Heart Revolution Week Three:Changing our Hearts

"I then awoke desiring to step anew."

The Seven Paths by Good Buffalo Eagle

This is my friend

Good Buffalo Eagle

aka

Ezekial Sanchez.

This man and his teachings 

changed

my 

Heart

FOREVER.

When I think about where I was 5 years ago compared to where I am today...

the difference truly amazes me.

I believe that EVERYTHING in my life has happened for a PURPOSE...

to grow my Heart in ways I never could have imagined. 

It's been the hardest, most sorrowful time of my life...

yet here I am today 

with 

TRUE

JOY

in my Heart.

Most days 

my Heart is full of Peace and Gratitude...

most days.

I still struggle

and am so grateful I can start anew whenever I need to.

It wasn't that long ago I felt like this drawing...

...alone with no life around me.

I would sit on my couch feeling 

scared

alone

angry

sad

empty

jealous

envious

hate

bitter.

I felt like giving up.

My Heart was dry.

No love left.

At one of the lowest points of my life I found my Beautiful Girl in her room.

an empty bottle of sleeping pills on the floor.

I thought my life was over.

But then, right when life was heavy...

oh

so 

HEAVY...

that's when the miracle happened.

That's when we found Anasazi.

That's when the Healing Began.

Before reading any further PLEASE watch this video. It's the ENTIRE basis for Week Three of Heart Revolution. It's not long...just 5 minutes...but it's 5 minutes that will touch your Heart...I PROMISE!!

Over the course of a year my daughter spent 

14 weeks in the Wilderness (7 weeks two different times). 

While she was walking and working on her Heart 

 I was working on MY Heart.

And if there is ONE thing I can pass along to YOU to Heal YOUR Heart it's this...

"Life's walking depends

 on how we feel about others

in our Hearts."

Did you read that right?? 

Our journey, our happiness,

the way we feel about ourselves...

depends on how we feel about others.

It's a hard concept to grasp...

yet so simple.

This was incredibly hard for me to get. The first time my daughter went out on the Trail I thought I was working hard and trying to understand not only HER but ME. Sadly for both of us I just didn't get it that first time. It wasn't until 6 months later when Em went back on the trail that this idea of Walking Forward and Changing my Heart towards OTHERS fully took hold.

OH the FREEDOM this concept gives you!!

When you begin to realize that what other's actions are, what they say, do and even FEEL has NOHING to do with YOU...everything changes.

You begin to realize, as I did, you have been living YOUR life based on what OTHERS are doing.

I used to believe the reason I sat on the couch 15 hours a day was my daughter's fault. 

I would tell myself...

"Well if she wouldn't stay out all hours of the night I wouldn't stay up and worry!" or "I don't know who she is with and she has made bad choices in the past so I feel just helpless I think I will sit on the couch and eat!" 

I didn't know it then but this was me Walking Backwards.

This was me with a Heart full of fear and anger and sadness.

This was me without a Heart of Peace. I was constantly at War with her and myself.

It's an AWFUL way to live.

Today,

after weeks of writing exercises and therapy and practice...

I am Walking Forward.

I know longer look at my daughter (or anyone) as an object that needs to be dealt with.

I try my best to SEE others as what they are...

a living, breathing person with all kinds of ideas and emotions.

I see People with my Heart now.

And THAT has made all the difference.

This is the BIGGEST Heart Revolution my Heart has ever had. 

When we start seeing others with our Heart...

THEY start changing.

It's true! If you don't believe TRY IT!

The next time you see someone on the street, a little worn around the edges...

instead of seeing him as homeless, a drug addict, someone that's lazy and doesn't want to work...

try seeing them as a PERSON. 

Go up to them. Say Hi. Smile. Ask them their name.

See them with your Heart.

That, sweet girls is Having a Heart of Peace.

That is how our Hearts CHANGE.

It's how we BECOME  

joyful

courageous

true

loving

gentle

kind

beautiful

peaceful

happy

remarkable

amazing

people.

