Thoughts from the Labyrinth
Personal Reflection, Journal and Blog
Appreciations
I have been practicing the art of appreciations for awhile now and have come to appreciate the juicy connections that come as a result of thoughtful appreciations for people and experiences and things. I love appreciating. It brings delight to me to watch as a...
Drought tolerant landscaping?!
I received a call out of the blue. A journalist for the Santa Cruz Sentinel wanted to interview Mark and me about our triple spiral labyrinth. Here's a link to the article she wrote: http://tinabaine.blogspot.com/2015_06_01_archive.html
Wobbly
Some days are just wobbly. I've been crying off and on all day long, with no real story as to why I might be crying. And that confuses me. I like to know why I'm crying, somehow it feels safer to know the reason behind a big wave of emotion. But I didn't know, or...
Joy
I'm playing with the concepts behind the cards in my Self-Discovery Deck. Today's focus is the Joy card. Ahhhhh, Joy. This seems like it might be a card that doesn't need explaining and that might be right. On the other hand, I want to spend a little time writing...
Perfection
Perfection, while seemingly lovely, can be a bugaboo for people. I've noticed a tendency to look at the world through a distorted view of perfection. Perfection carrying the weight of what we think it means and all the evidence that we've accumulated saying that...
Breathe
This seems simple and it is, but it's also profound. Paying attention to my breath regularly brings me back to an awareness of me. I often find that I've got my awareness looped out, checking out the outside world, seeing what the outside world has to say about me and...
Off-Balance
A friend suggested doing a single card draw to use as a focus for the month, so I thought I'd explore that idea. The card I drew (from the current Self-Discovery Deck) for the month of June was Off-Balance. I've found that people often think that this is a 'bad'...
Walking in the dark
Fifteen faces, the flickering light of a single votive candle in the darkness, silent and still. A mantle of peace settles over me as I look out and breathe in the life force of the humans, animals and other beings surrounding us. As the first headlamp lights the...
Pollination
I've been wondering about creativity and all the myriad ideas that have been flowing through me, mourning the loss of those ideas that I haven't acted upon. And then this morning, as I was looking at the apple tree, it occurred to me that not all blossoms are meant to...
Creating new stories
I'm headed into town driving my old, wobbly van to take the dog to the groomers. This is exciting, because several months ago I attempted to take her to the groomer and she refused to get in the van. I thought that this was it, she was never leaving the property,...
What am I reaching for?
I was startled by this question. While I spend much of my time paying attention to where I'm placing my attention, I haven't thought about the moments or places just past where my attention is. I don't think about reaching much at all. That is obvious by the point...
What are your intentions?
I have been struggling with the whole concept of intention setting for a while now. Actually, to be completely truthful, when I first set out on this "awakening" journey (not that I knew that's what I was up to when I started, mind you), I didn't even really...
Rituals
I've been doing an evolving form of ritual for my clients for several years now. For whatever reason, it had not occurred to me to perform that same ritual for myself. This morning as I headed out to the labyrinth, I started thinking about the antique copper bowl I...
Impact
The scratches on the table leg are deep, angled from the same direction, so it looks like they were made over time, rather than all at once. A repeated behavior that had a harmful impact. I noticed the scratches as I was moving the table to sweep beneath in and...
Noticing perfection
I awoke this morning excited to be trying out a new exercise class just down the street from me. This is a big deal because I live 20 minutes from town, so the idea that I could walk to something is thrilling. (Obviously I thrill easily.) I skip out my front door,...
In the driver’s seat
I had the most amazing dream last night! I woke up this morning before the alarm thinking about the series of dream segments that I’d just been in. I’m in the passenger seat of a big truck. It’s being driven by a man I know to be one of the most competent,...
Holy Fool
Stuck, stuck, stuck! So, I keep getting the message that I’m supposed to be writing. But what I don’t understand is WHAT I’m to be writing. I do well with one-off things. These blog posts seem to almost write themselves, but when I try to organize them or figure...
Self-doubt
I took this picture this afternoon, sitting on the bench, looking out at the labyrinth, wondering, yet again, what it is that I think I’m doing with all of this. Sometimes I’m so lit up, excited to share the gifts of the labyrinth, which somehow seem separate from...