Soulful Musings

Life Change

2009-07-25T16:01:53-07:00

Summer Greetings to you and yours from SoulfulLiving.com and a very warm welcome to all of our new Newsletter Subscribers! Thank you for your interest in our internet community and web magazine dedicated to personal and spiritual growth. I hope our Newsletter finds you well and enjoying the beautiful days of summer. We have a "life changing" issue of SoulfulLiving.com posted for you this quarter, exploring the topic of "Creating Life Change," featuring articles by notable authors Dr, Judith Orloff, Victoria Moran, David Richo, Debra Lynn Dadd, Barbara Biziou, Suzanne Zoglio, Robin L. Silverman, Donna Henes, and Sandra Schubert.

I chose "Creating Life Change" as this season's theme, as change has been the predominant theme here at SoulfulLiving.com this past year and particularly this summer.

When I founded Soulful Living in 2000, I set out with a passion and fervor that I had never known before to create a website resource that would offer hope and healing to others on a similar path of personal and spiritual growth. It was my intention to bring you insights from a wide array of experts who could inspire and inform you to live your most soulful and satisfying life, and to create a community where like-minded souls could share wisdom and friendship. I feel we accomplished that, and it has been a great privilege and honor to serve you and present SoulfulLiving.com to you over the past decade.

However, the last year has been a challenging and difficult one, and I find that I am being called to move in new directions and that it is time to pass the reins of the website onto a new owner.

I have held hope in my heart that the perfect person would appear to take on this role, and I believe very strongly that she has. Her name is Emily Aiken and she will be ushering in the next decade of SoulfulLiving.com. Emily has a great deal of enthusiasm and respect for the website. She is filled with many fresh ideas for growing the website, and I am confident that she will continue to deliver the same quality of transformational columns and content that have made SoulfulLiving.com what it is today.

Emily is a very soulful woman. She has spent much time studying, practicing and contemplating many different spiritual modalities and techniques, including: conscious breathing, yoga, meditation, affirmations, mindfulness, chakra balancing, and flower essences. She is excited to be following her soul's path as the new director and owner of SoulfulLiving.com and is deeply committed to upholding the integrity of the website as well as continuing it's mission.

Thank you for being part of our Soulful Living Community and for all your support over the years. I feel very blessed to have been given the gift and honor of presenting SoulfulLiving.com to you. I wish you the very best, and I hope you will stay in touch.

Blessings to you on your soulful life journey!

Soulfully,
Valerie

New Social Networking Community at SoulfulLiving.com!

2009-03-15T19:35:49-07:00

We're Very Pleased to Announce the Launch of a New Social Networking Community at SoulfulLiving.com -- A Supportive and Inspirational Community of Spiritual, Conscious-Minded, Creative, and Visionary People who Care Deeply about Personal Growth, Spirituality, Conscious Living, and Bettering the Planet!

Click Here to Join Our Soulful Living Community Today!

Soulful Weddings -- Newest Addition to SoulfulLiving.com's Network of Websites

2009-03-15T18:35:00-07:00

Make Your Wedding a Sacred, Meaningful and Memorable Occasion!

New to SoulfulLiving.com's network of websites is: SoulfulWeddings.com, offering the bride and groom an extensive resource and shopping guide for creating a blissful, unforgettable and sacred wedding celebration.

The Anti-Aging Benefits of Resveratrol

2009-03-15T13:25:00-07:00

I had been hearing so much positive news about the anti-aging and life-extending properties of red wine and Resveratrol lately -- on Oprah, CNN, 60 Minutes -- that I couldn't resist trying some Resveratrol supplements for myself! I've been taking Resveratrol Supplements for about two months now, and I am so impressed with how I feel -- I have much more energy and my skin looks great -- that I've decided to share the secret of Resveratrol's health and anti-aging benefits in the form of a website resource, Resveratrol for Anti Aging. It is my hope that others will benefit from this newly discovered "fountain of youth" as I have!

