Category Archives: All the News That’s Fit…or all the news that fits!

Personal and professional updates, advocacy updates, training progress updates – basically, all the updates you could hope for! Plus, family news, and tons more adventurous fun! Wanna know what I’m up to, where my writing’s being published, how kids, man, and I are? This is the place to look.

Save Sexy Witch!

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UPDATE!!!
WE WON!!! Annamaria Pope has dropped all claims to Sexy Witch!!! Thank you a million times for your loving support.

ALSO, I am still fundraising. It is now essential for me to trademark the aspects of Sexy Witch that I use. See more below.
I cannot thank you enough! My heart has been bolstered by the outpouring of donations and kind words from my community. Please know that if there is anything I can do to repay your kind support in the future, I will.

Now, some housekeeping; PLEASE CEASE ANY AND ALL CONTACT with Ms. Pope, her attorney, and any other associates. Ms. Pope has been spreading rumors that she has received death threats, and saying that she is afraid for her own life and for her children’s well-being.

I KNOW that none of you would have done this (as we all know, the Witches’ Creed begins with, “An It Harm None…”. I also know for a fact that Ms. Pope has many enemies – completely unrelated to the Sexy Witch trademark issue.

All the same, an immediate cessation of contact is required.

ALSO, I am still fundraising. It is now essential for me to trademark the aspects of Sexy Witch that I use. The cost for this will be approximately another $1550. (Because my lawyer, XXX ESQUIRE, Al Gelbard, is amazing, and doesn’t overcharge his clients! Thank you, Al. You rock.) I am raising $2000 just to be on the safe side. And, this money needs to be in hand ASAP. The deadline for this round is…ASAP!

Again, click “ChipIn” to contribute.
If you are accessing this page via a mobile device and cannot see the ChipIn Widget,
please paypal donations to lasara.allen.mpnlp@gmail.com. Put “Sexy Witch Trademark Legal Fund” in the notes or subject line.
Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It seems strange to me that this challenge to my teaching would come up as part of my “2012 Initiation”, but who knows what moves The Powers That Be? There has been deep learning in it for me.

The biggest lesson by far; the other night, Uncle Oberon said to me; “You’ve been a lone warrior out in the field. You have to let us help you fight your battle. It’s time to accept the support of your community.” I did. And look what happened!

And in the magick of it all, Uncle Oberon – as my Champion – has done even more of his wonderful and courageous work in healing the wound between women and men. He is truly devoted to the Goddess, in all Her forms.

And, yes, magick works. Thank you all for your powerful support.

May you find light and warmth within the darkness, and healing in every challenge you face.

Bless!

-Lasára Allen

P.S. Here are some other ideas on how you can help help:

1. Order a SIGNED, PERSONALIZED copy (or copies) of Sexy Witch from me. Buy a copy for yourself, your friend(s), your lover(s). I will Send copies out via priority mail, and you can give them as Yule/X-mas gifts. These copies cost more than the ones you’d order off Amazon or Llewellyn, but they are signed, and proceeds (after cost – about $15 for me, including shipping) will benefit my fund. Copies cost $25. Again, signed and personalized! paypal me at lasara.allen.mpnlp@gmail.com, and include “BOOK ORDER” in info/subject.

2. SIGN UP FOR MY UPCOMING SEXY WITCH TELECOURSE! (Are you local to Mendocino County? Sign up for the face-to-face option!) The funds from these classes (which were supposed to be going to, you know, life and stuff) will be going toward legal costs.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

THIS would be illegal to post, if the contested TM went through.

Things are moving forward with step one of the suit. WE SUCCESSFULLY FUNDRAISED THE FEE FOR THE RETAINER!

THANK YOU for your amazing, heart-expanding, beautiful support. I feel lifted up and healed by all of you. And even kinda madly in love with my community. Thank you for renewing our romance. ;) I am blessed to have so much love and support in my life. You have all healed my heart in this.

While your defense of me toward Ms. Pope has been admirable, my attorney has asked that we now cease contact with Ms. Pope. While I am still raising funds (there will be further costs after the retainer), any further contact with Ms. Pope or her representative is ill-advised at this time.

