There are times in our lives where we need the point of view of an “other”. When we are so far into our own set programming, it is vital to have an opposing force that generates the movement of energy. And once the energy is stirred…we can filter through the programming…and redirect that energy intentionally in a way that is aligned with our truth.
The only way to know when are aligned, is when you have intentionally made choices that lead you on the journey to uncover and remember your truth… and then the universe speaks to you through sycnronicities, and signs… bringing people into your life you could’ve never dreamed existed.
There is strength in the awareness that contrast is necessary for expansion, learning, growth, and manifesting a life that you are satisfied in.
Indigenous communities were great representations of this… There were ceremonies for when young men and woman reached puberty and really dived in deep to find their purpose…. though ritual and ceremony with themselves, with no distractions… with intention to know thyself more fully.. and to continue to learn about one’s self through every experience. Each having their own path and each person in the community respecting and acknowledging the other’s path.
Other Mirrors
When we are all aligned with our truth, we can assist the others in seeing their truth more clearly. We reflect their being back to the other more clearly when our mirrors are polished from within.
Let’s create a cultural dynamic where we seek out one another for our differences in a positive way. To learn and grow and support the awareness that we are all different, and possess different gifts that are vital to our ability to survive and thrive.
It also helps us to see one another and respect each others being. Like the total embodiment of Namaste. We are all connected.
Amethyst Retreat Center hosted a Community Weekend event with the focus on the Gift-Giving economy structure. There were many creative and talented people there sharing their gifts; reiki, massage, art, readings, astrology, herbalism, nutrition, wellness, music, and more.
How can we use art to remind us of our connectedness?
What happens when we remember we are all connected?
How do you connect with yourself, and others?
When someone was ready to respond, we presented them with a community mural that had been sketched out and painted the night before. The mural is our visual representation of the importance of our connection. Each mark adds to the whole of the image, and is vital in representing the energy of the space!
I have to give a shout out to my two awesome helpers, Rachel and Elijah! Both of them were there from the beginning helping to fill in spaces and make sure it was ready to be painted on the next day. Thank you!!
So, the design has a lot of elements to it! First I wanted to honor the Susquehannock Indigenous people, who inhabited the land before we were blessed with it.
In the Susquehanna River there are petroglyphs from the Indigenous people on rocks all throughout! A few of these petroglyphs were incorporated into the design…. human, thunderbird, water, and Manitou (the Great Mystery or Creator.)
The center of the mural is a totem of the Amethyst crystals, a rising thunderbird, and the spiral sun of the Amethyst logo. In the center of the thunderbirds chest is a handprint that symbolizes all those who are not seen and recognizes their being.
A sunrise over the Susquehanna river covers the garage doors.
The left of the mural is a flower of life surrounded by concentric circles in colors of the rainbow.
Each attendee left their mark on the mural in response to their remembering that we are all connected. The marks created by each person added to the creation of the mural, like we each add something to the play of life.
I am beyond thrilled with the outcome and in awe of life because of each and every beautiful soul that shared themselves for this project.
Thank you Karen for believing in the vision and hosting such a beautiful community gathering.
There were so many other amazing things happening while I was painting away. Music by artists Natalie Lain, Grace Mahar, Daniel Flatley, Don Kovacs. Bhante Soma and Nancy Romano, Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple PA led us in a meditation with singing bowls. Tai Chi with Breanna. Yoga and Sound with Phyllis Vara. There was a Plant Walk with Calyx Liddick, Director, Herbalist, Teacher at Appalachia School of Vitalist Herbalism & Ecology, and a demo – Installing Solar Panels on a Tiny House with Bob Newmyer.
A Gift Economy talk where we gathered to hear the stories of transformation and the wisdom shared by individuals who are answering the call and are cultivating their gifts into services that inspire, heal, and nourish others. Karen Kovacs facilitates a group discussion with Erin Shrader, Calyx Liddick, Jennifer Rabenstein, Nicole Sharkey, and myself.
On Saturday and Sunday morning there was breakfast made by Lisa and a community potluck on Saturday night.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make this weekend happen, and to everyone who attended! Together we create beautiful things, especially when we remember we are all connected.
This weekend was the York Art Fair hosted by Gymnastics of York! It was Saturday and Sunday from 10am – 6pm. There were many different artists, vendors, music, open gym time for kids, food, and great people!
I had the pleasure of doing henna, and selling my artwork. Saturday my friend EliArtSparkle came with me and sold out of her real mushroom resin jewelry.
On Sunday Element and her friend Lauren came and sold stress balls and slime that they made together! It was so awesome seeing them figure out the details of running a business together.
York Art Fair Vendors
There were so many amazing people at the fair. I met a few artists that I am excited to make art with in the near future! I also added a few new things to my collection of wonders.
I also met a few other amazing humans throughout the weekend!! Lakesha is an abstract visionary artists in the Hanover area! You can feel the energy in her work. I am excited to paint with her in the future!
