#cgsc2015 - A few "housekeeping" notes.

     Time to maybe share a little bit about my family's challenges within this challenge to help you understand where I am coming from. The Celtic's Guide to Samhain Cleaning is based on our own home. It's a big freakin house, at least by my standards. Full eat-in kitchen (when there was a kitchen), a formal dining room, front living room, back living room, main level laundry, and a 1/2 bath; upstairs we have 4 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms, and on top of all this a full basement, half of which our 21-year old son uses, the other half is storage and utilities. I'm sharing this with you, not to brag (quite frankly, I'm not a fan of big houses) but to say, for some of you, there may be days where the challenge is irrelevant to you. These days could be used to catch up on previous challenges, particularly for those with fulltime jobs and/or chronic illness that you are dealing with. Or perhaps to do some fall garden work, because honestly, I'm not planning to touch on the outdoors at all this time around. I'm also not bothering with the garage in this challenge (ours does not have room for vehicles, see below to learn why), nor will personal vehicles be included, which can always use a good fall tidy up I'm sure. So you could certainly use the days that turn out to be irrelevant to your situation for other areas not touched on over the next two weeks. Or, simply sit back, admire your handiwork thus far and take a much deserved break.

My other big challenge, the size of our house doesn't even begin to touch the amount of "stuff" we are working with. It was my hubby's parents' house, ergo, their stuff is here, 55 years and two kids of accumulation. Hubby moved in with his three kids thirteen years ago and whatever they could fit (the rest is still in a storage unit), another 25 years of a family accumulating. Two years ago I moved here and last spring I sold my modular home, I have four kids, the eldest being 28 (no, all seven kids do not live with us! We be crazy, not stupid! lol), so I have my 29 years of accumulated family crap, most is currently in storage. And apparently all of this isn't really enough to deal with, we had a flood back in February and our kitchen was destroyed. We've been dealing with no kitchen since then, we have a fridge, a stove and a rolling cart and most of the dishes and gadgets are in boxes. It's been an adventure, to say the least ;). Everyone has their own challenges though, mine are no more or less than anyone elses, we are here together to support each other through these, no judgement, no comparison. How about you, what are your special challenges that you are working through these two weeks?


While we are going through our things each day of the challenge we will likely come across a lot that is perfectly useable but so not needed, for various reasons (duplicates, don't fit, never use it, etc). There are so many ways we can share our abundance without filling the landfills. Make sure you have some boxes/bags for donating to the local shelter or charitable shop and your camera to snap pics for selling. The photos will be for anything with a decent dollar value which are no longer useful to us for whatever reason. Making a few bucks is not selfish! You did pay for these things with your hard earned money, while we may happily donate a pair of $30 shoes that are in good shape, but unless you're made out of money, the $300 boots only worn once, oh hell no! Remember me pretties, Goodwill, Kijiji and craigslist are our friends! Whether we are donating or selling, we are keeping it out of the garbage dumps and someone else will absolutely love that they will have warm toes this winter or found an amazing deal on a three-piece suit. Here is a list of links for places we can look to share the wealth.

For Donating/Give-away:

• If you have a local Freecycle group near you, sign up (but do not get caught up in the offered items just yet!)
• Goodwill, often looking for donations.
• Habitat for Humanity ReStore, depending on the location some take building materials from working lights or plumbing, all the way to full kitchen cabinets. Most will take furniture and some take the smaller items as well. They're one of my favourite charities personally. 
• Where I live some of the charities will pick up, such as The Boys & Girls Club. Some of these that their own fundraising shops or they sell to Value Village. They have large delivery trucks which can be a handy service, especially if you end up with more than fits in your car once we are all done.
• Local shelters for battered women or homeless youth or adults. 

