Tag: travel

[A GOOD NEWS STORY]

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I’d like you to take a moment and drink in this good news story. Goodness knows we all could use one of those!  

This past September, I traveled to Kentucky to participate in a 5-day Shamanic Intensive designed by one of my beloved shamanic teachers, Barbara Bloecher. This was my second intensive with Barbara in Kentucky, and it was an incredible experience which fed my soul on many levels. Barbara has quite the shamanic community down there and I was blessed to meet several of her students, collaborators and fellow practitioners. It was one of the highlights of my year. 

There was one woman who I met named Laura. Laura told me a story that burst my heart wide open, and a story I have the privilege of sharing with you. 

Laura lives in Louisville, KY with her husband Paul and their 13-yr old son, Joseph. She is the Business Manager at a non-profit organization called JustFaith Ministries, which writes and facilitates social and racial justice work. This was her 3rd intensive. 

The following is the story she told me at the intensive which I asked her to write down for me: 

“Last year, around this time, I was taking the same route daily to check mail at a PO Box for the ministry I’m employed with.  There was a particular off ramp where a gentleman stood with a sign and I would see him several times a week.  There was a particular instance where I knew that if I saw him again, I would stop and ask him if there was anything I could do for him to make his day better.  The next time I saw him standing there, I rolled down my window and said, “I’m stopping by Walgreens.  Is there anything I can get you to make your day a little better?”  His answer was powder deodorant and ear plugs.  The honesty of his answer is what stuck with me more than anything.  While I was at Walgreens, I also picked up a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Christmas Trees.  When I stopped back by to drop his items off, he was elated and so excited for the candy.

I stopped to talk to him a few more times before Christmas last year and once, gave him a Christmas Card with $60 in it.  When I was at the ATM pulling the money, I asked myself, what am I doing?  Yet, I felt it in my gut and heart it was the right thing to do.  He almost cried when I handed it to him, with my phone number.  The next few weeks brought the coldest winter I think I’ve spent in Kentucky and I thought about Stefan daily and wondered how he was.  I knew that he stayed at the Salvation Army shelter in the evenings and over the course of our friendship, learned that he would have to leave the shelter by 5am and find warmth until he took the bus to his panhandling spot, spend all day there and then hop the bus back to the shelter for the 5pm line up.  His schedule fascinated me because I learned that this is what kept him moving and hopeful.

After Christmas, I saw him again and he told me that the $60 that I gave him went towards turning his phone back on.  He said he had lost my number and needed it again.  After that day, we communicated, almost daily.  I’d take him breakfast or lunch.  I’d sit under the underpass in my car and he would talk through my window.  We formed a friendship through the window of my car.

One day, I noticed that his gloves were full of holes and that his hands were red and chapped.  I began asking him what he needed and it was everything.  He had nothing.   This is the day I started the S and Friends wish list. Over the course of two weeks, the amazing people of my spiritual and Facebook communities and well as family and friends, donated enough through the Amazon wish list to provide him with clothes, shoes, a new rain coat, an umbrella, towels, pajamas and so much more.  They also provided these items for a few of his friends, on the streets.

One day, I asked my husband, Paul, if S. could do some work around our house and this led to us having him work for us all Spring.  He did so many tasks that my husband and I let fall behind due to certain circumstances in our lives that we were working through.  S. helped us as much as we helped him.  Before long, the neighbors were talking about how nice our place looked.  Other neighbors began hiring him. A friend of Paul’s sold him an old truck for $1000.  This gave him the ability to drive and work.  Eventually, a friend of mine hired him full time and he is still working for him to this day.

S. still lives at the shelter. He calls us when he has questions about his vehicle or needs advice on other things.  He’s almost like a son that has gone away to college.  My son, Joseph, has been part of this journey and has grown to love S. as well.  The two of them talk football and video games.  It’s a beautiful thing.

S. was the first person that I asked if he needed anything.  He really was the beginning of the journey.  I believe God had a plan in this to keep me focused and committed.

[I asked Laura what she thought the solution was to house-lessness and the encampment sweeps that several cities across the nation are forced to do. Here’s what she wrote:] 

“The question regarding sweeping the camps and alternatives has always left me at a loss.  I’ve helped people that have just had their camp swept and have been wandering the streets trying to acclimate.  It isn’t pretty.  I don’t know the answer.  I think about it all the time and I just don’t have it.  Sometimes, the city of Louisville gives warnings.  Sometimes they don’t.  When they do give warnings, there are organizations in town that help the camps move, which prevents the people from losing everything.  That is the worst part about sweeping.  People lose everything they own.”

