Walk the Labyrinth

Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked.
"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."
~~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland~~

M friend Frances told me about a labyrinth workshop she had participated in. The thought of a labyrinth was intriguing, so I looked up some information on the internet. Lo and behold, there were a few sites explaining how to design a labyrinth. I started drawing the pattern in my notebook and found that simply drawing the pattern had a calming effect on me. So I drew more patterns page after page of the same labyrinth pattern. This was before we even owned Moonstone Path, before we had access to it's huge back-yard. I was just content with drawing labyrinths on paper.

Then, in the early spring, when the snow was gone, and I saw how huge the back-yard was, the thought of building a labyrinth came and took up residence in my mind. It would not leave. So we built a labyrinth.

We laid it out at the far end of the yard, the entrance and exit are from the West. Hubs and I built it on Victoria Day. It was warm and sunny, what a great day to spend a few hours laying out the Labyrinth. We designed it with white lines to mark where the walls are. It takes about 5 minutes to walk it.

Everyone is welcome. Wear comfortable shoes.

Definitions of Prosperity

Prosper: to be successful or fortunate, esp. in financial respects; thrive; flourish (courtesy of dictionary.com)

I felt very prosperous today. For many reasons.

1) I met my sales goal for the day (we're not talking a huge sum of money here, but I did OK today).

2) Sheilha who is a medium and channeller was at my store, Moonstone Path, to answer any questions about the workshop on Chakras she will be holding later this week. While she was there, a young couple came in and Sheilha was able to provide comfort and reassurance to the woman who is going through a VERY tough time.

3) A friend of mine who has been on the spiritual path for a long time and has come through the "darkness of the soul" many times met Sheilha and they found that they had a lot in common and so a strong friendship has developed.

4) I love it when Moonstone Path is a meeting ground for people who may not have known each other otherwise. It's a wonderful energy.

5) I am very grateful to be part of all this.

I feel very prosperous today.

About Masks

My youngest, Julie, talked me into helping her with costumes for a dance recital the studio she works at is holding. Mother, like daughter, are not into crafts, and as we pondered the intricacies of fastening a fluffy feather boa to wire and nylon angel wings (glue is not always reliable) I couldn't help but think that the many times I got out of doing parenty stuff like that with lame excuses such as a full time job, etc. are now catching up with me. Karma.

Anyway, another thing Julie was working on was a regular mask that she was painting for one of the dances she taught. She transformed a plain white mask into a mysterious shiny funky sparkly charcoal grey one. Maybe the kid's got crafting blood in her after all.

Looking at the mask got me thinking about the masks we wear (and not only the ones we wear at Hallowe'en parties). Some people wear the mask of self-confidence, and they wear it well. No-one knows how unsure of themselves and how insecure they are. Some people wear the mask of sacrifice, doing good works for community, while simultaneously giving in to their urges to control, manipulate and judge. Some people wear the mask of cheerfulness when they are feeling anything but cheerful. Some wear the mask of serenity when their insides are churning with angst and loss of life's purpose.

Do I wear a mask. Probably. There's the "retailer's mask", the "responsible adult who knows what she's doing" mask. Also the "Zen Mask", the "I love everyone without judgement mask", the "I've got it together and am eternally happy mask" and the "I know you're talking bullshit but I won't let on that I know because I don't want to offend you mask".

These are some of the masks that I want to resolve. I want those masks to become my reality. I really want to be a responsible adult who knows what she's doing. I really want to love everyone without judgement (sometimes hard to do). I want my Zen and Happy masks to be my reality.

It can be done. Detachment, non-judgement, inner peace are all achievable.

We wear masks because (I think) we assume people won't like us if they see the real thing. Granted, people won't like you if you're rude, abusive and dangerous to be around, but we carry our fear of being disliked to the extremes. Suddenly we worry about whether we said something unintentionally offensive, we worry about not fitting in, about voicing an opinion that might not be so popular. We worry so much.

I asked my angels, spirit guides, the universe for inspiration in writing this blog. As I sit here staring off into space trying to find a way to end this post, I happen to look at my quartz crystal sphere. I love the play of light going through it. Such beauty. And I bet it doesn't wear any mask at all.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign

Clever title huh? It's from a song of my teen hood past. I think it's clever. Never mind.

Subtleties were never my forte as I was growing up. I was not an astute observer of life, I guess. My mother used to say I wouldn't notice stuff, unless it jumped up an bit me on the nose, whatever that means.

Anyway, I have become more sensitive to hidden (and not so hidden) messages coming to me. Lately, it's been the mention of Goddess. Case in point -- Maggie (my next door store owner of Earth Angels) lent me some books to read (love that woman). One of them was "Goddesses in older women".

Secondly, I had a strong compulsion to order a Goddess figurine for my store, Moonstone Path. I never had any such strong desire to order Goddess items, other than pendants a long time ago.

