Put On Your Own Shoes
This month, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak about my nature mandalas at Blithewold Mansion and Arboretum in Bristol, Rhode Island. A few weeks prior while driving to a holiday art show hours away, I started to gather my thoughts and plan my talk. As I began to rehearse the introduction, my mind kept wandering back to my boots. It might seem like an odd thing to come to mind, but it really makes complete sense.
About ten years ago, my daughter and I moved out and began a new life living on our own. In order to do this, I needed a job . . . or two . . . or four! I found myself juggling four part-time jobs in order to start over. It was difficult and I often felt like quitting. Looking back, I am not sure how I did it! I was working very hard to grow my own food business, managing a commercial shared-use kitchen, working part-time in a development office of an environmental center, and working for a major card company in a sales and management capacity by overseeing approximately sixty accounts and ten employees.
At the same time, I had started to travel - often by myself. I loved traveling on my own, and the boots that I had worn in the mountains of California seem to epitomize my new feelings of self-confidence and joy as I returned to my love of nature.
Back to the reality of working four jobs. It was the last one, the sales management job, that was often the most challenging. Sometimes, when I considered quitting or just wanted to rebel to some unknown entity, I would wear my hiking boots with my dress clothes to remind myself that the job was not really me, and that I would not have to do it forever.
So, thinking about my boots while challenging myself to talk about my work makes complete sense. It is me encouraging me. It is gathering confidence. It is also reconnecting to one of the core truths I have learned while reconnecting with nature. If we are being true to ourselves, doing what we are created to do, we are completely supported by nature. We become part of the whole that not only welcomes all the different parts, but needs them. Everything in nature it not just useful, it is beautiful, and completely necessary to create a large, strong, resilient whole.
Whatever they look like, hiking boots or flip-flops, I challenge you to put on your own shoes and consider how you being the true you completes the big picture.
Love Cards are Back!
Love Cards are back on sale online just in time for Valentines Day or any day of the year when you want to let someone know you appreciate them. Twelve different cards that open up and are blank inside. Click here to shop
2022 Wall Calendars are available in two sizes this year. (12 x 12 and 6 x 6) Use it as a daily invitation to pause, breathe, and contemplate the wonders of nature. Or use as a reminder to reflect on an intention, meditate, or pray. They are limited editions this year, so order soon!
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