Moving

I don't think anyone could have prepared me for such an event in my life. I was so excited and had been wanting to move for years even when the children were young. That sense of adventure was always attached to the whole process in my own mind. Then after being in one house and one place for 21 years the time had come and just as fast as the thought occurred and was agreed upon we were relocated last week to a new city and new home.

The stress of moving didn't really hit until a few weeks before the actual move and then the grief that followed from leaving something that had been so familiar came in waves. Driving by the children's old school or going to the store would bring deep emotions of attachment that I didn't even realize were there. It wasn't until we found a home that I was able to transfer all my emotions  into new dreams of what was ahead of us once we moved.

The first few nights were okay but on the third night I awoke to the sound of water running through the house. I jumped out of bed sleepy eyed thinking the whole house was filled with water as we had just had the water heater replaced the day before. stumbling out into the living room I saw that the door was wide open as the sprinklers were going off in the front yard. It was then that I realized that my beloved pets could have easily slipped out in the middle of the night in a strange neighborhood. I immediately called, waking up my husband who quickly counted the number of heads in our house hold and realized we were one short. The kitten was gone!

As we searched the neighborhood in our pajamas and robes calling for our kitten at 2 am we heard a faint meow after 20 minutes. There in the bushes three houses down we found a very grateful and scared kitten wanting to go home in our arms. Once we got back to the house my husband went over how the door could have opened in the middle of the night. He came to the conclusion that it was the kitten who had discovered how to open the door. She had watched us use the lever handle which also opened the deadbolt in one motion as a precaution in case of a fire. It was a smart door handle but the kitten was smart too. After talking to the lock smith the next day we discovered that there were a few changes that needed to be made in the way the house was to be secured.

The day before I had also locked myself out of the house for three hours in the back yard. I had gone out to dry a towel on one of the lawn chairs at 2:30 in the afternoon. We had also placed a padlock on the gate as we have a pool so I was in a little bind in the Texas heat. Lucky for me we did have a pool so I was able to keep myself cooled off until my husband found me when he came home from work. I ignored his comment about how surprised he was that I had bought a new bathing suit and after I was drying off he realized it wasn't a bathing suit that I was swimming in.

All in all we are enjoying our new location and finding that we are learning a lot about the house that we are in. However I am observing my energy and my emotions as I open boxes placing things in their place in the house and how different the energy around me shifts. Each time I open a box I either have a wave of excitement to see something or a sadness of old memories that come flooding in recognizing all the new changes. I am learning that sometimes life can be bittersweet but in the end it is about how we react and process the whole experience. 

1st Photograph - Ana - Taos NM
2nd Photograph - Ana - Napa Valley CA
3rd Photograph - Steve - Napa Valley CA

"The Load"

There are times in our lives that we love someone so dearly that we want to help them in anyway we can and one of the things that we often do is offer to take whatever load they are carrying and place it on our own shoulders. Now this may seem like a kind and compassionate gesture but the lesson here is that when we try to take on someone else's burdens it can become a large block in both lives delaying the learning process which will start up again once one fails to hold the load.

Don't get me wrong, there are times when we are compassionate towards others and their plight in life but there are also those times when we know how long to help and when to let go and allow them to have their own experience in life. It is when we take someone else's load of lessons and try to make it ours that we lose the things that we are trying to accomplish in our own lives, This creates a relationship that becomes codependent on the other person. The other person may be grateful in the beginning but then later on expects you to carry their burdens without realizing that the whole purpose for them is to carry their own load so that they learn from the experience which allows them to ascend on a higher levels of consciousness.


I had a spiritual teacher tell me once that, "If we try to walk for someone they never learn how to walk". Part of our human existence is to have our own experiences no matter how heavy or cumbersome life can be. Something we need to remember is that when we are climbing a mountain it is best to encourage and support each other as we move through the whole process of the climb but to carry someone else up the mountain along with our own load on our back, in the end can only lead to disaster.   




Photographs by Steve Noyce, photo 1 Stonehenge, England and photo 2 Tower of London, England

"Down the Rabbit Hole"

One of my favorite stories growing up was Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.  A story that many of us have grown up with. There was one part in particular that always stands out when I am talking to people who are going through a major shift that takes over all aspects of their lives. It is that part in the book that describes what Alice is experiencing as she is falling down the rabbit hole.

