Think, Thank… Thunk!

(from May 2009)

Last Friday, I spent the night at a shamanic healing class led by Shamanic Practitioner Katie Wetherup at the Tree of Life store in San Diego, California.

(originally published May 2009)

Better late than never, right?

Or rather – life is so busy this week, that I’m happy just to be sharing these photos at all

Below are a few photos from my move from Tennessee to California in April. Sadie, Grizzly, Kaiser, Max and I loaded up the “Toaster,” as we affectionately call my Scion XB, and Jason took the wheel of the rental truck that contained the remainder of our belongings.

Day one took us from Millington, TN to Deserts Rose Healing Ranch near Houston, TX to visit my family for a day and celebrate my sister’s 18th birthday. It was a great time; I always leave Deserts Rose feeling calm and refreshed. After a day there, we hit the road again and drove two days straight to our new home in San Diego.  (All photos by Jan Bowers, copyright Creative Warrior Photography).

Click here to visit more photo galleries at www.JanBowers.com

(originally published May 2009)

A mentor told me a few months ago that if I want to write, I have to “be always writing.” She encouraged me to mine everything I can for inspiration, and to not be afraid to share what I am thinking and feeling with others.

Today I feel at peace. I spent the day at the San Diego Zoo, one of my favorite places in this bustling city. I enjoy the Zoo for the obvious reasons, but also because it is one of the few places in this industrialized city filled with hundreds of thousands of people that I can remember with little effort what it feels like to stand on mountains in Alaska. The land of the midnight sun makes me want to write more than I want to eat, paint things I did not know my hands could see, and pray without ceasing to draw breath. I could not quiet my soul on those mountains if I tried.

The Zoo’s mass of colors brings those feelings back to a degree. I like to take a notebook to the polar bear exhibit and think about Alaska. While the crowds can be overwhelming and the stroller brigades tire me out, I enjoy listening to the people around me learn. They’re not in front of a television, they stepped away from the computer for a day, they make the effort to get outside… maybe one day their hands will pour forth words like mine want to.

Today was particularly enjoyable because Jason is taking my education in photography fully in hand. Unfortunately, my years of studio art training do not make it any easier to read a light meter, adjust the aperture setting, or stand in crowds and click away with a steady hand. All of that takes practice, and I am reveling in the process. I am married to a very good teacher!

Highlights of the day include checking out the new “Elephant Odyssey” exhibit, which opened today and is absolutely breathtaking; watching two baby monkeys wrestle with each other in a manner that reminded me of my cats, Max and Kaiser (I laughed until I could have cried, truly); and watching three juvenile tigers frolic and play fight in their space. We also saw a hippo walk underwater for a very long time, and a turtle from Asia with a freakishly long neck. While Jason was teaching me how to photograph moving water, a peacock wandered within one foot of us!

We’ll be back soon, but until then, here are a few photos to share (all photos by Jan Bowers, copyright Creative Warrior Photography):

(originally published May 2009)

The basic truth about multi-tasking is that it cannot be done. We can train ourselves to switch from one task to another quickly, but that moment of transition will always exist. Throughout the course of the day, all of these transitions add up to seconds, minutes, hours wasted.

That lesson was driven home again and again over the last two weeks as military demands increased, workouts became more intense and much longer, and my personal relationships clamored for attention. Of course, these weeks also brought opportunties for Creative Warrior Healing that I did not want to pass up, so tack another page onto the “to-do” list and lets get going!

I know I am not the only one who has had weeks like these, when buckling down and getting everything done seems overwhelmingly complex. Do you know how to deal with them when they hit? My tips are shared below. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I sometimes forget to take my own advice and find myself aimlessly wandering the internet while I become increasingly discouraged, but overall, keeping these in mind helps me maintain my sanity:

1) When the going gets rough, I get off of facebook, twitter, and the internet in general. While keeping in touch with the wonderful people I have met online is important to me, when push comes to shove, other demands fall higher on my table of priorities. Besides, who ever logs on to facebook and leaves after replying to just one message? I usually find myself browsing photos, replying to status messages, and spending far more time than is allotted.

2) Break the day into blocks of time, and plan to transition tasks when you stop to eat a snack, use the restroom, stretch your legs, or similar. For instance, I plan to write for an hour, take a ten-minute break, work on school work for an hour, take a 10-minute break, work on administrative tasks for Creative Warrior for an hour, take a 10-minute break, and so on. Remember that working steadily for an hour is about right – not too long to burn out, but long enough to warrant a break for both body and mind.

