The Uber Joy Sale!!

SAVE BIG ... LEAD YOUR OWN CREATIVITY WORKSHOPS

Dream of creating, booking, filling and leading your own workshops? Well, the process just got incredibly easy. For many years now, Suzanne Falter-Barns, author of the creativity classic, How Much Joy Can You Stand?, has been training coaches and trainers to lead the workshop version of her book. She's packaged that training into an easy home study course with an amazingly cheap and flexible license that lets you morph and mold the material to suit your own purposes. And now ... it's on sal.e. How great is that!? Her Uber Joy Fesitval is rolling from Feb 12 to 25 .. and that means for these two weeks ONLY, you can save big on this program.

Check it out - and do take a moment to read her excellent freebie Case Studies report: http://www.howmuchjoy.com/pdfscans/JoyCaseStudies_Feb07b.pdf that shows you just how other coaches have been successfully using this work. More than 350 Joy coaches lead this work in 18 countries around the world - so don't be left out. It's never going to be a better time to jump in than right now.

You can get your workshop package here. * o

The Uber Joy Sale!!

Unbelievable

Yesterday

and today.............

Yesterday was an incredibly surreal day watching the flames and smoke as our little town's major industry burned to the ground. We are grieving the loss, yet remain ever so thankful that no one was hurt.

* o

Unbelievable

Soul Collage - My Healthy Self

Committee Suit
My Healthy Self

I am the one who takes care of myself.
I am the one who eats healthy and nourishes my body.
I am the one who is energetic and strong, resilient and ready.

(I've been trying to eat better and get more exercise, so I thought a card to honour that process was in order. I'm proud of the achievements I've made in the past two weeks in just getting more walking in and avoiding a lot of junk food. This card "exercises" my creativity, and reminds me of why I want to take care of myself.)

* o

Soul Collage - My Healthy Self

Eighteen Years Ago

Eighteen years ago tonight I was heading off to bed, not knowing that I would wake up a few hours later with my water broke and the pains of labor beginning.

Eighteen years ago, on the 23rd of January at nine o'clock in the evening, after a long day and nineteen hours of labor we welcomed our first-born son into this world.

Eighteen years ago our lives changed forever and the journey of parenthood began. We were no longer two, but now three. In another four years, we would become four. A family, a unit.

Eighteen years later we know we are on another bend in this journey. His college applications are in and his conversations revolve around "next year, when I'm away in college"........

Eighteen years later we are preparing to send him out into the world.

Eighteen years. It seems like just yesterday. * o

Eighteen Years Ago

A Year in Books

Keeping up with a tradition I started last year, here is my list of books read in 2006:

Embracing Serafina - Penny Petrone
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
Breakfast with Jesus - Greg Laurie
Jack's Life - Douglas Gresham
The Creative Call - An Artist's Respone to the Way of the Spirit - Janice Elsheimer
Grace in Thine Eyes - Liz Curtis Higgs
For My Next Act - Women Scripting Life After 50 - Karen Baar
Daily Word Prayer Journal
House - Frank Peretti/Ted Dekker
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Remember - Karen Kingsbury
The Slumber of Christianity - Ted Dekker
The Bronze Woman - Antanas Sileika
Stealing Adda - Tamara Leigh
Safely Home - Randy Alcorn

And we move on to 2007. New year = more books to read! * o

A Year in Books

hmm....maybe somedays...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Imperial Majesty Eveline the Bloody of Westley Waterless Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

* o

hmm....maybe somedays...

Epiphany

Epiphany

Standing on the back porch
in the midst of inky blackness,
moonlight’s frosted glow
illuminates a thousand diamonds.

It holds back the darkness,
in a sea of crusted snow.

Standing on the back porch
in the midst of a dark night soul
God's fiery love
illuminates diamonds of hope.

It holds back the darkness,
in a sea of crusted despair.

As moon waits for morning sun to rise
and turn back the dark for a day,
My soul waits, Lord
for you to return,
and turn back the dark forever.

-copyright 2006 Eveline Maedel

(image - "To See You More Clearly" - mixed media collage, art journal - Jan 7/07) * o

Epiphany

Intentions and Prayers

Somewhere in all the emails I get, I read something about setting intentions for the new year, instead of resolutions.

This morning I was pondering on what sort of intention I would like to set for 2007, and the word that kept coming to me was "peace". I would like the coming year to be one where I feel peace in my heart, peace with my spiritual life, peace with my family, friends and co-workers, and peace with my purpose.