Thirdly, a recent customer of mine suggested a book I should read titled "Mysteries of the Dark Moon; the healing power of the dark Goddess".

Methinks that I should become acquainted with the subject of Goddesses. I think there is a lesson somewhere in there for me.

Dogs, cats and husbands - a conspiracy to deprive me of sleep!

I haven't been sleeping well lately. Normally sleep is hard to come by because my mind is sifting through a thousand thoughts and nurturing the negative ones. But once I am asleep, things are usually pretty good and I get a solid 8 hours (read 9 or 10 hours). I still wake up grumpy and tired, but that's just me.

However, lately, I think the household has been conspiring to deprive me of sleep. The only things not waking me up in the middle of the night are the houseplants, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

First it was Shae, our doberman/greyhound/wussy. She decided that she realllllly needs to go outside in the middle of the night. Seeing as she is quite old and can possibly become incontinent, I prefer not to take chances, so I get up in the middle of the night and put her outside. I then stand by the patio doors, my forehead plastered to the glass as a way to stay upright and awake while doggy does her thing.

Second, Smokey the cat has decided that the Cd's stacked on the bedroom floor need re-arranging, you guessed it, in the middle of the night. I have since removed the Cd's. And perish forbid that I leave a book laying around, because she will proceed to flip the cover back and forth until I wake up.

Thirdly, Mephistopheles (aka Derek) my husband, my love, my soul mate...snores. Most of the time, I can prod him to roll over to his side and the snoring stops, but by then I am awake enough that my brain decides to do some marathon thinking and I can't get back to sleep.

This is not good. When my thoughts are on a run-away mission, I get no peace. My angels don't seem to be helpful (of course not, it's the middle of the night and they are fast asleep). So what to do.

Brilliant idea. Pop a Cd into the player and listen to it till I fall asleep. It works every time!! I am currently listening to "The Secret" . Rhonda Byrne's voice is pretty soothing, I can use all the positive messages I can get, and my sleep, though interrupted resumes pretty quickly. I'm so brilliant...or...maybe it was angelic inspiration. Naw, I'm brilliant (I kid, I kid).

Family get-togethers

Held Easter dinner on Good Friday (yesterday) That way the whole combined family, except for 2 grandsons who were at their mom's, was able to gather at our house. My three young adults Rob, Laura, and her boyfriend John, and Julie; Derek's 2 sons, Dave with daughter-in-law Kim and grand-daughter Avery, Stephen and girlfriend Jen. And Derek's mom and dad. Full house. Good times.

Now, though I may be good at many things (I'm a champion napper) there are certain things that I don't consider myself to be that proficient at. Cooking is one of those things. I always worry that things will go wrong. In this case - would the ham be too salty? Would the scalloped potatoes cook on time, would my coleslaw be too moist or worse too dry.

So I asked my Angels to help me out. I needed energy, I needed a good sense of timing (remember to put the rolls in the oven to give them a chance to warm up- but not too soon because we don't want giant croutons), I needed to remember to serve the coffee during dessert, not 15 minutes after dessert was eaten as is my usual way. I called on the cooking angels, the organizational angels, the angels of calmness. And you know, I think they helped me. I had way more stamina than I should have had, I didn't get overly confused, coffee was served on time, and all my cooking was actually delicious, well at least edible. Thank you angels.

Good Books are Sometimes a Pain

I'm a busy woman (some would say I'm exaggerating but I choose to ignore them). Anyway, I'm a busy woman. I have a store to run (while a lot of fun, still time consuming), I have a blog to maintain, I have a very neglected website to update, I have to deal with this high self-importance I have bestowed upon myself, I have to shrink my head so it will fit through doors, because I have received wonderful compliments about Moonstone Path. Like I said, I'm a busy woman. Kinda hard to squeeze in nap times, but I still manage, of course.

Anyway, with all this work and naps, the last thing I need is a really good book that I can't put down. Some nefarious author of said book (2 actually dammit) gave me her autographed books as I had politely expressed an interest in reading them.

OK, so now I feel obligated to read them. No problem, read a bit now and then, express my appreciation next time I see her and all is well.

The book is of a fantasy genre geared to teenagers and young adults. It is titled "The Princess Pawn", written by Maggie L. Wood. Her second book is "The Princess Mage". I have just started reading The Princess Pawn, I'm on page 18 and I'm hooked. Normally this is not the kind of book I read. I'm more of a Dean Koontz, John Grisham kind of fan. This might change.

Maggie's book got me from the first page. This is a problem. Remember, I'm a busy woman. I have to get things done. Do you know how hard that is to do, when there is a fun-to-read book over there, just taunting you. "You know you want to read me" I can just hear it say. "You know you want to be entertained" "C'mon, you know you want to see what that spunky kid, Willow, will do next". I need a big dose of will power for the next couple of hours so that I can work on the Website. I don't know if I can do it. THAT book is just over there...waiting....NO NO I must do my work.

Thanks a lot Maggie.