3) Prioritize your tasks. What absolutely must be completed, has a specific deadline, etc.? What can be pushed ot the next week? I put my tasks in “necessary” and “nice to have” categories. In busy weeks, the “nice to have’s” sometimes get pushed aside, but that is fine – they are not necessary.

4) Finally, don’t work too hard! Remember that a rested, happy mind and body are more effective, efficient, and healthier than a burned-out, overstressed, exhausted one. I turn my computer and cell phone off while I eat lunch, make sure I work out every day (even if I have to shorten my workouts to flex around a busy work schedule), and take time to play with the dogs, pet the cats, and breathe deeply while I feed the fish.

Do you have any tips to help all of us get through crazy weeks? If so, please share turn to the nearest family member or friend and share them – and don’t forget to write me, too, at jan.bowers@ymail.com!

(originally published May 2009)

Naval Academy graduates suffered a great loss yesterday, when a good man and friend to many passed away in a helicopter crash.

There are men and women around the world who were touched by this man’s infectious good will and spirit, who now struggle to deal with their own grief, depression, anxiety about who among us will be next, and a desire to protect everyone we know and love.

I would like to take a moment to gently tell those I love who are grieving, and those who are trying to help their loved ones through a sad time:

• Remember to eat good meals and rest as well as you can. Your emotional self cannot heal without the proper fuel to do so. In serious grief cases, the body must be strong in order to heal the mind. Now, the lapse in time between the two depends on the nature and depth of grief, but it is futile to attempt to heal one without the other.
• Tending to your loved one’s physical needs by providing a nutritious meal and offering a massage or essential oils treatment is among the best ways to help them through their grief. Physical contact forces them out of their minds, forces them to break a cycle of sad thoughts, if only for a moment. This approach also provides you with the opportunity to actively minister to someone you love, spreading a calm, and therefore healing, energy to them. Approach this task with the gentle spirit and reverance your loved one deserves.
• I do not believe that talking is always the best way for individuals to work through grief. Sharing that grief with others, however, and garnering support during the healing process, is always necessary. Sound like contradictory statements? Sharing grief can be done silently through energy work, healing therapies, journaling, or simply shared outings over time. Be creative, and remain patient and understanding if your loved one does not want to vocalize their feelings; the way that you would deal with a loss is not necessarily how they best confront their grief.
• Patience and the ability to listen well without judgment are abilities that must be honed and practiced. If you are helping a loved one, there is no time like the present to start practicing.

Rest well and in peace, Aaron, until your spirit arrives again. You are missed, and your family is in many prayers.

(originally published April 2009)

The following is posted at www.JanBowers.com, and reposted here to make sure everyone who can benefit reads it.

It’s been a scary week, marked by constant media coverage of the swine flu outbreak and a rising sense of public panic. Keep the following in mind to protect yourself and your loved ones, as well as your sanity, during this tumultuous time:

• Remember that we are blessed to live in an industrialized society with many resources at our fingertips. Allowing yourself to feel panic or fear will only lower your immune system. So take a deep breath, reach for Peace and Calming if you need some extra help, and try to relax.
• Make your health a priority – get a full 7-9 hours sleep every night, drink lots of water, and follow a clean diet void of excess sugars, salt, and fat in order to protect your immunity and keep your system bolstered.
• I recommend adding an ounce or two of extra Ningxia Red to your current program until the swine flu outbreak passes to ensure your body is getting the nutritional support it needs to keep immunity high.
• I am currently placing 2-4 drops of Thieves on the bottoms of each of my feet each morning and night, and recommend the same (more information on Thieves found below).
• Be careful not to touch your eyes or nose, put fingers in mouth, etc. These behaviors are an easy way to transmit germs from your hands into your body.
• Arm yourself with Thieves hand sanitizer and spray to use throughout the day. Wash your hands often, and make liberal use of these tools.
• Thieves mouthwash, toothpaste, and throat losenges can help keep the gums, a common transmission site, safe and healthy.
• If you do feel sick, stay home! Now is not the time to push yourself, or expose a weakened system to germs that people in your workplace or around your community may be carrying.

To learn more about the swine flu, visit the Center for Disease Control at: www.cdc.gov/swineflu.

