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Newsletter Archive: November 2007
November 2007
Welcome to the Dare to Blossom newsletter.
To sign up for your own copy direct by email every month click here. If you do not wish to receive future editions, please email me to unsubscribe. Everyone who is on the mailing list will be entered into a draw twice a year (at the end of June and the end of December) with a chance to win a prize of six free life coaching sessions.
- Recommended book: Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg - Reflections: Time - Dare to Blossom Workshops: new dates for 2008 - Notice of a new networking group in N Devon
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
This is a classic book, it was first published in 1986, the edition I have is dated 2005. I bought it in March this year and have been dipping in and out, only recently reaching the last pages. It contains short but very concentrated chapters that provoke all sorts of thinking. It is sub-titled ‘Freeing the Writer Within’.
Natalie is an American writer and for the last thirty years has practised Zen and taught seminars in writing as a spiritual practice. I first read another of her books many years ago (‘Wild Mind’), when I began writing the daily journal that lead to my first book. Even if you feel you feel you are not a ‘writer’ you may well find this book intriguing and inspiring. It encourages us to look at the world around us anew.
More information can be found on Natalie’s website, http://www.nataliegoldberg.com/. You can buy her books on UK online booksellers or in most bookshops.
Reflections: Time
Last Saturday we put our clocks back an hour here in England, from British Summer Time, to Greenwich Mean Time. So we gained an ‘extra’ hour in bed, though - acting like teenagers - my husband and I stayed up an hour later than usual enjoying a bottle of wine and watching a silly, entertaining film on TV.
The slight dislocation I felt the next day when it got light ‘earlier’, and dark ‘earlier’ than had been usual the day before was almost like a mild jet lag. (And no, it wasn’t a hangover, we didn’t over-indulge in the wine!)
Many of my family live in New Zealand: they are at this time of year thirteen hours ‘ahead’ of us here in England. How can that be? Are they somehow living in the future? Am I in their past? I speak to them on Skype or the telephone and we could be in the same room, or just down the road. We are of course living in the same moment of time.
Walking on the beach today with no one in sight, just the seagulls and oyster catchers for company, I thought about what a strange concept time is. Most of the human race measures it in hours, minutes, days, weeks, months, years, as if it was a finite resource. (It would be interesting to know more about how native peoples living closer to nature look upon it.)
Each human life has a finite time span but none of us knows how long ours will be. And we also do not know for sure if we survive beyond the body we currently inhabit, though we may have beliefs on this subject. So given that we are alive for today, we each have the same number of minutes in the hour, hours in the day (however the society we live in chooses to measure these).
We ‘watch the clock’ and talk about ‘running out of time’. What does that mean? We all have the same amount of time in a day. Time seems to speed up or slow down according to what we are doing.
Watching the tide turning on the beach, controlled by the rotation of the earth and the closeness of the moon, I feel drawn to natural rhythms. I feel that for me ‘making the best of time’ is more about noticing and being in every moment than about how much ‘use’ I make of it, as if time had to ‘work’. I notice underlying rhythms to my own life and work, times when I am full of life and energy, and others when I need to rest and recuperate, recover my energy.
What are your natural rhythms telling you now? Do you need to rest and revitalise yourself? Do you need to ‘hibernate’ away from the bustle of the world for a while? Or do you feel full of energy and enthusiasm? However you feel, how do you want to use these moments? What would you do if you had all the time in the world? And what if you had only a day?
Dare to Blossom workshops: 2008 dates currently available
“New Year, New You: creating lasting change in your life.” Join us for a day of fun, laughter, and reflection, to focus on what matters most to you. We will use life coaching and creative exercises designed to help you to clarify and revitalise your goals. You will re-discover your own remarkable power to create your life and achieve real change.
For more details of the format of the workshop, please click here. (if your email does not show the links, visit my website and you will find full details there).
Secure your place with a £10 deposit as soon as possible please. Numbers are limited on each workshop.
Contact me if you would like me to run a workshop in your area.
Saturday 9 February, Chacewater Village Hall, near Truro, Cornwall £55 Early Bird price before 20/12/07, (£65 full price) Includes workshop materials and refreshments (bring a packed lunch). Booking form here. Saturday 16 February, Neal’s Yard Remedies, Covent Garden, London £75 Early Bird price before 20/12/07 (£95 full price) Includes workshop materials, a light lunch and refreshments. Booking form here.
Networking group in N Devon: A new networking group for Women Complementary practitioners is launching on Wednesday 7th November at 7pm at the Durrant House Hotel in Northam, Bideford. Funded by Community Council of Devon’s WAM project, members can access free local business support and training. Monthly meetings North Devon.
Info from Jan Spencer 01392 381256 Women's Business Development Officer, Community Council of Devon N.B. please contact Jan if you wish to attend so she knows the numbers for refreshments.
Thank you for reading, do email me with any questions, comments or suggestions, or feedback on particular items. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think may be interested. All best wishes Mary
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