Friends – Page 5 – Life Unfolds Blog

Bohemian Book Club

Our book club pick for this round was artist Beatrice Wood’s autobiography, “I Shock Myself.” Francisca dished up a delicious bohemian spread of lentils, quinoa, beets, salad, pita bread, hummus and all sorts of other goodies. Christina picked tangerines from the tree.

As an homage to the creative process, Francisca asked us each to bring pieces we’ve been working on. Christina, Francisca and I shared some knitting, Kristen brought photos and of course Lily brought her latest creation…

… Jacob whom we all met for the first time.

We are on our seventh year of our book club. And even though we hardly talk about the books, we know it’s more about just spending time together laughing, eating, enjoying each other’s company and…

just being silly together (Francisca and I sporting our “Blue Steel” Zoolander poses).

Ahhhh, another perfect book club afternoon!

Mandala Magic

Our Creative Playground met at Laura’s lovely home for an afternoon of mandala making. A mandala (which means means circle or completion in Sanskrit) symbolizes wholeness. Laura explained that in Sanskrit, bindu means particle or dot and is the center point of the mandala. It’s a place of infinite capacity. We are always moving toward this point. It is a journey.

We circled around a table on Laura’s front porch while she led us through a visualization to our creative center. Then, to warm us up, she invited us to pick up oil pastels and chalks and quickly create our first mandala in 10 minutes. I loved the freedom to just intuitively let the colors flow. During the visualization I was reminded of some powerful insights I had while listening to someone from the Strozzi Institute speak about body-based coaching at SF Coaches earlier this week. The presenter led us through a centering practice to get us really grounded in our bodies. We aligned from top to bottom, lengthening while grounding. We became aware of our width, meaning how we show up in the social dimension. And then we noticed our front and back, where we’ve come from and where we are going. Throughout Laura’s visualization I imagined that energy surrounding me like a globe and that’s what I depicted in my first mandala below. This piece felt very airy and dreamy.

Once we were done with our warm-up mandala, we moved on to a more focused project. I decided to play with brighter oil pastels against a black background. I explored feeling more in my body and more grounded and bold by using the vibrant, warm colors of the lower chakras. The mandala of the yellow, red and orange blossom emerged.

Mandalas come in all types. Some are very symmetrical and others, like mine today, are very organic. What’s amazing is that mandalas show up in nature all around us. Think of the rings of a tree trunk, the spirals of a sea shell or even planets circling the sun in our solar system.

What connects you to your center or bindu? How can a mandala help you journey inward and expand out? For more ideas on creating mandalas, check out Mandala: Journey to the Center.

Questers, Dreamers and Launchers

The past 10 days have been a whirlwind of excitement, connection, fulfillment and fun! I visited Washington DC to be a Circle Coach for Quest, returned home to lead a dream box workshop at It’s Yoga and then flew out to Cleveland for our Ladies Who Launch leader training. I had a great time at all the different events. And this weary traveler is happy to be home (where it’s not snowing!).

Quest was amazing. What an honor to help shepherd our Questers on their journey of discovering their leadership essence and taking action on their inspiring Quests. I look forward to seeing how they each continue to make their unique impact on the world!

The icing on the cake was meeting up with my friends John and Marie last Saturday night in DC. I hadn’t seen John in about three years and this was my first time meeting Marie in person. What a treat!

Had one day back home to make dream boxes with the yoga teacher trainers including students from Mexico, Israel, Japan and all across the US. I’m always so moved by what the participants dream of and create!

Next up, Cleveland! On our first day there, Launy, Corinne and I ventured to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’m no music buff, so much of the paraphernalia was beyond me. But I did get a kick out of seeing a letter that Madonna wrote to a friend while she was at the University of Michigan, Jim Morrison’s report cards from grade school and drawings that Jimi Hendrix did as a kid.

California girls Launy, me, Corinne and Claire braving the snow. It was so much fun to be at the training with these smart, savvy gals. And we’re so excited to bring all our launching energy back to our fellow Bay Area launchers.

Oh, and I just had to take a picture of the infamous chocolate cake that magically appeared after every meal. Good thing we had yoga class Friday morning to work off such decadence.

And finally, a beautiful shot of all 14 leaders in training from across the US and Canada along with our awesome trainer Stella. What an amazing group of women!

Awards, Abundance and Asanas

(Apparently an adorer of alliteration according to the post title! Heehee!) I’m a little behind in blogland and there’s so much to catch up on! First off, awards…. I’m so incredibly honored to receive a “You Make My Day” award from three of my very favorite bloggers: Jamie, Leah and Marilyn. You guys inspire me every time I read what you’re up to. You are at the top of my list for my “You Make My Day” award recipients. So right back acha!

Here are the rules:

Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times!

In addition to Jamie, Leah and Marilyn (I’ve linked to some of their other sites so you can see more awesome stuff that they’re up to!), the following lovely souls make my day: Serendipity Squared, Invisible Lives, Under a Pink Sky, Be Alive Believe Be You, Diary of a Self Portrait, and The Skeptic Yogi.

Speaking of yoga, I am so happy that I re-discovered my practice. And what great timing considering I just stumbled upon World Yoga Practice Month where you practice yoga everyday in January! Also, yesterday my friend Brad, who I met at a dream box workshop I led for It’s Yoga, sent me some super cool information on a new yoga teacher training he’s created. It’s called the Yoga Exploratorium at Yoga Sol. Imagine learning about asanas, meditation, anatomy, etc. in a fun, hands-on environment like SF’s Exploratorium. The first line of the course description says it all, “Yoga is curiosity & a creative process.”

