September 1 – GenY in the House – “Two Great Tasks” by Tempie Charles

The IAW International Community welcomes back Tempest Charles, Sophomore at Agnes Scott College, as its September 1st blogger! Tempest will visit the blog during the week to respond to your posts. Post your questions, encouragement, and stories here to initiate a conversation with Tempest and with our community around the world. Our theme this month is “Love of Self. Love of Others: The Essential Connection”

Two Great Tasks

I am no more than toe deep in my sophomore year of college and I’ve already glimpsed some of the self-growth opportunities this year offers me. Already, I’ve been confronted with two tasks that I must accomplish before I can truly be at peace.

The first task is to build an unbreakable self-acceptance. I’m not seeking the self-acceptance that would allow me to shrug in slight disappointment when I burn the toast in the morning or to procrastinate on the things that need to be done.

The self-acceptance I seek sits at the root of self-actualization—it is the deep recognition that I do not need the validation of another to live in the awareness that I am a Buddha, a powerful being, a spiritual vessel, an essential gear in the running of this Universal machine.

The second task is to create and stand by my own definition of Happiness. So often, we women twist ourselves into the shapes of cultural expectations. Only days ago did I realize (and I admit this with child-like embarrassment) that my burning desire to quickly find a partner and start a family was fertilized by weak self-confidence. Now, like most young women my age, I have to step back and reevaluate everything I thought I wanted to check for parasites.

If I dismantle the societal expectations about marriage and partnership, where will I end up….alone? I found inspiration to hang out with myself by watching the You Tube video “How To Be Alone” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7X7sZzSXYs created by Andrea Dorfman and poet/singer/songwriter Tanya Davis. Take a moment to meditate on her poem, and share your response with the IAW community. I’m learning that there’s no greater way to reach peace and happiness in all my relations than to grow in knowledge and love of myself! What about you?

Tempest is a sophomore at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. After college she plans to travel the world to gather women’s stories and views of beauty, sexuality, and holistic health. Tempest’s Buddhist practice encourages her to learn from and teach others. Her calling is evolving but will include helping women and their families reach self-actualization and pass the gift of good holistic health to the generations that follow them. Tempest’s current blog, “The Delicious Life,” follows her personal journey to discover a healthier, more fulfilling life. Visit Tempest’s blog at http://modernmariposa.wordpress.com.

August 25 – Out of the Basement: A Tribute to 78 year-old Author, Donna Bocks

Out of the Basement

Our August bloggers have been reflecting on the theme “Author Your Own Life.”

• Tempie’s words were powerful: “They can take the red pen to my essays, but no longer will they take it to my life.”

• Autumn’s decision was inspiring: “I thank others for their suggestions, but I choose what is right for me, for I trust and listen to myself now. I am the author of my life.”

• Patricia O’Neill Gleason’s action was courageous: “I released the “you shoulds” and “you musts” and assisted my husband to exit this life as he had lived it. I helped him break out of the hospital and return home where he could die in peace.”

Inspired by IAW’s August bloggers, I want to introduce you to one of my publishing clients…78 year-old Donna Bocks. I met Donna at our June 2009 “Birth Your Book” workshop. Donna shared that she had written 6 novels during the past 20 years. I asked her where the novels were. She explained that they were sitting in her basement.

The English professor Donna hired to edit her manuscripts was adamant that unless she received a positive response from a traditional publisher, there were no other “respectable” publication options for her. Donna sent typewritten query letters and received rejection after rejection. Her granddaughter read one of her novels for a class project and loved it. Except for Sadie’s project, the novels remained in the basement, unread.

I challenged Donna to bring her six typewritten manuscripts out of the basement. We spoke on the following Monday, the day she carried each manuscript out of basement into the light of day and into the hands of my expert team. On October 23, 17 months later, four of Donna’s novels will be celebrated at her first book event, and available for purchase at local bookstores and an on-line marketplace.