I have just created a new resource specifically for Resveratrol Skin Care products that feature the very latest technology in skin care creams and serums containing Resveratrol, the red-wine "fountain of youth" ingredient, that can transform aging skin, reverse and erase wrinkles, fight free radicals, and give you more firm, hydrated and dramatically younger looking skin!

Ninth Anniversary Issue - "Acceptance"

2009-01-05T14:44:00-08:00

This winter, SoulfulLiving.com, is celebrating its Ninth Anniversary on the World Wide Web and is exploring the theme of "Acceptance," with notable authors Judith Orloff, MD, David Richo, Debra Lynn Dadd, Lionel Fisher, Suzanne Zoglio, Robin L. Silverman, Jackie Lapin, and Donna Henes, to name just a few...

Acceptance is a fitting topic for the difficult times we find ourselves in. Our contributing authors have provided us with a wonderful and varied collection of thought and wisdom on this subject, offering valuable insights and advice for making peace with and finding acceptance for whatever difficult and challenging situations we may face.

May peace and joy be yours this season as you find acceptance!

Click here to read our "Acceptance" Issue.

Some of our previous issues have looked at the themes of "Celebrating Your Life" and "Personal Empowerment."

Click here to read our "Celebrate Your Life" Issue.

Click here to read our "Empowerment" Issue.

Watch for our new Spring Issue, exploring the topic of "Oneness" to be posted on April 1st!

The Buddha Heart Boutique

2008-03-28T22:00:00-07:00

I'm excited to share my newest creative venture, an online retail store, called, "The Buddha Heart Boutique."

I had great fun hand-selecting all of the wonderful items offered at The Buddha Heart Boutique. I have been personally inspired by many of the books and CDs that I chose to feature, and many of the products are ones that I use in my own personal spiritual practice.

The Buddha Heart Boutique offers a wide assortment of conscious living products and supplies for yoga, meditation, ayurveda and spa, Buddhist and Zen spirituality, chakra balancing, aura cleansing, reiki, massage, relaxation, healing, and inspiration, including decorative art for your your altar or sacred space; soulful gifts to give and get; plus CDs, DVDs, and books to inspire your heart, mind and soul.

Hudson Valley Home Guide

2008-03-09T16:44:00-07:00

I've been dreaming of moving to the Hudson River Valley and Catskills areas of Upstate New York for more years than I can count now, and over this period of time, I have collected more bookmarks in my Explorer browser of my favorite Hudson Valley area websites than I even care to admit to.

I have spent these years passionately researching the different regions and counties, real estate, realtors, chambers of commerce, local arts and culture, with the hope that one day I might get to call this lovely destination home. While, I have not yet had the opportunity to make this big leap across the country, it did occur to me that it might be nice to share all of my research with others who might also love Upstate NY as much as I do. So, with that goal in mind, I set about to create a tidy little website this past month, called The Hudson Valley Home Guide.

I've been blessed to get to travel to this gorgeous region of our country perhaps five times in the last six or seven years and have enjoyed photographing all of the beautiful natural scenery of the area, and I'm excited that I now have the chance to share all of my favorite photos with visitors to my website. I invite you to visit The Hudson Valley Home Guide, click through my various bookmark links, and enjoy your own virtual visit and tour of Upstate New York Real Estate.

The Secret Gratitude Book

2008-03-02T14:24:00-08:00

I was really excited to discover this beautiful new book at my local bookstore the other day. I love journaling and am always on the lookout for a lovely new journal to inspire the words within me. The Secret Gratitude Book is the official new companion to the phenomenal best-selling book on the law of attraction and abundance, "The Secret," by Rhonda Byrne.

According to the book jacket, The Secret Gratitude Book can be used as a powerful tool for transforming your life into total joy. The author recommends using the book every day to write about all the things in your life that you are grateful for, and says that you will be amazed at the never-ending list of thoughts that come back to you of more things to be grateful for. You can use The Secret Gratitude Book to powerfully attract specific things that you want into your life in absolute abundance.