That said…

Please donate via the ChipIn widget below! Click “ChipIn” to contribute.
The opening fees for retainer for my amazing attorney, the incomparable XXXEsquire, Al Gelbard, were raised in days! Oh my goodness, THANK YOU ALL!

THERE WILL BE FURTHER COSTS.
I have begun a new “chip-in” project in order to move forward and protect the trademark from further infringement.

My attorney knows exactly what to do next. I have absolute faith and trust in his integrity and abilities. And, this sort of thing costs money, as we well know.

If Sexy Witch is important to you, please help me protect my right to be able to talk about it, teach about it, and coach from it.

Scroll down to “ChipIn”, OR, here are some other ideas on how to help:

1. Order a SIGNED, PERSONALIZED copy (or copies) of Sexy Witch from me. Buy a copy for yourself, your friend(s), your lover(s). I will Send copies out via priority mail, and you can give them as Yule/X-mas gifts. These copies cost more than the ones you’d order off Amazon or Llewellyn, but they are signed, and proceeds (after cost – about $15 for me, including shipping) will benefit my fund. Copies cost $25. Again, signed and personalized! paypal me at lasara.allen.mpnlp@gmail.com, and include “BOOK ORDER” in info/subject.

2. SIGN UP FOR MY UPCOMING SEXY WITCH TELECOURSE! (Are you local to Mendocino County? Sign up for the face-to-face option!) The funds from these classes (which were supposed to be going to, you know, life and stuff) will be going toward legal costs, should the case go past the first round. Even if the case is summed up quickly, there will be additional funds needed to secure the trademarks for my own use.


Again, click “ChipIn” to contribute.

If you are accessing this page via a mobile device and cannot see the ChipIn Widget,
please paypal donations to lasara.allen.mpnlp@gmail.com.
Put “Sexy Witch Trademark Legal Fund” in the notes or subject line.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
AGAIN, PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT ANNAMARIA POPE or her attorney! I asked you to do it, you did, and my attorney says we’ve now had the desired effect. So, I’m calling on the tribe to cease contact with Ms. Pope and her attorney. Anything more from us is over the top, and could do more harm than good. Thank you thank you thank you. You are my s/heroes! And my champions. I’m blessed to have you all beside me.

THANK YOU!!!

Sexy Witch January Course Still Open.

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Sorry for the false alarm! The January Sexy Witch class series is still open. The page that showed up on my news feed and front page was supposed to be a private link for redirect for paypal payment for class. It’s designed so that the class cannot overfill, should anyone try to register after the limit is reached.

Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

That said, “seats” are filling, so if you’re interested the time to save your spot is NOW! You can do so by paying a deposit OR the whole amount on this page.



Sign Up for Lasara’s Lists!
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Ska-P – Ska-Core band take on the Intifada in Palestine

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‎”Who would ever imagine…that David turned out to be Goliath?”

AWESOME, high-quality ska-core with some really relevant lyrics.

Want more on the topic? Read my article, What Middle East Peace Talks, over at elephantjournal.com.

What Middle East Peace Talks? (My latest at elephantjournal.com.)

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My latest at elephantjournal.com — please click the link below to read.

(Author note: This is an opinion piece. I am posting it in response to a lack of awareness around the Middle East Peace talks. I respectfully request that you click through the links included in this article before commenting. The links offer a background story that may allow you to understand the heart of this article more easily.)

Imagine you are sitting in your home. Imagine that when you look out the window, you can see a wall growing closer and closer, day by day, straight toward the walls of your home. You know that the larger wall will not correct its course. You know that soon, very soon, your walls will be gone, leaving only the larger wall standing.

I look forward to reading your comments over at elephant!

My latest at Elephant Journal, The New Anti-Muslim Wave, Eid al Fitr, and 9/11 – What Will YOU Do?

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My latest at Elephant Journal, The New Anti-Muslim Wave, Eid al Fitr, and 9/11 – What Will YOU Do?

“Four news stories from the CURRENT wave:

UPDATE: Holley teens charged with targeting mosque

Racial slur and profanity spray-painted on mosque

Abdus Miah, a member of the mosque, is also a city Alderman.

“I thought… maybe somebody hates us.  I was thinking that way.  Or something like that.  I don’t know.  We never faced any kind of problem after 9-11.  This is the first time,” said Miah.

