Two lives joining together

One of the things that Roger and I wanted to do at our wedding two years ago was to find a way to involve everyone with our union. We both have full lives with a lot of friends and family. One of the ideas that Roger came up with was having everyone bring a piece of fabric of their choice to blend together to create a wedding quilt. We both loved the idea!

 Little did we realize what a project and representation of all the different individuals in our life, and the interesting dance of blending them together would be. We gave no guidelines or preferences of color or texture; we simply wanted everyone to give us a piece of themselves in whatever way they wanted. Many asked for the rules on what to bring. We simply said "any piece of fabric that you want to see in the quilt".

 The diversity and choices of fabric that friends and family brought was an experience unto itself. Some brought scraps of fabric you knew they didn’t want or ripped off something old . Others brought really nice quality silk fabrics; many brought fabric  represented them; while others brought fabric that they felt represented what we would like.

A childhood friend brought fabric with butterflies on it since we shared a memory together with butterflies. A friend of Roger’s brought fabric with sushi on it since he has been into natural foods most of his life. My mom and brother had fabric with vegetables on it since I am a vegetarian, and a nephew of Roger’s had taken a bit off his Spartan (Scottish sash) to share a bit of himself there and their Scottish ancestors.

 I can go on with each individual piece and the stories that each of them held. All of the pieces have a meaning with each one. Some were more thought out than others. One of our friends even embroidered a heart onto her fabric.
 Each piece was quite unique and the job to bring them together and look beautiful and harmonious was a big job.

 Roger and I both have known this amazing quilter as a friend of ours for years, and we felt that she was the best person to create this beautiful quilt, and fortunately she said yes. I think this job turned out to be a lot bigger than what we all thought it would be. Indeed Norma Bradley was the best person to create this quilt! We are very grateful for her commitment to this project. After many months (about 9) of working on this quilt, Norma brought it over to have a place in our home.

 It is now in a central place in our home so that we can be reminded of the love and diversity that is in our lives. Our wedding quilt, for me, is not just a reflection of love and diversity from family and friends; it is a teacher of wisdom that we are all learning each and every day. As you can see in the picture, there were not only a lot of different textures, but colors as well.

When I look at this quilt I am reminded of the diversity in all of our lives. This quilt, for me, represents the different ways that we all show up in a person’s life. It also represents how people with big differences can live together in peace and beauty.

 Who would have thought silk and flannel could live happily together in a quilt, yet they do. Or those pictures of sushi could blend with fabric with cowboy boots. But when they all are blended together with each piece having their role in the whole of the quilt, and working together as a whole, than it does go together quite beautifully.

 Some pieces are the hidden gem throughout, while other pieces help with joining pieces together. Some make statements, while others are quite bright and stand out. This ,too, is the same for people in the world, and we all have our role.

 It wasn’t easy for Norma to put the different fabrics together, but through intention, love, and commitment, she was able to bring them together, and quite beautifully at that.

This is also the same for us in the world. It is not always easy to see how we could “hang” with someone who is so different, yet with commitment, love, and intention to do so, we can find creative ways to connect with others in the great tapestry of life. So when you are with someone who looks or thinks quite differently than you , remember the wisdom of the wedding quilt: we all can dance our own dance and still dance together.

Hiking Mt. LeConte- day two

            Sweet Llamas
                    and
            11 miles down

 

 

We set our alarm to watch the sunrise, but decided against it when we stayed there in the nice cozy bed feeling our aching muscles. We still got up early since there was no electricity and breakfast was at 8am.

We had heard that the llamas bring up the supplies three times a week and today was one of the days. We asked which trail they were coming up, since I really wanted to see them. The trail they were coming on was a nine mile trail down called Trillium.

So we headed off with enthusiasm sure that the trail was in the direction of Rainbow Trail. After a half hour hiking of hiking downhill we ended up back at Rainbow and knew we'd gone the wrong direction. We turned around and soon ran into some hikers with a newer map, turns out our map had the Trillium in the wrong place. So back UPHILL to the Lodge where Trillium Trail leaves from right behind the Lodge! So we started again on our journey with two miles added, a nice morning stroll!

The llamas had not arrived yet so I knew that we would be passing them on the trail. What a fun experience to see the llamas coming up the trail. We stopped and talked with one of the men about the llamas and got to hang out with Earl, one of the llamas. There were about 8 llamas in the group, all males. It turns out that when they get up to the Lodge they get to eat the leftover pancakes, so most of them rushed by to get there. I wonder about how work animals feel. Must say, they all seemed healthy and happy.

