Monday 30 December 2019

Life

Life is amazing.  And then it’s awful.  
And then it’s amazing again.  And in between 
the amazing and the awful, it’s ordinary and mundane and routine. 
 Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, 
and relax and exhale during the ordinary.  That’s just living.  
Heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life.  
And it’s breathtaking beautiful.  
- LR Knost

Friday 27 December 2019

Unbalance

There is no such thing as a work-life balance. 
 Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life. 
 - Alain de Botton

Wednesday 25 December 2019

Value

Your ordinary acts of love and hope
 point to the extraordinary promise
 that every human is of inestimable value.  
- Desmond Tutu

Monday 23 December 2019

Receiving

Every giving can happen only because it is also a receiving. 
 - Bob Burg & John David Mann

Friday 20 December 2019

December 20, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   During the 2016 Winter Solstice, on a whim, I signed up for an online art retreat called Woman Unleashed.  It was the first online retreat I’d ever signed up for and I didn’t really know what to expect, especially since I wasn’t an “artist.”  I “planned” to observe more than participate, but we were challenged right off the bat to get out of our comfort zones, and for me that was posting my progress, which I did, but I didn’t really share 100%.

   Even though I grew up in a very creative/crafty family, and have done various handicrafts my entire life, I had no idea how my life would change from just that one 10-day experience.

   In January, 2017 I completed my first ever painting.  Me!? I never took art in school (after elementary) and always believed I couldn’t draw, let alone paint, and here I had a real completed canvas!

   When the Summer Solstice retreat rolled around, I had completed 8 more small paintings, various knitting and crochet projects (self-taught), and started making and painting newspaper bowls, and the creativity didn’t stop there!  I even started posting my completed projects online.

   During the 2018 Summer Solstice retreat, I made an art journal for the first time and that led to making books, as I continued to paint, knit, crochet, and try other skills.

   My sharing increased with each Solstice retreat, and I gained other perks, including being gifted free spots in other creativity programs.

   This Winter Solstice retreat now marks my 7th, and I’ve certainly “unleashed” since the first one - now I’m smashbooking, doing a daily art journal page and posting it to the Woman Unleashed Facebook group, and I’m currently in a 6-month program (gifted a free spot as I’m so good at participating, and encouraging others!)

   If you would like to open yourself, and your life, in ways you could not even imagine, I invite you to join me, and thousands of other women around the globe, as we take some time to slow down and nurture ourselves before the new year begins.  It’s time to discover you!  


https://womanunleashed.com/wu11/      #womanunleashedretreat

Beth


Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com
or via https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 18 December 2019

Procrastination

productive procrastination...creative process takes time..
.extra time spent mental wandering gives you the ability 
to come up with more creative “divergent” ideas 
that enhance your project.
  - Mel Robbins

Monday 16 December 2019

Braver

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, 
and smarter than you think.
  - A.A. Milne

Wednesday 11 December 2019

Heart

[To access heart wisdom]
 focus, breathe, feel, ask and listen. 
 - Gregg Braden

Monday 9 December 2019

Destination

One’s destination is never a place 
but rather a new way of looking at things.  
- Henry Valentine Miller

Friday 6 December 2019

December 6, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   Not too long ago, I was “informed” of some “self-evident world truths,” which I happened to personally find neither self-evident, nor truths.

   Besides the underlying mass hysteria nature of these “so-called truths,” the person sharing them with me could not offer any practical suggestions, nor personal examples from their own life, on how to change these “truths” into a better reality.

   For me, personally, unless you are going to offer me a glimmer of hope (there is always hope), show me something good happening in the world (there is a lot of good happening), give me a practical solution (let the government deal with it, is not what I would call practical), or at the very least a small action step I can take to make my corner of the world brighter, telling me the “sky is falling and the world is ending” makes you nothing more than a Chicken Little and NOT a teller of the truth.


   Thankfully, though the Chicken Littles of this world seem to squawk the loudest and longest, they are relatively few in number, and, in the end, their hysteria is always exposed for what it really is.