Opponents of the Murfreesboro mosque say it’s not about religion. Their Muslim neighbors aren’t buying it.

An excavating crew broke ground on the site Aug. 20, 12 days after the Rutherford County Planning Commission provided final clearance. Pre-construction here has already begun — or at least it had, before an arsonist (or -ists) doused four excavators in accelerant and lit one on fire on Aug. 28.

Muslims in America increasingly alienated as hatred grows in Bible belt

On the anniversary of 9/11, Chris McGreal reports from the Tennessee town where Muslims have lived in harmony with Christians for decades – but where they now feel under threat.”

Read the rest at elephant.

My Latest at Elephant Journal – 7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Islam, In Honor of Ramadan

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My latest at elephant journal: 7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Islam, In Honor of Ramadan.

“In honor of Ramadan, the most holy month in Islam, I hope we can all take a moment to honor the diversity of faiths that hold the world together, as much as they might tear it apart.”

The Lost Art of Masculinity – My Latest at Elephant Journal

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Read my latest at elephantjournal.com. Link at bottom of excerpt:

The Lost Art of Masculinity

In the heart of the divorce boom (starting in the ‘60s, peaking in the ‘70s) a generation of women ended up parenting (mostly) solo, and a generation of boys ended up being raised (mostly) without a positive father figure, if they had one at all.

Maybe it was partially a reaction to “women’s lib” that lead men to feel less-than-needed. And maybe it was the grey flannel rebellion, personified by the whining tone of the dissatisfaction of the Playboy Men of the ‘50s, that lead women to feel fed up enough to stand up and say “To hell with this!”

How far back this winding battle for self-actualization as war-of-the-sexes goes is a question that can’t be answered. But irrefutably, while entirely necessary, the attempt towards some leveling of the playing field has resulted in some serious casualties.

In the absence of a paternal figure, an inadvertent, angry, faux matriarchy emerged; one that was bound by the confines of the walls of the home, because outside of the home all the old rules still applied.

But in the home, woman ruled. Boys (and girls) grew up with women, angry women, women who were (righteously) angry at men, as the alpha and omega of their young lives. The mother became the sole ruler of the world that is childhood.

A generation of men really did fuck up. They left, fucked around, used women and dumped them. Fathers bailed, leaving an abscess as often as an absence.

And the absence of men, of good men, of real men, of responsible men, left a nasty taste not only in the mouths of overwhelmed mothers, but of boys raised in a world of righteously angry women.

This group of boys would grow into men. Men who still had a bad taste in their mouths. A bad taste about men. Which is hard to live with; especially if you’re a man.

For these reasons and more, a generation (or three) of sensitive and careful men have had to struggle to reclaim their man-parts. And the women of that same generation have had to cultivate the ability to trust men who, themselves, don’t trust men.

READ THE REST AT ELEPHANT JOURNAL…

Community Yoga Experience – Summer Solstice through Autumnal Equinox

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Commit to doing asana (posture) yoga daily from now until September 23 — with all of US! Come to this page daily and use the comments feature to share your practice.

Let this be your forum to share your practice, ask for support, offer encouragement, and track your own practice.

Consider this an experiment in collaboration – dive in, and enjoy!

My first contribution to the thread explains more of my intention:

After a few days of missing practice, I did 20 minutes the day before yesterday. Did my 40 minutes last night. My upper back and neck are messed up, not from DOING, but from NOT doing.

I’m trying to be gentle, but if anything the fact that I’m sore in the way that I’m sore proves that I have not been “on my game” enough lately. It’s just NOT okay for me to miss days anymore.

Thus, this experiment. Will I be more inclined to stick to my daily practice when you are in witness of me, and I am inspired by witnessing you? I think I will be.

Play with me! Let’s see how this thing goes.

Share your words! Comment daily! Ask for support, and offer it up! It’s what we’re all here for.

Namste.

21*5*800; Community Event STARTS TOMORROW, June 8.

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21*5*800; 21 days, yoga five days a week, writing 800 words a day. STARTS TOMORROW, June 8.Perfect timing for me!

