Blossoming Feminine Wisdom

I commit to revealing and nurturing my true inner light, to gratefully embracing and gracefully rising above life's challenges, to choosing FAITH over FEAR and LOVE over HATE, to recognizing and supporting what's right ... with me and with the world ... vs focusing on what's wrong, to being open to redefining and active in recreating who I currently know my Self to be and to transforming and evolving into truly BEing the change I wish to see in the world.

Happy New Year to all of my BraveHeart Sisters. May 2012 bring you Peace. ♥

~Lisa

There are so many shifts happening in my life and so many ways that I am opening to and blossoming into my own, inherent, feminine wisdom. There has been transformation in many aspects of my life. Some I’ve accepted joyfully and some were and still are a bit more challenging to get through. Collectively though, they’ve ALL collaborated to bring me to right here … where I am right now ... experiencing a joy-full, peace-full and beauty-full moment in my own evolution.

To me, transforming means that I fully realize that I am not bound by the "rules" of yesterday. This realization allows me to sever the connection and “pull the plug” on yesterday with the understanding that the severing of the connection does not have to come from a place of rejection, but rather it can come from a place of acceptance. Acceptance brings peacefulness.

I can now remind my Self that “it was what it was” in “that moment” but that moment is over now; that this is a NEW moment with no attachment to prior moments; that it is what it is … right now; to be in this moment not with the attachment to all of the moments that have come before but to really BE in THIS moment with the WISDOM of all of the moments before.

I am beginning to see how this acceptance can assist me to celebrate every moment, in the moment, whether it feels joyful or is challenging. The acceptance of all of them leads to inner peace.

I wonder ... is transformation is a deeper level of blossoming or is it perhaps an entirely new bud on the same flower? Or perhaps both?

What does transformation mean to you?

with love and BraveHeart hugs,
Lisa

What Would You Say by Trailer Choir

My son Josh shared this song with me on his way out the door this morning. As I listened, I felt increasing waves of emotion roll through me with each line of the song. The words and the music seemed to touch so many things … all at once.

When my tears started and Josh moved to comfort me, I said “It’s okay. I’m okay. This was just what I needed to hear today … the tears are perfect and cleansing ... I’m not hurting I am just releasing old bullshit through the tears … clearing the way for the journey ahead. It’s all perfect … Thank you for sharing this with me today … it’s all perfect.”

Thank you, Joshua. I love you and I am honored to be your mom.

What would I say?



What would you say?

...

A quick look at the news these days and I come away feeling sad. There is chaos happening that feels beyond my control. People are suffering and dying. How can I possibly make a difference? Can there ever really be World Peace?

I have been exploring the concept that the world as we experience it is simply a larger reflection of our how we see ourselves on an individual level. That our outside world mirrors what is happening personally inside each of us and that we may be making a contribution to that chaotic global reflection whether we realize it or not.

Mirrors are fascinating things that we are both attracted to and attempt to hide from. They are truthful in ways that we may have a difficult time accepting. It is different for all of us, yet also very much the same. The first step in creating a Peaceful World requires being able to look in the mirror and make peace with what is reflected there.

Listen to what is said in your mind as you look in the mirror. What are the words on the tapes that are playing in your head? Are they critical? “My nose is too big ... my hips are too wide ... uggghhh my hair! … I look horrible today …” These are the silent messages that are being repeated in your subconscious mind all day long - whether you intend them to or not. These reflections on your Self ‘color your world’ all throughout the day to reflect many different aspects of ‘not being enough’. Not very peaceful is it?

If you pay attention, you will also see this ‘not enough’ as it manifests in your day. You will see it in what you complain about and what ‘sets you off’. At the end of the day, again whether you intended to or not, you’ve had many reflections, many replays of ‘horrible today’ being delivered through many different situations and messengers. Not only do you feel horrible but everyone you came in contact with that day also shares in carrying some of that horrible feeling. Some brought it to you and some left you with it.

So what’s the secret? What if you could subconsciously push the play button on tapes that are loving and supportive of you all day long? What if those tapes YOU create also transform ‘whether you intended to or not’ into conscious and purposeful intention? What if you transformed the silent words playing in your head from subconsciously creating horrible to instead creating acceptance or love or peace?

I invite you to try this for yourself. While preparing for your day, as you see yourself reflected in the mirror, make a conscious point of allowing a moment to look deeply into your own eyes and say aloud, “I Love and Accept my Self unconditionally.” Allow a full minute to be in that space and repeat those words over and over. Smile at your Self. Breathe.