Donna’s journey expresses our belief that traditional publishing is one option among many to usher your project into the hands of its intended audience. Rejection letters from agents and publishers, lovers and employees, family and friends do not determine the fate of your book project, or your life!

We are the authors of our own books (and lives), and we must actively decide the best route for our projects (and our lives) to travel. We must LOVE our finished projects enough to publish them (sing them…paint them…build them…teach them…cook them…live them…dance them), no matter what!

Inspired by Donna Bocks, what will you bring out of the basement today?

Patricia Lynn Reilly is the founder of Imagine a Woman International and author of five books. She is also a Publishing Consultant. The road from idea to publication can be long and confusing, with resources wasted on irrelevant services and time wasted on unnecessary exercises. Patricia and her Team map out the journey and provide effective and affordable support along the way.

If you’re ready to take the next step with your project, visit http://www.birthabook.com and schedule a Clarity Conversation with Patricia. If you’re ready to author your own life, visit http://www.imagineawoman.com to purchase Patricia’s empowering guide, “Author Your Own Life: The Five Choices of Authentic Living.” Insert this coupon code for a $20 discount until 8/31: AYL20.

August 18 – GenBoomer in the House – Patricia O’Neill Gleason’s “My Way”

My Way

While preparing to write for the Blog this week, I found myself reviewing my journal entries from past years and wondering how I would manage to write about this month’s theme “Author Your Own Life.”

Seeing what was written on those journal pages, it was clear I did not feel in control of what was happening in my life.  It was 1996 and my husband was in the hospital dying before my eyes. A thread of desperation and “what’s happening here” ran through the words written there.

I wrote all about the recommendations of the Docs, my husband’s parents, our friends, all of the “you shoulds” and “you musts.” I ran into the occasional poem and humorous anecdote that shifted the thread into a clearly assertive decision which was out of the ordinary and….yes, original and full of what felt right for me, and for us.

My husband and I had many discussions about how this time might come and how others may not understand his choice. The beauty of the situation was that this man who had been in my life for nearly 30 years had always authored his own life. He was not a people pleaser. He was a truly authentic person who irritated the heck out me with his refusal to surrender to peer pressure and societal norms.

This was my opportunity to release the “you shoulds” and “you musts” and to assist him to exit this life as he had lived it.  So….I helped him break out of the hospital and return home where he could die in peace.

From that day forward I have been aware of actively participating in my life. I have been acquiring the ability to yield gracefully, move non-linearly, plan less, and go with a natural flow that feels right for me. When I feel confused or pressured to conform to an idea, when it does not feel right for me, I think of that period in my life and sit back and look at my options. I tell myself “You are the center of your universe which is ever expanding with no boundaries. Tap into your infinite power.” And then I take the steps that are right for me. After all, when I leave this life I want to know I lived it my way.

Patricia O’Neill Gleason is the owner of Patricia’s Transitions, a wellness shoppe in Hilo, Hawaii, where she provides private consultations and educational workshops. Since 2003 she has studied Australian Bush, Hawaiian, and North American Essence properties and believes strongly in their healing gifts. Patricia shares Nature’s amazing wonders (the “power of flowers”) and many other Vibrational Therapy Tools for optimal Balance and Wellness with her clients and customers.

In Patricia’s practice, she also uses the skills acquired over the past 60 years as wife, mother, widow, and most recently single parent raising a 16 year old girl who’s own Mother passed away from cancer. Patricia is a lover of the “Imagine a Woman” poem and is currently in IAW’s Certification Training Program. Visit her website at www.patriciastransitions.net.

August 11 Blog – GenX Military Officer “Running In Circles”

Running in Circles

For a long time, I traveled through life focused on my “Rule of Thirds.” I believed that about 1/3 of my friends, family, and colleagues liked my life the way it was, that another 1/3 didn’t really have the time to care about my life, and that the final 1/3 did not like my life and choices, and they let me know it!