I am so excited about building amazing things in community!
Gardening this year is going to be so wonderful. I am super excited about growing food! I have purchased many seeds, and begun tilling the dirt. The garden was overgrown with grass and weeds, so before I could till I had to get a lawn mower! Being that we moved in December, we had no need to purchase a riding lawn mower for our 1.5 acres. But now it is spring and the grass was growing fast!
We were fortunate to find a 48” Husqvarna riding lawn mower on Facebook marketplace. It just reached 600 hours, which I learned is how you tell how long your lawn mower is expected to last! The average is 1500 hours. It is so much fun mowing my grass!
Now that the grass is mowed over the garden I am able to begin tilling the rest! The garden is at least 23ft. x 15ft, and I have only tilled a small portion.
The garden had turnips growing wild and taking over, along with strawberries! So I have transplanted some of the strawberries, and have let the rest to grow where they are for now.
On the spring equinox my friend Rachel and I planted 12 packs of seeds, there were three packs that did not grow at all, the rest are ready to be transplanted to larger containers! I was thinking maybe I could put them right into the ground, however it might be too cold just yet.
My Peach trees are blooming so beautifully… the green leaves are coming out. But I noticed that the bark has some mold looking fungus growing on it… some of the lower branches do not have any leaves at all. The bark also looks like its been shredded a little. Copper fungicide is supposed to work for the lechins which is what I think it is.
Another one of our trees that I have yet to identify, it is graphed…. has mites. So I purchased fruit tree spray. I hope that helps.
Gardening By the Moon
I have always been interested and fascinated by the idea of planning my garden around the cycles of the moon! Recently I came across the website Gardening by the Moon! They have wonderful digital resources that assist with what to plant and when! I am excited to be using these resources to help me plant!
I love learning as I go, being in the experience and figuring things out. Connecting with my network to hear stories of the way others have experienced life. Gardening is such a beautiful thing to build community around.
We have an idea, to invite our friends to share our garden with us. To plant food and share in the tending as they can. We would over see the garden daily. Then to come together for a community harvest dinner!!
I am looking forward to watching the garden and my community grow in peace, love, joy and unity. <3
This years Earth Love Festival at Amethyst Retreat Center in Duncannon Pennsylvania was a beautiful demonstration of community, collaboration, and love.
Nicole Sharkey is the visionary who thought of this beautiful festival 3 years ago, and has since turned it into an amazing opportunity for all, to gather and to heal.
The Earth Love festival grew out of my desire to experience and share joy, forge connections in our community, and understand different perspectives on how to live in harmony with each other and the Earth.
The Earth Love festival is my way of sharing my gifts to create beauty.
I hope you will join me as the Earth Love festival evolves into its second year.
With love,
Nicole Sharkey
Thank you Nicole Erin Sharkey for following through with your beautiful vision and leading by example… when we are compelled to create something, we should let go and follow through with actions to manifest our deepest desires.
Thank you Pat McCabe, Susquehanna Alchemy, and Sarah Poet for facilitating such a safe space for communion and vulnerability. The stories you shared, the passions you have and how they all intertwined with our now, was a beautiful synchronicity, balance and flow to be witness to and apart of… thank you for helping me to remember the romance.
I am so grateful for all of you.
Amethyst Retreat Center is a space for all who wish to find peace and love within the land, and their community. During this event there was a pretty intense storm that damaged a few vendors tents and products, as well as one of Amethyst’s new event tents. Please consider donating to the retreat center to help keep the space beautiful and available for new and exciting events!
I have recently developed 4 survey questions’ in order to learn more about cryptocurrency awareness in my community. The responses I receive will assist in the creation of future learning opportunities for all. Please take a minute and complete the survey by clicking the link below:
In July my best friend Amber and I held a family fun weekend retreat.
It was divinely guided,
more than I could have ever imagined
and way different than I thought it would be.
We held the retreat at Amethyst Retreat Center in Duncannon Pa.
The perfect space for what the universe had in store.
There was yoga, community dinner, bonfire,
children’s laughter and communion between so many beautiful beings.
Learning about each other, while learning about ourselves.
The journey Amber and I went through to build this vision and dream was deep, and powerful growth for both of us. Learning what our true passions were and how to see ourselves as the leaders we are, to embrace the facilitator role we thrive in.
Gizaagin Amber <3 It would’ve have happened without you.
The weekend was magickal and beyond words.
I am so grateful for all the connections, growth and love we share
Migwetch to each of you beautiful souls.
<3
I was talking to Landyn this morning about how summer camp has been going, and what I noticed. The kids are having a fantastic time! They get to choose between 5 different “environments” 3 times a day, as well as participate in group activities where they have a chance to earn points for their team. Each camper has been placed on either the green or the white team, and can earn points for their team by winning challenges or being chosen as camper of the day!
So I realized that my children are very competitive. They really like to win… and when they don’t win they have a hard time accepting it. Both Element and Landyn got out a few times during group challenges, and both of them had to voice reasons why they weren’t out… rather than just sitting down and taking the loss.
