Elaine's Adventures: # 15

Hi Family and Friends,

Well, Shelby, my granddaughter, and I have now been in Boulder, CO for almost a month and we both like it quite a bit. She is attending Naropa University this semester and I am checking a few things off my bucket list.

It is an easy town to insert yourself into. People are very friendly and welcoming, the weather is mild for winter (most of the time), the mountains are overwhelmingly beautiful, and it''s just very relaxing to be here. To no one's surprise, it does have a Zen feel!

My pace has slowed down quite a bit and I have joined a couple of groups without worrying that I will miss a lot of activities and gatherings because of my travels. I am becoming very acquainted with silence, beauty and meditation, which is just what I needed.

I am writing again and find my second book much easier to enjoy now that I have some experience with publishing. This has become an incredibly reflective time for me, which marries well with my
desire to enjoy the present moment and to create.

Shelby and I found a small apartment in the southeast section of Boulder not too far from the University of Colorado. The picture to the left is from our front door. With the snowfalls, we haven't had too many opportunities to explore what the mountains have to offer yet, but we are going down to Colorado Springs to an ice sculpture festival toward the end of the month.

One of my biggest adjustments is getting used to the number of bikers on the road. We just had a 10 inch snow and they were still out there riding. I guess Colorado folks take outdoor exercise very seriously!

One of my dear, long-time friends and her husband is just down the road in Denver, and we have time now to play and not just see each other at VISTA training's. BTW, what took me several hours to travel to for Denver VISTA training's will now be a 15 minutes drive!!

I hope 2016 has greeted you gently. I will be in Boulder through the end of May, and then I will be deciding if I want to stay in Boulder or try another small, appealing town; buy a small RV and be a nomad for awhile longer; or do or be something I have not even thought of yet!

With Gratitude,

Elaine

Happy Holidays Family and Friends!

Whatever is beautiful,
Whatever is meaningful,
Whatever brings you happiness...
May it be yours this Holiday Season
and throughout the coming year!

This is my wish for you this holiday season, along with a warm greeting to say I am back on the road to enjoy more road adventures in 2016. 

I will begin the New Year traveling with my granddaughter, Shelby, to Boulder, Colorado. She will be attending Naropa University and I will be attending to my second book, which has been on hold for a few months. I hope to finish it by June and look forward to some mountain adventures in between chapters.

I look forward to being a nomad again, and sharing my adventures and stories with you. I have missed the southwest but totally enjoyed the seasons Michigan offers. I am also leaving with a deep appreciation for the Great Lakes, the small lakes and rivers that surrounded me this year.

This was a year of laughter and tears, losses and gifts. It was an intense year, and yet, I have never felt the love of family and friends as I have this year. In 2014, I lived the life of a free spirit, and learned how very important the present moment is ... actually, it is the only moment we have. 2015 gave me opportunities to continually live in the now and not get caught up with the uncertainties of tomorrow. 

I lived with my oldest daughter, Laura, her husband, Harold, and their daughters, Shelby, Elizabeth and Megan. Together, we experienced the truest and deepest meaning of family and I will forever cherish the time with

them. Our time together was a mix of transitions, loss, laughter, poignant moments, and challenges. In between, I was able to garden and plant flowers, something I really missed over the last couple of years. Between being with my family, tending to the flowers, and hanging out at  Lake Erie, I am ending the year richer and wiser than when it started. 

As you greet the close of 2015, be grateful to those who made your life more meaningful and your spirit more vibrant. Love, Elaine 

Adventures With Elaine # 13

Greetings  Family and Friends,  

I know I have not written since the holidays, but actually my life has been filled with many poignant moments, made up of challenges and gifts. I have been in Michigan since the New Year. Yes, I know I chose to be here during the very cold winter and was surprised to realize it actually did not bother me all that much.

                                                    

Actually, a lot of things have surprised me since the beginning of the year and I wanted to share some of the insights and wisdom that I have been blessed to receive. Last year as I traveled around the U.S. in a rather arbitrary fashion, I was really experiencing what it was like to be in the present moment. With a bit of disregard for plans and time lines, I felt an unaccustomed freedom and really enjoyed it. I had no idea what an important and life-changing experience I was giving myself. So, when 'life' called me to remain in Michigan for an indefinite amount of time, it was an easy decision.

I am learning that before freedom comes detachment. Conscious detachment really quiets the mind and opens the heart. Without the clutter and chatter of the mind, the heart becomes an empty vessel into which we can pour the desired and even the undesired moments of each day. In fact, with detachment, there is no 'desire or undesired' moments, there is just being!