For Sale:

• Facebook buy and sell groups, find a local one and ask to join. 
• Varage Sale, These are generally set up in smaller cities and towns but even if you are in a larger urban centre some will accept you if you live within 30 min drive of that particular town.
• Kijiji. I'm not sure if Kijiji is outside of Canada
• craigslist.org. A common online selling site.
• Local paper classifieds
• Host a rummage/yard/boot sale

Love & light,

~Síonaínn **  ƸӜƷ  **

Ps. A quick, cheap, and easy stain remover spray. Grab a clean spray bottle, any size will do but my favourite is from the local hardware store and holds about half a litre. Place 1 - 3 teaspoons of baking soda in the bottom, fill the bottle 2/3 full with hydrogen peroxide (do this slowly as the baking soda will react with the peroxide), leaving space at the top fill 1/3 with Dawn dishsoap (it must be Dawn, that shit is amazing for cutting grease!) Do NOT shake the bottle for obvious reasons, gently mix the ingredients together and you can use this on pretty much everything, including countertops, carpets, clothing, furniture, you name it, it is an amazing cleaner and will get damn near any stain out of anything. Oh, and with a bit more baking soda it makes a brilliant odour remover as well. Furbaby pee spots, sprinkle a tablespoon of baking soda then spray your stain remover. Let it soak in, dry and then vacuum or wash as required.

Day 2 - The Master Bedroom #cgsc2015

Wouldn't this be freakin' amazing?! Let's see what we can do to achieve our own version of a bedroom paradise.

I actually had another room chosen for Day 2 as the master bedroom can be a big job but a comment on a previous post by the lovely Caitlin Grace got me to thinking, the kitchen is the hearth of the home, the living room is family time, the bathroom houses the throne, but our bedroom is our oasis. When all else is said and done we retire to our room and this should be with a sigh of relief, a feeling of pure ahhhhhhh as we sink into our bed. Where better to start our challenge than where we end our day. 

Stand at the entry to your bedroom right now, what do you see? What would you like to see? We are not planning a full out redecorating, that is something you can certainly do after but if the room is currently a catch all for "stuff" then even basic decorating is not going to change that.  For now we are working for better, not perfect (you will see that phrase a lot through this challenge).

I'll tell you what I see when I walk in our bedroom, in fact, as embarrassing as it is I am going to bare it all because this is about being honest with ourselves so I may as well just let everyone in on my secret. I am a first class slob! Seriously. I can organise with the best of them, containers, labels, colour coded, the whole nine yards, but I am truly horrific when it comes to follow through. That will be my biggest challenge, keeping things in order after it's all been redone.

So come with me on a tour of my master bedroom (that sounds a little kinky, doesn't it? lol). Right at the entrance is what was long ago meant to be A) a hidden bar of sorts and B) a small altar. The bar is not terribly hidden because I'm too lazy to put bottles back in the cabinet so they sit on top quietly mocking me. The mirror has NEVER been dusted, I can't find the cute antique mailbox that I set there because it's buried in crap that needs to be taken to other rooms, and lighting a candle or incense? Oh hell no, that would be down right scary if not a complete disaster, and we've had our share of disasters this year, thank you very much! Moving further in, but not much, clean laundry piled on top the chest at the end of our bed that hasn't been put away since laundry day last week, dirty laundry is in one place, but on the floor because the hamper I bought is not assembled (in fact it is buried, under the dirty laundry of course). I use a tower fan to hang my pants on that still have a day's wear left in them, I have THREE night stands with some very cute bobbles on them, somewhere, I think. The dressers? They're for piling our clothing on top aren't they? Aren't they??? And let's not forget the nearly empty suitcase from visiting my mom in BC over a week ago, yup, still tripping on that sucker too. And that there me pretties, that is my shame, here for all to see. Please don't judge me too harshly.

Well then, let's get moving. In this post I am assuming any noticable recycles and garbage have been picked up from Day 1. You need boxes labeled for items (not clothing) you would like to donate and one for more valuable ones you would like to try to sell. If you are selling something, take the picture NOW, before it goes in the box. Use as neutral a background as you can find, set up and snap. Done.  As briefly described in yesterday's post and mentioned by Heather in our Facebook event,  working through each area in a counter-clockwise/widdershins manner is very good for releasing and banishing. Disclaimer inserted here: I am not an expert! In absolutely no way nor at any time do I expect anyone to follow me to the letter, or even to the sentence. I'm basically sharing with you my journey, what I'm doing works for me but tweak it up to make it work for you; these are guidelines and ideas to get you going. A good example is me with a recipe, I read the recipe, I like the idea but by the time I'm done it only vaguely resembles the original, I make it my own. Make this journey your own, make it about you, besides sheeple tend to smell I find ;).