And as for abundance, wow, 2008 is off to a fantastic start. I’m ever so grateful! I’m working with amazing clients, I just gave a talk on Wednesday about creative goal-setting at a networking group and in the next two weeks I’m off to DC to help facilitate Quest and then Cleveland for my official Ladies Who Launch leader training. The rest of the month is going to be filled to the brim, so I must remember to build in some recoup time, too. Ahhhh!

Ladies Who Launch in the Chronicle

Another quick post. Extra, extra! Read all about it… Just found out that the SF Chronicle article featuring Allie Covarrubias, our Bay Area Ladies Who Launch Director, came out today. Click here to read this energizing profile!

Catching Up – AEDM Day 24/25

This weekend was all about catching up.

Yesterday I got to catch up with my college roomies. Matea was in Sacramento visiting for Thanksgiving, so we all met up at Julie’s house to hang out. It was amazing to see how much Carson had grown in the several weeks since I last saw him. We missed seeing our other roomie, Katie, who also just had her second son not too long after Julie. Times sure have changed since our college days!

I had no idea how tired I was. Upon coming home after the long drive from Sacramento, I fell asleep before 9pm and was out for about 15 hours! Yes, 1-5. Guess I had to catch up on some much needed sleep!

Today, I’m getting caught up on my knitting and on my AEDM and NaBloPoMo posts that I missed yesterday. Finished my second felted basket. I like how this one has more structure than the first one I did. I actually refelted the first one, too, and am happier about how it came out this time.

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, knitting, felting[/tags]

Clarity Collage – AEDM Day 17/18

Well, I must admit that I’ve really been challenged these last couple of days keeping up with the Art Every Day. A symptom of having too much on my plate this week. Ever have one of those weeks where you have something going on every single night? For a gal who typically maxes out at one social activity a week, it’s been exhausting. I’ve enjoyed catching up with friends, connecting with colleagues and leading meetings. And, I know I really need to carve out time for just me this week.

I actually created this collage yesterday at our second Creative Playground meeting. We gathered at Pamela’s lovely treehouse-like home for an afternoon of collaging and connection. We each found a few hours of refuge from our hectic schedules and relished in our collective creative flow.

The last several collage pieces I’ve done have been on smaller, portable surfaces (like on my dream box and my Unfolding Your Life Vision book), so I appreciated the freedom of working on a larger surface. I was drawn to spacious images and a mix of solitude, playfulness and community. When I shared my finished piece, my friends commented that the images had such clarity and, even though there was a lot going on, it had boundaries. That related very much to what is showing up in my life right now. So even as I seek out community, this visual reminds me to consciously protect my personal time to make sure I recharge and rejuvenate. I’m looking forward to a lighter, more spacious week!

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, collage[/tags]

Friday Night Knitting Club – AEDM Day 16

Just returned home from a late night at book club. Another gathering filled with fun, laughter and good food. Our book this time was The Friday Night Knitting Club so as an homage to the book, we met on Friday night, Christina cooked a meal of delicious vegetable lasagna (per a scene in the book) and we knitted together. Christina and I taught the other three gals how to cast on, knit and purl. I loved getting to share this pastime with my friends and getting them hooked on the relaxing quality of knitting.

Since I don’t have any photos of art to post today, my art is a quick haiku in honor of our dear book club…

The book club ladies
Lemon surprise pudding high
Scarlet letter shirt

We knit 2gether
We eat, pray, love 2gether
We laugh 2gether

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, knitting[/tags]

Stringing it all Together – AEDM Day 7

I’ve had a magical past 24 hours. Last night I led my first Ladies Who Launch Incubator here in Oakland and it was such fun! I love this work and am so inspired by all the amazing, creative projects that each woman is launching.

I felt like I did when I was a kid on Christmas Eve – having sooo much fun at the Christmas Eve party with all my cousins, playing games, having fun, not wanting to go to bed and excited to get up first thing in the morning to open presents. I couldn’t sleep because of all the energy from the Incubator AND because I was anxious to hear this morning about a position I had applied for a couple of weeks ago. Well, I’m thrilled to share that I’ve been selected as a Quest Circle Coach for the Coaches Training Institute and will now be part of the CTI family, which has been one of my dreams!

To top it off, I had lunch plans with my friend/mentor, Caroline, at her whimsical house boat in Marin. My art project for today came spontaneously as she shared her latest passion of stringing colorful beads. As we finished up a scrumptious lunch, she spread out her rainbow of beads on the table. I was a kid in a candy store! I made a serene strand of lovely green/blue beads accented with a yellowish gold. Like in knitting, I enjoyed how the pattern naturally emerged as I strung each bead. A reminder to just trust the creative process.

Once I was done, Caroline found just the right spot to hang it from her sea shell chandelier. This one-of-a-kind, gorgeous jellyfish-like fixture is adorned with several strands of beads handmade by her and many of her friends and family that visit. What a cool community art project and a way to honor the important people in her life!

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, The Coaches Training Institute, CTI, Quest, Ladies Who Launch, Incubator[/tags]

Cute as a Button – AEDM Day 4

Seems like it’s baby season! Many of my friends have just had babies, are having babies soon or are thinking about their second! I love making little cards and gifts for these special occasions. Today I created a few baby cards using pieces I had in my stash of craft supplies. It’s fun to see what I can make from what I have already – kinda like cooking dinner using only the ingredients you have on hand.