My adventures over the past 18 months have brought me a sense of curiousness, peacefulness, tears, laughter, growth and gratitude. I have met the best and worst parts of myself and it's 'okay.' Today, I truly understand how healing it has been to embrace my wholeness. This is wisdom that came to me when I realized over the freezing winter months in Michigan that it does not matter so much what happens outside of me, as much as what happens inside of me.

Now it is springtime, my favorite season of the year. The beauty around me is less raw and certainly more colorful. Everything in the natural world is coming alive and in bloom. What a great time for us to also, bloom ... and go fishing!
                                                                                                                             
With Gratitude,
Elaine                                                                                                                                                                                                

Adventures With Elaine #12

Hi Family and Friends,

My December travels have taken me from Phoenix to Dallas to Santa Fe, where I stopped to dig out my winter coat as I headed for Chicago, and now Michigan to visit family and friends. I am sort of adjusting to the colder temperatures of the mid-west and am grateful my drive was so easy and filled with enjoyment of the stillness and quiet winter brings. 

I would like to wish each of you beautiful holidays celebrated in your own unique ways. Be grateful to those who made your life more meaningful and your spirit more vibrant. May we each greet the New Year mindful of our blessings and committed to sharing our gifts with the world in a way that honors peace, unity and love.

Happy Holidays,

Elaine

Adventures With Elaine #11

Hi Family and Friends,

Well, my favorite holiday is upon us and I am not sure how it got here so fast! I am still hanging out in Arizona and cringing for my family and friends in the Midwest and Northeast as you are slammed by snow storms and freezing temperatures.

We enjoyed a scrumptious early Thanksgiving meal at my oldest daughter Laura's home in Michigan early in November. With all three daughters present, it was a special moment. During our time together, we acknowledged six of our birthday's, but the one we celebrated, was Allyson's, as she hit a special number!!

We also journeyed up to Frankenmuth, MI for the Bavarian Inn's famous chicken dinner and a visit to Bronner's, the biggest Christmas store in the world. Frank and I began this tradition over 35 years ago when our kids were small, and even though I have had more than enough chicken to last me several life times, I still love seeing the grand kids' excitement for the whole experience, especially the littlest ones.

I went back to Phoenix on the 13th, and some really pleasant, non-scorching temperatures. (Apologies to those back east!) This past weekend my grandson, Cody, was off to a party while the rest of us got ready to attend a national women's volleyball tournament that Kimberly's college was competing in.

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, I appreciate how simple, yet meaningful a holiday it is. I realize how life's small moments really matter in the present and in the long run. As soon as we make something complex, it loses its essence, its heart. Black Friday has encroached on one of the best holidays of the year, but I am noticing a wall of resistance building, as several businesses are refusing to participate. The commercialism is way over the top now... but all it would take is our lack of participation to restore some common sense and value to Thanksgiving Day!

Sitting on a rock in the desert, I reflected on how much wonderful time I have been spending with my daughters and their families. As I drive around the U.S. dealing with the unexpected and unknown,
I am learning what 'going with the flow' really means and feels like. I have learned how detaching from a desired outcome allows me to fully embrace the process and the unplanned directions that process may take me in. I am appreciative that my daughters have so lovingly allowed me to 'flow' in and out of their homes.

I am learning I not only don't need control over much, but more importantly, I don't have control over much. Acceptance of this wisdom really allows me to be in the present moment with little or

no expectations. Yet, the irony is, the more I let go the more I receive!

Kimberly, family and I saw an amazing national volleyball championship game in Phoenix. Her College, Glendale College, seeded 10th, played Parkland College from Illinois, who were seeded 1st. The family and I saw the semi-finals were they lost the first two games and came back to win the last three!

WOW! My daughter and I went back to watch the finals the next day, and saw a repeat were her team lost the first two games and came back to win the last three and so, the championship! It wasn't so much about their victory, it was the magical process of shifting from being overwhelmingly nervous to being in the 'zone.'

It is hard enough as an individual to move yourself out of high anxiety into a place of high alignment with your wholeness; but to see 13 individuals do it cooperatively was 'a thing of beauty!'
I am interviewing them on Wednesday and will share what I learn from these highly motivated young women who inspired not only themselves, but all who were watching, to reach for the impossible!

Have a beautiful Thanksgiving!