We asked Tom, the llama guide, why they used llamas over mules. Turns out llamas are more gentle on the trail, whereas mules would wreck it up pretty badly; llamas are easier to manage with their size and weight; are more predictable and have a gentle nature. I had a delightful time passing the llamas on the trail.

I thought about the many yaks that we will be passing on the trek in Nepal to Mt. Everest base camp. In fact the guide books all firmly state to please stand on the upside of the mountain when passing a yak and every guide there has a yak pushing someone off the cliff story.

The hike down was beautiful! We passed many hiker/Lodge guests that were heading up for the night. I was amazed that many were couples in their 50s and 60s that had been doing this yearly for many years. One man shared a story about a 90 year old woman that worked at the Lodge 20 years ago and she was walking very slowly with tiny shuffling-steps all the way up to see the Lodge again. Her granddaughter was with her and would walk ahead and wait. I am sure that when she finally arrived her heart soared with pure joy for the love from those at the Lodge and her love to, again, be surrounded by such beautiful nature.

The most memorable part of the hike down was the beauty! Every inch of the trail down was a picture moment. My heart was full of love for all life.

Then all of a sudden about three miles from our destination we entered upon a lot of people hanging out around Grotto falls. Grotto falls is a beautiful waterfall that is about 1 1/2 miles from the road. So many people go there to get out and experience the falls there since it is easily accessible. We still had 3 1/2 miles to go before we get to the car.

It was an odd feeling to be in a place of peace with few people, then enter a place of many people talking, laughing and playing. It was kind of surreal for a minute. Then I was able to shift to the outer place of being and connect to those around.

When we saw the parking lot, a sense of accomplishment was felt by both of us. We had hiked 20 miles in two days and experienced some of the most beautiful nature that the Smokey Mountains has to share. It was a true blessing to be a part of this experience.

Hiking Mt. LeConte- day one

Hike to Top of Mt. LeConte-day one

Six weeks ago Roger and I took a hike in the Smokie Mountains National Park up to Mt. LeConte. Mt. LeConte is quite beautiful! Halfway up our 5 ½ mile hike up we realized that this was going to be quite the adventure as we held the cables attached to the mountain trail alongside the cliffs.

The trail at times was a sheet of ice with no where else to put your feet. If it wasn’t for the cables that were bolted to the mountains, we would have not been able to make it to the top. With a bit of slipping and sliding we finally made it up! Snow covered the grounds and we could see layers of mountains for miles. It was a sight to see!

Near the top of Mt. LeConte is a lodge that has been there since 1925. The only way to get to the Lodge is to hike and it is only open from late March to late November. There are no roads to the Lodge and all supplies are packed-in on Llamas. We came home from this hike and set up a reservation to stay there right before our trip to Nepal.

So on March 20th we went back to Mt. LeConte to stay at the Lodge. There are about 5 or 6 different trails that you can choose from to get there. The trails range from 5 ½ to 9 miles. A couple of the trails have beautiful waterfalls. We decided to go up Rainbow Falls trail, about a 7 mile hike to the Lodge.

Even though we were not experiencing the snow and ice this time, it was still quite the adventure. The trail was beautiful! Moss layered throughout the land touching her gentle touch on everything. The trees stood strong throughout, their roots intertwining with the land and each other and even growing over rocks and on sides of the mountains. The bubbling streams sang their joyful songs. And when the trail curved around the mountain, we could see miles of hills, mountains and sky. It was easy to see and feel the interconnectedness of all life. We are all a thread in the great tapestry of life!

About 4 miles in I sensed rain coming. Roger and I looked around for signs of rain, but the sky seemed peaceful. I could not shake the feeling and smell of rain coming, so we stopped and pulled out our rain gear for our backpacks and our selves. Within minutes of putting the rain gear on it started to rain. Not just drops of rain, but big rain, thunder and lightning. I was so glad to once again follow my intuition and connection to the earth.

I started to feel quite anxious with the sounds of the loud thunder and the large drops pouring down upon me. And began a fast pace to get to the top quickly. I asked Roger if we were safe with the lightning and he assured me that we were. I still felt a deep anxiety and started to do what I call “light” work. In essence I started to connect more deeply with the divine within. Breathing into that feeling while turning my fear over to “it’s” love; affirming that I am safe and protected by all the elements. Within about 20 minutes of hiking and doing light work, I felt a peace come over me that reassured me that we would be okay.