Beth 


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Monday 2 December 2019

Decrease

One does not accumulate but eliminate. 
 It is not daily increase but daily decrease.  
The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity. 
 - Bruce Lee

Friday 29 November 2019

Efficiency

We often mistake convenience for efficiency...
True efficiency is not about speed; 
it’s about spending more time with what truly matters. 
 - Ryder Carroll

Wednesday 27 November 2019

Reduce

We need to reduce the number of decisions
 we burden ourselves with 
so we can focus on what matters.
  - Ryder Carroll

Monday 25 November 2019

Intentional

Intentional living is the art of making our own choices 
before others’ choices make us. 
 - Richie Norton

Friday 22 November 2019

Busy

Being busy, however, is not the same as being productive. 
For most of us “being busy” 
is code for being functionally overwhelmed. 
- Ryder Carroll

Wednesday 20 November 2019

Emergency

We treat life like an emergency,
 frantically crossing things off our list,
 so we can supposedly get it all done. 
 - Kristine Carlson

Monday 18 November 2019

More

Virtually everyone is complaining
 of having too much to do and not enough time,
 yet their solution to restlessness
 is to find even more to do! 
 - Kristine Carlson

Friday 15 November 2019

November 15, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   We recently turned our clocks back to Standard Time again (thank goodness!) which has brought up, yet again, the debate about whether we should continue to switch between Standard and Daylight Savings Time or not.

   BC, and some other places, are exploring scrapping the time change for good.  But, they are proposing to stay on Daylight Savings Time year-round instead of staying on Standard time. 

   Besides the umpteen problems that will create physically, emotionally and mentally in people, because of emphasis on evening light and not morning light, and even night owls need more morning light to function at their best, most people tend to forget that the reason the time change is so jarring on us is because it is a whole hour that is, for all intents and purposes, taken out of context. 

   If we remained on Standard Time year-round we would notice the days lengthening and shortening in a more natural manner, and we’d still have sunshine in the evening in the summers, and all the daylight hours we would need to get done what needs to get done, even if what needs to get done is being lazy.


   I agree, scrap Daylight Savings time, but stay on Standard time as it is a healthier and saner option for all of us, unless we choose to ditch tracking time totally.

Beth 


Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 13 November 2019

Doors

Life is so subtle that sometimes
 you barely notice yourself walking through the doors 
you once prayed would open.
 - Brianna West

Monday 11 November 2019

Heart

Eyes see only light, ears hear only sound,
 but a listening heart perceives meaning. 
- David Steindl-Rast

Friday 8 November 2019

Pause

Often all it takes to live intentionally 
is to pause before you proceed
. - Ryder Carroll

Wednesday 6 November 2019

Mastery

Mastery replaces the notion of perfection 
with aspiring to better ourselves through dedication and practice. 
When it comes to skill there can be no fixed point. 
Even the greatest masters remain avid students.
 - Ryder Carroll

Monday 4 November 2019

Friday 1 November 2019

November 1, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   Ever feel like your life is going from one extreme to another?  Swinging madly back and forth?  Being strongly pulled from one direction to another?

   I know I sure feel like that at times, especially regarding my health journey, as it seems like I go from flat on my back unable to do anything to having to cram so much into one day as I spent too many days flat on my back doing nothing.

   This wildly swinging pendulum effect is generally a result of us “reacting” to what appears in our lives instead of “responding” to it.

   Following the recent election, we had a lot of people reacting to the results.  The knee-jerk reactions covered a whole gamut of feelings and emotions and some wild solutions.  (For the record, separation from Canada is not a viable option for a land-locked province like Alberta).

   Yet, the only way to truly find solutions - no matter what situations we find ourselves in - and move forward in a constructive manner is to “respond” to the situation.  This involves slowing down, breathing deeply, and looking at the situation from MANY different angles, not the most obvious fear-based one.


   Most of us would agree, especially in this go-go-go culture we now live in, that we desire more balance in our lives, and we tend to think of that ideal balance in visual terms as a perfectly horizontal plane, yet what we really desire is being more centred - ie, the pendulum isn’t swinging back and forth, or like a calm body of water with barely noticeable ripples instead of wild waves.  Once we are centred, and aren’t being pulled in all directions, we can truly see where we are and what our next move should be.

Beth


Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 30 October 2019

Rushing

When you’re rushing,
 it’s impossible to enjoy what you’re doing 
because almost by definition, 
you’re wishing you were somewhere else. 
- Kristine Carlson

Monday 28 October 2019

Label

Until you come to terms with the notion
 that you aren’t what you do, 
but rather a person who does many things,
 you may find yourself leading a complicated life...
Your life experience will become all the more rich and rewarding 
as you learn to do more things without labeling yourself. 
- Kristine Carlson

Wednesday 23 October 2019

Monday 21 October 2019

Simple

Sometimes the questions are complicated 
and the answers are simple. 
- Dr. Seuss

Friday 18 October 2019

October 18, 2019 Chautauqua

     
Beth's Ponderings

We are in the season of Autumn, or Fall as we sometimes call it as the leaves are falling, the temperatures are falling, and the snow is starting to fall too!

   Autumn is an interesting time of year as it is a time of harvesting, gathering, and collecting before winter really sets in, but at the same time, it is a season of letting go.