* * * * * * *

What is Thieves? Thieves is a blend of therapeutic-grade essential oils that contains Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus Radiata, and Rosemary. The blend has been tested and found to exhibit an extremely high kill rate of mold, bacteria, fungi, and viruses. For a one-page information sheet, click here. To learn more about what makes an essential oil “therapeutic-grade” and how to use them, please visit the Essential Oils resource section.

This information is intended for educational purposes only, and does not attempt to diagnose, treat, or prescribe.

(originally published April 2009)

This morning begins with a bit of a serious subject for an overcast Tuesday, but when a topic has been on ones mind for over a day, what else is one to do but write about it?

I am currently attending a week-long course on leadership. Yesterday, we students were challenged to write a vision statement for our lives. It was not a challenge for me to draft the statement, because certain periods of my life have been marked by an addiction to self-help books. There was, however, a fair amount of discussion among members of the class who had not been tasked with creating such a statement, and I found myself passing the afternoon by musing over one crucial detail: what is the point of drafting a vision statement for our lives, if we do not have the courage to make our vision a reality in our own lives?

A sound vision statement should be:

1) clear; you should be able to explain and articulate the main point(s);
2) concise – shorter is better, so you can actually remember it!
3) unlimited – this is a dream, a vision, a fantasy. Later, after you have chosen to commit to the dream and work to make it a reality, is the time for adapting the dream to your life, your resources, and your constraints. Now is the time to dream, which by the very definition of the word means to envision without limits.

Set aside time to think about what you truly, deeply want out of life. Accept that your vision may change, because what you want out of life at the age of 20 is probably different than what you will hold most important at the age of 40. Our core personality traits, however, are well-formed by the age of 2, and do not change in many quantifiable ways. This means that what we want at the deepest levels now is what we have always wanted, and what we will always want. All we have to do is tap into that vision and articulate it.

I have found that self-help books and exercises helped me greatly in articulating my vision the first time I attempted to do so. Your statement will probably require several revisions, and it may require many days, or even weeks, of time spent alone and examining your deepest desires. My first drafts were always a bit constrained, like I was holding something back. I felt a bit of lingering embarrassment, and one question loomed larger than the others – what would my husband/parents/friends/strangers say if they read this? Would they laugh at me? Would they take me seriously? Would they believe that I could do it, whatever the “it” of my vision is?

Your vision statement, your dream, is a fragile thing, and it must be protected. I encourage you to keep it to yourself until you are strong enough, certain enough in your vision, to share it with others. My litmus test for sharing anything personal with others, be it a piece of writing, a painting, or a dream, is very simple – how would I feel if that person laughed at me? How would I feel if they rejected my work, criticized it, offered unsolicited input, or put me down in any way? I would probably feel embarrassed, self-critical, and suffer a loss of confidence. None of these states would help me write, paint, or create something that is ultimately better, so what is their input worth to me? Personally, I prefer to keep things private until I am confident in them, so sure of myself that their criticism will not touch me and result in a loss of faith, when the inevitable criticism comes.

Let’s get back to the primary reason I started writing today – I’ve drafted my vision statement, and hopefully so have you. I have revised it a little bit to meet my current dreams, and am prepared to turn in today’s assignment. Here is the million-dollar question: do I have the courage and strength to commit to it, trust it, and ultimately take the chances necessary to better align my life with my stated vision for living it?

Time will tell………

(originally published April 2009)

Or so I am learning. Oddly enough, I did not expect that revelation to be as comforting as it is. Something about knowing that the “little things” can add up to make one very peaceful whole fits in very well with my faith, my lifestyle, and my optimistic personality. I suppose it’s all about adding to the proverbial lemonade, even with the things that are less positive. Or, as Ron White says, “use lemons to make lemonade, then find someone who is able to use their lemons to make vodka, and have a party!”

Here’s a laundry list from my first two weeks in San Diego.

LIKES:
- an easy-to-use recycling program that picks up at my house;
- much lower food prices than Memphis;
- a wide range of organic grocers who offer affordable prices (thank you, Trader Joe’s!);
- a community that considers naturopathic healthcare a viable and important practice, not “witchcraft;”
- a community so supportive of its SPCA that the building is nicer (and larger) than some of the public schools I attended in my youth;
- independent radio stations that play music worth listening to;
- a newspaper that delivers multiple sides of an issue, and include an “arts” section;
- writing groups and workshops every way you turn;
- more to come!