This week start writing down people and the feelings you attach to them. 

Use my example of how I felt about my daughter for so long...

Do this exercise for as many people you have negative feelings towards. Be honest. 

Whew!

I know this is a lot to think about.

And maybe not what you thought a true Heart Revolution would look like.

But believe me...

this ONE thing will make a huge impact  on your Heart and your Life!

Heart Revolution: Week Two...One Step at a Time

"...the deepest cuts are healed by faith."

-Pat Benatar

Last week was hard.

I know.

It's not easy confronting our Heartbreaks and all the things we think we Can't do.

But there is no way possible to Heal...

really Heal...

without meeting our sorrows face to face.

And now they are out of our way!

Let' move on to a BRAND NEW week of

Heart Revolution!!

This week's song has special meaning to me.

Back in 1999 I ran my very first marathon...

(for those of you that don't know...that's 26.2 miles!)

It was tough BUT it taught me soooo much!

When I was training I had a positive mindset and NOTHING could get me off my path.

This song became my Anthem

"All Fired Up" Pat Benatar

"Living with my eyes closed...living day to day..."

Does that sound like you? Are you living with your eyes closed?

I hope last week's questions helped you realize it's time to WAKE UP and start LIVING!

When I was in the middle of what I call my 5 years of pain and suffering this is what my world looked like...

 Here is more of my story...

Jackson was active in Cross Country and Debate and Em was a soccer player

I had two pretty awesome kids...

Holiday traditions that reminded me my life wasn't all bad.

Our annual Halloween Harvest Dinner

 I was making art as often as I could. 

It was one of the very best gifts I gave myself during those bleak days.

Looking back most of my art during this time was filled with HOPE for a better day.

 I tried my best to put a happy face on.

It wasn't long after this photo was taken that I began to gain weight from all the stress eating.

I was so grateful to be offered a job during two years of the pain and suffering stage

at our local Art Studio. This was like a vacation for me!!!

Still one of my favorite art pieces during very difficult days

 Even though we were constantly juggling money around, living day to day, not seeing a whole lot of happiness in our future...my husband and I stayed very close to one another.

He was and is my ROCK!

When I see these photos I realize that even though the pain was almost too much at times...there were HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of brights spots...

of moments I will cherish deep in my Heart forever.

And if I am being real (and I am)...

I am GRATEFUL now for those pain and suffering years.

Those were the years my Truthteller was teaching me.

Those were the years He was shaping me into who I am today.

This week we are talking about GROWTH.

About learning from our Heartbreaks and turning our I can'ts into

I CAN.

There are so many things I want to discuss this week...it's going to be jam-packed with lessons, quotes, questions and journal pages!! 

My journal page celebrating one of this week's quotes

Here is our first quote for the week...

"The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than growing with them." -Bernard M. Barugh

Feel free to write in your journals any thoughts and/or feelings this quote brings up. I know from hearing from a few of you last week's MLK quote was an emotional one.

I also want you to pick out your very OWN Anthem! 

Of course you can use our song for the week...or maybe you already have a song! 

I would LOVE for you to post YOUR song in our FB group!! 

One more thing before Tuesday's prompt (I plan on posting nearly daily this week!)...

I invite you to spend some time answering this question...

"What five goals have I accomplished in my life I am most proud of?"

I am so GRATEFUL you are here!! 

It's NEVER too late to start!! 

You can find last week's prompts here.

Our FB group is here.

See you there!!!!

Heart Revolution Week One....Let's GO!

"Broken-Hearted I started climbing..."

-Hilary Weeks

If there is one thing I know...It's Heartbreak. 

We all do, don't we?

Each one of us carries a burden of sorrow and pain

that sometimes, no matter how hard we try to forget about it, to make it all go away...

it doesn't.

It remains, it seems

to torture and tear us down.

And when we are in the middle of all the pain

it's hard to see the Light that's within us.

Not so long ago I was in the Battle of my life. 