Allow this moment of nurturing YOU to become an essential part of your morning routine and then just be curious and watch as unconditional love and acceptance ‘colors your world’. You will begin to see that it is replayed and reflected through many situations and messengers in your daily life. Some will bring it to you and some will leave you with it.

The way to a peaceful world begins with YOU!



with much love and gratitude,
Lisa

After sampling a few of the plethora of apps available on Facebook I’ve made the conscious choice to only install and keep a manageable few and only choose the ones that feel aligned with Living on Purpose. I am enjoying the Farmville Life as I find in it a way to stay connected to nature in those times when I am doing the work that brings me inside from the outdoors. Within participating in the game of Farmville an additional and perhaps unintended connection is made.



There is a wonderful glitch in the system between Facebook, Farmville and my Blackberry that I truly hope they do not fix. Whenever one of my fellow farmers and Farmville neighbors posts a gift on my wall the Facebook/Zynga game system sends an alert to my email where the subject line reads something like “Farmer Joanne posted a gift on your wall ...” while on the Blackberry/Facebook connection the subject line in the alert reads “Happy Birthday …”.

This really confused me several months ago when it first started happening as it wasn’t my birthday at all. I couldn’t understand why in October and November I was getting all of these “Happy Birthday” messages on my phone. My birthday was in September. As I started connecting the dots I began to observe that the “Happy Birthday” messages only came from people who had also posted a birthday wish on my wall on my official birthday.

Through daily Farmville Happy Birthday alerts I was reconnected to those who celebrated me with me on the anniversary of the day of my birth. Through these daily connections I then began to awaken to something deeper … that EVERY day can not only carry the message of a birthday it can also bring the gifts of a birthday. Each day holds the possibility of being a RE-Birthday if I am simply willing to allow it to be. I can choose to celebrate my Self and be RE-Birthed each and every morning when I awaken to the blank canvas of a new day ... and ... whether they intend to be or not my Farmville friends are right there celebrating with me.

The glitch in the system is becoming less consistent and the Farmville/Blackberry alert subject lines are changing a bit so it’s possible that these daily “Happy Birthday” wishes will come to an end soon. I almost don’t want to share the details of the glitch publicly lest I call attention to it as a software bug that goes on a list of things that require a patch. I’d like things to stay just as they are in this regard, thank you!

I am grateful for the daily “Happy Birthday” wishes from my sisters and brothers, Farmville Farmers, Neighbors and Friends. My connection with you is assisting me in my choice to Live my Life on Purpose. It is my birthday wish that sharing the details of a “Happy Birthday” system glitch honors and acknowledges my appreciation for the gifts YOU in my life

Happy Birthday to YOU!

With much love,
Lisa

It’s been nearly a year since my Blue Moon Affirmations where I set my intentions for the year … wow, time certainly flies … I am grateful for all of the gifts in my life that are assisting me to let go of who I currently know my Self to be and remember who I am. Like the dragonfly, I am transforming.



There are so many things to be grateful for that sometimes become so difficult to see in going about my daily life wrapped up in the many layers of who I think I am. Some days I observe that I am grateful for the hot water in the shower, which is always there on demand when I need it … I take my time and I allow my Self to really feel how nice it is to stand under it. Some days I barely recall the shower as I get caught up in following my mind doing what it does best - thinking.

When I am able to Be, I am not traveling on some past/future mind-trip yet I am allowing my Self to fully experience life in the moment for what it is. I become aware of just how much there is to be grateful for and of how everything … every person and every living thing … is connected. I begin to hear the voice of my soul just a bit stronger. It is the energy of gratitude that assists me to know me.

The more I allow my Self to let go of doing and simply be, the more me is revealed. It’s as though the experience of consciousness, however small a moment in time, unwraps a layer of paper revealing more and more of the gift that is my life.

From day to day, this unwrapping of the gift of my life sometimes happens so slowly that to me, it isn’t noticeable. Yet when I allow the energy of gratitude and change my perspective a bit, looking back over the past year reveals a blossoming that is measurable.

Although a very personal and solitary process, this blossoming does not occur in isolation from the world. I am filled with gratitude for the relationships that I have and the people who are and who will be a part my life. Every relationship, every interaction with another human being assists me to Be. Allowing the gifts in some relationships is effortless and in others a bit more challenging, yet no matter what the wrapping, they are all gifts.