Back to our regular programming. To start with we are going to pick up all the clean clothing and put that shit away!  Match and fold the socks, yes, I said match them, and for crying out loud, please throw out the ones with holes! Shirts on hangers (or folded neatly away), trousers folded, whereever it goes, put 'er there. While picking up the clean clothing you certainly may do a basic culling of those items, but if you're anything like me, they're laying around BECAUSE they are the clothes you wear the most, not the opposite. I do say basic though as we'll be attacking the closets and drawers in our rooms tomorrow in part two of the master bedroom. Now gather all the dirty laundry and get it out of your room, if you have a hamper it can go back in there after the tidying is done, if the pile is big enough, wash it already, it stinks! Seriously! Ewww. (Oh wait, that's our laundry, cat pee'd on it.... dammitalltohell.)

If your sheets need a change now is the time. Seasonal cleaning is also a good time to clean the bedding and flip/rotate your matress if it needs that as well. Mattresses and pillows house all sorts of nasty buggies, for the mattress use either baking soda or diatomaceous earth (add your favourite essential oil for a little somethin' somethin'), sprinkle it on, leave it while you tidy then vacuum it up before putting fresh sheets on, that should kill those icky critters good and dead. Pillows, cushions and shams can be thrown in the dryer on the highest heat the materials can handle; buggies like warm, they're not so fond of being baked.

Laundry and the bed are done, so now we will go through the room (widdershins again) and remove everything that does not belong to the hallway. Make piles of items by location if you like, living room, kitchen, bathroom, etc., use your give away and sell boxes here too (remember, take the photos of the items you want to sell immediately!). We'll redistribute these things after the room is done so we don't get distracted wandering about the house. Put away the out of place items from dresser tops, tidy up the side tables, and do a very quick dusting. Whatever is left on the dressers and tables I am assuming you want there for decorative and practical purposes (better if it serves both) so go ahead and make it look pretty, classy, simplistic or purely practical, whatever floats your boat. If there are any added touches you'd like to make such as candles, plants, flowers, changing out any art work, seasonal decorating or even some sort of canopy over your bed, this is a great time to do that. Oh and ps. your leopard print bra or joe boxers with happy faces are not decor ;). Just sayin'.

A quick vacuum (please no major cleaning yet, we'll get to that in a few days), replace any lightbulbs as needed, batteries in remotes, and ta da, you are done. Stand back and admire your lovely oasis, gorgeous isn't it?

If you have a box of bits and baubles for donation, get that asap to the Goodwill bin or the charity shop. The photos you took for selling, decide on a price, upload, label and post.

Please share with here or on Facebook what you did for this challenge and how you felt when crawled into bed at the end of the day. Brightest blessings me pretties!

Love & light,

~Síonaínn **  ƸӜƷ  **

Ps. When you put fresh bedding and sheets on your bed go ahead and make it all up as pretty and tidy as a showhome. But recent research suggests that when you get up in the morning it is healthier to NOT make your bed as that nice warm spot you just left behind is pure heaven for them icky critters, so pull back the bedding (this can still be done neatly) and expose those shitheads to the bright lights and chilly morning air. Here's a link with a bit of information on that if you want to learn more: Don't make your bed! 

Here's another heavenly outdoor bedroom to drool over.

Day 1 - It's Garbage Day! #cgsc2015

This is a 14-day challenge, not a 14-minute challenge, so the pace will be more of a marathon than a sprint. How long you will need to work on each day's task is entirely dependant on whatever is needed for you to get 'er done to YOUR satisfaction and/or ability (strive for better, not perfect).

Sometimes we look around our house and we see treasures, other times all the clutter just feels like junk. I'm willing to bet, like me, you have a decent collection of both. One of the first things we need to work on is which is which and as easy as that may sound, it is anything but. When we factor in dollar value, sentimental value, one-day-I-may-need-this reasoning, and one-day-these-clothes-will-fit-again (too big or too small) it becomes a monumental task to decide. What do I keep? What do I toss in the bin? Where can I share some of my blessings? And, of course, can I make a buck off this?

