Spring is coming! This past weekend I witnessed (belatedly) the Daylight Savings Time change, the aroma of sap boiling in maple bushes, rapidly melting snow leaving a muddy hangover, geese beginning to nest. As the season progresses, many more changes will occur.

Each of us anticipates Spring in different ways – proof positive that change is happening in our lives and in our world. It is a combination of looking for signs of continuity and a natural rhythm that repeats in predictable ways balanced with our anticipation and excitement of discovering the ‘first’ and the ‘new’. Of all the seasons, I think Spring catches our attention most consciously – the life and growth we were unaware of reveals itself in all its glory. Every day there is new mystery revealed – and even though we may have witnessed it before, each time it is amazing and new, a true gift.

To welcome the Gift of Spring, I invite you to share what you anticipate most with the arrival of Spring, or your favourite Spring traditions, or your best Spring memory ever!

Each response will be entered into a draw for a Spring-inspired Gift Basket. The random draw will take place at noon on Wednesday, March 2oth, 2013 – the first day of Spring! The winner will be announced via email next Wednesday afternoon. I anticipate receiving a beautiful compilation of Spring tributes and I look forward to sharing them all with you.

So open your awareness to the gifts of Spring. Practise your rituals of cleansing and releasing (clean out that closet!). Awaken the memories of Springs gone by. And take a moment to share them with us. Thanks.

May many blessings come your way.

 *Please note that delivery is not included. Pick up can be arranged through Shirley Lynn.

March is one of those months where we haven’t left winter (at least in this part of the world), nor have we stepped into the smells and sounds of spring. It’s the time of living in the ‘betwixt and between’, a time of transition.

Transitions, I find, can be challenging because we are leaving what is familiar to us – at   the same time the ‘new’ is not yet fully present and solidly anchored in our lives. In Chinese Medicine, March represents a predomination of the Liver system which means we are in a biochemical time of cleansing and purification. So too, numerous faith and spiritual traditions espouse to this theme of letting go or giving something up, of taking stock of one’s spiritual life as necessary for purification of the heart and mind. These natural cycles and rhythms of body, nature, and spirit promote multidimensional purification and cleansing and seem to be hard-wired within us to sustain good health.

Purification is frequently a process of cleansing, of letting go, of elimination. Our bodies, our closets, our souls, our budgets all need a quarterly cleanse and tune-up. Probably even our relationships need a time of purification. It fascinates me how often natural purification processes are built into our lives so the ‘new’ can come to life with greater ease, harmony and simplicity. Purification rituals cleanse and detox our pathways, whether they are our communication habits, our limiting beliefs, our liver or our heart and spirit’s connection with the Sacred, which may be cluttered with spiritual guilt and fear.

Transition and purification frequently come hand in hand. If we are not letting go of something once valuable, then we are taking action to launch or birth the ‘new’ or the more valuable. Where do we ground and centre ourselves when our bodies and spirits and lives are purifying, but the new has not yet materialized? I daresay we are meant to ground and centre in the richness of self love and in the abundance of Divine Love.

One of the gifts Carlie brings to me is her zest for cultivating a learning mind which help her build new skills to deal with ‘scary things’. As I watch her make great strides and put in effort to learn as a way to build confidence in herself, I realize this is one way she expresses self love. She is not a puppy, nor is she yet an adult with emotional maturity. She grounds and centres herself in play and love of learning in her transition from puppy to adolescence to adulthood.

I’m still taking advantage of the winter weather to get in more snowshoeing and playing with Carlie. Carlie completely delights in winter games and there is no time to be depressed about the inevitable transition from winter to spring. There is so much joy that can be awakened playing ‘snow jumping’. Every day she invites me to play, a way to ground and centre in loving myself. We play; we laugh; we make up games. My mind relaxes, my heart is delighted and my body is invigorated as the winter air reminds me the snow and winds are yet here to help me nourish myself with love.

In times of transitions and of purification, how do you nurture self love? When life around you is in transition, when the old must give way to birth the new or the ‘more valuable’ , what helps you to ground and centre yourself?

Life is full and overflowing with the new. But it is necessary to empty out the old to make room for the new to enter.  – Eileen Caddy

As I wrote last week, I found my soul escorting me out the door of my addiction counselling job, following the Reiki guidance I was clearly given.  Step by step I began to implement what it would take for me to start this new path. I devoted my whole effort to this path.