I thought everything I had ever known was gone...

for good.

I invite you to read my story before going any further in our class.

You must know my story and where I come from to fully 

appreciate where "Heart Revolution" came from

and how it not only changed my life

but 

can 

Change

YOURS.

My Story

More of the Story

While I was smack dab in the middle of all this chaos I would 

listen to this song by Hilary Weeks

every.

single.

day.

I encourage you to listen to this song everyday this week.

Seriously...

it CHANGED my Heart.

It reminded me that I WOULD get through this time in my life.

It gave me HOPE.

Now let me say before I go any further...

My story you just read...

that wasn't the end of my pain...heavens no.

I couldn't even imagine it at the time but it actually got WORSE...

so much pain was yet to come into my families life and I had no idea.

But isn't that the way it works? 

Just when we think things are bad...

they get worse.

Sometimes they get so BAD we don't think we can go on.

We want so badly to 

stop climbing.

That's what our class is ALL about for the next 6 weeks...

Climbing up that mountain.

Opening our Hearts to ALL that's good.

Realizing that, just like Glenda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz says...

"You had the Power all along, my Dear."

Here's how "Heart Revolution" will work...

Each Monday I will share our Song for the week. I am a BIG believer 

in the power of music. There's few hours in my day when some kind of music isn't playing. 

Music is medicine for the Soul.

I will also share our first prompts of the week, photos, etc. each Monday. 

These will all be in one big blog post. 

Throughout the rest of the week you can expect more prompts,

journal page ideas, my thoughts on the subject, my pages 

AND

don't forget about our WEEKLY GIVE AWAYS!

These will mostly be in the form of posts in our FB group.

Each of you participating has a chance at winning an envelope of treasures to use in your journal pages!! There will be a specific FB post where you can add your name to the drawing each week.

You will want a notebook for sure to answer the prompts. 

You may also want an actual art journal.

I am using the YES YOU CAN composition book for most of my journaling along with the large blue art journal on the upper left. Both of these were found at Wal-Mart for under 10 bucks for both!

Here is what the inside of my notebook looks like using pens and a few pieces of ephemera.

You can also paint in these cheap notebooks and they turn out GREAT!

Using gesso to make the pages stronger is the best way to paint and add art journal type treasures in your notebooks. I will show you a step by step process later in the week!

This is the cover of my Faith journal...again just a 50 cent composition book!

Ok so it's time to get to work! 

Listen to our song of the week...and be sure and watch the video...it is sooo inspiring!! 

I have met Mariama Kolon...she is the african american lady in the video. Her story is INCREDIBLE!!!

And one that I will share later in the week.

Answer the following questions in your notebooks...

1. What Heartbreaks have you been through/are you going through? This can be as detailed as you want. I find when I just sit down with pen and paper and start making a list this is the best way. 

2. What comes to mind when you read this quote...

"If you can't fly then run, of you can't run, then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to KEEP MOVING FORWARD." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Write this quote in your journals and just start writing all your thoughts, ideas and emotions that come up. This would make an excellent journal page as well. 

Ok, that's it for today! I will be posting MANY more prompts and ideas throughout the week in our Facebook Group Mind.Body.Soul.

The weekly blog post will be PINNED to the top and the rest of our prompts, photos, etc will be posted as well as in this file...

Heart Revolution.

Be sure and stop by every day to see what's posted!!

Thank you all so much for being here!!!!1

Heart Revolution Begins Monday!

Join me Monday, October 17th for "Heart Revolution"!

It's about finding the Power and the Love that's already inside your Heart.

Join me here.

Be sure and let me know if you are playing along for your chance to win 

a weekly treasure-filled envelope of love from me!!

Heart Revolution is ALMOST here!

What is Heart Revolution?

It's a FREE

art journaling class 

for 

YOU.

It's all about turning Inward...

learning to 

RECEIVE

LOVE.

Listening

learning

loving

yourself.

Join 

me 

October 17th.