Join in a community endeavor designed for the writing yogi/ni, the writer who wants to do more yoga, or the yogi who wants to do more writing.

It’ll be easier than you think. Here’s the low down from Bindu:

THE WRITING: The writing can be ANYTHING. Memoir, blogs, business plans, essays, fiction, free-writing, letters,……..ANYTHING. The point is to get writing again daily and to have the boundaries and challenge of a daily word count to reach.

THE YOGA: There are several options for you to do the yoga portion of 21.5.800 5 times in 7 days.  Here are the options: 1. Go to a yoga class in your ‘hood. 2. Do a yoga dvd at home. 3. Take a 20-40 minute savasana

I’m joining. You?

I will be posting my 800 words daily. (Unless they get too strange, personal, topical, or something else.) But believe you me, I will be writing 800 words a day.

Comment on my blog entries, and I’ll comment on yours! :)

Sheikh Bukhari, man of peace, laid to rest in Jerusalem at age of 61

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Sheikh Bukhari“Sufi sheikh who preached nonviolence laid to rest”…may his spirit guide us still.

One of the sweetest men I have ever met, a man I am grateful to have had the occasion to learn from and work with (for far too short a time), a man of peace and true heart, has passed on. I pray there is someone who can and will gracefully step into the spot his death leaves open.

But it is an opening in the hearts of …many, and in a political and spiritual terrain that is difficult to navigate. A true sage, Sheik Bukhari will move onto to his next place with peace. As he said, his bags were already packed for this journey. May his heart beat chant of “Allah, Allah, Allah…” (“God, God, God…”) live on in the eternity of spirit.

May the teachings of Sheik Bukhari continue to lead us toward peace.

Read an excellent piece on Sheikh Bukhari here.

My 39th Birthday!

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A year is a measure of time between two points. The day that anniversary marks is by nature both an ending and beginning.

Birthdays have had gravity for me for many years. My own personal “new year” – I take inventory, whether I want to or not. What have I done to better myself? What have I done to better the world? What significant moments have come to pass in the sat year? What do I want more of in the year to come.

My daily to-do list for the coming year:
1. Love yourself.
2. Love your life.
3. Love your kids.
4. Love your man.
5. Meditate, pray, give it over when it’s time.
6. Stay healthy – yoga, Pilates, running, eating right, sleeping right, all that stuff!
7. Stay creative in all things.
8. Never lose your sense of purpose. Stated more positively, remember your sense of self, and your mission.
9. Be gentle when you can’t do it all.

Remember when you were 7 and a half? 9 and a quarter? I’ve turned 39. Now, I head gently into my 40th year.

Tomorrow I will be 39 plus one day. I plan on making every day between here and the day – 365 from now – that I get to crown myself with the decade marker of 40 years breathing on my own, count.

Thank You Constance McMillen; A Victory for One is a Victory for All!

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The good news of the week; Constance McMillen, the young woman whose request to wear a tuxedo and take her girlfriend to her senior prom was denied, has won a hearing about the violation of her First Constance McMillenAmendment rights; the right to freedom of speech.

McMillen’s family has been amongst some of her strongest supports in this time of struggle, but others who have championed McMillen’s cause have been – of course – the ACLU, Ellen Degenres, many other high-profile celebs, hundreds or thousands of supporters who have joined together on a facebook fan page, and many who have written, blogged, and spoken out about the plight that Constance – and many others who have not had the where-with-all to raise their voices – have suffered.

McMillen has a become a true hero of our times in being willing to champion this case through. Her victory is a victory for all in the momentum of the movement towards equality.

Thank you, Constance McMillen, for being a strong voice speaking with certainty and reason.

Dress You Up in My Love Equality Prom – Everywhere!

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Dress You Up In My Love is a nationwide equality celebration designed to protest the school in Mississippi that took action against Constance McMillan, the girl who wanted to take her girlfriend to the prom. Yes, it is 2010…but instead of allowing a tuxedoed young lesbian woman to attend the prom with her lovely beloved on her arm, her school canceled the fun for everyone. Can you believe it?

In response to this outrageous act, people are going to engage in some creatively outrageous activities of their own; formal wear everywhere! Says the press release:

“But I’ll look completely out of place and ridiculous. People don’t wear formal clothing every day.”