It is truly wonderful to Be on this journey of life walking beside so many incredible giving, loving and affirming people. I am grateful for YOU! Thank you.

With love and Thanks-giving,
Lisa

Corny as it may seem in comparison to today's music I must admit that I am a John Denver fan. Just something about that "Thank God I'm a Country Boy(Girl)!" feeling that gets me inspired and in touch with my roots ... many of his songs do, actually ...

I was listening to Sunshine On My Shoulders this morning and really felt and heard the words. I always love how I can hear songs over and over, know them by heart and then one day ... really hear/feel them and then know them in heart.

My shoulders are warm and I am happy. ;o) I am grateful for my incredible family and friends who love me unconditionally ... a fantastic job that assists me to nurture my artistic self and customers who enjoy those creative expressions ... and teachers, mentors and guides who encourage me to think outside the box and then assist me to trust in mySelf to know when and how to take action on those many out-of-the-box Ah-Ha! moments.

I love my life!

It’s ALL good. Enjoy the ride!

In gratitude for ALL of life’s gifts.
with love,
Lisa

Hello my BraveHeart Sisters,

I have been practicing letting go of "do-ing" and simply "be-ing". I am growing. I had a small ah-ha moment this morning which prompted a series of questions that I am beginning to explore. I would love your perspectives on this.

As I practice loving and accepting myself, just as I am, I am conscious of being required to also love and accept others, just as they are. I see my degree of love and acceptance of others as a mirror indicating my own love and acceptance of myself.

Is there a fine line between 'loving and accepting' and 'enabling' when it comes to behavior that is not self serving? Does love and acceptance mean "without criticism or analysis"? What energy is required to tap into to fully embrace "I love and accept me/you unconditionally" yet that also allows for or nurtures the energy of growing?

When acting in a relationship in such a way that I am enabling negative behavior am I also enabling a variant of the energy of the behavior in myself?

How do I release enabling and embrace fully honoring myself and others? I am not sure I even fully understand how I am enabling, however, I am conscious it happening ... at the same time, the warrior within me is whispering louder and louder ... there seems to be a connection between allowing that warrior to use her voice and breaking the cycle of enabling that is creating challenges in some of my relationships.

What does your feminine wisdom have to share about this? Are any of you seeing this manifest in your lives? How are you embracing this challenge?

with humble gratitude,
love,
Lisa

I’ve shared a little bit about my ah-ha moment(s) in experiencing Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s book The Call which, among many other things invites women to stop doing and rest. I have also shared my resistance to rest and observations that when the “is” (it is what it is) is accepted, embraced and thereby removed from the word “resist” the word is then transformed into “rest”.

This call to rest has been challenging. My husband and I recently spent an incredible week camping in the woods. In preparation for this week I packed a lot of things that I thought I might like to do while camping. In my backpack were several books that I am reading or re-reading, art supplies, my cameras and lenses and various other tools. I packed these things thinking that I might feel called to ‘do’ some of them.

Halfway through the week I realized that I had been so enjoying being in the moment experiencing camping in the woods that I had ‘forgotten’ about the things I brought to do. This observation brought a scolding with it and I observed myself ‘beating myself up’ in admonishment for resting and not being productive. I again remembered Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s call to stop ‘doing’ and rest and gave myself permission to do just that – to let go of the ‘busy-ness’ of doing, to rest and be still with myself, to be quiet enough to hear the truth of my own quiet voice from deep within, to connect with the Divine Essence of who I was born to be.

This morning as I was on my way out to the front porch to sip my coffee in the comfort of my wicker rocking chair I noticed a praying mantis clinging to the house near the door frame. I observed it for a few minutes noticing that while its body remained still, as if frozen, its head rotated around to follow me keeping an eye on me as I moved to capture it with the camera. The moments spent with the mantis inspired me to contemplate the symbolism of its appearance at my front door this morning. What message am I to receive from this creature?



The Praying Mantis is a messenger that carries the essence of the Power of Stillness. An appearance from the mantis is a message to be still, go within, meditate, and experience quiet and calmness. It can also indicate the need to be more mindful the choices you are making and confirm that these choices are congruent with your purpose.

The origin of the word Mantis comes from a Greek word that means “Prophet”. Perhaps if we can be still with ourselves we can open to our own prophecy. This stillness can be practiced as simple contemplation in the moment, in meditation or the restorative stillness of sleep and dreams.