[I asked Laura what myth people get wrong about the unhoused; this is her response:]

“[The myth people get wrong] I learned through meeting S.  Not everyone on the streets is a drug addict.  Not every pan handler is making hundreds of dollars a day.  I was so fascinated by learning, over time, about his [S.’s] schedule and what it consisted of.  He made enough to eat and get a pack of smokes and take the bus every day.  And he did that for years.  He worked odd jobs by people he would meet panhandling but they never amounted to anything that provided him a stable environment.  He’s a good person.  It’s been a year and he’s a good friend.  He’s genuine and loving.  He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever met.  I’m thankful everyday that I met him and he became a part of me and my family’s life.”

What assumptions have you made about people? I know that as hard as I try not to judge people, little assessments still come out, even if they are never voiced or acted upon. Sandra Ingerman, my shamanic teachers’ teacher, says that thoughts carry energy, and are bound to manifest one way or another. 

What experiences have I missed out on, because I judged someone? 

I wonder what the world might be like when we are all able to carry the best thoughts about everybody–including ourselves!–around in our heads and hearts. How might our actions then change, as Laura’s did, when she was brave enough to ask a simple question to a ‘total stranger’? 

This Yule, give the best of yourself to someone. Anyone. They will feel your attention, your care. And they won’t forget it! 

FEATURED PRACTITIONER: DEBRA BLUTH 

Are you looking for that perfect Maine-made flower essence, tea or herbal remedy for the nature-loving loved one in your life? Do you need a little something to help you restore from a long year, or support your immune system through the holidays? Let me introduce you to Debra! 

Debra Bluth is a CCH is a classical homeopath, herbalist, and flower essence practitioner with a private practice in midcoast Maine and online.  She makes many of her own remedies.  She also works through Delta Gardens, a center for flower essence research and practice in NH, and some of the essences she makes are sold through Delta Gardens.  Debra also teaches herbal and flower essence classes and workshops, and recently has been teaching at Viles Arboretum in Augusta.  She has history as a choreographer and improvisational movement artist, and improvisation and contemplative movement practices largely inform her work to this day.  If she’s not with clients or classes, you will find her in the woods and with the plants.  To connect or for appointments, call 617-999-7765, email seedandlegend@gmail.com, or visit www.seedandlegend.com.

*Mark your (summer) calendar! Debra and I are working on a day-long retreat here at Avalon that will involve plant identification, connecting with the spirit of the plant, and dancing the essence together as a group on the land, post walk. We are very excited about this! Although we have not nailed down the specific week-end, it will likely be the 3rd or 4th week-end in July! 

Take a SNEAK PEEK!

at the 2024 calendar at AVALON ACRES! 

[Although I have not yet made web pages that go along with these events, please MARK YOUR CALENDARS for these exciting offerings in 2024!]

02/03 IMBOLC CEREMONY (with Kristi Dawson)

03/23: SHAMANISM AND BREATHWORK (with Brett Aldrich)

04/20: MEDICINE DRUM WORKSHOP (with Jane E. King) 

05/04: BELTANE CEREMONY(with Jacquie Boudreau) 

05/25 & 06/08: NATURE IMMERSION WANDER (with Nancy Anderson) 

06/21: JOURNEY DANCE and SOLSTICE SPIRIT BATHING (with Amylia Jayne)

07/21: (*this date is flexible, we have to see what the flowers are doing): PLANT WALK and FLOWER ESSENCE DANCE (with Debra Bluth) 

08/03: LUGHNASA CEREMONY (with Kristi Dawson) 

Offerings To Be Scheduled: Healing with Horses (with Emily Brooks, my neighbor!); Transmuting Victim Consciousness (with Kat Beaudoin); FALL Nature Immersion Wander (with Nancy Anderson); Avalon Acres Open House and Bonfire; Acts of Kindness circle (with Jeff Edlestein); ON-GOING Monthly Wise Women Talking circles (with Nancy Cole); Astrology and SoulWork (with Amanda Painter); Drum Circles (with Darlene Harvey) 

And if we EVER GET SOME SNOW….

UPCOMING EVENTS AT AVALON 

WISE WOMEN TALKING 

SNOW SHOE! 