NOT SO MUCH:
- 6-lane highways with exits on both sides;
- close proximity of hundreds of thousands of neighbors;
- high crime rates in various parts of the city.

Overall, my lemonade should be pretty sweet!

(originally published April 2009)

Although I am enjoying my new home and am pleased by how well the animal crew is settling in, I have to admit that it’s not all roses… there are reasons they say moving is hard!

My biggest challenge at the moment is establishing my priorities and sticking to them. The 15 months I spent in Tennessee was just long enough to find a good place to teach, cultivate friendships, and learn how to balance my job as a military officer, my business as a naturopathic practitioner, writing, education programs/training, caring for my animals and family, and painting, gardening, reading, and the occasional fit of crazy housecleaning meant to keep things sanitary until the next time. Although things were always hectic, knowing exactly where and how to fit errands, gym time, and social outings into my schedule enabled me to carve out a few minutes every day that were purely for me.

Not so in San Diego! I have no idea which direction I am headed in half the time, where to stop for groceries, how to find the best place for gas, whether it would be best to work out in the morning or afternoon, or where to take the dogs to let them loose for a run, and my mind buzzes with questions. There is so much to do at my house that I have developed a tendency to stand in my kitchen and blink productively while determining whether to head upstairs and unpack boxes, stay downstairs and unpack boxes, hang up pictures before they get trampled on, take care of that silly lizard, or really live la vida loca and attempt to wash the dishes.

I know that things will settle down. I have, after all, only been in town for a week. On that note, I’m off to hit the highways again, where my internal dialouge sounds a lot like this:

MERGE! MERGE! MERGE! Okay, good, you’re on the highway…. this is good….. breathe…. you’re fine…. MERGE! MERGE! MERGE! Am I still on the right highway? Where am I? Why is everyone driving so fast? Are they always this angry? MERGE! MERGE! Holy COW, where did that van come from?

Okay, you’re still on the highway…. breathe…… breathe….

(originally published April 2009)

San Diego makes me feel like a plant, like I am stretching and growing into the sun and into a new, relaxed way of life. The animals feel it, too, and are responding to our large garden, spacious courtyard, and open house with an interesting certainty that they have not experienced in past moves.

Part of what they are responding to is my own sense of calm direction; it’s the kind of peace that comes from committing yourself to a path that you are meant to walk. I feel like a big, tired horse who finally arrived at the barn after a very muddy last stretch.

The year I spent in Tennessee was hard. Important? Yes. Even vital? Beyond a doubt. It was in Tennessee that I committed to either writing or painting every day, without exception; it was in Tennessee that I made life-long friends, learned to kill roaches with frying pans, cultivated the ability to let things be as they are, and decided with certainty to make my next two years one of transition. Tennessee taught me that my definition of “perfect” was wrong, and far from what the universe in all her glory holds as “perfect” for me. My definition never included a house that was clean but so filled with projects it looked as if a tornado perpetually parked itself in my living room; I was provided with friends who wanted to be a part of my projects, and didn’t mind sitting on floor cushions if my sofa was full. My definition never included gaining weight because I was too tired and overworked to hit the gym; I began practicing yoga and enjoyed a southern culture that celebrates women with curves. My definition never included so many animals, so much work, and so many people to reach that I was running in ten million crazy directions at once; I was provided with more laughter and outrageously funny stories than I could ever hope to capture in dozens of books.

In Tennessee I learned how to grill meat; mow a hill that calls itself a lawn without chopping my foot off; weed-whack said lawn when the mower broke; go back to sleep after watching a scary movie; say “no;” stand up for myself; and work with crystal skulls. I learned that guilt is a feeling I have no reason to feel anymore; I learned how to let go without apologies and without guilt. I dropped the burden of having to prove myself; that is no longer mine to carry.

In short, I spent my year in Tennessee trying to survive, while the universe spent it preparing me for two years of transition in San Diego, followed by….. well, followed by the future! My transition begins today, with two interviews at local organizations who may have space free for me to teach.

Keep your fingers crossed, and I’ll keep you posted on how they go. Before that time, though, I still have to work out, polish my resume, pull some supporting materials, try to call my husband in the field, put one dog through an acupressure session and another out for some exercise, unpack more clothes so I have something to wear, and try to find shoes, purse, and garage door opener, in that order…… then I have to hit the autobahns of Southern Cali and try not to get killed….. I hope transitions aren’t supposed to be slow!