Being still with the essence of mantis can teach us how to let go of the outer layers of thought and connect with our own inner power so that when we do take action we do so with confidence, precision and with great power.

There are many stories of the mantis across many cultures, one of the most widely known being from African lore. The Kalihari Bushmen of Africa believe that Mantis was a Bushman who carries plentiful tales of his many adventures. When he found that he got himself into trouble he would go off alone, go to sleep and dream a solution to his problem. This tale embodies the essence of this curious insect and brings with it the gift of the power of stillness. When we learn to still the outer mind and go within we can draw upon a greater power in the physical, mental emotional or spiritual realms to create peace that comes from being truly connected to our own Divine selves.

Chinese martial arts evolved around the activities of the praying mantis. In the practice of kung fu there is a meditation called “chi kung” which uses the breath to go within and direct the life force of the body along the seven major energy meridians or chakras of the body. This healing meditative practice can strengthen and empower the many organs and systems of the body and through it we can learn to use the gifts of this stillness in varying degrees from creating to healing.

The mantis hunts by remaining still and blending into its surroundings making it a great hunter. When the time is right it suddenly grasps its prey in its long forelegs folding them over its victim like a jackknife. This stillness before acting can be applied to ourselves as we contemplate the message of the praying mantis. Mantis asks us to observe our own actions in life. Are you sharing your plans and ideas prematurely? Are you impatient or acting in a haphazard or chaotic manner? Are you missing opportunities to receive life’s many gifts due to acting or speaking to quickly? Being still with the Essence of Praying Mantis can assist with these questions.

I am humbled and grateful for this Universal affirmation appearing at my front door this morning. Within its stillness mantis carries the essence of Awareness, Creativity, Patience, Mindfulness, Calm, Balance and Intuition. It brings peace and acceptance of "It is what it is." and "I am what I am." I allow myself to experience the healing stillness of going within and connecting to the truth of my deepest self.

What if acceptance permeates my belief system so deeply that I am not even aware of all of the 'ties' it has to my self-esteem? Am I required to discover, reveal, process and release each one individually or is it possible to be as though I have truly been reborn and release them all at once?

In asking this question I am not coming from a place of avoidance as much as I am from a place of expediency and efficiency. I want to move forward. To evolve. I want to surrender to who I am and trust that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

I understand that there is something I am getting - some psychological reason that I am hanging on to these old beliefs. I feel that it is related to feeling safe as I see evidence of issues of safety and privacy surfacing in my life.

Its like I'm seeking a safe place to be me in the physical world and there's always a reason I find to stop. The reasons appear as invasions of my private space, the phone ringing, interruptions, etc. I find myself wanting to escape to the beach or to the woods. To solitude.

And then the excuse becomes "when I have private', quiet, safe space then I will be me." What if that never happens? What if, in this physical world there really is no quiet or safe space? What if the space and safety I seek is inside of me? What if its always there, easily accessible, even in a crowded room? I am simply required to create it.

I keep hearing Dr Sugar saying "if you want to" in relation to my weight and letting go. I realize that is also true about everything. Its as simple as "if you want to".

I want to.

What's next?

Life has been busy and broken into a fast paced flow of intersecting situations that have been coming at her from everywhere at once. So many places to heal ...

Lined up outside the door is the line of many faces representing the areas in which she is required to heal. Each of these faces carries a message with it that she is required to receive with grace so that it may be accepted as part of allowing the full essence of who she is to emerge and to blossom.

She receives the messengers one by one and with the guidance of the Healing Council she assists with the integration of healing into each of these areas.

Occasionally, one of the messengers carries something they feel is so urgent that they storm the door, ignoring their place in line, breathlessly expressing a need that must be dealt with immediately.

The messengers voice and the message delivered raise alarm inside of her. A big one. There is a depth to this message that permeates all of her being. She knows this because she feels the little girl in her, her humanness, wanting to run and hide in the safety of the woods.

Wisdom, in her place at the center of the Council knows ... like she knows, like she knows, like she knows ... that all is well.

It is what it is.

It's all good.

Relax and be in the flow.

Strengthen your muscles.

Enjoy the ride.

Curious as to why the little girl is running she follows her for a bit assessing the best way to support her with love and divine guidance. She observes the layers of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual pain that the little girl travels though while she runs to the safety of her cocoon. Recognizing the essence of healing in each of them she returns to the present moment in the council chamber knowing what to do.