Exactly.

Wearing a tuxedo, suit, gown, or formal dress clothes to class, work, or grocery shopping IS out of the ordinary. And it’s going to draw attention and get some questions asked.

So, be outrageous! And courageous. Join what may be thousands of others in getting fancy while getting loud, supporting the out and proud, and joining in the equality movement. RSVP at facebook now!

Lent – Do You Celebrate It?

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Happy Mardi Gras!

Are you celebrating Lent? Lent is a period of fasting. Mardi Gras and Carnival are based on the last day of indulgence before the fast.

If so, what kind of fast are you observing?

Fasting is about giving something up. Temporarily in most cases, unless your fast is indefinite. Spiritual fasting is common in most religions and spiritual paths. Fasting can be about many things, but in my personal experience it always comes down to self-restraint and self-control – and sacrifice.

Sacrifice can be honorable, cleansing, purifying. Sacrificing possessions, indulgences, behaviours, or habits can simplify our lives.

When I come out of a period of fasting – literal or figurative – I have more clarity, and can decide from a new place what I want to reintroduce back into my life. When fasting from foods, I can gain clarity on which foods don’t feel right in my body, and which do. When fasting from a behaviour, I can decide whether my life has been better without it. Even if I am not totally successful at giving it up the increase in consciousness can create a whole new realtionship with the behaviour.

When I want to “lose weight” I work toward better health. When I want to surrender a part of me that no longer serves, I give it up. I sacrifice it.

More positive things will likely come into play, but when I give up a piece of me or my life, I keep myself open to the sense of emptiness that may follow. For example, when my previous marriage ended  I didn’t know what would come in. I gave it up because it was time, it was the right thing to do, it was what was required by forces outside of myself.

Yes, it urt, Yes, it was at times very scary. It was lonely. And it was pristine. Cool. Calming. Clean.

Fasting can be all those things. Sacrifice can feel those ways.

Sometimes it may even be better to not think we know what might come in. Thinking we know – even know what we desire – may limit the power of the unconscious mind. Or, Divine Plan. Or God’s Will. Or whatever term makes sense to you.

I sacrifice because the surrender feels right. I sacrifice because the cutting away is required, and often a relief. I sacrifice because, in my lexicon, it means both to offer up, and to make sacred. In my mind, conscious and sacred go hand in hand.

I’m not strictly Christian but as has been the case for years, I AM celebrating the fast of Lent.

Last year I fasted from judgment and instead dedicated my self to witnessing. The year before I fasted from speaking ill of others. By extension, these practices were also about not judging myself, and not speaking – or thinking- ill of me or my own actions.

This year? My fast is from complaining. My hope and prayer is that in the place of this negative practice, I will find even more ways to celebrate this life I’ve been given.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, reflections, and practices.

News About Long-Term Goals – the 2500th Marathon Anniversary in 2011! Race as Platform for Bipolar Advocacy & Education.

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I just found out the 2011 is the 2500th anniversary of the marathon! This is super cool, as my plan is to run a full marathon for my 40th birthday – in 2011! The fact it’s such a momentous occassion makes my goal that much sweeter. (See more on this soon.)

My other piece of news is that I have decided that I’d like to use my training as a opportunity to raise awareness about bipolar disorder (bp) and its affects. I’d like to help educate those who don’t have a lot of actual experience with bipolar or people who live with it as to the actual terrain of living with bp. In addition, I want to educate women who live with bipolar disorder (I prefer this wording to “suffer bipolar disorder), as to the helpful affects of exercise, and the process of aging with bipolar disorder.

You will see much more about all of this very soon, with donation links and sponsorship options all sorted out VERY soon.

Peace, love, and understanding!

I’m Grateful for 2009!