Shortly thereafter, I attended a circle with a woman native elder and during the circle we were each given a stone, a message from Creator. Mine said, Obedience. I wanted to throw my stone out the window, but instead I put it on the windowsill and surrendered to all that was in my life at the time. I accepted where I was, who I was and my soul path. Success would come in surrendering control of how I thought my soul needed to walk this Earth life.

Deep self acceptance is not about selfish, trite acts of ‘loving myself’ and ignoring or denying another’s life. Self acceptance is a radical act of faith that I am more than I imagine. It awakens the inner truth that I am divine and delightful to the Creator. Deep self acceptance tells me I have a purpose to fulfill in my life and all that is needed will be given to realize this purpose. Deep self acceptance compels me to take an honest inventory about who and where I am in relation to my soul path, my soul lessons and challenges, purpose and evolutions that is the life I really need to live.

Eighteen years later my life is radically different and yet ironically, similar to the core values I have always cherished. As you explore your 2013 theme and dreams, you may be discovering you need to accept who you are which may radically or gently call you into new ways of living your life and the boundaries you create with the most important people in your life. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about them. It means that in your journey to accept the whole of who you are more deeply, you need to stop the screaming in your body and listen to whispers of a life purpose you have been afraid to claim.

Self acceptance is often an act of faith that is multiplied in the collaborative and co-creative relationship of a witness. This witness becomes our subconscious ‘evidence’ that it is okay and good to accept ourselves as we are in this moment. I faced a lot of fears along the way (and still do). But in the co-creative dynamic presence of trusted witnesses, a new momentum towards something more joyful and fulfilling unfolded. I wish that for all of you. I am honoured to offer that safe and collaborative ‘space’ to witness your journey to deeper self acceptance, transforming your fear. The world needs it of you and the Divine will delight in your discovery and radiance in your acceptance of who you are and ‘what is’ in your moment.

We have entered into a new era with growing differences between how we have related in love in the past and how we now are being called to generate relationships of love rooted in our own inner peace. This is a big shift and it demands new ways of seeing who we are and how we fulfil our needs. A key way of being supported in this new era is through the shared wisdom within the community of Peace Circles.

Shirley Lynn and Karen invite you to imagine the all new adventures waiting for you once you realize you are loved unconditionally and connected to all that empowers your dream.

Join the Circle and be fulfilled with the transforming love you deserve!

Starting on Tuesday, February 26th, Feathers, Rainbows & Roses will be offering a 4-Part Series on Opening to Grace. Each month we will gather in Circle and explore our topic through story, sharing and teaching. As co-facilitators, Shirley Lynn Martin and Karen McCarthy are excited to be offering this inaugural event.

The Peace Circle Series – Opening to Grace:

Connection, Acceptance & Wealth of Love

What you can expect and what we expect:

• Each evening a Peace Circle will be facilitated during which a topic is explored through story and teaching
• Each Circle you will be given 2 journal questions to guide you in your weekly journaling between Peace Circles
• On the second week between Circles you will connect with another Circle member to share your insights and progress of your self-designed actions based on the journal questions of that month. You and your partner will use the guidelines and talking piece components of Circle we use in our gathered time
• Spot coaching for extra support will be available from Karen and Shirley Lynn.

What you will gain and the needs that will be met:

• Real experiences of the power of Circle to heal and deepen your inner growth
• New ways to think about what you really need and how to design your life in love
• A safe place to discover the wisdom of your own life narrative
• Experience the power of your voice as a leader of your own life and in community
• The gift of appreciative accountability.

 “Each time I have gathered in circle I have been blown away by the power of this ancient practice to shift, heal and transform. Circle is a space where we can authentically join together, bringing our “whole” selves and have our voices equally valued and shared. Together we tap into the collective wisdom and shared purpose and what happens is so much more than we could have imagined alone.”  Karen McCarthy

“The first time I experienced Circle in a Native community, I knew some part of me found a home. Ever since, I come into circle and some part of me relaxes, knowing that all is well simply because Circle has gathered and so the truth will be told…safely. When I first started training in facilitating Circle, I knew a part of me had also found my professional home. Now, I am here to share this gift of Sacred Wisdom so you can discover your truth, safely, and find a home in the community that gathers. From there, I hope your peace can find an anchor as you journey out into your world as it did for me.  Blessed be.”  Shirley Lynn Martin

 Come and join us in this 4-part Peace Circle Series!

