The Holidays MY WAY: The Simple Pleasures

This Holiday Season MY WAY:

The Simple Pleasures

I took this photo of my oatmeal cooking and my tea steeping here in my new home in San Anselmo, California the morning after Thanksgiving this year.  After nearly 2 months of dodging renovations by camping out in our "cave" (our dark unfinished basement) I woke up upstairs thankful for a lot of things.  Thankful for my husband.  Thankful for my new iPad 2 (thanks mom!) that I hilariously use as a camera.   Thankful to be living out my passion for helping people to create Soulful environments and success in their life.  Thankful for our dog Charlie's remarkable recovery after his stroke this fall.  Heck, I was even thankful for my slippers that morning ;)  

The morning I took this photo I was feeling completely aligned and thankful for my good ole' slippers.  I slipped those cozy deep red babies on my feet and shuffled into the kitchen.  As I was preparing my oats and tea it occurred to me that I had a grin from ear to ear.  Just being in the space of home was making me smile.  While I had made the best of our camping arrangement in the cave, I couldn't help but KISS the Universe for gifting me with light and heat and my home sweet home. 

JUST BEING in my home with my sweet pup Charlie and my beloved Spencer was all I wanted for Thanksgiving this year.  This life is such a gift!  The light coming through the windows, the redwoods smiling at me from our sweet neighbor's yard, my ginger tea steeping, and the familiar fragrance of cinnamon, apples, and oats...mmmmm now THAT's a Soulful Nest...the simple pleasures.

Today the Christmas Spirit got me.  I found myself whistling Winter Wonderland at my computer this morning.  So I looked up the Andrews Sisters on You Tube, put Winter Wonderland on repeat, called my mom, dad, and sisters, and did a little dance around my office this morning.  I want to encourage you all, as you eat tomorrow's chunk of chocolate from your advent calendar before your family members realize what happened...to remember to do your holiday your way.  Bring in what's cheerful for YOU this year.  If you're anything like me it's not the tree (that I'm not buying this year) or the gifts (that I'm not buying this year) or looking snazzy for the big Christmas party (that I'm not going to this year) that bring me joy...it's just the simple pleasures that allow me to enjoy the holidays best.  

Happy Holidays Soulful Nesters!

All my love,

Siobhain

Life Long Learner

My senior year of high school my swim coach Dave Davis from York Community High School in Elmhurst, IL voted me the most likely team member to still be swimming at the age of 95.  I loved it!  I wasn't the fastest swimmer on the swim team.  In fact when I joined my freshman year I struggled to doggie paddle to the opposite side of the pool.  My team spirit and love for the water earned me the slot as Captain of our water polo team later that year and the old lady swimmer title from the varsity coach.

My inner child, constant curiosity, and deep wisdom are the motivators behind my consistent pursuit of experiences that educate.  I seek in an effort to educate my body, mind, and spirit.  Since the swimming pool in high school, the sources of my education have broadened.  Currently I love to check in weekly for a yoga class here in Fairfax and take occasional hikes around the Bay area to connect with nature and explore my new home of California.  For my mind & soul, I seek out friends, mentors, and teachers that speak my same language of abundance and support me in all I do.  Regular classes and retreats at the Prairie Zen Center http://www.prairiezen.org/ under my loving teacher Elihu Genmyo Smith in Champaign, Illinois has been one of the deepest places of amazing growth in mind and spirit.  Mentor Rick Jarow and his work around Creating the Work You Love http://rickjarow.com/site/ has fed my spark to go deep with my work in the world.

Most recently I have jumped joyfully into the Stars Courageous Coaching Club with Kendall Summerhawk, Richard Shapiro, and Kailash Sozzani http://www.kendallsummerhawk.com/.  Kendall won my heart at the Secret Energy of Money Workshop in Tuscon, Arizona last week.  She speaks my language.  Throughout the course of the Workshop I transformed, took a bold step into my truth and committed to TRUST in myself over my fear!

Check out these pictures of my new ABUNDANCE ALTAR inspired by all of my friends, teachers, and mentors who speak my language of ABUNDANCE!!

Love Bombs!

"It is unreal, unbelievable what degradation could go on in our world.  And the only hope of it my beloveds is US.  We are responsible for our little bit of the world.  We are responsible for the space that God gave us.  Our body, our emotional body, our mental body, and the aura around us.  If this aura goes wrong we sit next to someone and we pollute them.  We sit in a chair if we’re depressed and someone sits after us and gets depressed.  If we want the millennium, the Aqurian age that all you young people have sung about with all your glory then you’ve got to get your own self in order.  It will not come to pass unless we do it.  And someone said... I was talking to Jack today and he said this wonderful thing...if we do it here, automatically in another part of the world it’ll start, but it will start where we are not where we started.  It’s a wonderful wonderful interlocked world.  Interfaith is the word for this world, an interlocking.”  6:12-7:34 of above video.

Keep our Eyes on God! Hilda Charlton spoke at Interfaith Ministry, New York City in 1983, discussing all faiths and predictions about the New Age and our need to pray to help the world in these coming years. Learn more about Hilda on the Golden Quest website: www.hildacharlton.com.

As Hilda Charlton so beautifully expressed at Interfaith Ministry in 1983, what we do with the small space that God gave us is SO IMPORTANT!!  While attending Rick Jarow’s transformational Creating The Work You Love workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA last August 2010 the artist in me was unleashed, dancing, and singing.  I created a series of illustrations to express my vision for my work in the world through Soulful Nest (see above).  When I collaborated with my small group one group member asked “Are those LOVE BOMBS?”  Why yes that’s exactly what they are.  LOVE BOMBS.  Each of our homes and businesses has the potential to share LOVE BOMBS around the world.  Which is why it is my mission for Soulful Nest is to Ignite the World One Space at a time.

It’s absolutely invigorating to me to recognize that by organizing my business files with awareness, cooking a comforting meal with LOVE, and creating a comfortable sitting area in my home I am taking care of myself, my soul, my family, my business and my friends.  What is even more WONDEROUS is that with every space I put in order and every room I infuse with beauty, peace, and motivation, a LOVE BOMB is shipped to another part of the world.  It is from this place of intention that my passion for Soulful Nest was born.  When we inhabit our spaces with love and intention, we are loving ourselves, caring for our souls, and sending LOVE BOMBS to the other side of mother earth.  When we can love ourselves enough to surround ourselves with things that inspire us we start the process of taking care of our little plot of earth, the space that God gave us.  That is the power of space!  By setting the intention to care for the space of our office, our bathroom, or our garden we are stepping into our power to ignite the world one small space at a time!

The Nest In Our Souls

My trip into the bathroom this morning.

Our Soulful Nest.  Stud Walls and all!

My honey building the frame for the new living room window.

As you may have gathered, our home is currently under construction. My husband Spencer's construction company Spencer Dobrovolny Construction is doing the work for the owners of the house. This is my first hands off project as we had been designing and renovating together in Illinois. It is amazing to me how after all of these years renovating I continue to learn and deepen my awareness around what a "Soulful Nest" means to me. I love the wonderful soulful moments in the midst of the chaos. Like last night when I was sitting on the couch with my honey, exposed stud walls all around... all was calm and peaceful. No rubble falling from above. Nail guns unplugged. And there we sat with a soulful energy all around us. While a peaceful, settled exterior environment is a top priority in my life...renovating homes has taught me the importance of feathering my nest within. After all, that's the only nest I can take with me wherever I may roam...