We continued through the rain for the next two miles. At one point we saw two young women around twenty years old with very little preparation for the hike down. We loved them up a bit, but I was wishing I had a poncho or something that they could use to cover up with. The skies looked a lot clearer in the direction that they were going.

The last mile was the hardest. With the rain coming down, and the lodge was nowhere in sight, all we could do was keep on walking. Our pace continued quite quickly. The last miles , Roger kept a steady pace behind me, but when we finally saw the last .7 mile sign, he passed me and took off. I could hardly keep up with him. We were really ready to be there. Hiking in the rain definitely added a new flavor to the hike.

We arrived at 5:20 pm, and dinner was to be served at 6:00. It seemed to have stopped raining shortly after we had arrived. We were shown our cabin without electricity, we used kerosene lights. We had a few minutes to clean up before the dinner bell rang.

The bell rang, and all 60 of us guests headed to the the one room dining hall with 6-8 large tables in which we all had an assigned table. Large amounts of food bowls were placed on each table, and everyone ate quite hardily since we all worked hard to get to the lodge.

After dinner, Roger and I headed out for an after dinner stroll in the mountains. We went to the top of the mountain to watch the sunset, and then over to the lean to where 12 people were staying. After another two miles added on to our day, we headed back to the lodge and visited with other guests in the main room.

We went to our cabin fairly early and shuffled around each other in our close quarters to get ready for bed. The cabin was a little bigger than the bunk bed that was in it. Just enough room to walk around, but not a whole lot more.

In the middle of the night, we both were quite cold. We discovered that the top of the bunk bed was a lot warmer. Finally after settling up there we fell asleep. getting ready for our hike back down.

But what a beautiful day this day was. I am so grateful and full in my heart.

Preparing to Trek in the Himalayas

The trek to Mt. Everest base camp in Nepal is really not a long distance, we will be trekking about 30 miles to the base camp and 30 miles back to Lukla. The big deal is the altitude. We will be taking a little hopper plane from Kathmandu into Lukla, which is where our trekking will begin. The Lukla airstrip has been known to be a bit tumultuous and unpredictable with the weather. There are many stories of travelers that have to wait for days before flying to or from Lukla. Since there have been a few planes going down over the years the airline is extra careful before heading out.

Altitude is what makes this a hard trek, not the distance, Lukla's elevation is 9300 ft, the peak of our trek, Kala Pattar, is over 18,000 ft. It will take 10 days to hike to base camp, with a day to acclimate every few days and once we get to base camp we turn around and hike 4 days to get back to Lukla.
The sights and experiences that trekkers share are unbelievable, stay tuned to hear ours. I will attempt to share with you while in the experience of it, there are a few places that have internet availability.

Some of the ways that we are preparing for the trek and high altitude are hiking around here in the mountains (only 6000 ft); taking ginger, garlic and ginkgo to help thin our blood; buying the right clothes for layering (it will get very cold in the higher altitudes); water purifier; and of course getting our house in order since we will be gone for a month.

The hikes that we have done here in the mountains are beautiful. I am loving the "training". Next week Roger and I will be hiking about 10 miles to get to a lodge on Mt. LeConte in the Smokey Mountain National Park. The only way to get to this lodge are hiking trails. When we hiked there last month there numerous stretches of the trail covered with ice. If it wasn't for the cable that was bolted to the mountain we could have easily fallen off a cliff. They are telling us that it is still icy up there. That seems like a great way to train in the cold...brrr.

Once we get to the lodge we will be staying in simple accommodations without electricity and possible sharing the sleep space. We hear the food is fantastic. A short way from the lodge is the Appalachian Trail that will give us a bit more altitude to hike. But there are also a lot of trails back in there for us to explore the next day before we hike out. I hope to have some great pictures to share with you. In my next posts I will share some more of the training and also the rest of the plans of our upcoming trip to Nepal and Bhutan.

May your day be filled with wonder and awe.

Following Intuition, even when it is not convenient to do so

The decision to go to Nepal seemed to come out of some idea deep in my soul and since I believe in following intuition I started researching Trip Advisor for some advise on trekking in Nepal.

After numerous hours poured into Trip Advisor and various other sites one of the expedition groups out of Nepal kept jumping out to me. Earthbound Expeditions kept feeling stronger than the rest. The reviews all raved about Earthbound Expeditions and especially the integrity of the owner, Rajan. So after contacting Earthbound and getting an immediate reply via email, we felt compelled to press forward, to see what was available and what would it cost.