Tuesday, February 26^th 7-9:30pm  Opening the Circle and Opening to Grace

Tuesday, March 26^th 7-9:30pm  Opening to Grace: Connections that Inspire

Tuesday, April 23^rd 7-9:30pm  Opening to Grace: Self Acceptance that Beautifies

Tuesday, May 21^st 7-9:30pm  Opening to Grace:Wealth of Love that Delights and Closing the Circle

Cost: $275.00 plus HST (payment reserves your spot)

To register, contact Shirley Lynn at 519-886-7632 or Shirley@shirleylynnmartin.com

Almost 20 years ago, I was working as an addictions counsellor in a very intense, long-term recovery and residential program for men. I loved the work and the clients I worked with in their healing journey. As with many social service agencies, the workload was far more intense and required more staff than funds allowed. During my last year there, provincial policy and funding changes as well as significant staff turmoil amidst the ongoing challenges and joys of client healing, made me yearn for my earlier training and calling to spiritual ministry and development.

Like many stories I hear, I began to get sick and found it increasingly difficult to continue working. Conventional medical procedures could not identify the cause, nor prescribe any treatment for my symptoms. Numerous alternative and energy medicine techniques restored my health over time, but none more so than my decision to leave my work. Though I loved what I did, my soul had had enough and I needed to return to my path of ‘highest point of contribution.’ Through the screams of my body (we call it STRESS), I knew I had to return ‘home’ to my soul’s life work. Today, I look back in wonder and awe that I found the courage to say, “I’m going to start my own private practice”, because never in my wildest dreams did that idea have any credibility for me.

The most challenging realizations for me at that time in my life were that my body was screaming to get out of my work and create work aligned with my life purpose and mission! My mental arguments were entirely fear-ridden. “I can’t leave”, I told myself. “How will I live? I will have no money. I can’t make it on my own.” My worst fear was living on the street, alone, bankrupt. While in the moments of my worst fears, I sought to hold onto my job. But I could not deny my body’s scream and the stress it evidently could no longer tolerate. My inner life of spiritual connection and wisdom was leading me out the door, and in many ways I could only follow this guidance.

The season of Lent is an invitation to return back to our Divinity and to discover the Great Love along the way. What fears are keeping you from deeply accepting yourself? What core memory is this fear attached to that needs help being transformed and liberated? Choose this Lent as a time to give up a particular fear and replace it with the power of self acceptance. What might you discover?

This week is Valentine’s Day, a day to acknowledge our love and appreciation for the loved ones in our lives. The focus is decidedly outward – to our partners, lovers, friends, etc. I don’t want to debate the commercialism of this holiday, but I do think there’s validity in intentionally expressing our love in whatever ways feel authentic. I also hope this is not limited to once-a-year but is actively and meaningfully communicated throughout the year.

This holiday places a lot of expectations and pressures on us – to spend money on cards, flowers, food, clothing, jewelry, etc. As if to show through our purchases who we love and how much. Don’t get me wrong, I like chocolate as much as the next person, but it tastes just as good at other times of the year as well!

For years Valentine’s Day has created mixed emotions for me. Perhaps you can relate to the angst of grade school when the day served as proof of where you stood in the popularity scale. How many valentines did I get and from who? As an adult and single, I have been challenged at times with feeling insecure and excluded from the intended target market of couples.

In recent years I realized that I was focusing on external validation for who I was and how I felt about myself. By looking within myself for validation and accepting who I am, I now understand that Valentine’s Day is for me too. I too can express my love to those who are special to me in whatever ways I choose. But just as important, I need to acknowledge love for myself. Sure I can go out and buy myself something special, but a greater gift is to reflect on who I am and truly love and honour that person. Self acceptance and validation come from within. So I can accept that I am valued, I am cherished, I am loved.

I invite you to reclaim the true meaning of Valentine’s Day. Celebrate Love through meaningful expressions from your heart – for your special loved ones as well as for yourself. Be your own best lover!

To love others, we must first learn to love ourselves. – Author Unknown

Submitted by Lucy Martin

It’s the beginning of February and as I write this blog, it is a bright and crisp winter day. I have just come back from my morning walk with Carlie who now smells like the fresh outdoors, and my cheeks are rosy and cold! I feel alive and ready for what the Sacred will collaborate and design with me this month. Last month I invited each of you to discover and design your 2013, listening for the main theme that will guide you this year. I too listened and clarified my new focus for 2013.