Last year I started a tradition of prayers for the new year, instead of resolutions. As I predicted, it was indeed a year of many changes for us, many ups and downs. Maybe that's why I want a year of peace for this year.....

My prayers for 2007 are simple. That we will all enjoy good health, happiness and live each day with peace in our hearts.

Happy New Year to you!

(image - my first SoulCollage card, created December 31/06 - as yet untitled) * o

Intentions and Prayers

Scents and Sensibilities

After much holidaying, eating, company, eating and what not, I was in desperate need of "downtime" tonight.

So I have indulged myself in a Body Shop Lavender bath and salt scrub, and then put on some Healing Gardens Zzzzzz Therapy body lotion (mmmmm......). Whilst pampering, I allowed the strains of Loreena McKennit's "Ancient Muse" to carry me away to far off exotic places. (All of these wonderful treats were Christmas presents).

Now I feel good, smell good, I'm wound down and ready to spend an evening on the couch watching a movie with the family. In a little while, I'll make myself a cup of cinnamon apple tea, and maybe curl up with one of the warm blankies I got for Christmas.

These are the scents of my holiday time - lavender, orange blossom, vanilla, cinnamon and apple. Simple and soothing - this year it was all about comfort..... * o

Scents and Sensibilities

Cough, Cough, Hack, Hack

And so we have succumbed to that dreaded cold that has been making the rounds. All of us have had it, and Charlie is now on round two of it. 'Tis the season - stop by our house and you are sure to hear a chorus of "cough, cough, hack, hack".....

Did you know cats could decorate trees? Check this page out for some pics of talented feline decorating. I don't think I could handle watching it all unravel before Christmas!

This year I have given up on sending out the "Big Newsy Letter" with my Christmas cards. I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and write one. In fact, at the rate I'm going, I'll be lucky if my Christmas cards get out in time! My creative energy is being all sucked up lately with all the courses I've been taking but I did manage to find some time this weekend to do a bit of art journaling. It felt so good to be gluing and collaging.

For a quick note on adding some "blessings" to your holiday routine this year, and a special Christmas deal, check out my newest post at Maedel Creativity Coaching. * o

Cough, Cough, Hack, Hack

Symphony

I had the great pleasure of seeing the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra in concert on Friday night. It was wonderful. Despite being in the gym of the local high school, the acoustics were fabulous. So much better to hear an orchestra live, than on a recording.

I could have closed my eyes and been transported to an early 1800's ballroom, watching elegant couples twirling around the dance floor. In reality, I can't waltz my way out of a cardboard box and I wonder if I would have been a wallflower were I living then instead of now?

The last piece they played was Dvorak's "Slavonic Dance No. 8" - something I'd never heard before and it really appealed to the gypsy in me.

It was a great prelude to a weekend otherwise spent fighting the crowds in the malls and cleaning house! * o

Symphony

Listening

My 13 yr old, Charlie, has a really bad habit of saying "what" immediately after you say
something to him. He listens with "teenage-ears" - too much going on in his brain. Yesterday, I said something to Charlie and he immediately replied "what?". I waited a couple of seconds, then gently asked "what did I just say?". He repeated it back to me perfectly. Then I said, "see you do hear, you just say what automatically". He laughed and said, "ya, I guess I do".

In my coaching lab this week, we were given an assignment on "listening". We were told to practice tuning out the words someone was saying, and pay attention to what we "hear" - breathing, emotions, tone, and energy. It's a difficult task, this paying attention. How often we carry on our conversations, much like my son and I, with a thousand other things going through our head. And now I realize there is a difference between hearing and listening.

How many times are we really present in a conversation?

And this got me thinking about my spiritual listening as well. I go through prayers and devotions by route, my mind on other things. I never really spend a lot of time just present with God and listening. Is it any wonder I rarely hear His voice? What growth in my spiritual life could I experience if I slowed down, caught my breath and just listened for awhile?

What a gift we give others when we take the time to really hear them. To be present beyond the words. What a gift we give ourselves.

Try it this week. Try listening, be fully present in your conversations. Notice what kind of effect that has on your creative life. What do you hear? * o

Listening

I'm hooked.....

Call me crazier than a frog, but I just adore this little annoying guy......bah ding a dang dong.... * o

I'm hooked.....