   We tend to join groups, and book ourselves into more activities, in Autumn, but maybe we should be slowing down instead.

   Maybe we should let go of some of our activities so we can relax more?  Maybe we should let go of some of our group obligations so we can be home with our families more? 

   And, maybe we should let go of our (unrealistic?) expectations of what we can still accomplish in the remaining days of 2019, as we speed towards the Christmas season, so that we don’t end the year in a frazzled, regretful, burned-out state?

  Or, maybe what we really need to let go of this time of year, is our fears.  Fears that we are missing out if we don’t check every social media post, or sign up for every class being offered.  Fears that we are running out of time when we would find we have lots of time if we just change how we are using it, and what we are spending our time doing.  Fears that others are judging us, when the truth is that they probably aren’t even thinking about us at all as they are too worried about their own lives and being judged. 

   Those fears either drive us to keep pushing and going, long past when it is mentally/emotionally/socially/physically healthy for us to do so, or they stop us in our tracks, paralysing us from moving forward at all.

   If a leaf falling from a tree could think, as we humans do, it would probably freak out when it disconnected from the tree and started its free-fall to earth, and yet, a leaf never crashes down, it meanders, and it always lands safely, supported by the firm earth.


   We, too, will find that we are firmly supported, maybe not in the exact manner we expect, when we make the choice to let go.

Beth


Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 16 October 2019

Garden

Some people like to make of life a garden, 
and to walk only in its path. 
- Japanese proverb

Monday 14 October 2019

Nourish

When you recover or discover something 
that nourishes your soul and brings joy, 
care enough about yourself 
to make room for it in your life. 
— Jean Shinoda Bolen

Friday 11 October 2019

Duty

Duty makes us do things well, 
but love makes us do them beautifully. 
- Phillips Brooks

Wednesday 9 October 2019

Monday 7 October 2019

Reason

Reasoning with a child is fine,
 if you can reach the child’s reason 
without destroying your own.
 - John Mason Brown

Friday 4 October 2019

October 4, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   Previously, I mentioned that I had a bumper crop of peas this year.  Plus I discovered I had lots of HUGE carrots - never before have carrots grown that large in our garden space!

   Some things were really delayed.  My raspberries just started a little over three weeks ago, and while there weren’t a lot, I still managed to pick enough to enjoy by the handful.

   But, not all was successful this year.  My Sweet Peas didn’t even break through the ground.  But even more disappointing, my melons - two watermelon and a cantaloupe - really struggled all season.


  One watermelon plant completely died, and the other bloomed two days before the weather turned colder.  But, the cantaloupe surprised me.  It bloomed around the Labour Day long weekend, and produced - in the space of one very hot and sunny week - a golf ball sized melon.  The next - also rather hot and sunny - week it grew to tennis ball-size!  When I picked it September 25, I really didn’t expect much, yet it was ripe and, though basically only 4 bites, was delightfully tasty.

Beth


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Wednesday 2 October 2019

Action

Without making the actual attempt, without trial and strife,
 there can be no true knowledge, no progress,
 no high achievement, and no legend...
Only action reveals our true selves. 
Only action moves us to mastery...
[Being is an action.] Relaxing is an action.
 Meditating is an action. Dreaming is an action. 
- Brendon Burchard

Monday 30 September 2019

Permission

A higher power granted us all the permission
 we need to follow our heart. 
The universe, Nature, and God gave us power.
 It is not our duty to give it away
 by letting our choices be directed by others.
 - Brendon Burchard

Friday 27 September 2019

Delusion

Let’s stop the grand delusion that says
 everyone has to be on every journey we take...
let’s find those who are truly committed and capable 
and leave the rest to find their own passions and pursuits. 
- Brendon Burchard

Wednesday 25 September 2019

Off Course

Being off course doesn’t mean you are doing
 something wrong or bad. 
Detours can be valuable guideposts...
 - Renee Baribeau

Friday 20 September 2019

September 20, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   After a very long 6 years and 4 months of trial and error, eliminating foods and adding them back in, extremely stressful moments and massive setbacks, plus trying different treatments and dramatic lifestyle changes, we finally know now what is causing/triggering my liver stress and subsequent health issues...it’s our tap water!

   It seems that it may be a chemical they are using to treat the water to make it “safe” for us to use that is causing massive havoc with my body, sending it into toxic overload and stressing the liver as it tries to deal with it. 

   No wonder I’ve often felt like every step I took forward to heal resulted in a few steps backwards, as everything I was doing for the good was being completely undone by my daily water usage.