As people have started to work through my Wisdom’s Way to ‘Right with the Light’ Joy-Fully Living in 2013 workbook, they have been sharing the themes that have been emerging. They include such spiritual adventures as ‘commitment’, ‘collaboration’, ‘transformative connection’, ‘the destiny of my purpose’, living the question: ‘what shall we create today Goddess?’ or ‘heart-full self care’, ‘right consciousness’ of leadership and ‘inner strength’! How can our lives not change?

So now that we are clear on our new focus, what is our next step?

Opening to a new self acceptance of who we are and where we are. Self Acceptance requires us to have a compassionate relationship with ourselves, seeking out what is delightful about ourselves. It also calls us to be honest with ourselves, doing away with the more subtle layers of denial we barely know are hiding in the layers of our heart and cells. These deeper practices of self acceptance ask us to be courageous enough to explore the inner realms of our heart – the bliss and the pain. This new space of self acceptance asks us to ‘know thyself’ and affirm the whole essence of who we are. In this honest place, self acceptance becomes the nature of surrender itself. Surrender to what is opens the door to what can be!

The powerful gift of having a 22 yr old cat and a 1 yr old puppy is that both companions respond to the energy which my inner life is projecting, not the words I outwardly say. Yet, they still deeply and unconditionally accept me (though they seem quite open to expressing their sentiments about my behaviour when needed). I suppose as a 22 yr old cat, you have the right to state what change is required! The truth is that I cannot become more lovable or acceptable to the Heart of the Divine. I’m already unconditionally acceptable and loved. So to move vibrantly toward my goals and live my ‘theme’, I need the momentum that self acceptance promises me to get there! And that is the place where heart-full surrender arises from within gentling my path and my own inner dialogue.

Whether you live here in Ontario, or some other place internationally, there are many places to practice and learn and grow through self acceptance. Look at all the opportunities our calendar gives us this month to heal and nurture self acceptance: A day to celebrate love and friendship (14th), a day to celebrate family (18th in Ontario), a day to celebrate International Social Justice (20th) (a United Nations initiative), and a day which begins spiritual purification and preparation for New Life (13th Ash Wednesday).

As you open to deeper self acceptance this month, what deeper level of honest dialogue with yourself is needed that opens your awareness to your delight? Who accepts you so much they will tell you the truth of what is in your inner heart so you have the opportunity to grow and realize your dream? Go and breathe the fresh air of self acceptance and surrender into your truth. It will make you feel alive!

Last fall I took a course on Spiritual Leadership with appreciative way principles guiding our learning. One of the first questions we were asked was ‘who do we depend upon for your success?’ At first it seemed a strange question, but I quickly named a list of people including my clients. The facilitator explained that if we are not depending upon anyone, then we are not leading anyone either. In that moment, I felt deep gratitude for the creative and diverse ways that people support me in fulfilling my sense of purpose and mission in the world.

We were then asked to introduce ourselves to the group using these profound yet simple questions:

• Who are we?
• Where are you?
• What do you do there?
• What do I love to do in my work?

I previously wrote about the highest point of contribution that we can make and the paradoxical challenge that comes with success if we don’t recognize where and when to say the right YES which empowers us to say the right NO. In really getting clear on what I love to do, what really delights me, and then sharing it with a group of new people, I realized that having the right support gentles my way. When I hire or invite others to do what they really love to do, what delights them and are good at, I am freed to concentrate on my own strengths and gifts. I can explore new possibilities and potential in who I am or what I can offer. This changes where I am and what I do and perhaps even opens up new possibilities and ventures. I see this happening in my relationship and training with Carlie. So too in the Peace Circles I am offering with my colleague Karen.

I have shared previously my focus theme this year is inner strength. What is coming to me is my inner strength is simply and yet profoundly about asking the ‘right’ people who delight in what they do, to help me. The path eases and I can walk more gently upon the Earth and in my relationships. I reduce the stress and anxiety of not being able to accomplish what I know lives inside me. I eliminate the stress in relationships because I am distracted with all that needs to be done. The work is shared. The joy is shared. And the success is shared.

You may not think of yourself as a leader; however, you are the only one who can lead your life. No one else can really and fully decide for you how to live your purpose in the world. No one can really tell you who you have the potential to be in the evolution of your transformations. That comes as a result of you leading the way with your heart. You may of course invite good, trustworthy and loving support to gentle your way. It is how we are meant to live – in collaboration, in interdependence, in community, in circle. Our nervous systems are designed that way. The oldest and wisest spiritual traditions from around the world understand the power of this way. Doing what we love gentles our way because we call forth the best in those around us to collaboratively support the highest good in all of us.