Happy Halloween

Bailey's Ghost

Pale rays of light from the full moon outside,
Shone through the holes in the door,
And lighted up the hallway,
And patches of the floor.

Dust lay thick on the staircase,
And not a sound could I hear,
No gust of wind blew that candle out,
When Bailey's ghost did appear.

He stood erect in the middle of the hall,
Holding an axe in his hand,
And all those tales I'd heard before,
Came back again and again.

His hair was red and shone like fire,
His eyes were just a hole,
His clothes were old and I saw through them,
A ghost without a soul.

A clock that had died many years ago,
Struck twelve eerie notes in the night,
And the ghostly hand raised the axe,
As the hall became full of light.

I cannot recall how I found the door,
Or for how many miles I fled,
I only rememeber that axe raised high,
Ready to fall on my head.

Now no one lives in the Bailey house,
No caller will knock on the door,
It stands alone, a shut up place,
And I won't go there no more.

copyright Eveline Maedel - all rights reserved * o

Happy Halloween

Fall Back......

The wind was howling around the house this morning that it seemed such a perfect morning for pulling the covers closer and lying in bed awhile.

I always love when the clock goes back an hour - at least, I prefer it to spring when we lose that hour. There's just something special about this "extra hour" day that just stretches out before you.

I know - it's not really an extra hour, all things being relative. But it does feel like for one day, you've been gifted extra time.

So, how did I use mine? Finished off "Stealing Adda" - great chick-lit and easily devoured in one weekend. I haven't spent an entire weekend reading in ages. Did some housework, laundry, worked on some course material, oh and spent an awesome hour on the phone chatting with some of my "Pink Jasper" sisters!

There's probably a dozen things I could have done with my extra hour - but lying in bed this morning, cozy and comfy, with the wind howling around the house, stealing an extra hour of dream time just seemed the perfect thing to do. * o

Fall Back......

Trust

Reach Out
Trust
Stay Grounded


then......

Create!

Drew this image in my journal after an art guidance coaching session. Some of the questions that came out for me were - what are my energy drains? what will balance look and feel like?

Balance feels strong and deeply rooted - feet planted firmly on the ground and arms open wide.

I'm learning to trust in this new direction I'm heading - that I can coach, that I can create, that I can hold the space for others to create in. As long as I remember the balance....

(There are some tips posted at Maedel Creativity Coaching on creating in the middle of things.) * o

Trust

had your dose of Muse today?

Artella members can now get "The Daily Muse" - the only online daily newspaper for the creative soul. New articles each day - quick, creative ideas, writing tips, interviews, etc. You can sample the front page here. * o

had your dose of Muse today?

Muse Online

The Muse Online Conference just wrapped up yesterday.

It was an amazing, online, virtual conference jam packed with workshops and information and I really, really wished I had had more time this week to take it in. On the bright side, this is planned to be an annual event - so bookmark the site and prepare to attend in October 2007. It's free and full of information - what more could you ask for!

And speaking of free, Lea Schizas, one of the founding organizers of the Muse Online Conference has offered her e-book, "Assaulting a Writer's Thinking" free to any writer who wants it. The book is full of writing exercises and tips.

If you'd like a copy, send me an email (maedelcreativity@mac.com) and I'll forward it on! * o

Muse Online

Sanctuary

mixed media collage - (digital photo, watercolor, pitt pens, magazine photos, leaves)

* o

Sanctuary

Thanksgiving

The elm tree stands naked and bare in the backyard. Saturday it was full of big yellow leaves, a radiant splash of color next to the green pines. Yesterday's strong winds have stripped it of glory. All so quickly gone.

It's Thanksgiving weekend. The Lost Boys have been off on their annual weekend away, and I have had a blissful, creative weekend of solitude and silence. Large, expansive silence soon to be broken by the return of my fine young sons who will fill this space with TV, music, arguments, and the ringing of the phone for the Social One. Their presence will fill each room.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh used to go away for a week at a time and seek solitude in a cottage by the sea. She sung the praises of solitude and the need for the creative soul to be alone for a time in her book, "A Gift From the Sea".

I have no cottage to escape too. Instead I count the days each year until October, and the opening of the hunt. Then, my house becomes my place of retreat and their weekend away my gift of solitude. I soak it in and save it up until the next time I am gifted a weekend.

The leaves on the elm are gone, my weekend of rest soon to be over. I savor the next few hours, wanting to return slowly to the busyness of life. * o

Thanksgiving