Educational Foundation.

Well, that’s how we met and here, a year later, I am buying his thriving, 12 year-old, on-line biz that sells natural fiber futons and their frames. The list of wonderful items goes on from here complete with a 30-day money back guarantee:

· 100% Organic Cotton Sheets

· Bamboo Sheets

· Latex toppers

· Body pillows

· Wool mattress pads

· Cotton blankets

· Cotton Rugs

· Jute Rugs

· Bamboo Rugs

· Sea Grass Rugs

· Eco Rug Pads

· Yoga mats

· Omega juicers

I envision the business as a vehicle to engage in the non-profit world that I have served for so many years. I desire to create a business where I can network, link and support projects both in America and abroad. The vision is clear, the ‘how” is not.

I have hired a business director and we have spent the last few days here in Vermont learning the biz and sleeping on futons (no, not together) and buckwheat hull pillows. I have to say that pillow was divine. NO cricks in my neck the following morning. This will be my very first personal purchase!

Do check out the website and share in my excitement.

www.northernnaturals.com (please copy and paste, ran into technical difficulties linking blog to website).

Speechless

After twelve and a half months away from Santa Fe (3.5 months of those were in a tent), 19,000 car miles, 46 different beds, a trip to Uganda, four weeks in British Columbia and a seven-day wilderness solo in Mt. Shasta, you would think I would have something to say.

And yet, I find myself at a loss for the words that would capture the essence of my journey. Of course, there are many stories, and yet the story that is unwritten is the quiet one inside.

Upon my return Dick and Elizabeth Prosapio offered me a five-day retreat space in their kiva in the mountains outside of Stanley, New Mexico. I was so grateful for a place to land.

It was here in the kiva that I created a 32’’x40” collage. I wanted to visually capture the essence of the internal transformation. After fourteen hours of sorting through images, cutting, dancing, crying, designing, redesigning and pasting a piece emerged. I do not know how well these photos will post, but I am giving it a try.

It feels like I have made a film and now I am trying to write the screenplay. When something authentic and true arises, I will write. Enjoy, and if anything comes up for you as you view the piece, I would be delighted to hear your impressions.

Journey to NowHere

Divine Masculine & Feminine: The Material & The Spiritual

Transfiguration: Spiritual Warriorship

Nature's Nurturing Beauty

The Outer Journey

Blind Spots

Uganda

An Opening

Elevation

Guidance

True Reflection

The Inner Journey

Awake

The Tallest Trees on the Planet: The Redwoods

Through photographs, I share with you much of my outward journey. Being behind the camera enhances my creativity and heightens my desire to communicate with you through visuals.

The world of nature is an alluring subject. Beauty itself beckons me. Natural beauty at its essence has no center or directionality. Its inherent wholeness points me to the infinite and timeless wonder of the unborn self. These pictures touch an inner world where much is percolating and yet to be shared.

This forest is part of the Jedediah Smith State Park outside of Crescent City, California. These are some of the tallest trees on the planet peaking at 320 feet with a diameter of 24 feet. Less than 5% of the original forest remains for these 2,000 year old trees. Enjoy.

In the beginning: Jedediah Smith Redwoods

Along the way

Beauty at my feet

Beauty in all things

Banana Slug

The Trees

2,000 year old: Boy Scout Tree

Redwood Forest

The KY's

Cindy, Rosa, Katja, Mark, Alexis, Nick, Brenda, Vicki, Kim and I all had two things in common, we all signed up for Hollyhock’s Karma Yogi program for the month of May and we were all in some transition in our lives. For one month we shared scrabble matches, tarot readings, stories, work assignments, meals, wine, hikes, books and blogs, photographs and desires.

Alexis and Nick were travelling together roaming the states and Canada gobbling up experiences in-between college obligations. Nick is working on his PhD in philosophy answering the question: Can Science be Emancipatory? Alexis’ organization called STEPS networks artists and activists who are using art to engage communities in public spaces. Rosa and Katja are sisters from Victoria also in-between semesters. Mark came from Edmonton on vacation from his IBM job. Cindy is a community organizer, grant writer and fundraiser who sought a little refuge from life in Calgary. Brenda also from Calgary is at crossroad in her spiritual and personal life. With a degree in Architecture, Vicki is looking for a good project to sink her teeth into and will now spend the rest of her summer building a cob structure; and Kim the artist is on the move looking to leave Toronto and settle in BC with her tools and talent.

In Hollyhock-speak we were known as the KY’s. We all signed up for the Karma Yogi program and committed to volunteer 32 hours a week working behind the scenes in various departments like the kitchen, housekeeping, gardening, maintenance, production, hosting, and special projects. I learned in a host of new skills like operating a commercial dishwasher and driving a golf cart. The work was always made light when you could share your work shift a fellow KY.

I ponder who will stick from this experience. Many people have come and gone from my life. Who stays and who sticks is yet to be revealed, but one thing is for certain, this team of people that I lived, worked, played and laughed with will NEVER be forgotten.

The KY Team

Tealcroft: Our residence

On the Ferry

Departing Cortes: the car was loaded

Beloved Red Cedar and Kim

Rolling around the moss

Sunset at Smelt Bay

Hike to Carrington Bay with our guide Peter

Feasting

The Birthday Boy

The Birthday Girl

Cindy's Last Night

Hollyhock’d

I sit now in Bellingham, Washington writing this blog spot in the wee hours of the morning with rain falling gently outside far away from Cortes Island. Before I left, I learned a new word, Hollyhock’d. At the retreat center when your heart gets blasted open and transformation is afoot, you’ve been Hollyhock’d.

In my last week, I sat in a circle of board members and staff as they shared heart-blasted-open-transformational stories from Hollyhock’s history. There were lots of naked stories of nude gardening, nude swimming, hot tubs, a 44-ball birthday party salute and endless topless activities in those early days.

In my own way I have been Hollyhock’d though I didn’t see a single nude body the entire month. Hollyhock crept inside of me much like how a good conversation leaves you feeling whole and connected. I have heard about this place since the early 90’s, and now some 20 years later I followed that calling to the magical, mystical land of Hollyhock.

Since 1982, Hollyhock has been an international educational center that was created to unite revolutionary teachers and thinkers at the leading edge of human and organizational evolution. Subjects as diverse as wellness and wisdom practices, arts and culture, business and leadership development are taught.

Hollyhock is enchanting and it’s natural beauty beacons one to relax, restore and recreate their lives. The early founders, without a guru or dogma, created quite a community where they made art out of life. Early guest presenters at Hollyhock include Allen Ginsberg, RD Laing, Ram Das, Stan and Christina Grof, Andrew Weil, Rupert Sheldrake, Jill Purce, Robert Bly and Baba Olatunji. Facilitators now stand on the shoulders of these cultural icons.

When I sit with the history of this place, I feel such honor to have been here for the month of May. History continues to be written as Hollyhock morphs to meet the demands of the times. The place has grown a great deal since 1982. Hollyhock has expanded its land base and buildings and there is room now for personal retreats for relaxation and rejuvenation along with the seminars.

My time here has come to a close and in my last days as I walked in the rain and saw two pair of eagles sitting on their beach front rock perches, I felt enormous waves of appreciation for what has been created here and the beauty that I carry inside as I leave.

The photos posted are in no particular order. They give you a glimpse of its charm and maybe, just for a moment you too will become Hollyhock’d.

The Hollyhock Garden

Wood Carving

Cob House Sanctuary