Stephanie's Studio

I’ve written a lot about transformation during the past year because I started working on that journey seriously in January. Yesterday I went shopping. It was an eye opener. After having lost 45 pounds, I found that my former haunts were no longer mine. Over the years I had gotten so accustomed to being a certain size and shape that automatically when shopping I gravitated towards the same sort of clothing. Yesterday, I had to redirect myself away from the XL clothes, which would have bagged and dragged along after me. Instead, I headed to the size mediums—a huge breakthrough for me. In my past with the XL’s, my main goal was to find what covered me up the best. In some instances I had pushed past XL to a size XXL, so there was also a challenge to figure out which size I could actually fit. Generally at the XXL sixe, I would just leave the store to go find a store specializing in vanity sizing, wherein I could fit an XL. Now I’m no longer engaged in that sort of inner conflict. St

Remember this  post? Well, I'm at it again. Don't mind me. I've just unplugged to get back into the flow. See you right back here in this virtual studio after I catch some long overdue  fish.

There seems to be a lot of awards making their way across the blogosphere. Some stand apart, like the one for which I was recently nominated that pays tribute to both readers and bloggers as team members. It honors supporters and community building among bloggers. A few posts ago I announced my acceptance of the nomination for the  Wonderful Team Member Readership Award  from Marci Koski of  Fuzzy Undertones . In turn, I shared some of my  nominees.  But wait...there are more wonderful team members and readers to salute. Stephanie Faris, is a frequent visitor, who regularly adds comments. I am grateful that she is a supportive reader of my blog. Stephanie is the YA author of the highly thought of book, 30 Days of No Gossip  and she blogs at  Stephanie Faris Tween Author . Stephanie's blog has a fresh and inviting look, as well as tone, where you'll learn about a lot of different books, particularly for youth. Deborah Brasket is someone I first took notice of on  She

Over the course of the past year I have shared many triumphs, some failures, good news and changes. Ultimately, each of those words are interchangeable. Their meaning is open to interpretation. It all depends of your perspective. At times I feel disappointment, like my energy is being drained and pulled downward. Inside, I know that I have an infinity for water. Water flows where it needs to go. St. John's Wort Over the past week I have gone through a great deal of upheaval. Well laid plans have been disrupted. The workshop on African Herbal Healing, I've shared about on this blog, has been suddenly modified. It appears to have been canceled but that's not entirely true. Let's just say that where and when it will be offered is unresolved. As things evolve with the scheduling of that event, as well as with other happenings that might be of interest, I will let you know right here. Freshly Cut Lavender More than St. John's Wort, and the melanc

Having stated my thoughts on what makes a lovely reader and blogger in the post Blogging Award , I want to share my Wonderful Team Member Readership Award  n ominees , right here and now. You'll want to check out their blogs, if you haven’t done so already. I’m not going to nominate everyone at once. For today, I am sharing nominees living abroad (Outside of the USA). These creative souls are either in a country of choice, for work, as Ex Pats or were born where they currently live. Their unique perspectives allow me to do something enjoyable—a bit of armchair travel. They reach out, crossing borders broken up by the internet, while expanding our horizons in the process. What I enjoy about this group of bloggers is that they enrich their readers by expanding our ways of envisioning the world and our place within it.   1.        Jyotsna (India)  Dreams and Dimensions!  If you ever wanted to go to India, visit the shops, see the sites and meet interesting people, then th

I’m not sure if you read the comment posted yesterday by Marci Koski, on my post,  Striking Balance Through Tadasana?  In it, she nominated me for the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award, in the kindest, most generous way. I am sincerely touched by her gesture. Moreover, I am appreciative that she included me in this wonderful group of readers and bloggers. How great is that--to be a part of a team? I gladly accept the award and want to share information on what it is all about, through today’s two posts. Thanks so much Marci, maven of  Fuzzy Undertones . Here are the rules for accepting this award: The Nominee of the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award needs to display the logo on his/her post/page and/or sidebar. To accept, the Nominee must nominate 14 readers they appreciate over a period of 7 days (1 week) – this can be done at any rate during the week. It can be ALL on one day or a few on one day and a few on another day, as I am doing. The Nominee is required t

If you look over to your right on this blog and scroll down through "Popular Posts" you will come across one I wrote several years back about my  Pagan Retreat in Appalachia . That experience took place at Cerren Ered in a rather secluded location in the Smoky Mountains. It is pretty much off the grid. I found peace and respite in that magickal place. With a well fed soul, I made art, danced to my heart's content and connected with 'salt of the earth' folks. There's something about being up at a high altitude that makes the heart rest well, to say the least about invoking the spirits, while also inspiring creativity. Last week, I shared some thoughts on meadows in the post  Meadow of Dreams . In addition to traversing the meadow that lives in our primordial mind during meditation, we also visit the mountains through that practice. This journey towards all that is mystical and powerful in the mountain, is echoed in hatha yoga as we take on Tadasana (mountai

Recently, I surprised myself with the anxiety over submitting a manuscript excerpt to my writer's workshop. It all started rather normal but then took an odd twist into what I consider abnormal behavior. I always edit and revise. All writers do that. But this time was different. I edited the heck out of it. Maybe combing over it 15 times total and revising it each time, eventually nothing was left in my opinion accept for tweaking but tweak I did. This was to a work that had already been edited several times. I hope I haven't leached the life out of that excerpt. It is from my work-in-progress, "Out of the Blue." I am still filled with dread when I think about the upcoming evening of my critique, which takes place about a week from now. You know I've posted before about  Critique Anxiety . When I read over that post from last year, I see that the anxiety I blogged about arose because I was in a different workshop, about to present my work. I'm not this

Recently I planted seeds in my garden from a seed mix packet. Actually, I used several different packets of heirloom wildflower and sunflower seeds. In the past, I have either started my seeds indoors in the spring under controlled conditions or purchased small plants to put in the garden. I am not sure why but this year the seeds called out to me. I didn't stop to question the reason for their attractiveness. I decided to go with them. There is something mysterious about seeds that buying or planting potted plants can't beat. Seeds are full of surprises and potential, referred to in the Yoruba language of West Africa as ashe . You just don't know exactly what you're going to get. You have to have faith. You need to trust the process and in things that are out of your control. I checked in on my seedlings a few minutes ago. Many have sprouted up. With the heavy rains we've recently received, they are flourishing. The perplexing part is that because the