I concentrated my attention on the 1/3 who didn’t like my life and choices. I wondered what I did wrong and how I could fix it so they would like me and approve of my choices. I was obsessed with moving them into the category of friends and acquaintances who liked me. Well, when I changed things to get their approval, the rest of my friends voiced their disappointment or disapproval. I couldn’t win!

I found myself running in circles. My obsessive people-pleasing antics were like herding cats while wearing a blindfold. I flailed, frantically changing this and that about myself and my life, to receive approval. I was drained of energy with knots in my back. I got physically ill and became angry trying to please others and gain their approval.

I finally stopped and asked myself, “What is going on here? Why am I getting sick?” I realized that I disliked my own life, that the exhaustion of people-pleasing made me want another life. I continued the process by asking deeper questions of myself: “Why am I allowing others to decide who I am, what is best for me, and how I am to live my life? Why am I allowing others to write the script of my life?”

Self-awareness brought me home to myself. Things got quieter inside and I took back the pen. I’m now writing my own life story according to my values, choices, and inner guidance. I thank others for their suggestions, but I choose what is right for me, for I trust and listen to myself now. I am the Author of my life.

Who’s the Author of your life?

Autumn DeCosta is a Energy Leadership Master Practitioner and Life and Family Coach whose passion is working with individuals and families to successfully create fulfilling personal lives, while at the same time being fully engaged in family life. Autumn is also a Trainee in the IAW Facilitator-Coach Certification Program.

Autumn has 17 years military service, currently as an Executive Officer of Maintenance within the Air National Guard and her spouse is in the military. She works with military members and their families through the deployment cycle and helps them reintegrate into family life upon return. Visit her blog at: http://www.iamwonderwomom.com/iamwonderwomom-blog/

August 4: Gen-Yer, Tempest Charles, in the House

The IAW International Community welcomes back Tempest Charles, Sophomore at Agnes Scott College, as its August 4th blogger! Tempest will visit the blog during the week to respond to your posts. Post your questions, encouragement, and stories here to initiate a conversation with Tempest and with our community around the world. Our theme this month is “Author Your Own Life”

My Real Life

“I can’t wait until my real life starts,” I would mutter under my breath sometimes while writing an unnecessarily long paper or hopelessly trying to find a ride to an event.  Before I knew it those words became my quiet justification for remaining comfortably idle. Who cares if I didn’t change my circumstances, it wasn’t my real life yet, right? It was not until this summer, that the universe whispered back “Tempie, this is your real life.”

Whether nineteen or ninety-nine, our “Real Life” is the very one we are experiencing as our minds interpret this blog, in this moment. Like the second hand on a clock, the decisions made throughout the day may seem fleeting, but each decision paves the way for the next moment in our lives.

In each moment we are given the opportunity to write the next line in our story. Under no circumstances should we allow someone else to write the story of our lives. To author our own lives means to create its purpose, to make changes wherever necessary, to dedicate it to whomever and whatever we wish, and to make the subject matter anything within our wildest imagination.

Rejoice in the beauty and power of Now. I say this to you in hopes that while I read and write my own words, they will root even more deeply within me. May we all, as fortunate beings on this planet, find the power to seek self-actualization now, not tomorrow, by picking up the pens we’ve been given, our thoughts and decisions, and writing down the truth of our lives so that all of the world may be inspired and blessed.

Tempest Charles Bio: Tempest is a sophomore at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. After college she plans to travel the world to gather women’s stories and views of beauty, sexuality, and holistic health. Tempest’s Buddhist practice encourages her to learn from and teach others. Her calling is evolving but will include helping women and their families reach self-actualization and pass the gift of good holistic health to the generations that follow them. Tempest’s current blog, “The Delicious Life,” follows her personal journey to discover a healthier, more fulfilling life. Visit Tempest’s blog at http://modernmariposa.wordpress.com.