Day 1 is entirely dedicated to the obvious, in plain sight, junk. Absolutely NO diving into closets or junk drawers or kitchen cabinets folks! Now, let's grab those garbage bags, our blue bags and a bucket or empty kitty litter box to collect the dangerous goods. For the City of Edmonton, they have a "What Goes Where?" pdf to post in our homes. It's a good guideline but if you can find one specific to your area, definitely print it out and either post on your fridge or wherever you sort trash. I've finally printed a copy because as much as it irks me, there are things with the recycle symbol that are still not recyclable (what is with that anyway??). I've been rebelling by still placing those items in the blue bin but alas, I do have to admit I'm likely being a pain in the ass for the city workers having to sort that crap out anyway.

Stand at your main entry, if you have a porch or front step you can start there. Outside, are there any piles of papers that are "waiting" to be recycled? Hanging planters that have hit the end of their lifespan? How about those well used flip-flops sitting by the door? You know, the $3 ones from Walmart you tried to make last two seasons. From this point we are going to take a little tour of our own homes, and I repeat, stay out of the fuckin' closets people! ;) You can do this in any manner you like, personally, as I'm releasing I like to work my way through the house Widdershins (counter-clockwise), banishing the unwanted junk both physically and spiritually. But if that's a bit too woo-woo for you, by all means, just huck and chuck at will *big grin*.

At this time you can mentally make note of areas that will definitely take extra time and maybe even areas that will require no attention at all (only in my dreams here!) but do not deviate from your path. If you can see it without opening doors and drawers and it is garbage or recycle, toss it. Piles of magazines, empty envelopes and inserts from opened mail, the styrofoam container from last week's take-out, dead batteries laying beside the TV remotes (note, these require separate handling - use your dangerous goods bucket/box), cardboard from that new juicer you bought two weeks ago, ratty blankets that even the dog won't use, that broken snowglobe from a trip barely remembered. You can do it!

Take a photo or weigh the garbage then you please post either the picture and/or the weight of how much you have just released from this one little task. This is your reminder to yourself of how good it feels to just let it go! Feels good, doesn't it?! See you tomorrow xx

Love & light,

~Síonaínn **  ƸӜƷ  **

Ps. I may occassionally use sarcasm and swear. Consider this my blanket apology if this offends. ;)
Pps. I like postcripts. Likely this is needless to say, but pointless rhetoric can be fun too. 

Welcome to the Celtic's Guide to Samhain Cleaning (#CGSC2015)

Introduction

This challenge is not being set to exclude anyone. Though my theme is autumn and Samhain cleaning, there are so many ways those from any faith can participate, Pagan or Hindi, Pastafarian or Christian, Muslim, Jew or Buddhist, you are all welcome to join in the party! And if you are in the Southern hemisphere of this great big beautiful world of ours, your springtime Beltane cleaning is also welcome, xx.

October 31st is the 304th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 61 days remaining until the end of the calendar year. Samhain, Hallowe'en, Christian Feast Day, Winter's Eve, Allantide, Day of the Dead, by any other name would smell just as pumkiny. Call it what you like, all over the world this day holds some rather auspicious observances and nothing better than a celebration to get the home all spiffy!

On the Celtic Wheel of the Year, Samhain is the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. For many it is our Holy day, when the veil between the living and dead is at the thinnest and we honour our ancestors. While I am certain my ancestors are well aware of the disaster that is our home right now I'll be damned if I want to invite them to a party where they are the guests of honour while it looks like this! It would seem I'm not alone in this feeling, or at the very least, some of us simply need a kick in the bum! Well, I have my steel-toed boots at the ready, so be prepared!

I will not go into explaining Samhain (pronounced SAH-win, SOW-in or s'aun), or the history of it here. We'll save that for the big day itself, or not, since there is already so much information out there who am I to reinvent the wheel? The purpose of the next two weeks is to release, clean and cleanse our home (and a little bit of ourselves in the process), to clear out all that is old and be ready to bring in the new. From October 16th to October 30th I will set out a series of daily tasks, always posted the evening before (based on MDT). How each of you approaches these tasks is entirely up to you.