What people relate to during this transition is the sense of helplessness during the fall for however long it takes to make the journey. For those who like to have some control in their lives or needing to ground one's self, find that they become stripped of all security that they once had only to be replaced with the feeling of total chaos. Then, when they realize what is happening it is too late to go backwards leaving one mission, to go ahead and complete the fall.

So why does this happen? Well, for those who see the glass half empty it is about the universe picking on them and for those who see the glass half full it is about clearing out the old baggage that is no longer needed to make the ascension to higher ground. I am not going to say that many of us don't make the journey kicking and screaming as it is no fun to have the floor drop out from beneath you but it is the one way to get our attention to make the journey in completing what it is we came here to accomplish in the fist place.

Yes, we all have a purpose in life and when we are no longer on the right path great changes come into play in our lives to get us back to where we need to be to accomplish it. We are not alone. Everyone at one time or another will go through a shift of counsiousness depending on how far they have strayed.

So what do we do when making this journey?  

Be gentle with yourself. Spend time taking care of yourself and find ways that nurture you as you make this journey. Look for others to help guide you and who can encourage you as you make the changes in your life.  One very important thing to remember is to learn not to rely heavily on others as it is about you and where you are when going through the change. This whole process is a beautiful transition and one that can be done to help bring you back into balance with yourself and the universe. It is not a burden although it can feel like it is when you are in the middle of it. The shift is only a growing pain that we all go through when we are developing on so many levels.

In the end once we land we walk out the door as a new person...

Photographs by Steve Noyce

Story of "Robin on the Roof"

Robin on the Roof

I have had the honor of working with one of my dear friends in one of her callings in life which is "Robin on the Roof".  In 2010 as we traveled to a wedding in India my friend informed me that she had been having dreams of sitting on a roof somewhere for a cause. The only thing was that she was not sure why, or when she was supposed to do this only that the dreams kept coming. When we got to India, and saw all the poverty there we found we were touched by all the hunger. When we came back to the States, and she was confronted with people who lost there jobs, and wanting to look for food pantries she was inspired to bring a light to the many who were affected and were hurting, by trying to feed their families.

We decided first to approach a church to ask permission for her to sit on their roof since a lot of people will go there looking for help, but our first efforts were met in fear of paper work, and insurance complications. Since one of my friends was the music director at another church we decided to go there where we were met with open arms in the cause of shedding light, and awareness on the subject of hunger. What happened was a chain of events that took off into an incredible adventure that cascaded into six consecutive years of sitting on the roof to help rise awareness of the many who were struggling to feed their families. "Robin on the roof" is a world wide event, and people are encouraged to donate food, or money to any of their local food pantries from where ever they are.

Each year Robin goes on the roof on the end of Spring and stays there until she has met her goal of whatever the pounds of food she sets for the year.  This year Robin went back on the roof on Friday June 3,  at 8am, with the  goal of 150,000 pounds of food to be donated. She met that goal on Sunday June 5th at 6pm with the help of hundreds of donations to help her achieve raising awareness of hunger in the world.

The donations come in as food items, and money donations which all go directly to the food pantries, and food banks. So you know... a donation of one dollar equals 5 pounds of food. This is Robin's 6th year of doing this event and each year she likes to up the poundage.

I asked her once why she wanted to sit on the roof so close to the hot Texas summers since the roofs are higher in temperature than for us on the ground. She explained that the main reason is that people often make donations to the food banks, and food pantries during the holiday seasons. It is during the summers that the food pantries, and food banks are the most depleted when the kids are home during their summer break. She felt would be a good reminder to others that there is still a need for food donations during this time of the year. Of course this event is not only for the children, but for anyone who is hungry.  Her goal is to raise the awareness of hunger in the world while creating opportunities for those who want to help anyone who is in need of food.


If you would like to know more about this event then please feel free to check out her Facebook... "Robin on the Roof". During the event you can also keep up with her as she blogs, recording the event as she is on the roof.

If I know Robin she will be up there again next year making sure others remember those in need.

photographs by Ana - All Saints Lutheran Church, Arlington  TX