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Things I’m most grateful for from 2009

    The Kiss, Lasara and Robert Allen

  • Getting married to my true and eternal love. It’s for reals, yo! Seriously now, I didn’t think that love like this was possible, and there’s nothing I have loved more to be proved wrong about that. I want to shout it from the mountaintops; TRUE LOVE IS REAL! I have been matched, not just met. For finding my twin flame, I will be eternally grateful.
  • My constantly renewing relationship with my amazing daughters. They continue making my heart sing. My pride in them is boundless. I love the way they learn, listen, love, laugh. I love the way they allow themselves to cry, ask for hugs when they need them, reflect our family values of gratitude, honesty, generosity, and friendliness. I love watching them grow into young women, sometimes slowly – and sometimes just a little bit faster than I’d like for a moment or two. Then I remember; “Your children are not your children./They are the sons and daughters of Life’s own longing for itself./They come through you but not from you,/And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.” – The Prophet, On Children, Kahlil Gibran. They are becoming more themselves – more self possessed – everyday.
  • Learning trust. It’s a BIG ONE for me, and my man has been instrumental in helping me to confront and move through the fears that have previously blocked my ability to achieve it.
  • Learning honesty and transparency on a deeper level than ever before. This great gift has allowed, and is allowing for my true, authentic self to reveal itself day by day. It has allowed my defensiveness to drop, my stories to fall away, transform, change.

    • Mr. and the Kids make Cupcakes.

  • My gratitude practice. It keeps me moving into living the life I long to create. (I like saying it that way better than, “creating the life I long to live.”
  • My physical practice. Though I’m not perfect at it (that’s why it’s called practice, right?), it saves my life and my sanity. I am growing more committed and successful in it everyday. Especially with the half marathon I’m training for. :-) My asana yoga, running, Pilates, boot camp, the sweat, the gentle burn, the increase in lng capacity, my heart growing stronger, the stabilization of my body chemicals; I would can’t live without it.
  • My increase in self-directed honesty and insight about bipolar disorder and how it affects my life. Again with much gratitude to my Mr. and to my girls, I’m learning how to manage a condition/disorder/disability that will be a part of my world for the rest of my life. My man truly understands how bipolar disorder affects me, and he’s learning to hear and notice my symptoms, and understand and support me me without judgment.
  • Opportunities to advocate for understanding of bipolar disorder like The Hot Mommas Project case study competition – and, like this one, right now. THANK YOU for listening/reading.
  • A final willingness to accept the help that new classes of medications can offer people who live with bipolar disorder. Even when I my meds feel like a block instead of a baseline, I find my gratitude for the stabilization they offer. Sure, there are things I’ve had to give up – like the Super-High of mania. But the manic high, just like many forms of “high” do, affected my judgment and made me a real bit*h to live with. I’ happy to becoming happy, trust-worthy, and trusting. Even if it means I’ve turned down the volume of life by a few clicks. The white noise got kinda loud sometimes anyway.
    • My new year novena., santa teresita

    My new year's eve novena; a flowery and easeful, trusting prayer to Santa Teresita.

  • My growing comfort with and honesty about my conversion experience, and my conversion itself polytheism/pantheism (the religion I was raised in and practiced into my 30s – even to the extent that I was ordained as a Priestess of a Neo-Pagan church at 29) to monotheism. It’s bee a huge shift, and in the process I’ve lost touch with much of my community. (This part of it was somewhat unavoidable, though sad, and an area I would like to somehow mend.) But on the positive, there were many moments of growth, awareness, and unarguably miraculous experience  that are traced in light and grace and tattooed on the surface of my cells in this romance with God, and the slow dawning of my true change of heart. This mystical transformation has been a grand, glorious, at times tumultuous love affair with my own wholeness. Ibn ‘Arabi says it perfectly; “My heart has become capable of every form:/it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,/And a temple for idols, and the pilgrim’s Ka’ba,/and the tables of the Tora and the book of the Koran./I follow the religion of Love, whichever way his camels take…“
  • My relationship with God. How “It” is (I am) there (here) even when I forget that it is/I am.

For me, 2009 was an awe-inspiring, heart-shaking, challenging, revelatory, heart-opening, dream-manifesting, intense, liberating, life-changing year. Through it, I’ve grown into a new me. My marriage has tempered me, and revealed me. My children have grown me up through their own amazing growth. After two years in a shared cocoon, the Mr. and I emerge, pupua to perfectly paired butterflies.

It’s a whole new world.

I hope that your 2009 has been as amazing.

I trust that 2010 will bring more of what we all desire from seed to flower, in our abundant gardens of dreams.