July 28 – GenWOW in the House – Barbara Lyon, Poet and Yoga Teacher

89 Years of Body-Memories

My body is my authentic femaleness. It is me. I stand in the body of myself. Through life’s ordinary passages—marriage, birthing, holding on and letting go, welcoming and releasing, breathing in and breathing out—I learn to trust my body’s voice and listen, and how to forgive myself when I don’t. I grow in love with my body through dance and yoga. I share with you a sampling of my body-memories.

In childhood…

I slid down a snowy cellar door and then ran under the covers on our outdoor sleeping porch to get warm.

My sweater caught on fire at a Fourth of July celebration and was rolled in a rug. Adrenaline and exhilaration filled my body.

I was locked in a closet by one of our housekeepers, and my body quivers to this day with closed-door fear.

As a teenager…

I expressed myself with my body in drama, english, art classes.

I joined a dance class led by Isadora Duncan’s premier dancer. She celebrated me!

I was ridiculed by my parents for loving the dance.

As an adult…

I moved to California as a young bride.

I danced with Anna Halperin until I became pregnant.

My body nurtured and loved my children, during the years of mothering.

I was diagnosed with arthritis at 30 and danced to heal my joints.

In the empty nest…

My children grown, I wrote my Masters Thesis on “Dance Toward Wholeness.”

I joined Circle Dancing.

I discovered Yoga through Meditation and Tai Chi in the park.

Today…

I continue to teach a Yoga class at the local community center.

I keep on moving and loving my awesome body.

My wish for all my sisters is that we experience being ourselves in our bodies. This is our generous energy offering to the planet, and our essential gift to ourselves. Love to you all.

Bio:

The month’s theme “Love Your Body Regardless” culminates with Patricia’s beloved mentor, 89 year old Barbara Lyon, yoga teacher and poet. Barbara has offered affordable yoga classes to Bay Area seniors, adults, and children for several decades. She has been honored by the city and its Board of Education for her committed service to the health and well-being of Bay Area residents. Be inspired by this video of Barbara teaching her yoga class, the same class she’s been teaching for decades! Inspired by Barbara, we have named the generation before the baby-boomers  “Gen-WOW.”

http://www.videosurf.com/video/89-year-old-yoga-instructor-124376367

Patricia wrote this acknowledgment of Barbara in her first book A God Who Looks Like Me: “Barbara Lyon, joyful dancer, yoga teacher, poet, author, and wise crone-guide, taught me to Dance Toward Wholeness through her life and work. By her example, I am learning to celebrate the accumulation of my years and wisdom, and to honor the changes in my body and life.” Dance Toward Wholeness is the title of one of Barbara’s books.

July 21 – GenBoomer Patricia O’Neill Gleason in the House

The Power Within Imagining

As I stand before the mirror today, I see an aging body. In the past I wished for curlier hair, smaller hips, and a prettier face. I longed for the freedom to play. I would wish myself to appear younger, firmer, “less traveled.” Today, I smile, feeling grateful for these hips, which have carried me these 60 years. My face which shows laugh lines reminds me of how humor is my friend. I gently caress the stomach which willingly housed my two grown daughters. Tracing the lines of once stretched skin I fondly recall the swollen belly of pre-birth.

Outdoors, I playfully dig into the rich earth. This familiar scent reminds me deep inside, that this is where I came from and where I will once return when this body has finished its journey of life. A sense of comfort envelopes me and I am moved to run and play in the yard. After a dancing spin or two I feel hunger and thirst. I pick fruit from the Mango tree and sit for a rest.

Breathing in Gaia’s rhythm with the trees and grass surrounding me, I feel the breeze as it blows across my skin. The sensation is arousing and brings memories of other caresses; this gives smile to my lips. I feel so blessed that this body can continue to bring me such joy in sensual appreciation for the here and now. It has taken me a long time to accept myself just as I am, supported by the circle of women in my life. How blessed I am to have a forum such as IAW to support and encourage me in this lifetime. Yesterday, I could only imagine myself as this woman.

Whenever I forget, I will return to the poem and Imagine again………….