I recognise that we all have different homes, size, condition, decor, perception, location - urban or rural, none are the same. We each have different levels of abilities as well: Some will get up and be all done before their morning coffee and jog; some will do little bits throughout the day, resting as needed or fitting into already busy schedules, and some of us are serious night owls, burning the midnight oil. Get as detailed or as basic as fits your needs and wants right now, but no matter what there is no wrong way to approach the challenge, your how is as unique as you are.

First order of business is supplies, I'll list them here for you. Here is the pdf checklist you can print out or upload to your tablet. So, boys and girls, let's get this party started!

Supplies

• You and your home ;)
• An attitude of gratitude.
• Camera or smart phone
• Garbage & recycle bags 
• Empty boxes
• Bucket
• Cleaning rags and dusting cloths 
• Rubber gloves
• Scrubbing sponge 
• Broom & mop
• Vacuum
• Dawn dish soap
• Olive oil
• Vinegar
• Lemon juice 
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Borax
• Baking soda
• Essential oils (your favourites)
• Dried Herbs
• Selenite and tourmaline crystals
• Black & white candles

Love & light,

~Síonaínn **  ƸӜƷ  **

Helpful links: An Ceilteach Croí, The Facebook Event, my Instagram, my Twitter (Please use #cgsc2015 if you post publicly so I can find you!)

Addendum: I literally came up with this idea Monday so my plans are being created on-the-fly, as they say. I am doing each day's tasks only 2 days before you are so the supply list will most likely be added to as we go. You are my guinea pigs you could say, any and all comments, suggestions, kudos, etc. as we do this will be most appreciated :).

A Celtic's Guide to Samhain Cleaning & Cleansing

Preamble/History, whatever you would like to call it :)

My inspiration for creating and hosting this challenge is actually threefold. One is my husband, Doug, the second is a Facebook post made by a friend and the third was inspiration itself - I want a clean home, my favourite Sabbat is coming, I bet there are a couple of others that are in the same place, we could do it together!

Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving and honestly I didn't think we'd be celebrating. You see nearly nine months ago, February 19th to be exact, we had a huge flood in our home which completely damaged our kitchen, to the point where it had to be fully gutted, right down to the wall studs. We were already in a state of flux at the time of this happening, planning for a wedding on March 21st (ours), moving the final vestiges of my previous home up to Edmonton, and living in the time capsule that was Doug's parents' house. Sorting through my things, his things, their things and just years of accumulation of stuff on all our parts, we were surrounded by life-draining, overwhelming, and down right piss-off amounts of crap. Yours, mine and ours had taken on an entirely new dimension!

I puttered here and there, sometimes working up the energy to make some real progress and then would hit a wall of frustration. Apathy - why bother until the kitchen is repaired? Two steps forward, 9,365 steps backward. A BAD BAD attitude and honestly we were both guilty of it. Doug may have worked more than even the busy season required and spent time at home glued to the TV. I slept, then slept some more, then pretended to get something done, procrastinated and the worst part, turned to buying things as I am wont to do when depressed. So much money spent on so many stupid little things at my new addiction, the weekly auctions.

This past Sunday became a turning point for both of us, though we each reacted in quite different ways. By 11:00 AM our kitchen & den were filled with dozens of flat-packed boxes and little plastic packages from Ikea. The kitchen cabinets (or at least most of them) had been delivered! We checked off all 173 items, labeled them by cabinet location, and proudly gazed at the next, and most important step, to returning to a life of some normalcy (as much as we can claim anyway, lol). These piles and piles of random sized boxes and bags, from the huge back panel of 36"x 96" to the tiny packages of hinge dampeners, represented our future kitchen. The fifty-dollar question - waiting again, how long until the contractor would come and do this part?