The Secret Gratitude Book is beautifully designed with a magnetic flap closer and a ribbon marker. It helps readers focus their energies and clearly and effectively maximize the law of attraction in their lives for six full months. I think The Secret Gratitude Book would make the perfect gift for someone you care about. I've added it to my Wish List!

Learn more about the secret law of attraction and abundance

Mandala Soap :: My Newest Creative Adventure

2007-11-22T23:52:52-08:00

It's official... Mandala Soap has arrived and, as of today, is now "officially" available for sale!

It is with great excitement that I say those words, as Mandala Soap has been my dream in the making for over seven years!

It is extremely rewarding to see something that I hold so close to my heart finally come to fruition and be birthed into the world.

My name is Valerie Rickel, and I am the developer of Mandala Soap. I am also the founder and creator of SoulfulLiving.com a popular web community and internet magazine devoted to personal growth and spirituality.

Mandala Soap is my love and my passion. It brings together so many of my favorite things: art, spirituality, soap, and mandalas! It has long been my dream to bring the beauty and healing nature of mandalas to product development.

I have been planning and developing Mandala Soap almost as long as I have been creating my website, SoulfulLiving.com. Those same seven years spent dreaming up the idea for Mandala Soap were also spent publishing thousands of self-help articles at my website, written and submitted by many of today’s best-selling authors and leading-edge thinkers within the personal and spiritual growth movement.

My intense love and interest in mandalas runs deep. I came to discover mandalas through the mandala images left behind by my artist father at the time of his death and the rich insights about these mandalas that I found in his journals. Read more about his journals here.

In fact, my passionate interest in mandalas inspired me to launch an online store called, Mandala, in 2001, to complement the content offerings at my SoulfulLiving.com website. The store offers a unique and unusual collection of mandala-inspired gifts and tools for soulful living. While my store has offered products obtained from other producers for the last six years, I have always known in my heart that, one day, I would have the resources to bring my own products to market and sell my own mandala-inspired goods. Mandala Soap is the first realization of that dream!

Mandala Soap is a new and unique gift -- the perfect gift for art lovers, spiritual seekers, and meditation or yoga enthusiasts!

Our collection of 10 blissfully fragrant, clear-transparent “stained-glass” soaps are embedded with colorful mandala art images that are reusable and frameable. Mindfully handcrafted in the USA of high-grade biodegradable vegetable glycerin, Mandala Soaps are cruelty-free, vegan, long-lasting oversized decorator bars, presented inside of clear protective packaging. Beautiful, meaningful and meditative, Mandala Soaps are sure to inspire moments of peaceful centeredness!

Connections

2007-05-20T19:10:38-07:00

"What we're all striving for is authenticity,
a spirit-to-spirit connection."
–Oprah Winfrey,O Magazine, March 2002

This summer, my online magazine, SoulfulLiving.com, is exploring the topic of "Connection," with notable authors Judith Orloff, MD, Dan Millman, Debra Lynn Dadd, Father Paul Keenan, Robin L. Silverman, Patricia Rose Upczak, Sunny Schlenger, and Donna Henes, to name just a few...

These contributing authors have provided us with a wonderful and varied collection of insight on this subject, sharing personal stories of connection, as well as thoughtful guidance and advice to help us become more present and engaged in everyday life, available to make powerful, soul-to-soul connections.

May peace and joy by yours this summer as you make a soulful conneciton!

Click here to read our "Connection" Issue.

The Secret

2007-01-07T02:57:05-08:00

Have you seen the movie, "The Secret"? If not, I recommend you get your hands on a copy of the DVD or the newly released book version, as quickly as you can!

The information, or "The Secret,” if you will, contained in this movie and book is life-changing! My life has certainly changed as a result of learning "The Secret," and that is why I want to share "The Secret" with you!

There are two versions of "The Secret." The first features interviews with author Esther Hicks. The newer, more-widely distributed, extended version of The Secret does not feature the Esther Hicks interviews, but does, instead, offer a bonus of two extra minutes of information, plus various special features. (I prefer the first version.)