She thanks the messenger with a warm smile that carries the essence of a loving embrace. "Thank you for trusting your voice and delivering this message. I understand the urgency you brought with it. I will take care of this for you. Run now and be in Joy. Relax and be who you are. I will take care of this for you."

Satisfied, the messenger relaxes into the healing energy of council. She feels the shift. Preparing to release. Preparing to fly ...

She adds, "Please deliver a message to the faces outside the door that thanks them for their patience. I am honored to be a vessel through which the wisdom of healing can be integrated and I wish to honor each of their messages to the fullest with the same attention I am giving to the urgent message you just delivered. Tell them that I stand in gratitude for their patience."

Wisdom closes her eyes and with her breath receives the gifts of the message.

Tight at first ... Relax your shoulders and breathe ...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... That's better ... In the feminine flow ...

What am I required to do?

...

I am afraid.

All is good. All is well. Enjoy the ride.

...

I am afraid.

...

She knows what she must do ... like she knows, like she knows, like she knows ... she has done this many times before.

The first step always requires the most courage ...

My Dear Sisters,

Please accept my apologies. I am reposting one of my blog entries below and and making sure comments are enabled. I must have somehow ticked the box to not allow comments on this post and I can't find a way to un-tick it, so I am reposting it.

I have received several emails and messages on this subject through which I realized that some of you have a lot of your own personal wisdom to share about your own awakening to the power of your feminine energy.

Please feel free to share here as you shared with me privately. Again, I apologize for inadvertently disallowing comments.

"See" you on the Core Inner Circle call tonight!

Ahhhhhhhh!!!

with love and gratitude for my incredible BraveHeart Sisters!
Lisa


Funny how life works ...

I am a woman. I am a woman yet I have been surrounded by SO much masculine energy in my life. I am beginning to understand that there are many ways this has affected me. There are many layers of belief that are interconnected over many interconnecting layers of my life and how I live it AND more importantly that this masculine way of doing things, this masculine energy, has been the foundation of the tools I use and the methods I automatically implement when making choices in my every day life. This would be great if I were a man - men's tools seem to work well for men. Yet I am a woman.

I attended the Core Inner Circle call last night where Ellie shared more wonderful tools for tapping into our feminine wisdom. It's always amazing to me how the information on these calls affirms where I am, gives me a deeper understanding of how I have been operating on auto-pilot and then assists me to stretch and to grow to know mySelf better. With these new tools ... tools that honor my feminine energy, I am slowly, consistently and lovingly learning more and more about mySelf each day. I am learning how to be Me.

I love, admire and respect the men in my life and I appreciate masculine energy in many, many ways ... yet I do not wish to embody it mySelf. I am a woman and my life's purpose is to be as God created me, to heal and nurture my own feminine energy, embodying the full essence of what it means to be Me - to blossom into my own divine feminine wisdom - and through this awakening be in service to women who choose to heal and blossom into their own divine feminine wisdom.

Today, in assessing my To-Do List and what I am giving my attention to I feel a deep sense of peace ... "It is what it is" and "I am what I am." as Ellie says it and as my son Jeff used to say, "It's all good! Enjoy the ride!"

with love and gratitude,
Lisa

My purpose is to heal.

In gratitude and with love for ALL in my life that assists me to heal. I am grateful for the faces that the energies of healing choose to manifest in my life. I am humbled before the many forms that the energy of healing chooses to take. I am in the moment with the essence of healing.

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!

Being Inspiration in Action,
Lisa

Interesting observations ... After being inspired by Oriah Mountain Dreamer's The Call, I invited a deeper understanding of how to balance "doing" and "resting". I recognize myself resisting rest. The ‘tapes’ that automatically 'play' in my mind point the finger at others who I feel will scold me for resting. Yet I recognize that it is really me who is scolding me. That is the mirror of truth. I can only be scolded if I allow it. I hadn't seen this scolding as an opinion before and did not fully realize that it could be released.

I also observed that resist becomes rest when 'is' has been fully accepted. When "It is what it is." is applied to 'resist', the 'is' , accepted, disappears much the same as darkness cannot exist where there is light – and then ‘resist' becomes 'rest'

In gratitude for this deeper understanding of many, many things.
With Love,
Lisa

"It's easier done than said." ~Ellie Drake

Thank you, Ellie for this affirmation and thank you Universe for the gift of the layers of deeper meaning. I see myself in this affirmation today and I understand how to apply this to my life. It's like looking in a mirror at the truth and then no longer being able to look away in denial of that facet of me.

