Draw it out-- it makes a difference!

Cause sometimes words aren't enough! Sometimes you have to draw it out! 

Wild

 

 Read this book earlier this year and then was able to watch the movie on Christmas Day. I love this movie for so many reasons. I think the biggest reason is you can really see the power of ecopsychology at work. Sometimes the best way to heal is to give yourself time in the great outdoors! Cheryl took it one step further by inundating herself, alone in the wild to heal! Three months hiking alone might not be something you think you can do or even want to do, but the great outdoors can do wonders for the soul! Also taking on an adventure larger than yourself can also have amazing awards. This movie is great, but I also recommend reading the book. WARNING: It could give you the desire to go on your own odyssey be it big or small, and it could change your life.

Tree Personality Test --

L00K at the trees and choose the one that is immediately most appealing to you.
Don’t think about it too long, just choose, see what hits you first, and find out what your choice says about your personality, have FUN!!

The results . . .
1. You are a generous and moral (not to confuse with moralizing) person. You always work on self-improvement. You are very ambitious and have very high standards. People might think that communicating with you is difficult, but for you, it isn't easy to be who you are. You work very hard but you are not in the least selfish. You work because you want to improve the world. You have a great capacity to love people until they hurt you. But even after they do. . . you keep loving. Very few people can appreciate everything you do as well as you deserve.

2. You are a fun, honest person. You are very responsible and like taking care of others. You believe in putting in an honest day's work and accept many work-related responsibilities. You have a very good personality and people come to trust you easily. You are bright, witty and fast-thinking. You always have an interesting story to tell.

3.You are a smart and thoughtful person. You are a great thinker. Your thoughts and ideas are the most important. You like to think about your theories and views alone. You are an introvert. You get along with those who likes to think and learn. You spend a lot of time, thinking about morality. You are trying to do what is right, even if the majority of society does not agree with you.

4. You are perceptive and philosophical person. You are a unique, one soul of your kind. Next to you there's no one even slightly similar to you. You are intuitive and a bit quirky. You are often misunderstood, and it hurts you. You need personal space. Your creativity needs to be developed, it requires respect of others. You are a person who clearly sees the light and dark sides of life. You are very emotional.

5. You are self-assured and in charge. You are very independent. Your guiding principle in life is 'I'll do it my way.'. You are very self-reliant and know how to stay strong for yourself and the people you Love. You know exactly what you want and are not afraid of pursuing your dreams. The only thing you demand from people is honesty. You are strong enough to accept the truth.

6. You are kind and sensitive. People relate to you very well. You have many friends and you love helping them. You have this warm and bright aura that makes people feel good when they are around you. Every day, you think about what you can do to improve yourself. You want to be interesting, insightful and unique. More than anybody else in the world, you need to love. You are even ready to love those who don't love you back.

7. You are happy and unflappable. You are a very sensitive and understanding person. You are a great listener who know how to be non-judgmental. You believe that everybody has their own journey in life. You are open to new people and events. You are highly resistant to stress and rarely worry. Normally, you are very relaxed. You always manage to have a good time and never lose your way.

8. You are charming and energetic. You are a fun person who knows how to make people laugh. You live in a state of harmony with the universe. You are spontaneous and enthusiastic. You never say no to an adventure. Often, you end up surprising and even shocking people. But that's just how you are. . . You always remain true to yourself. You have many interests and if something proves of interest to you, you will not rest until you acquire a profound knowledge of this area.

9. You are optimistic and lucky. You believe that life is a gift and you try to achieve as much as possible and put this gift to the best use possible. You are very proud of your achievements. You are ready to stick by the people you care about through thick and thin. You have a very healthy approach to life. The glass is (at least) half full for you. You use any opportunity to forgive, learn, and grow because you believe that life is too short to do otherwise.

A Healing Meditation

On August 24th, 2014 the town of Napa, CA that I live in experienced a 6.0 earthquake at 3:20 AM Not the kind of wake up call I was asking for. The earthquake lasted 21 seconds and it was horrifying. 

To say the least I've been on edge these past few days. While my house is structurally sound albeit there was a lot of broken glass and turned over furniture, I can't say my brain was really working at 100%. Most of the week I have felt very fatigued, and focusing on anything was pretty much impossible. It's not easy to admit that you are being affected by a traumatic event, but when I heard there was a healing meditation being held by Joni Dittricht I knew this was something I needed to attend. 

I don't know how exactly it happened but something changed at that meditation. When I came away I was feeling back to almost normal. No more spacey feelings or high anxiety. It was amazing. 

One of the things Joni talked about was how transformation comes about in our lives. It's not by hoping it will happen, but is sparked by uncontrollable event in our life, usually traumatic. From the ruin we feel and experience we can rebuild into something else. 

Think through your life and when it shifted course. What caused those shifts? Was there a death in the family, an accident, a natural disaster, losing a job, a divorce? And yet it's in these events we feel we have lost it all are when the amazing life transformation happens.

The Magical World of Labyrinths

Labyrinths have been fascinating me now for several years. I can't even explain exactly why this fascination happened. Before I even went back to school I was interested in drawing them. Then I started to see where I could walk them. One of my firsts and favorites is the one at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco that you see to the left. 










 I couldn't stop drawing and painting Labyrinths. Here's one I created several years ago. For a great site on how to draw these guys click here 

 Two years ago my wife and I had a commitment ceremony where I created a wedding labyrinth for us to walk through as part of our ceremony.








Labyrinths have once again cropped up in my life. I just discovered one of these quite by accident that was just a couple of blocks from my house. Sadly, I have found many labyrinths in my area are locked away and are not readily available to be used. There is a great site for locating labyrinths. It's called the World Wide Labyrinth Locator


Walking Labyrinths can be a very magical experience. Here's a few instructions for walking one.

1. If you can, walk a labyrinth barefoot.
2. Before you walk think about something you're looking for an answer to. As you walk to the middle ask for guidance about the particular issue.
3. As you walk back out try to clear your mind and be receptive to whatever answer you might get in whatever form you might receive it.

If you can, walk the labyrinth a few times in the next few weeks. Journal your experience and see what comes from it. Please feel free to post your experience. Happy Labyrinth Journeys!

The Healing Power of Music

I'm so excited to see this movie,  Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory. It looks like an amazing documentary on music being able to reach those who seem completely unreachable.