In a nutshell, "The Secret" is the "Law of Attraction" (like attracts like, or that which is like unto itself is drawn). We create our lives by attracting into our lives that which we think about and focus our attention on.

The Secret's core message is that in order to attract that which we most want and desire into our lives, we need to be grateful for everything that we already have in our lives, and, in addition to focusing our thoughts and attention on what we most desire, we need to go one crucial step further.

We must FEEL GOOD while we do it! The Secret encourages us to imagine and experience, in every delicious detail, the feelings of joy and bliss associated with having that which we desire, as if it is already part of our life experience. This is the key ingredient.

I am all for anything that promotes joy and bliss! In just the last few weeks, since putting "The Secret" into action in my own life, I've seen some pretty incredible results... I've attracted several wonderful synchronicities pertaining to two projects I am working on. "Doors have been opening" and it seems like I am just "walking right into" whatever I am looking for these days. I also attracted nearly the exact amount of money owed on a large open invoice with one of my vendors, from a customer, who needed to purchase a large quantity of products totaling that amount, which, coincidentally, needed to be obtained from that same vendor.

I am encouraged to continue integrating the principles of The Secret into my daily life and very excited to see what wonderful desires I will be manifesting next!

I highly recommend "The Secret" and give it a "thumbs up" for its very positive, life-enhancing content and theme.

Learn more about the secret of attraction and abundance

From the DVD jacket: "This ground-breaking feature length movie presentation reveals The Great Secret of the universe. It has been passed throughout the ages, traveling through centuries... to reach you. This is The Secret to everything - the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love, youth: everything you have ever wanted. In this astonishing program are ALL the resources you will ever need to understand and live The Secret. For the first time in history, the world's leading scientists, authors, and philosophers will reveal The Secret that utterly transformed the lives of every person who ever knew it... Plato, Newton, Carnegie, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Einstein. Now YOU will know The Secret. And it can change your life forever."

Life's Deeper Meaning

2006-12-04T02:57:31-08:00

"There is not one big cosmic meaning for all,
there is only the meaning we each give to our life,
an individual meaning, an individual plot,
like an individual novel, a book for each person."
–Anaïs Nin

In honor of winter, as the days draw shorter and the nights grow longer, my online magazine, SoulfulLiving.com, offers you the opportunity to reflect and ponder the deep and meaningful subject of this season's Feature Articles, "Life's Deeper Meaning," with notable authors Dave Richo, Barbara Biziou, Suzanne Zoglio, Debra Lynn Dadd, Donna Henes, and Hubert Pryor, to name just a few...

These contributing authors have provided us with a wonderful and varied collection of thought and insight on this topic, sharing stories and anecdotes of what life's deeper meaning means, personally, to each of them. It is my hope that their essays will inspire and stimulate an interest and curiosity in your own personal search for life's deeper meaning.

Finding one's deeper meaning is as personal as each individual. What one person finds meaningful in life is likely to be very different from what another might find meaningful. We can begin to search for our deeper meaning in our personal truths, values, beliefs, and in that which we hold most precious in our hearts. We may find life's meaning in life's lessons learned, our mistakes and triumphs, our blessings and miracles, as well as in our struggles and hardships. We discover our deeper meaning by living in the moment and just "being," and by enjoying and truly relishing in the beauty, joy and gloriousness of every blessed moment of our lives.

I believe that our lives can be as meaningful as we wish to make them. Every single day of our lives can be a wondrous, sacred, and deeply meaningful experience. We each have the power to make it so.

Click here to read our "Life's Deeper Meaning" Issue.

I'd also love to share a personal story of my own that I wrote several years ago during the holiday season, on the subject of Life Meaning, entititled, Messages Delivered on Feathered Wings. I hope you enjoy it!

May peace and joy be yours this winter as you search for life's deeper meaning!

