Outside the Pigeon Holes

I am taking a class called a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) through a website called Coursera . Coursera MOOCs are taught by major universities in the United States and abroad - and they are FREE! If you enjoy learning I recommend checking out what they have to offer. The subject areas range from arts to history to engineering and trigonometry. Really, go check it out. It's a treasure trove for learning addicts like me. So, anyway, the class is called 'Creativity, Innovation and Change' which is taught by faculty from Penn State University. Its focus is to help you discover your creative style (everyone is creative - creativity is not limited to the arts and humanities!) and offers strategies for beginning and following through with innovative ideas. One of my favorite exercises was Life Ring. It is explained in detail in the book 'Center - A system of 6 practices for pursuing your passions and purpose in self, family, work and community'  - you can get this bo...

Found this in my drafts but never published it...This was a turning point in my journey...And I don't regret at all having made this choice. I determined that I'm probably violating the will of God by even being interested in seizing the day and throwing worry to the wind.... Probably this is all a trick of the devil to get me to make a whole lot of bad choices. But if I were to be honest, the last 6 years of my life were the result of one colossally bad choice, but in it, I have found a closer, more authentic, relationship with Father God and company! So, bring on the bad choices! Ok, I don't really want to make bad choices...I just don't want to spend the rest of my existence trying to manage myself so microscopically that I forget to live.

I was reading my Bible last night (Message Version) and this was what I stumbled upon: "Jesus said, 'no procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's Kingdom off til tomorrow. SEIZE THE DAY '" - Luke 9:62 Woohoo!

Funny how when you step out of comfort zones you get...well...uncomfortable! Saturday and Sunday were kinda weird...I worried alot. I second guessed a lot...I imagine I'll have lot of that until I get my full grown Eagle's wings... :) Saturday I saw my girlies at Zen and Now...Theresa and Tracy played "Guido" and got the decree signed for me because I didn't really feel like dealing with the ex - we always end up arguing. I hate that...Harmony is one of my top 5 strengths. Disharmony eats away at me. And I'm not in a place where I can yet let go of my irritation. Planning to maybe take care of that tonight at Monday group - a little clean-up mini-sozo - offering up forgiveness in the presence of supportive friends. Hopefully one day we'll have peace with each other. We're both good people at heart. We just aren't good together. I took the puppers to the dog park yesterday afternoon. Sometimes I forget to appreciate them. They are such blessings...I...

It all began Friday night. My friend Jim was playing piano at The Syndicate. I had a couple of friends who were going to go with me to see him. But they were called away by cleaning duty at home. So I was left wondering if I should journey down to the piano bar alone. That's when Paul said: "Carpe Diem...You should go". ...So I did. And had a wonderful evening. Jim played at this huge white Grand Piano which made me think of my beloved Barry Manilow. :) He was taking requests so I asked for "Desperado". I love that song and it brings back a wonderful memory I have of riding in a convertible with Allen across the California desert back in the 90s. Following that someone (not me, I swear!) requested "Mandy" by Barry Manilow. So Jim sang that one and then went right into another Manilow tune "Could it be Magic" - one of my favorites. I listened to the music while writing a letter to Gina - my oldest and dearest friend. I also talked to Jesus for...