   On the one hand, it is a HUGE relief to finally know what is causing my health setbacks, and to finally be able to connect the many dots (symptoms) to create a more comprehensive picture of what I’ve been living with for the majority of my life.  And to have validation that what I thought might be the real underlying issue, really was.

   But...on the other hand, knowing doesn’t automatically solve anything, or make me instantly well, since we still have to come up with a plan of action to deal with this.  As well, I have to change a LOT of long-standing habits and routine activities as water usage is pretty pervasive part of our days.

   No matter what we are facing, we usually do know what the real issue is, and it is usually something very basic and simple.  That doesn’t mean it’s easy, just that it is simple, and rarely as complex as we make it.

   So much of our daily lives are lived on autopilot, as we do the same tasks day in and day out, that it takes really noticing what we are doing throughout our days to find out where we need to make tweaks and changes to feel better, do better, and live better.


   Now that I have discover “why” I’m so sick, I now have to figure out “how” to apply that knowledge in order to turn it around and see my health improve.  The journey isn’t over, it’s just taken a new turn.

Beth 


Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 18 September 2019

Monday 16 September 2019

Change

When the wind of change blows, 
some people build walls, others build windmills. 
- Chinese proverb

Friday 13 September 2019

Give Yourself

It’s OK to say no, and contrary to what people tell you, 
it’s completely fine, if not recommended, to put yourself first. 
Love doesn’t hurt people, people hurt people...
All the things you’re looking to receive from someone else
 you can give to yourself, especially love;
 you’ll have so much, you’ll have no choice 
but to find people to share it with.
 - Humble the Poet

Wednesday 11 September 2019

Bridge

The hardest thing to learn in life 
is which bridge to cross and which to burn. 
- David Russell

Monday 9 September 2019

Friday 6 September 2019

September 6, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   There is a story that one day a young girl was watching her mother prepare a roast for their supper.  The mother cut both ends off the roast before putting in pan, and then placed it in the oven.  The young girl asked her mother why she cut the ends off the roast, and her mother replied because that was what her mother did.

   Curious, the mother called her mother and asked her why she always cut the ends off the roast, only to be told that’s what her mother had done.

   So, the mother called her grandmother and her grandmother told her she cut the ends off because as a newlywed she didn’t have a big enough roast pan to fit the size of roasts she cooked!

   Too often we continue traditions that, quite honestly, should never have reached tradition status, but did, because, while there was originally a good reason for doing something a certain way, the reason was lost when the next generation took over the task.


   I was taught peas HAD to be blanched before freezing.  As this summer was so cool and wet overall, my peas produced abundantly and I gave away most as I believed I wouldn’t be freezing any, because I wasn’t able to blanch them for reasons beyond my control. I did experiment with pickling some.  Imagine my delight when I discovered peas -  or any vegetable really - don’t need blanched as our food preservation methods and technology have improved since the days of old!

Beth 


Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 4 September 2019

Monday 2 September 2019

Friday 30 August 2019

Wreaks

I am not in charge or responsible for the wreaks 
others have created in their lives 
and I do not need to save everyone in my life.
 - Brendon Burchard

Wednesday 28 August 2019

Level

Celebrate meaningful struggle and hardship 
because we know those very things 
will free us from one level of life and set us into another. 
- Brendon Burchard

Monday 26 August 2019

Friday 23 August 2019

Contribute

The more we are true to ourselves,
 the more we can connect with and contribute to the world.
 - Brendon Burchard

Wednesday 21 August 2019

Long For

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together 
to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, 
but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. 
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Monday 19 August 2019

Common Sense

Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, 
and doing things as they ought to be done.
 - Source obscure

Friday 16 August 2019

August 16, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   Do you catastrophize? 

   That’s a “fancy” term that means you see something negative happening in any situation - current, future, or just imagined - and then take that negativity to the far extreme.

   I recently heard a woman say that when we look at something big that we want to accomplish, or a significant change we want to make, we are most creative at coming up with worst-case scenarios than we are at visualizing it going successfully.  

   How true! 

   When we plan for a trip, to start a business, take a course, or whatever our dream may be, instead of visualizing ways we can accomplish it easier and better, we say we need to be “realistic.”  That word, “realistic” tends to keep us small in the way we think, and firmly entrenched in our comfort zone (aka rut), which is not what we want at all if we are trying to create something new in our lives.

   Yet, on the other hand, for any given project, we can usually rattle off the top of our heads, almost without any effort, an extensive list of excuses and reasons why what we want to do won’t happen, will go horribly and terribly wrong, or how we’ll be hopeless failures for the rest of our lives.  And, usually, those reasons and worst-care scenarios are so outlandishly not even possible - certainly nothing realistic about them!

