Wishcasting Wednesday

What do you wish to let go?


Such a great question! We are always wishing for things. How wonderful to focus on ridding ourselves of something useless. Thank you Jamie.

I could list quite a number of things here that I would benefit from letting go: expectations, self criticism, doubt, worry. But, for me, they all really boil down to one thing - guilt. A horrible, horrible concept that has plagued me since grade school, or perhaps even before. And I am fairly certain that it will be my constant companion until my final day in this body. I am aware that I carry too much guilt, ridiculously so, but I've also resigned myself to the fact that it's just a part of who I am. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to drastically change it. I am just one of those people who wants (needs?) to make everybody happy all the time. And when I don't . . .

For example, when I speak my mind and tell someone how I really feel about something, knowing that I have every right to do so and, in fact, owe it to myself to do so, and what I've said is not well received, I feel guilty. If I call in sick to work - with a migraine or a cold, for instance - I feel guilty. I could go to work with a headache or a cold after all. If I fall behind in replying to e-mails, or neglect to answer the telephone when I really don't feel like talking, I feel guilty.

A couple of months ago, I ran across the following quote by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche from Tricycle Magazine.

Regret, Not Guilt

The difference between guilt and regret is that the guilt never faces the wrongdoing straightforwardly. There's just this strong emotion of "I wish it hadn't happened. I wish I hadn't done it. I wish I had never gotten angry." Or, "I wish I hadn't done that embarrassing thing," and so on. Regret is the opposite of guilt. We acknowledge it, we expose to ourselves that we have done something harmful, and how it came about from our ignorance, but we don't get caught in emotions or story lines.

While I don't completely follow that logic, I do appreciate the delineation between guilt and regret. And I need to remind myself of it more often.

So, I wish to let go of that toxin - guilt.

Hoping all your wishes come true! Here's to letting go.

Wishcasting Wednesday

How do you wish to stretch?

That's Jamie's question to you and to me this week.

And I find no need to look very deep, or to get all symbolic or metaphorical. It's pretty straightforward. I just need to stretch. I just need to move. I just need to bend and to fold and to extend. Nothing complicated here. Just need to go to the mat. No more excuses - "I have a stomach ache," or "I have a headache." (Downward facing dog is a bitch when your head is pounding.) So I'll find some poses to do.

a scrapbook page I did of a yoga retreat I attended

Please be sure to visit Jamie's blog to visit other Wishcasters.

Namaste,

Wishcasting Wednesday

What do you wish to begin?

I can't believe it's Wednesday again already. And September! My head is spinning.

I love Jamie's question this week. Most of my blogger friends and I all share a similar trait - we all have ideas - for projects and adventures and creating and writing and - well the list just never ends! And it's hard to find time to do everything. In fact, sometimes our creative juices are flowing so quickly and in so many different directions that it's overwhelming, and it's hard to just slow down enough to even begin one thing!

I am inspired everyday by what I see in the blogs I read. So much gorgeousness! In words, and sewing, and painting, and poetry, and photographs. And I want to try everything.

I've been wanting, probably since I started blogging, to improve my skills in photography. I would love to feel comfortable calling myself a photographer. But I only "take pictures," I am not a "photographer." I've dug out the book for my camera (just a little Sony), and even picked up a book or two at the bookstore. I've played with the settings on my camera (and then got them so out of whack that a bunch of pictures didn't turn out). And I've even considered changing my "Paris Fund" to the "Camera Fund" (but I'm not quite there yet).

I know that experimentation and practice are a big part of perfecting any skill or hobby. And I've been working on that. A little. But I wish to really begin.

Strangely enough (more like magically enough), I began a little this morning, before I even knew what today's prompt was. I was leaving the house to go to work. I'd backed my car out of the garage and was sitting waiting for the garage door to finish closing. I glanced over to the east and gasped. The sunrise was spectacular. I thought, "Wow! I wish I had my camera. That could be such a fantastic photo." I went ahead and backed out into the street, but turned one more time to look at the sun peeking out from behind a cloud.

That was it. I put the car in drive, pulled back into the driveway, raised the garage door and ran back into the house for my camera. I realized that this moment was passing quickly and that the sun would never sparkle from behind a cloud in just this way again.

This is not a perfect photo, but it is a beginning. The beginning of a new day, and the beginning of a new learning experience.

To beginnings,

p.s. Please follow the link above to Jamie's website to visit other Wishcasters.

Wishcasting Wednesday

It's Wishcasting Wednesday. You can be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes.

Jamie's prompt today:

For what do you wish to acknowledge yourself?

Okay, I'll give myself a pat on the back today.

I acknowledge myself for inspiring creativity in others.

When I did my first Full Moon Dreamboard several months ago, I really enjoyed it. It was fun, it was kind of relaxing, and it was rather fulfilling. And I still love it. It's still up on my bulletin board, and I still love the colors and the pictures and the message that I know is there for me. I really, really believe that one reason, a big reason, a lot of us are unhappy in our lives is because we have no creative outlet.

Every kid loves creating. In fact, it is pretty much a given that every child is a little artist. We give them crayons and paper and pencils and glue. It's almost automatic - it's like it's as much of a requirement for a healthy child as drinking their milk and eating their vegetables. And we place great importance on their creations. We stick them up on the refrigerator with magnets or frame them and hang them on the wall. And every mother has a box or an envelope someplace where she's saved these precious masterpieces.

So what happens as we get older? What changes? Nothing changes except for what we perceive to be priorities. But I have discovered over the last few years that I need to play. I am a much happier girl if I'm creating. It can be (and has been) beading, or sewing, or scrapbooking, or rubber stamping, or painting. Or it can be as simple as cutting up a magazine and gluing pictures and words onto a big piece of paper.

I liked the Full Moon Dreamboard idea so much that I invited friends over to join me. I have hosted two Dreamboard Circles so far, and am planning my third one. My friends love it. (In fact, last month a special friend traveled 250 miles to come play!)

When I hosted my first Circle, I was right in the middle of a wonderful experience called "Wreck This Journal." Of course I had to get it out and show it to everyone, and one of my friends, M, actually helped me with a page. Just a few days ago, M called me from the bookstore. She thought it was so cool that she was buying one too.

So there you have it. I am a creativity inspirer. Or conspirer. See? I even create new words! It's all good!

To your creativity,

P.S. Please be sure to follow the link above to Jamie's Studio to visit other Wishcasters.

Wishcasting Wednesday

What door do you wish to open?

That's the question Jamie asks this week. And I've had to give this one a little thought. I have the perfect picture in mind, and after some closing-my-eyes-and-listening-to-my-heart kind of consideration, I know exactly that this is the right photo. Not because of the door, but because of the person standing next to the door.


My son, J, is in the military and was stationed in England for three years. We were very fortunate to be able to visit him while he was there, and this photo was taken on that trip several years ago. It's outside an old, old church (St. Mary's I believe) in Tuddenham which is near Bury St. Edmunds.


It was a wonderful trip and we would love to go back. But what waits for me beyond that door isn't anything I experienced or learned in England.

I wrote a few months ago about My Teenage Heart. And in that entry, I alluded to the fact that there are parts of me, bits of my personality, likes and longings, that I keep hidden. J left me a comment on that post that really blew me away: "never fear the thoughts of your companion....your thoughts will make you happy before the thoughts of any other." Such wisdom from such a young soul, and probably something that I should have been teaching him and not the other way around. I felt that he'd given me such a gift, and I really had a new frame of mind for the next couple of weeks. I kept hearing his words over and over again in my mind. And I smiled every time and thought, "Yes! I am a free spirit and I can do or say or feel or like or be anything I want!"

And as it always seems to happen, time passed and I got wrapped up in the daily grind and let go of that spirit. I remember it every once in a while, but not often enough. So that is the door I wish to open. The door to my free spirit. And I think I'll find a doorstop and prop that sucker open for a while!

Please be sure to go back to Jamie's site and see what other doors are opening today.

Wishcasting Wednesday

What Do You Wish To Nurture?

Because I'm located on the west coast, I'm often one of the last to post on any given Wednesday for Wednesday Wishcasting. And I often sit and read and offer up wishes on everyone else's posts before actually writing mine. But I did something different today. I did not want to be influenced by any other's wishes. I wanted to contemplate the question and write my own wish first. I guess I wanted to take it a bit more seriously than usual.

This week, Jamie asks, "What do you wish to nurture?" I wish to nurture my inner yogi. I love yoga, and I love some of the associated/similar habits and practices, like meditation. I just don't manage very often to actually stop everything else I'm doing and spend my time practicing. I know the benefits of yoga and meditation - I've experienced them!

Lately, I've had too frequent periods where I almost can't draw in a deep breath, or my breath catches, and I have to consciously make myself breathe slowly and deeply. And there have been too many days where I have had to stop and tell myself to lower my shoulders because they've been hunched up around my ears for too long. And I know how to fix it, but . . .

So I implore you, Universe, I come to you on bended knee (or maybe two bended knees in child's pose) I wish to nurture my inner yogi. Namaste!

Wishcasting Wednesday

What do you wish to savour?

That magical Jamie at Starshyne Productions has us in deep contemplation again this week. For her Wishcasting Wednesday prompt this week, Jamie asks, "What do you wish to savour?"

That side of me that craves immediate satisfaction never gave it a second thought and answered, "Ice cream! Iced coffee! Ice cold melon!" Ahh . . . it all sounds wonderful.

But the too-often-neglected quieter side of me whispered "tranquility please. a few slow, silent hours s'il vous plait."

My schedule has recently changed at work, and starting this week, I'll have off every other Friday. I am very excited. And while I would normally start making a list of all the extra things I can get done around the house, I'm going to refrain - at least for this week.

I'm going to savor waking up when my eyes open on their own, and not to the sound of the radio.

I'm going to savor my first cup of coffee quietly on the patio instead of drinking it without even tasting it while reading my e-mail.

I'm going to savor staying in my pajamas for a little while.

I'm going to savor sitting in meditation, if only for fifteen minutes (which I haven't done for a long time).

I'm going to savor running my finger along the spines of the books on my shelves deciding which one to read next.

I'm going to savor the quiet of no TV, no radio, no telephone.

I'm going to savor a nap in the afternoon (after doing pretty much nothing all morning).

Whatever you wish for, I wish for you also.

Wishcasting Wednesday

I Want To Play

Who or What Do You Wish to Play With? That's the question of the day according to Jamie at Starshyne Productions.

Well . . . I would love to play with the girls who are going to be at Blog Camp in just a few days. I mean, can you imagine? But I will be satisfied with staying in touch via their blogs over the weekend and enjoying the stories they write and photos they take.

But I'm really missing my girlfriends (aka the girls). We have just all been busy! And it's been too long since we've all been together. It wouldn't matter what we did.

We could ride horses . . .

. . . or paint . . .

. . . or climb a tree . . .

. . . or have a midnight margarita party (in our jammies) . . .

. . . or dance . . .

. . . or play house . . .

. . . or swing . . .

. . . or do yoga on the beach . . .

. . . or just be silly and laugh!

It's not so much what we do to fill our time that matters. It's simply that we are all good for one another, and, at least for me, I feel like a new and improved version of myself after spending a day or two with all of them.

So, I wish I might, I wish I may

just hang with my girls

and be girls and just play.