What does it mean that I am discovering the secret of 'doing' on the heels of experiencing Oriah Mountain Dreamer's, The Call, inviting women to stop doing and 'rest'?

Where do I find balance between doing and rest?

I feel that the answer is perhaps that when purpose is applied as a recipe within the doing that I naturally do each day, the doing becomes effortless. When purpose is applied to rest, the quiet space created somehow assists with the actions required in the doing.

I feel that a big part of the secret to assisting my Self to grow in balance is related to the recipe or belief system that I choose to apply within the doing and the resting. I am open to expanding and empowering my collection of recipes by releasing those that do not nourish me and inviting those that do.

I am humbled and I am grateful,
with love and light,
Lisa

I experienced an interesting article this morning. Hotel First Nation, written by Robert Animikii Horton, was inspired by the movie Hotel Rwanda and describes the many divisions within our human existence and how those divisions distract us from knowing the truth of UNITY and Community.

While I've been circling around an understanding of division, duality and the many undertones carried by them that affect us on a personal level, whether we are conscious of it or not, I hadn't thought of it this way. In experiencing this article I have a new understanding of many things including Gandhi's quote "you must be the change you wish to see in the world". I am inspired to contribute to the movement of ‘change’ beginning with me.

If the change I wish to see in the world is PEACE then I must Be or Allow peace within myself. Throughout the article and to illustrate the point, the author replaced the words Hotel Rwanda with Hotel First Nations. I continued following this path and allowed it to take me on a tour of division and duality in my own personal world. In each of these hotels were examples of the separateness in my own life.

I was led to Hotel New Jersey and saw division on a large scale, to Hotel Buckalew where although there is a greater sense of unity, division and duality still exist, to Hotel Lisa where I caught a glimpse of the duality within me and my ‘rejection’ of certain aspects of my own Self. I thought that this is where the path would end and that it was here that I would stop and hold the space for Unity to manifest in my self and my life. That it was here where I would practice unconditional love and create peace within myself by accepting and embracing ALL aspects of me. That it was here that I would practice nurturing and healing the wounds that create division in my own BEing … and then, to my surprise, I was led to yet another Hotel.

The paintings on the walls in the lobby of Hotel Woman are many in number and represent women and the many labels we have been given throughout time. Some of these labels are quite beautiful and honor the female Essence in a positive and uplifting way while others are quite the opposite and paint a picture of the parts of ourselves that we, and perhaps others as well, might prefer we keep hidden.

I then saw myself standing naked in the center of the lobby of Hotel Woman. My assignment was to clothe myself by using the paintings on the walls. Which will I choose? I found myself drawn to the more beautiful aspects of the Essence of Woman and I chose the paintings that would cover me in the most positive and uplifting light. I placed these over me in a fashion that would hide what I consider to be the ‘uglier’ aspects of me. With the most beautiful aspects of Woman covering me in a gown fit for a queen or a Goddess I danced around the room.

At some point I became conscious of what was still left hanging on the walls … the things that I had not chosen to adorn myself with and saw that now the lobby of Hotel Woman no longer contained an accurate representation of the true Essence of Woman. I had created division and duality by choosing only the most beautiful aspects and leaving the rest, the uglier parts, still on the walls, dismissed and labeled as ‘not me’.

I had been conscious of this duality as it relates to loving accepting and encouraging myself as ‘Lisa’ yet although I have been awakening to it I had not been fully aware that there is a deeper part of me that requires that same acceptance on a much deeper level as a Woman AND that this understanding and acceptance is an essential building block to the true unconditional love and peace that I aspire to create in my life.

The lesson learned today or, more truly, the gift received today in standing in the lobby of Hotel Woman is the understanding that the true Essence of Woman is experienced through ALL aspects of woman and not just the beautiful ones. Embracing ALL aspects of ‘Woman’ as my own and choosing to clothe myself with a balanced selection will assist me to understand how the true Essence of ‘Lisa’ is experienced the same way. That by accepting ALL aspects of myself – the good, the bad and the ugly – with unconditional love, I unlock the doors to true Peace within myself which is an essential and foundational building block to BEing the change I wish to see in the world.

With love and gratitude,
Lisa