The exciting thing about working with Rajan is that there are so many different excursions to choose from between Nepal, Tibet, parts of India and Bhutan. Hours were spent reading and learning about South Asia. It felt familiar and exciting; as we learned more Roger and I began to get clearer with our opportunities. I felt like a kid in a candy store that was asked to choose only one piece of candy. The whole of the area was speaking to my soul.

And then there is Tibet, how I have loved the culture of Tibet. When I was 21 years old going to travel agent school we were asked to write about one country, I chose Tibet. The decision on whether to go to Tibet or not was not an easy one. The pain and suffering that the Tibetans have experience over the last 50 years has been immense. The thought of it brings sorrow to my heart. How would I feel seeing and feeling the pain in their eyes? Could I do anything to help at all? Could I go and enjoy their beautiful country when so much suffering is around? The decision felt too complicated for our minds to decide. So we turned it over to prayer and asked the Divine what to do.

Within a day or so of asking, we picked up a Lonely Planet travel book on Tibet and read a statement by the Dalai Lama asking that tourists please not boycott Tibet. That the more tourists that go there puts more pressure on the Chinese to preserve the Tibetan culture. That seemed like a clear message to us. So we asked Rajan to add on Tibet.

My heart was still not settled with that decision. I kept feeling that it just wasn’t for us to go, but our plans were set. When I brought my anxiety up with Roger he suggested that I ask Rajan about this. At one point the panic in my heart was so strong that I was thinking about ways to change the trip. I finally contacted Rajan about the safety of going to Tibet and he informed me that at this time the Chinese had closed the border and it was not possible to get into Tibet through Nepal. He then suggested that perhaps in April they will open the border up again, but for me that was a very clear affirmation that we were not to go. We changed our plans and are now going to Bhutan instead. My heart is soaring with joy.

I want to share a couple points regarding intuition and following what your heart says over what you think the messages are. Upon reading the Dalai Lama's statement I believed that was a message from the Divine saying, "go to Tibet," yet my heart kept feeling unsettled, yelling louder and louder until I could not hold back any longer. If I had waited and not contacted Rajan right away, they may have reopened the border and we would have gone. Who knows how that would have been? I do know that reading about Bhutan is singing to my soul and it feels good.

Often times in our lives the plans are set, but our heart is saying "no;" we still go ahead because we don’t want to cause problems or inconvenience anyone, so in the end we often compromise what our hearts and intuitive self is telling us. We all have stories to share where we did not listen to our intuition and in not following the "small still voice" that situation may have become more challenging than if we had listened to it. We also all have at least a story to share when we followed our intuition and ease, love, healing or grace came into our life through that situation. So as we cultivate a greater sense of our intuition we find that we can follow it and trust it, even when it is not so convenient to do so.

I will be writing about our travels, so we can see how it all turns out.

Many blessings to you.

Vision Board Testimonial

In previous post I talked about a workshop that I gave last year on creating a vision board. The woman who sponsored me,Laura, has written this very beautiful and touching testimonial. Thank you Laura and Sebastian for being who you are and sharing your experience with others.
Here is what Laura has written about their experience:

Janese traveled up to Washington, DC last year to give a wonderful workshop on Vision Boarding. We had an intimate group of five, to include my 14 year-old son. Janese presented us with a comprehensive overview of the power of intention and manifesting in our lives, did some enlightening group exercises to demonstrate how with focus and intention we can move negative energy and obstacles to keep us strolling down our little paths, and then we settled into some good old fashioned fun. It was wonderful to create the boards together and to see what “things” were most important to everyone in their lives. Sitting down and visually and actively manifesting our future together was priceless to me. We piled an abundance of magazines in the middle (everything from Yoga to cooking, travel, sports, fashion, you name it -- the more the better!), grabbed some glue sticks, glitter and scissors and started designing our lives the way we wanted to see them. Janese’s divine guidance was invaluable during our creation process as she helped us use our intuition to choose those things that would empower us and foster happy little souls. My son Sebastian said his board helps him to focus on what is important to him in his life. The fact that he chose to participate, and his willingness to do so with no real knowledge about what creating a Vision Board was all about, spoke to me. And to my surprise, he even created a new Vision Board a couple months ago and has it hanging on his bedroom wall. For me, I try to look at my board every day (its my friend J) and it is easier for me to say my daily affirmations when I have something visual to gaze upon. And if I let some time slip in between visits and I begin to feel lost or tired or fruitless about the direction of my life, I go to my board and it centers and comforts me. I KNOW that I have the power to create whatever life I want to live. And this, let me tell you… this is EMPOWERING. Thank you, Janese!