SATURDAY DECEMBER 30th

1PM-3:30 PM 

Let’s take our talk into the wild, snowy landscape of hemlock, pine, birch, maple and oak and feel the very last of 2023 leave our bones…

Arrive before 1 PM to get settled and change into your snowshoes. We’ll hit the trail together and walk in silence for a little bit, contemplating these “inner landscapes”: 

__Our greatest accomplishment in 2023 (be it physical, mental, financial, spiritual or otherwise!) 

__Our hardest lesson of 2023 (but well worth it!!) 

__What inspires our Souls

__How do we practice simplicity amidst the chaos of these times? 

We will pause in the woods at a designated “power spot” to discuss the above and speak to anything else that needs to be shared and witnessed. Offerings will be given to the land and a song will be offered as well to the Spirit of Avalon. 

After heading back to the barn, we will gather for tea and crumpets (likely poundcake). Participants will be on their merry way before it gets dark! 

IMBOLC: Making an Altar to Brigid at the Sacred Waters 

With Fellow Celtic Shamanic Practitioner, Kristi Dawson 

Saturday, February 3rd, 2024 

[details are forthcoming about this ceremony; Kristi and I are coming up with some special rituals and considering how weather may play a role! Stay tuned!]

YULE 2023/2024: A JOURNAL PROMPT FOR YOU! 

Still with me, loves? Great. Let’s do some writing. 

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR. Probably not for the same reason that a lot of people do but that’s ok. What I love is: the ‘JANUS SURGE,’ the opportunity to stand at that sacred threshold of the old and yet-to-be, the feeling that we have ‘made it through’ another year. Janus is the Roman God of gates, doorways, beginnings, duality, and passages, who could look backwards and forward at the same time. I also feel that time stands still here at Yule (and Solstice means ‘Sun Standing Still’). It is a time-out-of-time where our busy routines can be set aside, where we can take stock of the finer treasures of our lives. Surely a season of giving, it is also a time to GIVE YOURSELF STILLNESS. 

Giving yourself the gift of TIME, dip that quill in ye olde ink pot and pick one (or both!) of these prompts: 

__Taking Stock of Treasures: As you contemplate the past year, list your greatest accomplishments, whether they are accomplishments of the mind, body, heart, or pocketbook. What negative pattern did you finally break? Who did you forgive? What new routine did you incorporate that enhances your life? Did you get a new look, finally throw out ALL the socks with holes? WHATEVER you did that feels like a personal feat, a measure of your strength, write about it in detail. We never give ourselves enough credit for our small or large accomplishments. 

__Dreaming Onward: Imagine it is December (date you’re reading this) 2024. And you’re about to sit down and do the above journal prompt about all the great things you did, acquired, mastered or otherwise rocked out of the park in 2024. What’s on the list? Pretend you are ALREADY THERE, taking stock of your amazing achievements and treasures of 2024. After writing the list, take a moment to look at this imagined 2024 life. What are you really excited about accomplishing? What gets your heart rate up on this list? Circle it, make a collage, paint something with words and symbols that represent that feeling, that accomplishment. And put it somewhere you will see it often. 

HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS for that LOVER OF BOOKS! 

Do you know this guy? This is my friend and fellow writer, Clif Travers. Clif got his book of short stories, The Stones of Riverton, published this year! And IT IS FABULOUS. 

Clif Travers is a visual artist and writer living in Portland, Maine. His writing has been featured in Underwood Press, Freeze Frame Fiction, Coffin Bell Journal, Crack the Spine Anthology, Dime Show Review, and Sonora Review, among others. Clif received his MFA in creative writing from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine, and he teaches creative writing at Writerfest in New York, The Writing Center in Gloucester Massachusetts, the MWPA in Portland, Maine, and Maine Media in Camden, Maine. Clif just started his new post this week at Portland Magazine as Asst. Editor/Writer! 

To see more of Clif’s work, check out his website: http://cliftravers.com/

To order The Stones of Riverton: Kelly’s Books on the Go or Amazon 

STILL NEED A GOOD REASON TO MAKE SOMEONE’S DAY? 

My dear sweet husband, Michael, is working hard to establish Avalon Acres as a producer of delicious, organically grown food. It takes A LOT to grow food, much less the sustainable way [“no till” practice] that we do. One of his highlights this year was getting our beautiful produce (and eggs!) to the Woodsford Corner Farmers Market in Portland. He met some other farmers (yah!), made some new contacts, and introduced Avalon to greater Portland. 

But Woodsford Farmers Market is in its nascent stage of establishing itself. If you love fresh, Maine-grown food and want to support the local economy, please consider donating to their campaign to keep the market going in 2024! 

Click here for more details and to donate! 

And Happy Holidays!