Doug, my amazing, patient, loving, and Oh so frustrated! husband took action while I buried my head in the sand of sleep in pure depressed, "OMG there is so much! I can't do this" frustration. For the past seven months our "kitchen" consisted of a stove, a fridge and a free-standing Cuisinart cabinet and we'd both had quite enough of it. Before lunch Doug grabbed his wallet and went out to buy the fixings for a home cooked turkey dinner. All afternoon, with the help of our 16 year old daughter, he cooked us a simple but delicious, from scratch, Thanksgiving supper. AND he began the process of measuring and preparation to install the cabinets. By the time he had supper ready to serve, Doug had also assembled and installed SIX of the upper cabinets. My hero!!

We plopped ourselves in front of the TV for a family Thanksgiving dinner (remember, no kitchen to eat in) while watching a movie. Ordinarily a Marvel film would have my undivided attention but that night a fire had been lit and I was not going to leave this all to hubby, time to make some real plans. Originally, this was all intended to be something I was doing alone, for myself and my family, then I came across a photo shared on facebook by a friend, "As I see the old year out, I sweep away all fear and doubt. The coming year will be good for me, As I become all I can be." Epiphany!  Plan a full out autumn cleaning expressly with the goal being a beautiful Samhain and beginning to the new Celtic Year!

Better yet, why do this alone?? It is, and always has been, my life purpose to help others, whether it is one person or one hundred, the numbers are not the point, I just want to help. If I am in this boat, there are likely others who are as well; the boat may look different in each person's case, but we are all feeling like we're baling as fast as we can with no visible progress. I sent out some feelers into Facebook land to see if I could drum up some interest. I did not expect the response I would get! In less than 24 hours from the first inklings of an idea 16 people had signed up, perhaps more by the time this post is live, and here we all are!! Welcome! I look forward to getting to know all of you <3.

I've set up the event page on facebook and I will also set up a closed group for private sharing for those that prefer that. From October 16th to October 30th we are going to work together to prepare our homes and ourselves for Samhain and a New Year on the Celtic Wheel.

This was not meant to be so flipping long, so I apologise for my wordiness :). But having said all that, I would love to hear from you before we begin, what are the challenges that you are facing, have been or will face, which brought you to join me here today? Please share in the comments on this blog post, on the event page and/or in the secret Facebook group.

An introduction and checklist of supplies will be posted Wednesday.

Love & light,

~Síonaínn **  ƸӜƷ  **

The picture that really started it all. Hubby straining the turkey gravy with his newly installed cabinets. I am ever so thankful for having such a wonderful husband!

Learn Everything You Can....

Life is full of transitions and challenges but those are what make us stronger, better, wiser and more adaptable. I seem to attract regular change and I'm actually okay with that, keeps me on my toes. Others around me are not quite as enthusiastic but hey, "I yam, what I yam, what I yam". September is quickly approaching and there are quite a few changes, some forced upon me, some I've forced on others and some I am choosing willingly.

Friday I am to join a group of other visionaries and entrepreneurs in a brain storming session for the purpose of goal planning and accountability. Some of my thoughts will be geared towards how do I build up this blog to be all I want it to be, including a proper website. I want to engage readers with my life journey, with curiousity, humour, spirituality (not to be confused with religion), love of life and my passion for learning.

Early next week I'm going to post a list of topics that I am currently interested in. Within the framework of that list I would love to get reader feedback of what you would like to hear from me. Tell me what YOU would like to know more about and I will do the research and see what I can come up with for you. Teaching is the best way to learn, so let's see what kind of trouble we can get into with our adventures together.

Until we meet again....

Love & light,

~Shannon **  ƸӜƷ  **

Becoming

Life continues to throw curve balls at me, of course, I think that is a given for all of us. At the moment there is a lot going on and my focus is on sorting out what and where my priorities lie. Not to sound self-centered, but for the first time I'm realising that my first priority in my life is me. In my happiness and inner contentment I can find the strength to be more. More for myself, more as a mother and more as a life partner.

Do you ever find yourself wondering, "What if?" Yeah, me too.

We can't change the past, honestly, why would we want to? There are moments of pride, moments of shame, memories of wrong choices made and knowing that we did our absolute best in any given situation considering where we were at that time. Psychologically, physically, academically, spiritually, emotionally, we are always in growth and what happened yesterday shapes who we are today but doesn't dictate what we do tomorrow. Embrace the past, take the lessons, embrace the suck and make tomorrow better with all you have learned about the world and yourself. Every triumph, trial, tribulation, every event, big or small, were lessons in becoming you.