Patricia O’Neill Gleason is the owner of Patricia’s Transitions, a wellness shoppe in Hilo, Hawaii, where she provides private consultations and educational workshops. Since 2003 she has studied Australian Bush, Hawaiian, and North American Essence properties and believes strongly in their healing gifts. Patricia shares Nature’s amazing wonders (the “power of flowers”) and many other Vibrational Therapy Tools for optimal Balance and Wellness with her clients and customers.

In Patricia’s practice, she also uses the skills acquired over the past 60 years as wife, mother, widow, and most recently single parent raising a 16 year old girl whose own Mother passed away from cancer. Patricia is a lover of the “Imagine a Woman” poem and is currently in IAW’s Certification Training Program. Visit her website at www.patriciastransitions.net.

July 14 Blog: Gen-Xer, Autumn DeCosta, in the House

Rediscovering Myself

Like you, I am a woman who wears many hats and fill many roles in the course of a day. I am a woman, wife, mother, daughter, sister, military officer (weekend warrior), full-time employee, and entrepreneur/business owner. My husband, Mike, is currently fulfilling a one-year deployment in Afghanistan and I’m playing single mom at the moment to three teenagers.

Juggling all these roles and responsibilities, I found myself recently looking in the mirror and wondering who’s looking back at me? I was lost in a state of to do lists, chores, obligations, and being there for everyone else according to their needs. I forgot one important item on the to do list. Taking care of Autumn, her body, mind, and spirit.

Then one day I found “Imagine a Woman.” What a life changing experience. Guess what I discovered?! Autumn! What a great discovery! Here I am…in my WOWness with a full cup! I’m loving myself, taking care of my body and spirit, and participating fully in life’s experiences. When I show up WHOLE, the people I love and work with enjoy me so much more, and I enjoy life and work all the more too.

I offer visualization from my acquired teachings. Feel free to use it and adjust it to fit your life.
• When I go to bed at night I visualize a miracle happening while I am sleeping.
• When I wake up I know that everything is just as it should be.
• When I wake up, I know that I am just as I should be.
• I now look in mirror and admire my beautiful shapes.
• I now trust how I handle situations with my children.
• I now feel confident at work in any situation, I trust my decisions.
• I now trust and respect the woman I am.

When you go to sleep tonight what will your miracle be?

Autumn is a Energy Leadership Master Practitioner and Life and Family Coach whose passion is working with individuals and their families to successfully create their own fulfilling personal life, while at the same time being fully engaged in their family life. Autumn is also a Trainee in the IAW Facilitator-Coach Certification Program.

Autumn has 17 years military service, currently as an Executive Officer of Maintenance within the Air National Guard and her spouse is in the military. She works with military members and their families through the deployment cycle and helps them reintegrate back into family life upon return. Visit her blog at: http://www.iamwonderwomom.com/iamwonderwomom-blog/

July 7 Blog: Gen-Yer, Tempest Charles, in the House

The IAW International Community welcomes Tempest Charles, Sophomore at Agnes Scott College, as its July 7 blogger! Tempest will visit the blog during the week to respond to your posts. Post your questions, encouragement, and stories here to initiate a conversation with Tempest and with our community around the world. Out theme this month is “Loving Our Bodies, No Matter What!”

The Forgiving Body

I invite any woman who is having difficulty loving their body to find the nearest park, marina, beach or garden and sit. Sit right in the middle of nature and breathe deeply, look at the flowers, watch the bees and the ants move with purpose, imagine what may be happening in the dirt underneath your feet. Once you have taken in all of your surroundings, I want you to contemplate the connectedness of all things. Recognize that the same Universe from which the beauty of nature erupted, came wonderful You!