Creating a Vision Board

Creating vision boards is something that I have been doing for 20 years or so, and I have found that the process of creating a vision board can bring clarity and focus to life. When we have clarity and focus, along with heart, miracles and amazing things come into our life. When we live “in purpose and on purpose”, life truly happens in a powerful and magical way.

In the last couple years I have taught workshops on creating a vision board, and most recently,have started using it as a tool in private sessions with individuals and small groups.

Today I had the joyful experience of working with Margo and Geraldine on their business vision board! They have been doing their individual services and teachings for a while now, and are coming together and creating a business that entails all the services that they both contribute to the community. My role was to help facilitate this project.

Not only was it fun for all of us, but also the clarity that came from two hours of working on creating the vision board was priceless.

Contact me if you are interested in hearing more about creating a vision board.

Changes in my life the past three years

A lot has happened in the last three years that I have wanted to share with you. Many of you that have read what I have written and taught in workshops know that I strongly believe in using and following our intuition because I feel that in doing so, we open our life up to receiving more grace. I also believe that what we believe in our hearts about what we feel we deserve is really what we will manifest. Not the things that we keep saying that we want, but what we truly believe.

Jesus said " As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he", Proverbs chapter 23 verse 7.
Buddha quote regarding the same teaching states, " "All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become."

And in Ancient Upanishads teachings around 9 century BC, we read, "We are born on Earth repeatedly to finish the unfinished work of realizing our divinity".

Each of these teachings indicate to me that we are all responsible in co-creating our life to it's fullest potential. When I say co-creating, I am referring to a higher power whether you want to call it God, Spirit, source, or Love. I believe that alone we can not reach our greatest potential very easily, but when we open our hearts and minds to a greater consciousness(universal love), then miracles are not really miracles, they are actions that belong in all of our life each and every day.
Which now brings me to a little bit about my life these last three years.

21 years ago my 1st husband and I enthusiastically adopted 5 young aged children that ranged from 1 to 5 years old. For many years we felt that our job was to raise them as spiritually aware individuals. We set out to parent them in all the ways that we thought would help our children become loving,"conscious", and positively contributing to society in an amazing ways.
Due to all of our beliefs and denial of our own need to heal our own inner children instead of focusing on "fixing" the children that we adopted, life hit us both pretty hard. We ended in divorce 1996, and our family broke in half with some of us on the east coast in 1999 and some with their dad in AZ.

Life took a very different turn, and my idealistic spirituality became practical living. I found that as their problems became more challenging, I learned that environment wasn't all their is, genetics plays a strong role. I learned more about mental illness and personality disorder, tough love, letting go, and mostly I learned to love myself more deeply through it all.
Every day I imagined holding myself and telling litte Janese how loved she is, I did this amidst the angry yells of my children telling me that I was not their "real" mom.
If it wasn't for my relationship with the Divine; some friends; and my ability to love my inner self; and my career as an Intuitive Life Coach, I don't know how I would have made it through those years.

I knew that I needed to rebuild me, and rebuild my life.
Every day I heart felt imagined being in an amazing marriage , traveling, having healthy loving relations with family and friends, and enjoying my career.
I let myself cry, dance wild, throw stones off cliffs, and anything that would help me to release the deep felt grief that I was experiencing. I was feeling so broken, but knew that if I kept pressing forward, I would be "back" again.

6 years ago I got back involved with community work, dancing, hiking, and enjoying friends. Little by little the crying slowed down and hopefulness picked up. My connection to the Divine and Intuition started coming back in strongly again.
And 3 years ago , I met the love of my life!
Roger and I married 2 years ago, and our relationship has and continues to be such a gift in so many ways. His family a bonus gift with their open hearts and love. I feel very blessed!!!

In two weeks Roger and I will be trekking in Nepal to Mt. Everest base camp, and then a week in Bhutan. Many have asked me to blog this adventure. Which has what has sparked this update here.

My work as an Intuitive Life Coach has always been evolving in the 30 years that I have been doing this work. I am finding myself once again looking at a new way to work with some of the tools that I have been guided with.
I am trusting that the next direction in my life is as growth filled and joy filled as the many chapters my life has already experienced.
I am extremely grateful for all of you who have been or will be in my life.
My life would not be where it is without each and every person who has touched my heart and soul.

My next sharings will be on the planning of our upcoming trek to the Himalayas.

Many Blessings,
janese