Adventures in Sumi-e Brush Painting

2006-10-16T14:20:00-07:00

There are many benefits to living in a small town with a major university... Last month, I had the opportunity to take an art class in Sumi-e Brush Painting through our university’s extension program. I had wanted to learn this ancient painting technique for many months, and when I moved to town, I just knew with all certainty, that I would find a local artist, who specializes in this technique, to teach me. Within just one week, I stumbled upon an extension course catalog from the university and found this class in Sumi-e Brush Painting being offered. I wondered whether this was a special coincidence, or, perhaps, a regular class, offered every school semester. A quick inquiry turned up the fact that it hadn't been taught in years. Several people guessed as many as twenty years. Wow... Now, how's that for setting an intention!

Sumi-e is an East Asian brush painting technique that has been practiced for thousands of years in both the Chinese and Japanese traditions. Its literal translation is, "ink painting." Simplicity is the most outstanding characteristic of Sumi-e. It is an art form that strives to "distill the essence of an object in the fewest possible strokes."

The extension class was wonderful and very worthwhile. It met for eight weeks, and each week, we focused on a specific floral painting subject and coordinating brush stroke technique. My favorites included "Plum Blossom," "Wild Orchid," "Chrysanthemum," and "Water Blossom."

To be honest, this was one of my first painting experiences since I was a child. I took a few drawing courses in college, but never a painting class. Although I have always wanted to paint, I suppose I was reluctant to explore this side of my creativity. I never had much confidence in my drawing and painting abilities, despite the fact that my artist father would sit my sister and I down as children and encourage us to paint as often as he possibly could. My father was a strong believer in the pure, spontaneous nature of children's art, not yet tainted by the effects of society and socialization. In fact, while clearing through my deceased parent's home this past year, my sister and I came across dozens of boxes of our childhood art. I am grateful to my parents for keeping our paintings all those years.

I think one of the things I loved most about my Sumi-e Brush Painting class was that it forced me to “be present in the moment,” "focus my mind," and really "see." I remember leaving class in the evenings and driving through the streets in town, in absolute awe of everything I laid my eyes upon. It was all one marvelous painting, from each individual branch of a tree alongside the road, to the thousands of tiny trees dotting the mountain tops in the far distant horizon. I was living in the moment, and my world was fully alive.

I encourage you to learn more about this beautiful, graceful and mindful painting technique. To get you started, I am sharing some of my favorite resources on the subject. Enjoy!

Sumi-e Painting Supplies, Resources, Books, and Teachers:

SUMI-E ART SUPPLIES:

Dick Blick Art Materials offers an excellent array of Sumi-e Painting supplies and products, including brushes, papers, inks, accessories, and Sumi-e brush sets.

Seal Stones offers custom Chinese and Japanese Chops for your Sumi-e paintings, with your name, your company’s logo, your initials, your favorite Chinese symbol, or your pet’s name, complete with a lovely gift box.

SUMI-E RESOURCES:

Sumi-e Society of America, a non-profit educational organization founded by Professor Motoi Oi, to foster and encourage an appreciation of East Asian painting techniques through publications, workshops, lectures and exhibitions.

Sumi New York is a new gallery in Soho whose mission is to share Asian art and culture with New York.

Ichiyo Art Center offers art classes and a comprehensive online catalog of beautiful and elegant Japanese papers, rubber stamps, stencils, Japanese Sumi-e and calligraphy supplies, Ikebana supplies.

Silver Dragon Studio offers links to many well-known Sumi-e painter’s online art galleries and also provides a comprehensive list of Sumi-e Painting Instructors throughout the US and Europe.

SUMI-E BOOKS:

The Sumi-E Book by Yolanda Mayhall

The Sumi-E Dream Book: An Impressionist Approach to the Art of Japanese Brush Painting by Yolanda Mayhall

The Ch'i of the Brush: Capturing the Spirit of Nature With Chinese Brush Painting Techniques by Nan Rae