So as you delve into and condition your mind for your own new focus for 2013, how do you answer the questions above? Who are your supports? Does your new focus gentle your path? For a useful tool in finding your ‘right focus’ consider the Wisdom’s Way to Right with the Light: Joy-Fully Living in 2013. I compiled this brief workbook to focus your efforts and gentle your way. I trust you will find it helpful. Blessed be.

Carlie and I have just become part of a ‘team’ of people and dogs who will be doing the half-time show at the College Royal at the University of Guelph in March. Most of us are all newbies to this ‘show’ experience and many of us are first time handlers at this more advanced level. So both Carlie and I are learning games and skills alongside Mastiffs, Boxers, Labs, a Corgie, a beagle mix and Shepherds… a motley crew of handlers with our good-looking dogs.
This experience is a blessing in disguise and one organized by the Universe without my conscious participation. I missed one class on account of Carlie hacking up burrs and then the next week I find out that all class members had apparently agreed to this event. A bit surprised, I inquired into the nature of what we will be expected to do and find out that we will each be handling our dogs through skills and games to a large audience. I grin inwardly and think, ‘nice one Universe. You snuck that one by me.’
So this past week, we talked about each dog’s temperament and how that will play out in the way we train for the show. We discussed what to do when our dogs ‘go off script’. As we started to train for ‘musical mats’, I realized an untapped part of me is being called forth. Ironically(?) my own theme word that arose from completing my Living JOY-Fully in 2013 working guide is ‘inner strength’ and here was a way to test a different sort of inner strength than my old model. I look forward to experiencing my own evolution in this adventure!
As you get real clear on your own new focus for this year, make sure it is indeed worthy of the best you. Invite this new focus to call forward untapped strengths and self love that shines the light ready to burst from those inner pockets of your soul. And if you need to, like the story of last week’s blog, dig a little deeper, and find the focus that is truly worthy of you. And if you are stuck,  my new Wisdom’s Way to ‘Right with the Light’: Living JOY-Fully in 2013 will help you find your ‘right movement’ again. It is now conveniently available for purchase online. As one person shared with me who completed it said she discovered her theme for the year—collaboration:

“I finished up your work book Shirley. It is fantastic! My big breakthrough was the amount of clarity I received on what I need to do this year. Your thought provoking questions allowed me to dig deep and receive the answers I needed to move forward on my goals. I also realized a big thing that was missing from my life and business–collaboration! Thank you Shirley for providing this opportunity to begin the transformation process :)”

Thanks Gretchen and blessings of focused and transformative success for each of you this year. 

A while back I found a card with a picture of a dog who was happily digging and the dirt was flying out the back. Not that this is a novel experience for me – I get to witness this activity several times a week with the dogs I regularly spend time with. But what I really liked about the card was the saying on the inside – Keep Digging. I have never given the card to anyone (I guess I bought it for myself) and I ponder its message every so often.

Keep Digging. It is particularly relevant for me right now as I set my goals and vision on 2013 and beyond. What that digging dog exudes is complete joy, even within the intensity of his search. I presume he is as committed to uncovering and zeroing in on his ultimate goal as my dogs are. Typically the goal needs to be approached from multiple angles to find the most effective and strongest approach. Or perhaps the ‘scent’ of the goal changes slightly as one keeps digging so as we get closer to our goal, a slightly different angle may keep it fresh and within our sights.

The intensity ebbs and flows as the dig continues (perhaps this is necessary to maintain momentum and manage one’s energy to complete the task). But always there is joy – within the digging process itself, but also in finally attaining the intended and hard-won goal.

I am reminded that the hard digging that is often required to achieve our goals should always be joyful. Not that there isn’t ever any pain involved (sore and strained muscles, broken toes and nails, bath, etc) but the experience of going after something with our entire being should definitely increase our joy quotient. If it doesn’t, is it really worth expending all our energies on?

Shirley Lynn has put together a wonderful tool aptly entitled Wisdom’s Way to JOY-Full Living in 2013 to help you dig deeper into your own life purpose and vision. She is generously offering this workbook free to everyone who schedules a session with her in January. Together you can get your ‘goal/hole’ started. Uproot some old turf. Dig deeply with absolute commitment and joy. The end result will be worth it.   ~Lucy