In the midst of one of the worst winters (both how bitter it was outside and my level of depression) I came across the Soul Path Tribe. I was reluctant to join at first, I'm not really sure why now, but join I did and the Tribe has been one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I found my spiritual calling, I am finding my purpose and I found my Inner Goddess. Lyn and Paul have taught me so much, and I have so much to learn, and I do love me my learning!

In the past 6 months I have changed - no, not changed, blossomed. The dreams I've long repressed are bubbling up. I've been writing, one of the passions I've had since childhood. I had three articles published in Soul Path Magazine in July and been asked to be a regular contributor, sharing my interest in aromatherapy in the form of blends I've created to help us in our everyday adventures. My self-confidence has grown, I'm slowly chasing away those inner voices that regularly told me that I'm inadequate and unworthy, I'm fat, lazy, unattractive and stupid. Replacing them with, "I'm capable and talented, I'm beautiful (inside and out), I'm intelligent, creative and clever." Challenging myself to grow, to become, to be Me!

If you're open and ready for change; if you know you have potential but are unsure how to tap into it, I highly recommend the Soul Path Tribe. I've been through other programs and there are many great ones out there. Each one has to fit where you are in life right now and if it doesn't fit, it won't work. With any of them you get out of it what you put in to it, are you ready to put in 100% of finding your Inner Goddess? Then go for it, where there is a will, there is a way. And if you need a cheerleader, don't hesitate to contact me. I may not be able to reply immediately but I will reply and I hope I can encourage you to find your strength and courage.

What challenges are you facing? What do you think your first step should be in facing those challenges?

Yesterday is past, tomorrow is not yet here, but Today is a Gift - That is why it is called the present. Be present and revel in all you have right now.

Love & light,

~Shannon **  ƸӜƷ  **

Beannachd na Bandia dhuit

Homogenous or Heterogenous?

 
I had this post all written up and sounding brilliant earlier today.... in my thoughts. Then I fell asleep and poof it is gone like the wind, typical ADHD adventures. I have the gist of it in my head so we'll see what I can come up with and stay on topic.... butterfly.... ummm, yeah. ever onward.

Recently I came to the conclusion that one of the struggles I've had with maintaining a blog is trying to find a niche, advice I've seen given for successful blogging time and again. I had three public blogs going trying to keep each one in a particular topic. All I managed to accomplish was to create more stress for myself, worried that I had to keep regular posting in each of them so not posting at all! Talk about creating my own problems.

Perhaps one day I can settle myself down to one topic, perhaps not. I've grown a lot in the past year: finding where my spirtual path is and beginning to follow that; learning to accept some of my personality traits that I've tried to supress, or at least hide from others out of fear of rejection or ridicule. I'm reaching a point where, though the opinion of others is still more important to me (more than I like) I am able to step out and be more of myself openly. One big part of who I am is my eclectic interests. Trying to find a niche topic is not in me.

I'd like to invite you to join me on this journey, where my world is as ADHD as I am.... interests waxing and waning and changing sometimes daily. Some activities I jump in with both feet, researching, buying books and supplies only to find it really doesn't fit me. Then there are others that I revisit time and again in cycles over a few months or even years.

I'm throwing out the niche ideal with the bathwater. Out of the closet, I am officially, proudly and crazily eclectic!! Education, writing, photography, crafts, self-help, and parenting; whatever piques my interest at the time, that is where you'll find me! I'd love to hear if there are others like me, are your interests fairly steady or do you also follow the eclectic path?

Love & light,

~Shannon **  ƸӜƷ  **

Migration

Starting today I am moving my regular posting (yes, I know it's been over a year so "regular" is a bit of a misnomer, lol) over to my other blog Domestically Challenged Goddess of Procrastination. If you've been following me and perhaps even wondering where I am, follow the yellow brick road (or the link.... which will get you there faster). See you there and until then, Stay Beautiful xx

Love & light,

~Shannon **  ƸӜƷ  **