Chinese Brush Painting Step by Step by Kwan Jung

The Simple Art of Sumi-E: Mastering Japanese Ink Painting by Takumasa Ono

Sumi-e Kit by Shingo Syoko

Japanese Ink Painting: The Art of Sumi-e by Naomi Okamoto

Japanese Ink Painting: Beginner's Guide to Sumi-E by Susan Frame

Sumi-E: Just for You by Hakuho Hirayama

The Courage to Change

2006-09-10T19:57:06-07:00

This autumn, my online magazine, SoulfulLiving.com, is exploring the topic of "Courage," with notable authors Barbara Biziou, Patricia Rose Upczak, Suzanne Zoglio, Judith Orloff, M.D., Donna Henes, and Hubert Pryor, to name just a few... These contributing authors have provided us with a wonderful and varied collection of articles and insight on this subject, sharing personal stories of courage and bravery and offering thoughtful guidance and advice to help empower us to create a fuller, richer life, through our own everyday acts of personal bravery. Click here to read our "Courage" Issue.

I'd like to share the following essay with you that I contributed to this issue...

The Courage to Change
by Valerie Rickel

This spring, I made a very courageous change in my life. I moved from the city of Los Angeles, where I had lived my entire life, to a lovely little soulful town in Southern Oregon. I simply packed up my car, drove and didn’t look back. Well, that may be oversimplifying the move just a bit, but it was definitely, by far, the most liberating and courageous thing I have done in my forty years of life.

What gave me the courage to make this move? It was the deep, unfaltering faith and knowing in my heart that something wonderful was waiting for me in Oregon – beauty, nature, peace – all things that my soul had craved for many, many years. Albeit, I was scared to death to make this change – to step into the unknown. I trusted my heart, my Higher Self, with all fortitude, and let it lead my way, bravely, into my new life.

Today, I am seated at my desk, writing this essay, in a small cottage, nestled in the lush forested hills of Oregon. I’m gazing out a picturesque window, at a gorgeous purple sunset settling over the mountains to the north, while a woodpecker is pecking away on a tree outside, serenading me and my cats, who are gathered, to glimpse a group of five antlered deer stroll by. For me, life does not get better than this.

It is hard to believe that only six months ago, I was living my life in the same, familiar, “status quo” fashion that I had known for the last 39 years. Admittedly, with the knowledge that the “big city” lifestyle of Los Angeles was no longer aligned with my soul, for perhaps the last five to ten of those 39 years.

Sitting here beside me at my desk is a small glass affirmation stone, and painted on its surface with silver ink is the word, “Courage.” It is a small, but meaningful, reminder of the courageous changes I have made this year. I purchased this precious stone for myself this past December, while shopping for the perfect Christmas gift for a dear friend in an inspirational 12-step store. I knew the instant I laid my eyes on the little piece of green glass that it was going to be an important “stepping stone” in my life.

I remember reaching into the store’s display – a large bowl, which held a sea of colored glass stones, each with a different word of comfort, to retrieve my special pebble. I quickly slipped it into my palm, cradled it tightly, and affirmed quietly in my mind that the coming year, 2006, would be a year of great courage.

So, with this brave little stone in hand, the word, “courage,” became my mantra for the New Year. I can remember picking up the stone from time to time and rubbing its smooth glassy surface, with the hope, perhaps, that some of the silver inked affirmation would, literally, rub off on me.

I had known for some time that changes needed to be made in my life, but the question had always been: “How do I muster up the courage to make the changes that I so desperately want to make?”

But, I suppose the greater question of, “What will happen to me if I don’t find the courage to make these changes?” is what finally got me moving.

Fear and the Status Quo

What happens if we don’t heed the wisdom in our hearts that may be telling us it’s time for a change?

We risk getting stuck in a life-long rut and living a safe, “status quo” life, which may remain the same without any change for years, and, worse yet, a life in which, we may never realize our fullest happiness and potential.

I firmly believe the key difference between living a life fulfilled and a life of status quo is courage. Unless we find the courage to follow our Heart’s Wisdom – the wisdom of our Highest Self – we may never know the fullest joy that the Universe has in store for us.

I think we all have this inner knowing – a deep knowledge at our very core. Some of us choose to listen, honor and be guided by it, and others simply mask it, or ignore it, out of fear of change, not realizing what a miraculous gift this Inner Truth truly is.

