Showing posts with label peace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peace. Show all posts
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Find your refuge in 2009
On a visit to Jerome this past year, I stayed over night at the Surgeon's House. The owner has created a refuge for the guests who join her. The rooms are decorated with keepsakes from her childhood and local artist paintings of the historic home. The breakfasts she makes out of love; you can taste it in the way she presents it and serves it to you on china with silver and ironed linens in a dining room filled with antique furnishings.
The community space includes handcrafted iron railings, balconies, secret gardens, and hidden walkways like the one pictured above. This one begins at a gate that opens up to a fence lined with rustic Noah bells. Ring them, and the sound is said to release negative energy and help inspire the day ahead. At the far end sits a bench where you can rest, reflect and observe your surroundings.
Located high up on a hill, you can see the former ghost town-turned artists' community down below. You can see the red rocks of Sedona and the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff in the distance. Behind you is a mountain with the big white letter J painted on the side. In front of you are koi ponds, fountains and various plants and flowers that mostly bloom year-round: jasmine, rose bushes, day lillies, gardenias, irises, daisies and more.
Each morning, you'll find the owner of this B&B in her kitchen, sitting at a table with her legs crossed, meditating over tarot cards. She lights candles and incense, surrounds herself with beautiful things, and this is how she begins her day. She understands the importance of finding your refuge, knowing who you are at your inner core, becoming aware. She's created a space to do that for herself and where you can come to do the same.
Invited to stay with her, I was working on my trave guide when I was in Jerome this last time. I've vowed to return to this hilltop site another time, however, as I felt an inner peace there that I couldn't quite fully reach as I was working and interviewed her and the guests she invited over for me to meet. My next journey there will be more about reflection. A weekend retreat could provide that, and I know I'll return there this year. I'm drawn, and when I'm drawn somewhere, I listen and follow.
In the year ahead, think about where you'll go to find your refuge, what you'll do, how you'll fit it into your tight schedule. If something's been calling out to you in your subconscious, give the call a voice. Let it be heard. It's clearly telling you something important.
Perhaps it's saying you need time alone. No matter how difficult it may seem, trust this is true. Yes, you work all day and then may have to prepare dinner for the family in the evenings. Yes, you must get the kids to after-school activities. And, yes, there is shopping to do and your favorite TV shows to watch. Don't forget there is also a YOU to look after. Finding your refuge is one small step you can take to do that in 2009.
I hope you'll have a happy new year.
P.S. If you visit me at The Phoenix Traveler, you can enter a giveaway for a special treat from the Montelucia Resort.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Are you getting the picture?
By now, perhaps you're getting an idea of what I mean by this BIKE thing. I often refer to it as my BIKE philosophy. The reason I say it's uniquely yours is because no one can really tell you how to handle your personal challenges.
How you deal with anger, how you deal with fear, how you deal with the everyday challenges that sometimes get in your way (a flat tire, perhaps, or traffic on the way to work) is dependent on your response. Your response is dependent on your perspective. A healthy perspective comes from your willingness to observe and learn.
Take, for example, yesterday. I'd been on the road, traveling with other travel journalists for a week. On the weekend, I was able to fit in yet another two-day trip with my boyfriend. On Sunday afternoon, we drove home. It was an easy ride. But as we pulled into the Phoenix metro area, a sign on the freeway said the road ahead was closed. We needed to be on that road to get home. But we had to exit much sooner than expected, and take an out-of-the way path home. My boyfriend was in much too much of a hurry, I suspect, because when he found an open lane, he pulled in quickly. And since it was clear, despite all the cars backed up on the inside lane, he sped up. As he did so, a car pulled out of that backed up lane and into our clear one, the exit lane. It seemed like a move one might expect. But he got upset that this car pulled into his lane. He had to quickly put on the breaks. We nearly had an accident. I didn't think it was the smartest move on his part, the speeding up, I mean, and I told him so. He was upset with the car ahead, and he was upset with me. But I think he should have been upset with himself first. He didn't need to speed up. He should have anticipated a car pulling out in front of him, under the circumstances. Thank goodness there was no accident. He's over it now, of course, but I'm left to wonder why he wouldn't take some responsibility in this close call. It isn't the biggest issue in the world, but I may bring it up for discussion again sometime because I'd really like to know his way of thinking. I'm curious to know why he responded the way he did.
What I'm saying here is that you are responsible for your response in any given situation. If you can own up to that responsibility (and I don't think he did that in this case) you'll have less stress in your life. You'll be able to see things from more than one perspective, and your conflict will be lessoned.
As I was sharing my BIKE philosophy with a fellow writer a few days earlier, this writer told me that he had just spoken to a woman he knew had been divorced ten years earlier. He told me she was still bitter about it. I told him that's why I am continuing to share my BIKE story with others. Holding onto that kind of discontent toward another person does you no good. It holds you back. It locks you in the past. An accident, a divorce, a dispute of any kind--they each require the involvement, generally, of more than one person. In order to find the best result for yourself, you must know where your responsibility lies. When you own that, you'll own the best outcome you can control. When you understand that, you'll move forward without regret.
Where there is no regret, there is acceptance, and where there is acceptance, there is peace.
I wish you all peace.
All my best,
Jackie
How you deal with anger, how you deal with fear, how you deal with the everyday challenges that sometimes get in your way (a flat tire, perhaps, or traffic on the way to work) is dependent on your response. Your response is dependent on your perspective. A healthy perspective comes from your willingness to observe and learn.
Take, for example, yesterday. I'd been on the road, traveling with other travel journalists for a week. On the weekend, I was able to fit in yet another two-day trip with my boyfriend. On Sunday afternoon, we drove home. It was an easy ride. But as we pulled into the Phoenix metro area, a sign on the freeway said the road ahead was closed. We needed to be on that road to get home. But we had to exit much sooner than expected, and take an out-of-the way path home. My boyfriend was in much too much of a hurry, I suspect, because when he found an open lane, he pulled in quickly. And since it was clear, despite all the cars backed up on the inside lane, he sped up. As he did so, a car pulled out of that backed up lane and into our clear one, the exit lane. It seemed like a move one might expect. But he got upset that this car pulled into his lane. He had to quickly put on the breaks. We nearly had an accident. I didn't think it was the smartest move on his part, the speeding up, I mean, and I told him so. He was upset with the car ahead, and he was upset with me. But I think he should have been upset with himself first. He didn't need to speed up. He should have anticipated a car pulling out in front of him, under the circumstances. Thank goodness there was no accident. He's over it now, of course, but I'm left to wonder why he wouldn't take some responsibility in this close call. It isn't the biggest issue in the world, but I may bring it up for discussion again sometime because I'd really like to know his way of thinking. I'm curious to know why he responded the way he did.
What I'm saying here is that you are responsible for your response in any given situation. If you can own up to that responsibility (and I don't think he did that in this case) you'll have less stress in your life. You'll be able to see things from more than one perspective, and your conflict will be lessoned.
As I was sharing my BIKE philosophy with a fellow writer a few days earlier, this writer told me that he had just spoken to a woman he knew had been divorced ten years earlier. He told me she was still bitter about it. I told him that's why I am continuing to share my BIKE story with others. Holding onto that kind of discontent toward another person does you no good. It holds you back. It locks you in the past. An accident, a divorce, a dispute of any kind--they each require the involvement, generally, of more than one person. In order to find the best result for yourself, you must know where your responsibility lies. When you own that, you'll own the best outcome you can control. When you understand that, you'll move forward without regret.
Where there is no regret, there is acceptance, and where there is acceptance, there is peace.
I wish you all peace.
All my best,
Jackie
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