I would like to get going with writing again, and while I’ve been paper journaling, I haven’t taken the time to write here. I am looking to “Ordinary & Happy” on Facebook for inspiration. A few weeks ago, they posted a one-word journaling prompt for the month of August that resonated with me. It invoked just enough thought without being restrictive so I thought I’d give it a try.

I am also doing a Lion’s Gate gratitude challenge again, but have been mostly participating through this, Path to the Portal challenge through the yoga studio I am involved with.

Without further adieu, let’s jump it…

August 1 – Dreams

While broad, when I read this, it immediately made me think of what my dreams of tomorrow are. Lately, I have been feeling inspired. Perhaps, it is because I have had many hours to sit and think. Maybe it is because I haven’t been sleeping and my mind is running away with thought. Or it could be because I have had opportunity to get away from the stress of everyday life and relax, thus freeing up space to just be.

I know that I have been crafting ideas for workshops that I dream of running! They combine my love of crystals, yoga, teaching, and sharing my love of the spiritual world. Something I don’t usually share with many. I am growing my confidence in my intuition and I truly believe I can take this further. I foresee sharing this with others. Something I never dreamed I would do. My plan is to have at least one workshop ready for the new year.

As my health improves and I recover from the blood clots, I am so grateful for breath, and I am encouraged to return to teaching yoga. Something that, even a month ago, I was terrified of. I am still nervous, yes, but I feel that I know I can do this and I dream of bringing my kind of yoga to other people and I know I have something of value to share. I have a class to teach on August 13! I am excited to start adapting the two classes I already have built and putting together the class I will teach that day, and, perhaps start looking at putting together a six week series for when I am fully ready and back to ‘normal’ in the coming months!?

And… I dream of starting up playing music again. I have a beautiful acoustic piano sitting idle just an arms reach from me, and she needs to be played. I was learning a few years ago, taking lessons, but summer came and in the fall, the teacher I was learning from had to cut back her schedule. I never pursued another lesson. So I switched back to guitar, because I knew I could teach myself (as I have played since I was 13). While I want both, guitar is easier for me to learn independently, but piano is a struggle. Come September, I will start looking for lessons, so when October hits, I can resume learning.

Dreams. Plans. Execution. I feel ready to start making dreams reality!

August 2 – Family

Funny that today is family… Yesterday, we celebrated my Dad’s 80th birthday and today, I’ve been reflecting yesterday’s festivities, his birthday (which is actually on Tuesday), and seeing all the family I hadn’t seen in many years.

When I was younger, my Dad’s side of the family always had an annual Family Picnic which revolved around my Dad’s birthday weekend. I don’t know if it started because of him, but it always, always fell on his birthday weekend. From my infancy to my teen years, we went, every August Long Weekend to the Family Picnic. A multi-generational gathering of family, a day of games, of laughter, and of food… Oh so much food. It was often said that you never saw a photo of one of us without food in our mouth. Evidently, because we never gathered unless it was the annual picnic.

Often, it was held in one of the Uncle’s fields (which field, I don’t remember) but as my Uncle (Dad’s younger brother) mentioned yesterday, the treed field had all been plowed under and was all now a grain field. It did move in later years, locations – I no longer recall.

However, with time, most things are forgotten and as our great-aunts aged, no one took the picnic planning over and after some forty years, the tradition died out… And now, with only one of my great aunts still remaining, there really isn’t anyone left to gather everyone together.

But yesterday was interesting. All my Dad’s siblings were there. Both his sisters, plus his two half sisters and half brother, and his step-mother. It was really good to see them all together. I know it made my Dad happy. While the relationships have been a little difficult over the years (with us all), it was good to see everyone and it was nice to know that once was, was no longer. Time changes perceptions.

Will it be another seven years before I see them all again? Maybe. But at least I know that if it takes that long, I won’t have the anxiety that the little girl in me has carried all these years.