But, it takes courage to acknowledge our Truth, and, of course, even greater courage to follow its wisdom. But, for me, a life lived not following my Heart’s Wisdom is not a life worth living.

The courage to listen to our hearts, to be in touch with our deepest wisdom, and to make change based on this knowledge, is what living – being truly alive – is all about. It’s being actively engaged in life. If we choose not to listen and tune out our Inner Truth, we risk living a numb existence, hidden from much of the beauty and possibility that the Universe wants to make ours.

Faith

So, where do we go to look for courage when we are having difficulty finding it within ourselves?

I believe we find courage in faith. If we have faith that God/Goddess/Universe want only the very best for us and our lives, then we need not have any fear. We can step out courageously into life, creating the changes that we so deeply desire, with the firm faith and knowing that we are loved and guided by the Highest Good.

Difficulty as a Litmus Test for Courage

For me, a good litmus test for courage is the degree of difficulty I find in making a change that I know deeply in my heart I want to make. If I am creating change that is deeply aligned with who I am, but I am finding it difficult, then I know that I am doing something courageous.

In looking back over my life, and this past year, especially, it is those extremely difficult, oftentimes painful, brave achievements that I am most proud of, and make me feel like an active, courageous participant in my life and co-creator with God and the Universe.

The Afterglow

In my opinion, there is nothing as powerful as the wonderful feeling – the afterglow, if you will – of making a courageous change. When we are creating a life that is truly aligned with our Highest Truth, any fear, pain or difficulty is well worth it. The sheer joy and intrinsic rewards found in living a brave, fulfilled and actively engaged life, is what living a courageous life is all about.

I hope my essay has helped give you the encouragement to begin making courageous changes based on the Wisdom and Truth in your heart. As for me, well, I’m still basking in the afterglow of my courageous move to Oregon, and I hope to still be for many years to come. I look forward to making many more courageous changes during my lifetime and continuing to discover the many wondrous gifts and possibilities that the Universe has in store for me.

Climb Against the Odds

2006-08-07T08:10:00-07:00

This July, I was pleased to have the opportunity to donate a colorful collection of Handmade Tibetan “Om” Journals on behalf of my online store, Mandala, to the The Breast Cancer Fund, for the participants of their annual “Climb Against the Odds,” held at Mount Shasta this year.

About "Climb Against the Odds": A team of 36 women and men from across the country attempted to climb 14,162-foot Mt. Shasta in Northern California on July 10 in the Climb Against the Odds. Many of the climbers were women living with breast cancer. Others had family members or friends who have confronted the disease. For most climbers, the expedition was an expression of finding strength through adversity. In all, 28 members of the team summitted.

[Photo by Sequoia Pettengell. Pictured are (from left to right): Guides Mark Grundon (a cancer survivor) and Rich Meyer (both in orange jackets), and Luna team members Kim Rider (breast cancer survivor), Inger Norman and Bryan Cole on the summit with prayer flags.]

This year’s Climb Against the Odds expedition is the seventh major mountain climb organized by the San Francisco-based Breast Cancer Fund. Previous expeditions include Mt. Aconcagua, Argentina (1995); Mt. McKinley, Alaska (1998); Mt. Fuji, Japan (2000), Mt. Shasta, Calif. (2003 and 2004) and Mt. Rainier, Wash.(2005).

Founded in 1992, the Breast Cancer Fund’s mission is to identify and eliminate the environmental—and other preventable—causes of the disease. Through public education, policy initiatives, outdoor challenges and other innovative campaigns, the Breast Cancer Fund mobilizes the public to secure the changes needed to stop this devastating epidemic. Since the 1960s, a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer more than tripled in the United States, to one in seven today. As many as 50 percent of breast cancer cases remain unexplained by traditionally-accepted risk factors; scientists increasingly believe many cases are linked to environmental factors.

Visit The Breast Cancer Fund for more information.

Join the "Stop Global Warming" Virtual March

2006-08-06T14:37:00-07:00