A healing place...

Pretty dishes for the healing place. 

My dream for LaBelle Mariposa is to share the principles I wrote about in my book, “Walk In Your Own Footsteps;” helping people to discover their own way in this life and encourage them to have the courage to follow their path. The idea started out as pretty abstract, so I’ve been working to solidify it.

To that end, I am working hard to bring into being a healing place where people can come and learn to apply the principles to their lives, spend some time with like-minded people through small retreats, as well as have one-on-one sessions with me. I’ve found a location, now it’s just a matter of everything else falling in to place.

LaBelle Mariposa will help gentle people seeing balance, fulfillment, growth, and transformation. Through writing (books, articles, blogging…), art, classes, retreats, cards, cd’s, one-on-one sessions, creating vision boards, YouTube videos, community projects, and yet to be created gatherings, products, and materials, LaBelle Mariposa will help facilitate personal internal revolutions!

Another function of this place will be to provide comfort and a healing place for those who suffer from all sorts of pain. A place to rest and rejuvenate. In warm surroundings, guests will work through feelings and return to their world better for the experience. I’m gathering beautiful things to furnish our home so that everyone who enters will feel welcome and invited.

This sounds like a big order, doesn’t it? Or, does it sound like a wonderful thing in this crazy world? I hope to hear from friends, and friends of friends who could use such a respite and sanctuary from the world.

Holding the vision!

Laura P.

Learning Lessons about Life

The last couple of weeks have been difficult to say the least. I've learned a lot about myself as well as some other people in my life. I learned that some people can be unspeakably awful when they feel their cause is just. And, I learned that when I am on the receiving end of unspeakable awfulness, it takes me a long time to process my feelings. I'm still processing. Peeling the onion and finding hurt, betrayal, and fear hiding under pain and anger. I guess I could paint something really dark to get the feelings out. But, I find that I go to art when I'm happy to celebrate life, not to commemorate misery. The final result of all this is that the person who tried to deceive me ultimately failed because I sought reliable counsel before falling for her ruse. 

So, the lesson learned is that I'm too trusting of people who I perceive as being authority figures. The sad thing is this woman has been awful to me before and I went along with her because she spoke kindly to me. I also suffer from the unfortunate desire to have relationships which are smooth in my life, even to my own detriment.

I choose to remain a kind and open person. I want to trust people in my life. Therefore, I will continue to seek sound counsel from people who I know love and honor me. And, NOT take action recommended by those who've shown clear disregard and disdain for me in the past. Part of me does not want to admit that their are real live evil people in this world. Especially people with blood relations to people I love. But, it's true. I get that now.

What I want to take away from this is GRATITUDE for the good people in my life and the ability to set firm boundaries which exclude the evil. 

I have not made a Inspirational Image in a while, but I'm glad to share this one with you today. I hope it reminds you that you are wholly ready to be fully YOU right now!

Blessings,

Laura P.

A "Walk In Your Own Footsteps" Inspirational Image

Inspirational Image for a Monday

Today's Inspirational Image is from Chapter 10 of my book, Walk In Your Own Footsteps. When we share loving, uplifting, and supportive news about our friends and family, we spread love. When we engage in gossip, we do just to opposite. Sometimes, it's helpful to evaluate what information we share and make sure it conveys the love we want to transmit with our words and actions.

Have a blessed week!!

Inspirational Image

Sugar Blues

For the last few days, I've been kicking a sugar monkey that's been on my back for too long. Just like ridding ourselves of any vice, sugar has been a worthy adversary. I've been cranky, had headaches... not to mention cravings. Oh, and don't let me start about the social pressure. Everywhere I look there's cute cupcakes, yummy looking cookies, ice cream, hmmmm. 

I'm sharing this because eliminating sugar from my diet is not any different than letting go of any addiction. We can become addicted to alcohol, drugs, food, cigarettes... Those are obviously addicting substances. But we can also become addicted to our own chemical process when we are in certain situations such as drama-filled relationships, risky behavior, anger and rage. The bottom line is that kicking addiction is tough. It doesn't matter if it's an obviously bad drug, a negative behavior, or a socially acceptable one, changing behavior is rough. 

If you are living with a behavior that you feel is not good for you, you have the power to choose again and let that go. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it! 

Blessings,

Laura P.

Take actions that support your own personal walk

Living our best lives

I have lived parts of my life thinking that I just needed to hold on till things got better. That's not a bad way to live, sometimes it's the only way to survive things. However, some of those years I could have been enjoying the company of people I would have to say goodbye to and I didn’t even know it at the time. I also lived in a nice home, had good friends, and many other neat benefits that I didn’t fully enjoy. I was so busy white-knuckling the scary stuff, I missed much of the nice parts. And, of course, much of what I feared never happened anyway.

Today, I try every day to focus on the wonderful people and good things in my life. Letting fear of the future hurt my present is very destructive, so I avoid that fervently. Choosing to live our best lives every moment of every day, is the best way to have happy productive lives.

Blessings,

Laura P.

Good choices inspire courage

 

Spring Fever Friday

Hi, all! Sorry I missed you yesterday, my youngest son is home sick and that became my priority. He's going to get better today, medicine has been called in and we'll go get it in a bit.

I think, like many people, I have this feeling that when I finish a project I'm working on right now, life will get easier somehow. That once this big thing I have going is done, I'll be able to do the stuff I want to do. Or, at least the things I think I should do.

When I was 21 (25 years ago) I was working on my wedding and told a co-worker that I would be glad when it was over and life would settle down. She just laughed. She said life never settles down. I think she's right. I think, now, that the trick is to make sure that what our lives are full of is stuff we want. Every time we say "yes" instead of "no" to what we don't want, we stuff we don't want to become priorities in our lives. We are giving up what we want in favor of what we don't. Work is a necessity for most of us. Making the best of it is a first step to living happily ever after. Second, is definitely carefully choosing how we spend our "not working" time.

Remember the immortal words of John Lennon, "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." Life is made up of what we actually do, not what we plan to do, or intend to do. It is always only the actual action that we take. I hope that this weekend you find some real big fun in your life and enjoy every minute of it.

Blessings,
Laura P.

ps. I'm especially pleased that today's inspirational image is from my own art work. I hope you enjoy it.

It's Spring and everyone is busy!

I have the gardening bug bad this year. No insects, fortunately, but the desire to get outside and play in the dirt is irresistible. I'm not the only one around my house with the bug, either. My sweetie went to home improvement centers yesterday to get supplies for a raised veggie bed with me. When we got finished running around, I went to lay down for 5 minutes... (my code for a nap) and was so pleased to watch large shiny black birds outside my window snapping twigs off a tree for their nest. There were two of them in the tree. One working away, the other supervising. I couldn't help but speculate as to which was the male. I'll never know, but they seemed to be working together. So, work has waited while I enjoy the garden. I'd call it working in the garden, but it's so much fun, I can't think of it that way. :)

Today's Inspirational Image has no pictures. It's the first of it's kind. I was working on the words and decided that I didn't want to distract from the message with any images. I don't know if I'll do many of these, we'll see how well received it is. I like it though. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Blessings,
Laura P.