Saturday, April 3rd, and Thursday, April 23rd, I’m going to be presenting The Transformation Game (http://www.innerlinks.com/aboutUs.php) as a means to access joy, which needs to be distinguished from happiness. Happiness is usually “because of” some external event—lunch with a friend, a trip to Lake Superior, reading a good book—while joy might be said to be “in spite of” external circumstances—it comes, often unexpectedly, from within, sometimes as a golden light which radiates out from me to touch all that I see. So “accessing joy” is about making oneself more available to that which is just waiting for us to notice it, or “igniting de-light within.” If you’re in the neighborhood, come and join in the fun at Crystal Visions bookstore (http://crystalvisionsbooks.com) near Hendersonville, NC.

Last night I saw an amazing one-woman show called Leaps and Bounds, offered by The Affording Hope Project (http://www.affordinghopeproject.org); it was a beautiful, joyful, living creation myth played out on stage, and in the audience. Weaving together pieces of several cultures’ creation myths, as well as ideas about ecology and economics (and how we’ve been sold a bill of goods about scarcity which causes us to hoard),  Tevyn East offered us an opportunity to change our minds, right there and then, about how our future will play out. Ms. East is touring the country; don’t miss this chance to see and support this beautiful and hopeful show.

This idea of hoarding reminds me of an experience I had several years ago at a small but very popular cafeteria: At lunch, management put out a sign asking people not to save seats for themselves and, indeed, when people followed this request, the turnover was such that, just as you got to the end of the line and turned to look for a seat, someone was leaving. But if one person decided to save themselvs a seat, out of the fear that there wouldn’t be one for them when they were ready to sit down, then the system broke down, and people started having to stand around, holding their trays, waiting for someone to get up and leave.

This is Wayne Dyer’s message for March 30. I read this as I am eating my breakfast of poached eggs on pancakes, and I look at the exquisitely orange yolk of this organic, free-range egg from a friend’s chicken, and see how beautiful it is. It’s as simple as that. I look out my window and see this beautiful little stream flowing through what used to be a field of tomato bushes; the change is as beautiful as the former constellation. I am listening to my favorite online morning music station (Radio Heartland: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/radio_heartland/), and I find the beauty in the bluegrass song, Stan Rogers, Elvis Costello, Randy Newman—even in the unidentifiable c/w song. Perhaps, if I listen closely enough, I might even find the beauty in a rap song; who knows? See if you can “select beauty as your focus” today, tomorrow, and beyond.

My wild and crazy minister (aka “the pagan pope”) and I were having an audience with the “real” pope, who was dressed very simply in a white robe. We were all sitting cross-legged on the floor, though the pope was raised slightly on a dais. My minister took out a pipe filled with marijuana, took a few pufffs, and handed it to the pope—as he did so, I placed my left hand on his back—who also took a few puffs. The air filled with smoke. At one point the pipe flared up into flames, but then settled back down to just smoke. I didn’t smoke, though I certainly got high from the smoke in the air.

Part of my “interpretation”: I am witnessing/supporting the integration of the free and structured aspects of myself, by sharing a “peace” pipe.

This dream has stayed with me for many weeks, and fills me with joy and a sense of freedom every time I think about it. I am always delighted by my minister’s freedom to be himself, and also appreciate a pope’s challenge to be himself within the constraints of his office and all of the expectations attached thereto.

If you wish to see my work or hear me speak, check back regularly for upcoming events.

As of this post (3/26/10), my work can be seen at the following location(s) (all in the Asheville, NC, area):

The Downtown Market, 45 South French Broad, downtown Asheville (open Fri-Sun, 10-5); I will be leaving this site as of Sunday, the 28th, at 5pm. Look for my work to pop up elsewhere in Asheville.
Bravo! office, 5th floor, BB&T building, downtown Asheville

HAPPENINGS:

AT CRYSTAL VISIONS (in Hendersonville, on highway 25 just west of 26):

On Saturday, April 3rd, I will be giving a brief FIRE talk at Crystal Visions about my event there on the 22nd:

On Tuesday, April 22nd, from 7-9pm, I will be offering an introductory workshop on playing the Transformation Game to ignite de-light within (and between) people.

Sometime in April or May, I will be offering a Transformation Game focused on rediscovering joy in oneself and one’s relationships. Please check back for exact date(s).

All of these events will be co-led by Bonnie Cooper, LCSW, relationship coach and certified imago relationship therapist.

Ongoing Asheville dream group next meets on Wednesday, April 7th, from 7-9.

Please contact me at innerlandscaping@aol.com for more information about any of these events.

The way I know this is that, if it did, I would have finished my taxes and had my rerund by now.

Once again it is snowing. Schools have been closed, travel in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with their penchant for black ice, may be difficult or even dangerous. I am grateful for having the day off to play/create in my home studio.

All of my fiber art is, in some way, spiritual; I began by making labyrinths, then buddha-figures; now I am making purses. What ties them all together is the joy I feel when I am creating; I have come to the conclusion that there is no higher art than this, whether I am creating something in my studio, serving a customer at the fabric store where I work part-time, or making dinner with a friend. Joy is what makes each of these acts holy, whole, and spiritual.

• Make regular play dates with yourself to do one of those things you are always too busy to do but which you really enjoy.

• Do something similar to the things you most enjoyed as a child. (For example: if you liked making up stories, try writing or storytelling. if you liked banging on pots and pans, take a drumming workshop. if you liked playing dress-up, go try on some clothes, just for the fun of it.)

• Imagine every cell in your body as a happy face, giggling.

• Quit listening to/reading your usual news sources. (Try this for 1 week; this includes “women’s magazines.”)

• Check out positive news sites, such as: http://www.positivenews.org.uk/cgi-bin/Positive_News/welcome.cgi.

• When you feel irritated by someone, search for something you appreciate about them instead.

• Remember the “glow” from when you first met your current partner? Come from that space the next time you see them.

• Look for things to smile or laugh about, remembering that the joy comes from within you.

• How often do you smile during the day? (Extra credit: smiling for no apparent reason.)

• When was the last time you laughed out loud? (Extra credit: laughing for no apparent reason—it just pops out of you.)

• Do you have any sacred cows? (Topics which you consider too serious to laugh about—ever?)

• Under what circumstances do you feel most joyful? (Did you ever notice that the common thread in all those circumstances is you?)

• Do you consciously bring your inner joy to your: day? work? relationships? How?

• If you find something (including a thought) upsetting, how often do you choose to turn away from it and focus on something uplifting instead?

• Go back to your earliest memories of yourself as a child:

—What were you most likely to do when playing unsupervised?

—How often do you engage in similar activities as an adult?

• What do you do to actively bring joy to a(ny) relationship after the first glow is gone?

*There are no wrong answers, and none will be provided, but coming soon are suggestions for keeping the glow going in your life.

Check out this picture for a reminder of what joy is like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mongol/465550988/