With Gratitude,

 Elaine

Adventures With Elaine #10

Cathedral Rock, Sedona, AZ

Hi Family and Friends,

Although I am back in the Southwest and loving it, I have realized that Autumn, pretty much anywhere, is a great time of the year. After a couple weeks in Santa Fe, I was joined by Allyson, my youngest daughter, for a marketing tour of New Mexico and Arizona selling her newly published, The Wisdom of Soul Trees Oracle Deck.


We visited stores in Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque before moving on to Flagstaff, Sedona and Phoenix. Allyson, enjoyed good fortune as her deck was purchased by several stores for display and sale; and, also by several individuals. The trip offered us some wonderful one-on-one time thanks to Ally's husband, Malcolm, and his mom, Seiko, who helped watch their two little villains! It was really a trip of inner and outer discovery. One does not have to do much in the southwest to consciously journey ... its mystery and magic inspires and as it does, we begin to want to find those places within ourselves.



During these last few weeks, I have begun writing my second book.  It will start off with me riding with my son-in-law, Virgil, on his Harley from Pagosa Springs, CO to Farmington, NM. It was a 101 mile ride which stunned me into realizing just because I was turning 70, I didn't have to look for a rocking chair!! Well, that ride ultimately led to my trip to South Africa early in 2014 and a lot of discoveries and adventures in between, which I will share in the book.


My road trip here in the U.S. which I started in May, 2014 has contributed to continued unpredictable insights and adventures. It has been such a remarkable experience I wish everyone could take a few months or years and just follow your heart's desire. It is so intoxicating to meet yourself unfettered by the noise of schedules, work, mental clutter, superfluous expectations, etc. It is so incredible, that I am now beginning to wonder if we have gotten caught up in a maze of unreal moments and we can't distinguish them because we have no reference point. That is what I have given myself since May ... a reference point; a point of comparison and contrast; a context for my life I don't believe I knew with such clarity before.

Well, I head for Dallas tomorrow for a VISTA training and then fly to Michigan for an early Thanksgiving with all my daughters present. This has not happened in years so I am excited. In the meantime, Halloween was filled with sweet moments with my grandson, Andrew, Kai the Jedi,
who carved a pretty neat pumpkin.

As we head into the Holiday Season, my wish for all of us is many mindful moments sharing kindnesses and gentleness with each other.

With Gratitude,
Elaine

Adventures With Elaine #9

Saguaro National Park, Tuscon, AZ

Hi Family and Friends,

Well, I left the lakes and Autumn colors of Michigan and headed to the Southwest, which is an entirely different beauty, raw and spacious. I did intend to visit the Northwest corner of Arkansas, but life happened and I did not make it there.

I did receive some super advice from my friends, Randi and Michael, which I have filed for my future visit. You made Arkansas sound so inviting, it remains on my bucket list. Thank you!

There is something that happens internally to me when I return to the Southwest ... the crystalline, blue sky which at some point seems to merge with the earth offers a remarkable view of the horizon and just rolls my socks down! How fortunate I am that Michigan calls to my heart and the desert calls my soul! To be offered the opportunity to enjoy both, pretty much whenever I choose is truly a wonderful gift, especially at this point in my life.

I am staying with my daughter, Kimberly and her family and catching up with Andrew, my 10 year old grandson. He is ready for Halloween and I am hoping I can accompany Kai the Jedi trick or treating!

Last week I experienced my first sand / thunderstorm here in Phoenix. It was a frightful experience that left us and many without electricity. It is amazing to see how the sand gets swooped up into the clouds by the wind. 
Nature's force never ceases to astonish, if not shock.

Last Saturday, Kimberly and I took a day trip to the Saguaro National Park West and had a wonderful time. When we travel together we seem to manage to do something 'unusual' without meaning to. I am not sure why this is peculiar only to this daughter, (must be same skill or lack of skill sets) but we were just commenting on how nothing out of the ordinary occurred that day. Shortly, after the comment,

Not sure how the camera shadow showed up!!

we realized we had driven 22 miles past our exit lost in conversation. As always, we laughed, turned around and proceeded home!

November will find me in the southwest with brief trips to Dallas for work, and Michigan for some family time. I have started doing some volunteer work related to better understanding the gifts the millennial generation offer our world and why we need to support and not criticize them. I have some radio shows scheduled and will be doing some YouTube videos about them and so look forward to this work.

I am also getting ready to write a new book which has been inspired by the adventures and experiences of the last two years of my life. In preparation, I am wondering if you would be willing to email or FB me with the answer to this question: Are you consciously living a life that will become a legacy for those who follow you? If yes, what will your legacy be? If no, would you be willing to share why you are not?

With Gratitude,
Elaine