I can camp midweek because

I’ve just received the affiliate link to the educational center where I trained as a coach.  Since I spent the last two days camping in the boat access only area of Shuswap Lake….  on the water, floating, swimming, hiking, playing cards, lulling in 40 degree celsius weather, and one really big big storm that was heavenly, I am feeling very grateful.  Grateful for my daughter and grandaughter who camped with me, grateful I have the boat to get to this area, grateful for the universe for creating storms of that magnitude, grateful for feeling and being safe in such a storm, and grateful for the way I have set up my life so I can be camping midweek if I like. 

So here’s where I trained. I honestly am grateful to have taken my coaching training here… over the years, by being involved in the global coaching community, I have really come to understand why it ranks so high.  Coaches with this training are well trained and they get to go play in storms if they so desire!

http://www.profcs.com/app/?af=726463

Oh, the audacity… Poems by Coreena McBurnie

Audacity I and II by Coreena McBurnie
I.
A young spring flower ponders as it grows:
Blooming is so hard, it’s too hard, I fear,
I could look absurd, insane, who knows?
Will THEY find fault with all that I hold dear?

I have a plan, the shrinking violet said,
Compromise, so I won’t seem over-proud,
I’ll grow into a blade of grass instead,
Anonymous, I’ll blend in with the crowd!

But her spirit sings of audacity,
Her gift, herself, too sacred to let go.
She shines and blooms as big as she can be,
Beautiful, she inspires others to grow.

The birds and bees need flowers to grow bold,
We must listen and let our dreams take hold.

II.
Audacious
Tenacious
Utterly outrageous!
Intrepid, unfearing, unashamed.
The world is my oyster,
I’m on a daring quest!

Bold-faced and brazen
Presumptuous, insolent, what a nerve!
Who do you think you are?
Have you no shame?
What is your worth?

Shrinking
Sinking
What was I thinking?
Who do I think I am?
Mundane
Down the drain, inane, insane.
Everyday, ordinary, routine, plain.
She’s so vain.  What a pain! 

Hey!  No way! 
WHAT WAS I THINKING?
Who am I?

Bold-faced and brazen!
 Brassy, beautiful,
 Adventurous and brave,
 A bodacious babe.
 
I am me,
Audaciously.
I have found my pearl, you see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coreen McBurnie read her poems during the “Muse Audacity” class of the Creative Muse Course.  Our mouths dropped and we said, “Coreena, how long have you been writing poetry?  We didn’t know you wrote poetry!”  She answered, “I don’t. These are my first.”        !!

Interesting note: Coreena has read The Odyssey in original Greek.

Powerful prose by Hope Mikal

‘From The Point Of View Of A Mistake’
By Hope Mikal

You curse the moment I took my first breath of air,
And spit on my infant body with such distaste.
You dream of leaving me naked in the winter night,
On a stranger’s hard, cold doorstep.

Sipping a glass of chardonnay, staring me down with a frown,
You get tipsy at the idea of grabbing one of my limbs,
Dangling my innocence out of a window one hundred stories high.
I can hear your drowning whispers into the telephone receiver.

I know what your silence means, your cold stares.
Your eyes scream at me, “You are a mistake!”
No words slipping off the tongue needed.
I know what I am, to you, Mother.

Hope Mikal graciously has given permission for the publication of this poem  May her wisdom inspire you to consider unique perspectives.  Hope is a member of the current Creative Muse Course in  Kamloops BC

Thank you Hope!

Deadman Creek Waterfall, near Kamloops BC… Peace on earth, Center of the Universe

Life is good. Photo by Sherry Robinson

Peaceful at the top of 200 foot falls. Photo by Sherry Robinson

To sit on top of a 200 foot waterfall, and feel like it is the most peaceful place in the universe is quite an extraordinary adventure.  So much so,  that it seems I don’t have the words for the post. Alas, it’s been well over a month and I still don’t have the words.  It’s  okay, though,  because my co-hort in adventure, Sherry Robinson, wrote a beautiful inspiring post.

When you get there, do peruse her blog “Notice quiet nature.”  It is profoundly peaceful, yet wisely informative on the secrets of ecology, environment, spirit.

http://noticequietnature.blogspot.com/2009/06/transforming-energy-of-deadman-falls.html

Deadman Falls is near Vidette Lake, near Kamloops BC Canada. It is also within walking distance of the  location deemed by  Buddhist Monks to be the Center of the Universe.

Pretty sure I wrote a post about THAT spot a little while ago…

The Ships sailed to Zazzle

Tall Ship XIV Janet L Whitehead ©2009

The Ships sailed to Zazzle!  Originals, no.. but the opportunity to make quality prints and cards. 

The artist statement:  Janet L Whitehead  has been sketching, doodling, and etch-a-sketching Tall Ships since she was a preschooler.  
The fascination has been a mystery… but this is what she  knows:  In this reality they represent the adventurous spirit.  She also knows that in other worldly realms – the mystical, the heavenly – the Ships are a means of crossing over, and of connecting to the ‘more than what we see’.
Watercolour on Yupo. Original 11″ x 14″

WELL DARN I was trying to add a slide show here for you to see!
but alas it showed up but was as fleeting as a ship on the horizon.

Please go to http://www.zazzle.ca/janetwhitehead*  (for canadians)
OR http://www.zazzle.com/janetwhitehead*  (for international and americans)

For Canadians, now there is Zazzle.ca.  No longer will you have to pay extra shipping or wait for things stuck in customs. Hurray!

Life is too short…it’s true.

 “‘Life’s too short’ is repeated often enough to be a cliche, but this time it’s true. You don’t have enough time to be both unhappy and mediocre. It’s not just pointless, it’s painful. Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”   Seth Godin, from his book, Tribes

Powerful statement.  Ever so true.  If it’s hit home with you, consider life coaching.   You can learn more about my life coaching practise here:  www.musingsandmud.com