   But, what if we switched that around?  What if we were more outlandishly creative with the reasons why what we want to do WILL work and how it will make our lives better?  Not only would that make whatever we are doing more enjoyable to do, and much less stressful, but the added bonus is that we may even discover other aspects that we want to explore deeper, or methods that will work even better for us.

   There is no one absolutely perfectly guaranteed way to accomplish anything.  There are only multiple creative ways that each reflect our  own individual personalities.


   So instead of catastrophizing about your next project, why not be outlandishly creative in planning it.  I dare you!

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua26/home/August%2016%2C%202019%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 14 August 2019

Monday 12 August 2019

Guru

There is no one outside of you who can know your soul, 
your path, or your heart better than you.
 You are the guru. You have all the wisdom,
 all the inner knowings, inside of you...
we already know in our souls everything 
we absolutely need to know about our own paths.
 - Danette May

Friday 9 August 2019

Wednesday 7 August 2019

Self-acceptance

Self-acceptance is an invitation to 
stop trying to change yourself into the person you wish to be,
 long enough to find out who you really are.
 - Robert Holden

Monday 5 August 2019

Friday 2 August 2019

August 2, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   When you take a look at your life, and your typical day, what do you see?  Are you happy and content with what you see, or not? 

   We all know what’s not working in our lives, and what we’re not getting done each day, and the list is usually longer than both our arms!

   But, have you ever stopped to look at what IS working, and what you ARE getting done?

   Sometimes just this tiny, albeit very powerful, shift can really make a difference in our lives.

   Looking at what is working, and, trust me, there is a lot working, or we wouldn’t be able to get out of bed and move through our days, gives us feedback that allows us to focus our efforts to maximum effect, to achieve more of what we want.    

   Focusing on what we are getting done, shows us we are making progress towards our goals and dreams, and aren’t just spinning our wheels aimlessly, because we accomplish a lot during the course of our day, beginning with opening our eyes in the morning. 


   Sure, we all have dreams and goals we want to accomplish, but before we can go conquer the world, we need to acknowledge where we are and how far we have already come.

Beth 


Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 31 July 2019

Productive

The idea that we need to be constantly productive
 and operating at 100 percent is just [something]...
we’ve been conditioned to believe in by society.
 - Jennifer McCartney

Monday 29 July 2019

Invented

I’m lazy. But it’s the lazy people who invented
 the wheel and the bicycle because
 they didn’t like walking or carrying things.
 - Lech Walesa

Friday 26 July 2019

Better

Lazy people live longer.
 Lazy people work better and more efficiently.
 - Jennifer McCartney

Wednesday 24 July 2019

Lazy

Being busy is bullshit...Being busy is for idiots...
Studies show the smarter you are, 
the lazier you tend to be...People with a high IQ can sit around 
and be perfectly content with their own thoughts. 
No activity required. 
- Jennifer McCartney

Monday 22 July 2019

Friday 19 July 2019

July 19, 2019 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

  My favourite time of year recently occurred - the 10 days of the Calgary Stampede.  A time when all things western are showcased, and relics of our early cultural history are revived.

   As our province has a very long history of ranching, it should come as no surprise that at one time, almost every community had their own blacksmith and livery stable.  The blacksmith was one of the most important individuals in a community, probably even more important than any law, in all honesty.  As horses were a mode of transportation, a form of farm machinery, and so much more, whomever helped you keep yours shod and in good condition was pretty vital to your livelihood.  But, blacksmiths were necessary for more than just their ability to make horseshoes, as they kept wagons in good repair and made a number of household items.

   And yet, despite their high esteem, our communities no longer have a local blacksmith.  Why?

   Because they were replaced by a viable alternative. 

   Now, we could argue whether that alternative was better, or more advantageous, but there is no denying that what we know today as gas-powered vehicles and farm machinery, and their associated businesses, have changed the way we travel, work, farm/ranch, and play.

   And now the oil and gas sector is in jeopardy of going the way of the blacksmiths and livery stables.  Or is it?

   Shutting down the Canadian oil and gas sector will not eliminate the use of oil and gas in this country, nor in the rest of the world, it will just raise the price of everything because oil and gas is so pervasive in our culture - it’s not just the gas we use to drive around - EVERYTHING around us either uses oil and gas, is made from a by-product of oil and gas, or is brought to us via oil and gas.  And, quite truthfully, while there are greener alternatives, at this time, there is no VIABLE alternative to oil and gas that is affordable, and available to everyone.


   Eliminating a whole sector isn’t the answer to living greener, the answer is to reduce your individual usage till a viable alternative appears.

Beth 

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua26/home/July%2019%2C%202019%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua