Rose Cottage

  ᎤᎵᎮᎵᏍᏗ  ᎢᏤ  ᎠᏕᏘᏱᏍᎬᎢ   U-li-he-lis-di  i-tse  a-de-ti-yi-s-gv-i (happy New Year!) We've crossed the Threshold into 2025, and near the end of the month, will greet the Asian Year of the Snake (January 29). This is a great time to create 'physical  and metaphorical space for fresh Chi / energy and fortune' by clearing out old, stressed and stagnant energy from the year past.  I'm participating in the January Ultimate Blog Challenge  - always inspiring!  Buddha's Playhouse In Karen Kingston's book " Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui ," she suggests asking yourself these questions as you're clearing: Does (an object) lift my energy when I look at or think about it? Do I absolutely LOVE it? Is it generally useful? When the answer to any of these is, 'No,' it's time to move it out of our space! In her 18 day guide to making way for the new year, my friend Gwynne Warner writes, "It's absolutely fine to delegate this, it just needs...

 ᎤᎵᎮᎵᏍᏗ  ᎢᏤ  ᎠᏕᏘᏱᏍᎬᎢ   U-li-he-lis-di  i-tse  a-de-ti-yi-s-gv-i / happy new year! What's on your creative table in 2025? For 2024, our pastor Erika Marksbury got a grant to use  Bonnie Smith Whitehouse 's lovely book, Seasons of Wonder, for inspiration and focus. The grant covered copies of the book for the congregation, plus supplies for our monthly Makers Meetings and funds for field trips; and we met in small groups for monthly discussion.  I really enjoy Bonnie's approach of interweaving gathering as a circle (!!), sharing creativity, connecting with nature, each other and the Divine.  I've ordered her  Kickstart Creativity   cards for more inspiration. In her introduction to Seasons ofWonder, Bonnie quotes  Steven Charleston ,  ' It is all a circle, the ancestors said -- an endless circle within a circle. The drum is a circle.  The dance ground is a circle. The earth is a circle.  There is no us or them...

 Happy 2024!  Though January 1 is 'simply a date on the calendar,' winter is a good time to take stock of how our habits and routines fit our current needs and lifestyle! Health and fitness are often at the top of the list.  Winter waves - high tide at Depoe Bay   When I lived at Breitenbush Hot Springs retreat center 30 years ago, we suspended our educational workshops during the winter holidays, and invited guests to join us for personal retreats. As had abundant free time, we added more in-house 'Daily Well Being' offerings, which along with with meals and 24 hour use of the hot springs, were included in their stay.  I was invited to lead a couple of Tai Chi/Qigong classes during my first winter on staff. I'd had a personal Chi practice for 8 years, and while several staff members taught yoga, I missed the flow of movement of Dance and Tai Chi! (I attended another 'guest teacher's' Chi class, before offering my own!) I loved teaching the classes, and...