the juicy years

my garden As I thought about this post topic, which continues on from my previous post “Boosting our Juice”, an image comes to mind of growing a garden.  We prepare the ground, choose seeds or plants and the right time for optimum results, water regularly, then tend and nurture - with hopefully lots of hot sun - until our crop ripens for us to reap and enjoy. As I reflect on growing my own new garden in the last 5 months I have sometimes felt impatient for it to flourish - but I know that everything takes time to grow into its fullness, just as what we create or intend, for our own lives, takes time to bloom. So, to develop your own personal juicy essence is really quite simple - a little time to reflect on what is important to you, perhaps make a list, or map of your preferred juicy life. You may not be able to reap all on your list (the same as your garden), but there are a few basic needs that will certainly help you to age with emotional resilience, a loving he...

Today I am posting a piece I had written months ago that I shared on another website, but thought it relevant here for our juicy years - living out our later years involved in work or activities that are in alignment with our personal vibration, presence, and values.   I had been reflecting on this topic , and at the same time, reading what others are sharing. In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas it reads “if you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you; if you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you”.  I love the way this is expressed, the language of the past. If you find it hard to articulate what it is you want, or what path to follow - wait - it may take some time for your subconscious to bring it forth into being. We musn't look for the answer too early - any harvest has it's own way of unfolding.  Following your Star In 1996 when I first moved to the Blue Mountains, I was on ...

I haven’t blogged for nearly 3 weeks partly because of our local bush fire emergency that sapped my energy, partly because I haven’t felt I had anything worth posting, and for the last ten days I've been enjoying a warm break away from the mountains,with lots of belly laughs with my daughters and grandchildren, reminiscing and photographs. Here is an exquisite one that greeted me when I returned home.    I am eager to allow the unfolding of my voice, in a new way-I feel an urgency to do this. In my third chapter, I often ask myself the question “have I reached my potential?”, or “have I used all of my talents?” And by writing here I am in some way having a relationship with this unknown place.If I pay attention in deep silence, I know I will be further awakened into a new chapter of my life within no time. As a result I can then be a facilitator for others in discovering their own voice, their uniqueness. This can be anything from growing a flourishing garden, t...

This morning when I saw a post on Get Real, Wise Women Speak, that Marianne Williamson was running for congress, my heart fluttered with amusement and excitement. This news distracted me for a while from our local bushfire situation, to write this post. Wow! I thought, good on you Marianne!! At this age in her life, she is stepping up. And then I related her move to my blog on being juicy and courageous in our 3rd chapter. Here is an excerpt from her announcement that captures the essence of her motivation to political life  " I do not think of this move as a career change. Rather, I feel I’m further expanding my work by taking the transformational principles to which I have dedicated myself for the last thirty years into another area where they are sorely needed. While a new paradigm, holistic, relational perspective now saturates many areas of our society — from education to business to medicine to spirituality — our politics seem to be outside its reach. And we cannot...

art by Bouvette To come fully into our wise years we are called to balance our feminine and masculine energies, and become aware of our inherent divinity. Most spiritual traditions believe that the more we are aware of our interconnectedness with all that is, the more we will honour and become stewards of our fragile planet.   So juicy elders, I believe that we have a HUGE role to play in assisting others to NAVIGATE the challenges in the future. Our combined lived experience, our skills, our creativity (yes, did you know that our mature mind is often more creative than a youthful one), our empathy and compassion for others, and hopefully, our commitment to preserving our planet for our grandchildren - what a difference we could make with our accumulated effort and wisdom! As wisdom is not automatic because of our years, so some keys to help grow this wisdom are: *   Surrendering our ego, and confronting any death and loss   consciously. * Having th...

Yesterday as I sat down to eat my lunch, I heard some negative self-talk from my monkey mind! I'd had a busy morning filled with much writing at my computer, a few yoga stretches, shopping and then cooking a couple of meals. I started to feel in no woman's land and felt an urgency to sit quietly, or journal.  The inner talk went something like this "you've got too many interests", "you need to journal". So I started writing, which later became this post. As I reflected on these thoughts I noticed my easel in the corner beckoning me to paint, some books I'm currently reading scattered around, stuff in a pile to be put away, and then the thought that I need to inject some more energy into my practice.  Today's self talk was just a SIGN that I needed to change how I go about my day, and to priortise a little more. I also realised that in the last week I had been on a huge learning curve - learning all the technical bits to blogging, and just m...

with thanks to dear Clarissa Pinkola Estes a Wild Woman today we travel up from our Root chakra into  our  sensual Sacral and Solar Plexus Chakras Our Sacral Chakra  is in the pelvic region and is associated with our drives - sexual, financial, creativity and relationships. It is also connected to our divine feminine essence. A woman in the fullness of her Lover archetype resides in this chakra! When this chakra is free-flowing, we trust life, are passionate, able to give and receive pleasure, and are creative and vital.  When unbalanced it could point to unsatisfactory sexual experiences, abuse, not feeling nurtured as a child etc.  I tend to agree with Angela Farmer (yoga wise woman) who says that in our society "we've been pushed out of ourselves and we leave our sacred body and our Mother behind". We tighten and become rigid, but if we allow Her to open us up, we soften and we are supported in our growth. Some tips for clearing and energisin...