Happy 2010 from Lasára and the Allen Household!

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Robert and Lasára Allen, Dec. 25, '09Tired of New Years Resolutions? Why Not New Years Commitments, Intetionstions, and Fun?

Have you made any resolutions? Many of us make resolutions and then fail. Many of us make resolutions and then fail. I’m choosing to make intentions and commitments. But always with one cautionary caveat, which I encourage YOU to adopt as well; remember that while today is the first day of the rest of your year, this is also the first day of the rest of your life! And, this moment is the first moment of the rest of your physical existence. Every breath is a chance to make a new choice.

When you “fall short” of that commitment, offer yourself compassion instead of self-denigration, and gratitude instead of blame.

This new year, I’ll be making three lists. Each has a higher level of commitment 1: Commitments; 2: Intentions; 3; My “WHY NOT?” List.

List One; Commitments:

  • To recognize that every area of practice towards my own health is an act of dedication to the liberation of all sentient beings pervading time and space.
  • To recognize that serving my husband, my children, my family and my friends are part of my spiritual practice, and to treat it as such. And, to remember that this also serve the liberation of all beings.
  • To continue following the path that my gratitude practice opens for me.
  • To train towards my physical and fitness goals with passion and dedication. Failure is not an option.
  • To remain open to the idea, realization, (fact?), that love can be easeful, and that I am safe in it. And, safe in the arms and grace of my Mr.
  • Without expectation, to celebrate every anniversary and celebration that my Mr. and I can count as momentous; Valentines day when he moved in, reconfirmation June 26 in Seattle, August 12 when we eloped, Oct 3rd when we reconfirmed our vows, and Christmas when he was delivered to me – my greatest Christmas Miracle ever.
  • To build a circle of similarly minded friends here in the area, and to actively commitment to this as a practice of faith, desire, and love.
  • To continue working in acceptance of the choices I have made to support my growing balance and mental health, even when those choices feel like limitations.
  • To continue sharing my gifts with the world in whatever ways I am capable of at any time.
  • To continue trusting that God has a plan for me that is greater than I can see, and that every day I’m fulfilling that plan by living my life in as much consciousness as I can achieve.

Ror, Dec. 25, '09

List Two; Intentions

  • To begin praying and meditating again in a way that serves to ground and inspire me instead of making me too high and open.
  • To allow financial, desired, perfect abundance to enter and flow in my life, and have less attachment about how that flow occurs. To trust that God knows best how to deliver this abundance.
  • To follow the attraction and direction of my heart with grace, trust, and joy.
  • To invest in and develop forgiveness for myself and and the harm that occurred in my past.
  • More and more, to allow the support I so deeply desire.
  • To take what I have learned of trust, honesty, and openness from my husband and begin generalizing it to the rest of the world.
  • To hold regular gatherings as part of my community building adventure.
  • To close at least one book deal.
  • To write my next book, or books.
  • To shop Gratigories to a card publisher who may also want to publish my gratitude books.
  • To take trips outside the area more regularly.
  • To begin reading more books again.

List 3; My “WHY NOT?” List (next year and beyond):

  • Plan a belated honeymoon to Europe (Italy primarily) with my Mr.Sollie, 12.25.09
  • Run a half marathon.
  • Work toward my best comprehensive health in my life.
  • Get yoga instructor 200 hour certification.
  • Trust that love and sexual sharing can be exactly as I hope for it; easy, safe, based purely in shared desire and trust.
  • Explore new religions. (Catholicism, traditional Tantra, deeper into Tibetan Buddhism and Tantric teachings and ritual.)
  • Explore excavation of darkness and shadow, in the light.
  • Go dancing.
  • Take a dance class (again after all these years).
  • Take a voice class (again after all these years).
  • Visit different churches just to see what part of me the services sing to.

And, my final commitment; to visit this page at least once every three months, and mark off the things that actually have a completion point, and star the things I’m doing well on that are a path without destination.

What are your commitments, intentions, or WHY NOTs? I look forward to seeing what you have to share.

And with wishes of joy, abundance, and greatest gratitude, a very heartfelt prayer for a 2010 that is beyond your sweetest dreams, from our home and family to yours.

In GRATITUDE! (heart here!)