It was this realization that inspired my search for The Delicious Life. After years of being overweight and displeased with my body, I began to realize that this body of mine has only responded to the things I have put it through with forgiveness. I have fried, dyed, cut, locked, braided, straightened, and curled my hair numerous times and still, I have not lost any hair. I have been vegetarian, vegan, omnivorous, foodless and binged and my body has continued to function keeping all of my vitals in line. I have over-washed, not removed make up from, scrubbed, plucked at and pierced, my face and still, it has forgiven me.

For me, loving my body meant respecting it enough to work out two hours a day taking classes I love or jogging for the sake of my heart. It meant discovering the deliciousness of foods that came straight from the ground, drinking enough water to rid my system of toxins and polishing the mirror that is my spirituality by chanting daily and helping others. Through this journey I have discovered my love for being healthy, my confidence in myself, and the compassion to love, understand and cater to the needs of my beautiful body no matter what.

Tempest Charles Bio: Tempest will return to Agnes Scott College in the fall as a sophomore. After college she plans to travel the world to gather women’s stories and views of beauty, sexuality, and holistic health. Tempest’s Buddhist practice encourages her to learn from and teach others. Her calling is evolving but will include helping women and their families reach self-actualization and pass the gift of good holistic health to the generations that follow them. Tempest’s current blog, “The Delicious Life,” follows her personal journey to discover a healthier, more fulfilling life. Visit Tempest’s blog at http://modernmariposa.wordpress.com.

A Word From Patricia

Thank you for visiting our new website during the celebration of the Imagine a Woman poem’s 15th birthday year. The poem continues its extroverted journey around the world, inspiring, supporting, and reminding women of their WOWness as children of life.

On this special day Mercedes Sterling is on my mind. Her story was emailed to me two days ago. Mercedes is 17 years old. Recently there was a gathering of “aunties” who had been asked by Mercedes and her mother Ann, as Ann was dying of cancer, to become the special women/mothers in Mercedes’ life. This was the first gathering since Ann died. Harriette one of the aunties, gave Mercedes “Imagine A Woman,” and the aunties passed the poem along, each one reading verses. In Harriette’s words, “Imagine A Women radiated among us.” Mercedes wrote her own response to the poem, and shared it with me:

“When I read the first line of “Imagine a Woman,” I was immediately captivated by its truth. Every verse seemed to speak directly to me and entwine itself into my very being. As I listened to the women around me say the next few verses I began to feel rooted within myself. I felt that someone had finally discovered who women really were and had painted it articulately and beautifully across the page for everyone to see.

I glanced around the table to see the reactions of the many women in my presence. They were nodding, smiling their approval, very absorbed in the poem. Occasional exclamations of excitement erupted followed by murmurs of agreement. I felt connected to the women by our mutual appreciation of the gorgeous work of art.

As the poem progressed I felt a deep realization move within my mind. It stretched itself for the first time, reaching its claws out to grab my attention. The poem was describing none other than myself! With every passing word I felt that it was describing my very essence and existence; everything that I was and everything that I longed to be.

Further thoughts led me into wanting every woman of every age to know, read, and engulf themselves in this provocative, truthful piece of poetry. I wanted them to relate to the words, to feel, as I had, that it was describing themselves. I plan to share this poem with every woman I can because I believe it speaks truths that many people haven’t voiced for themselves. Long live Patricia’s astounding poem, “Imagine a Woman!”

With Mercedes on our minds and in our hearts, let’s bring our daughters, granddaughters and nieces into the circle with us. Let us imagine our young women growing in knowledge and love of themselves. Young women vowing faithfulness to their own lives and capacities. Young women remaining loyal to themselves—regardless. Imagine an adolescence in which our daughters, granddaughters, and nieces deepen their relationship to their natural vitality, resilience, and sense of self. Imagine a girl-affirming rite of passage, a ceremony of commitment to themselves, culminating with these words of self-blessing:”This is it. This is my life. Nothing to wait for. Nowhere else to go. No one to make it all different. What a relief to have finally landed here…now. Blessed be my life!”

Now it’s your turn. Share your “Imagine a Woman” story with us.

In gratitude, Patricia Lynn Reilly