They weren’t bad sports, they weren’t rude or disrespectful… they just… “challenged the call” so to speak. I have to be honest, I was both excited at seeing this and a little set back.
So on the car ride to camp this morning, we discussed what co-creating might consist of, and how it might look.
We discussed that when you want to play the game, you have to take into consideration that there are other players and you are all agreeing on the rules of the game. If there was a group of 10 players, or co-creators, who decided to play a game, or create a community/reality together, there would be 10 different perspectives agreeing upon one.
What if one person in the group didn’t agree with the perspectives of the other 9!? That doesn’t make the one persons perspective wrong, it just means that the majority see the situation differently, or are just choosing to agree that its one way.
Landyn said his disagreement with being out was because he really believed he wasn’t out and that it was the other kid. But the other players in the game had a different perspective, and agreed he was out.
So we discussed how if someone wants to play a game, they have to realize that the majority rules…. and to see perhaps why they rule. The majority rules because they have more points of view on the circle so to speak. That if the topic was a dot in the middle of a circle and each players position on the circle determined their perspective. If 9 of the 10 points on the circle see the topic as one thing then that makes the thing reality. I don’t say truth because this instance doesn’t have to do with truth but with co-creating. Everyone has only their own truth… in which they create their own will. When it comes to co-creating a community/culture/idea, everyone’s perspective gets taken into consideration…however there must be compromise.
In creating something new, each person must give something of themselves. Its with this action that there is space created…. a compromise so that the new idea has space to surface.
If you want to play the game you must be willing to compromise. You don’t have to compromise if you don’t want to play the game. We always have the option of playing alone… or sometimes it could be a matter of just finding different people to play with.
It all comes down to truly being aware of what we want to do and why. Do we want to play the game because we enjoy the interaction with other people? Do we play because we are excited by the possibility of winning? If we only play because we want to win, will we just give up when we lose or will we continue to try until we do win? Or maybe a person doesn’t want to win that bad, so they decide to go play a different game.
I explained to Landyn that there isn’t a right or wrong choice, that he can chose whatever he wants and he doesn’t have to feel bad if other people don’t agree. But that its really important to know why he chooses it and to be respectful of other peoples choices. Our choices should be chosen out of love for who we are… because we are here to remember who we are and to be the best we can be.
This practice also includes being respectful. Being the best we can be means to be love, and when we are love we are respectful towards others and realize that if we have the choice to be the best us without being hindered by others, that other people have the same right.
What if everyone lived with this realization on a daily basis. That we are all different, and its ok. As a matter of fact… its a beautiful thing that we are all different… and its very important! Because each of us has a different perspective on this thing called life. If we can celebrate each others perspectives and learn something from them to help us see ourselves better then we can all grow together.
So back to compromise…it is an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions, and necessary when playing with others.
Com- together
Promise- agree
Our culture has us believing that compromising is a bad thing because we are accepting standards that are lower than desired. Its important to recognize that we usually stop there and say… oh this isn’t what I desire so I’m not doing it…. but we should be digging deeper to more substantial desires, over instant gratification.
Do we desire recognition, or respect.
Do we desire material gain, or personal growth.
Do we desire independence, or building community.
Do we desire being right, or learning to be better.
Last weekend I had the pleasure of facilitating a commUNITY event at Firefly Hollow Wellness Center. We created banner for Project B1 to show our commUNITY and send a message of peace, love, and celebration to all.
I drew the flower of life on a 3 ft x 6 ft banner, and each person who attended decorated spheres in the flower of life until it was complete.
This visually shows how we are all interconnected! The message was surrounded in love and light through mindfulness and uplifting discussion with one another. We built relationships, and connected on many levels.
[:project b1] is a living breathing art event designed to foster positive changes in the U.S.
The media all around us says we are divided. Not just as a Nation, but also as a Family, as a humanity, as a society. Lets show them we are interconnected.
The concept is simple. We need to start the healing process. We need to come together with complete tolerance and love for one another. We need to lift each other up, so that we can all live in peace, celebrating each others differences. Messages of love and unity will literally surround those who need it.
The physical part of this project is as follows: approximately 250, 3’x6’ (fitted twin) sheets will be marked with positive messages (both writing and drawing). These panels will be connected and banners will be held by volunteers and surround the White House (Pennsylvania Ave, 17th St. NW, Constitution Ave, 15th St. NW) on February 1, 2017 from 12pm to 3pm.
firefly
Notes:
[:project b1] is a collaboration with artists, writers, musicians etc..
The “b1” in the project title stands for “Be One” with each other.
The multi colored sheets signify the diversity among the art community.
Tying the sheets/banners together symbolizes our unity.
“Surrounding” the White House will symbolize our unity.
February 1 is National Freedom Day.
This project could expand to other cities and other countries.
If you are interested in creating a banner… please do so, and contact Project B1 on Facebook.
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