As of today, we have been together over 34 years, but we almost never met.
At the time, I was working as a restaurant manager. I was happy where I was, but my store location was closing and I needed to take a new store. The one that was offered to me was one that I had no interest in taking over. None. Zero. What I discovered was that the company had zero interest in my feelings about it. It was that store or I was out of a job.Keep reading
This Leap Day is an important anniversary for me because the day itself, being rare, is causing me to pause and reflect. I am older than she ever got to be. I feel like it’s so important to make these years really meaningful, since I am blessed to have them, when she (not to mention so many others) was not.Keep reading
I decided to spend some time journaling to ask Elen of the Ways what she had to tell me. After all, she didn’t just show up because Maine is an awesome place to vacation (although it is, that’s true).
Why did she show up in my life now? Not last month or last year. I did some Automatic Writing and got some interesting messages. One of them was this:
Remember the Salamanders.
Salamanders? Um, what? And then I did remember.
When I was a girl, I used to sort of collect salamanders. I would find them in the woods under rotting logs and capture them, and then put them in a shoe box. I’d bring them home and keep them on the back porch for a while. My mother was pretty tolerant of all kinds of animals but I wonder if the salamanders pushed that boundary. Probably not. Of course, i did let them go.Keep reading
I found this statue at a local thrift store a couple of months ago. I immediately felt it calling and as soon as I picked it up, I could not put it down.
Has this ever happened to you? It was an immediate, strong connection between me and the little statue. The angel is pictured with two children, a boy and a girl (is what I see), which is also what I have. Of course, this is probably a big part of what drew me to it. Anyway, I love it. I have been keeping it on my bureau where I see it frequently.
I checked it for any signature or markings that might identify where it came from, but there were none.
Imagine my surprise when I found another one very much like it at a Goodwill Store a couple of weeks ago!
It’s a sort of a mirror image of the first one. The colors are different, and the angel’s hands are in a different position, but otherwise they are so very alike! This second statue sits on my desk.Keep reading
I was feeling discouraged about how things were going in my business recently when I ran into a dear friend at one of my favorite local health and wellness shops. After we hugged, she asked me how things were going, and I said something about being stalled–whatever I said, I’m sure my discouragement shone through.
Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out this crystal and put it in my hand.
“Take this. It’s fluorite. It’s for determination,” she told me.Keep reading
Who thought Carmen Shenk’s book about kitchen simplicity could change your thoughts about your own home?
I love how this book helped me see my home through the author’s lens of simplicity and how it jump-started new ideas for me about how to better organize my kitchen. Even now, weeks after I finished the book, I am still evaluating how I set up my kitchen, what’s necessary and loved, and what is just taking up space. I have a renewed energy for my de-cluttering efforts. I also loved Carmen’s approach of keeping her home a haven, and actively keeping out the negative energy that abounds in the world.Keep reading
[This photo of us was taken on my 26th birthday]
Karen Creamer
