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Greetings!
Hello,
friends!
May
this newsletter inspire new growth for you in your personal and
professional life.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Blessings,
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Signs of Life
Spring is a spectacular experience in the Sonoran desert. The yuccas
outside my window are draped in full, floppy white flowers. Little
teddy bear cacti have erupted into fuchsia blooms; cholla and prickly
pears are unfolding their multi-colored offerings; and long wavy
ocotillo branches are still exploding into crimson firework displays.
A cactus wren couple is busy building a nest in a saguaro cactus
apartment on our patio, and the sounds of other birds have me once
again dipping into my bird book to try to decide who is “whooo.”
These daily events keep me breathing deeply amidst world events that
could otherwise pull me down into that depressive place of complaining
and giving up. I want to, as Angeles Arrien puts it, “move from
description to prescription.” And my spring prescription is to look
for signs of life.
Here are two recent sightings:
Last weekend my husband Jon and I attended a 60th birthday for our
friend Bob, who has advanced prostate cancer. Doctors haven’t been
very encouraging, but Bob is persisting with chemotherapy, is working,
and still looks younger than the rest of us.
Bob’s rock and roll band, Moist and the Towelettes, had set up to
perform on his patio in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains.
Watching the group of grey heads, white mustaches and glasses
clustered around the mike, I kept tearing up. Will Bob have another
birthday party?
As he belted out “Bony Maroni,” accompanied by his own great keyboard,
I gave up my tears, and got up to dance in the soft air. We may be
getting old, but we still remember how to rock out. Twisting again,
like we did some summer very long ago.
In between gasps and laughter, I remembered that we are all terminal.
But we aren’t all being as careful as Bob is to preserve, celebrate
and share the signs of life that we love best. When we do, we feed our
own life force, and sometimes even doctors have to scratch their heads
when they see the surprising signs of life that can result.
*****************
I recently taught a Photography as Spiritual Practice class, and had
the chance to talk with my students about photography as a way of
conversing with the unseen. Often we use cameras in a documentary way,
“shooting” or capturing what we already know and want to remember or
share. That’s fine, but there’s another way to approach photography
through a question: what have I not seen?
Rather than thinking of “shooting” something, we might think of
opening the lens to whatever we are “dis-covering.” This gentles the
mind, quiets anxiety about making “good” pictures, and invites the
heart to open to a magic moment.
After suggesting this approach to my students, I had the fun of
watching them walk through the wash below our house and into the state
park, looking for the unseen. They peered into the hollows and gnarled
roots of old trees. One student found a piece of wood that resembled
an Egyptian tomb. We tracked what shapes appealed to us. The sky was
stormy, so I was attracted to the wild grasses that looked like
something out of Wuthering Heights in the strangely dark afternoon.
We gathered at the table and I saw the brightness in my students’
eyes, talking about their pleasure. Just giving themselves time to
walk and look had been a gift. I saw it as a sign of life that people
will open to “work their spiritual edge,” that is try to stretch their
perception of the world and themselves.
For me, this kind of activity is like a prayer. It is a conversation
with the unseen, in which I open myself and ask to have something
revealed to me. Even if it is a small revelation, what I see becomes a
response from the Universe, a sign that there is life even grander
than what I am seeing in the desert around me. See if you see that
grander life in some of these photographs.
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Retreats at Cimarroncita:
Summer is rapidly approaching, so this is the moment to sign up for an
exciting retreat at Cimarroncita, the historic ranch and retreat
center in the mountains of New Mexico.
With Pam, explore Photography for Personal and Spiritual Growth with a
small group of women from August 16-20. Don’t want to come alone?
Bring your own group of friends!
Or, sharpen your negotiation skills for your personal or professional
life at the co-ed retreat led by Pam and Jon Trachta, Negotiation
Through a Different Lens, from August 23-27. Continuing education
credits are available for lawyers, but this class will be useful for
everyone.
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Flier
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Sponsoring a workshop:
If you’d like to arrange a workshop in your area, we make it easy and
fun. In April, Jeni Halliday created a Sand Spirits workshop in
Houston. We created a flyer and brought all the materials. Jeni worked
with us to create the kind of event her friends and associates would
like. She emailed the flyer to them, and hosted the event in her home
for ten lovely, lively women. They bought books and cards at a special
workshop price, and signed up for private sessions. And, we had fun
together! I told Jeni she has set the bar high.
Another client in Santa Barbara is hosting a Sand Spirit workshop
there in June. It’s already filling up, so if you’re interested, email
me quickly!
If you’d like to explore hosting, remember you will come to the
workshop free, and receive a book and set of cards, and you don’t need
to pay for a thing. You’ll also have the fun of creating a “salon”
experience with your friends and associates in an intimate setting
where you all share an inspiring experience and receive tools for your
personal and professional life.
Here are the workshops you might consider:
Sand Spirits: the Workshop
Experience the magic of the Sand Spirit cards, an “in-sight” tool for
your personal or professional life. You will learn how to use the
power of nature’s images to awaken and understand your life’s
potential. We’ll practice using the photographic cards for increasing
your intuition, gaining insight on an issue, seeing the relationship
of past, present and future, mediating competing inner voices, and
applying the methods to a variety of special areas and situations.
Great tool for professionals in therapeutic and healing arts, for
teachers, for artists and writers and for parents. Half-day, whole day
or two-day workshop formats.
Flying Lessons: 7 Ways to Pilot Yourself Past Your Fears
Have you ever dreamed of flying on your own power, soaring above your
fears and doubts? Without leaving the ground, you can learn to
identify which fears stop you from reaching your potential. In this
multi-layered, entertaining journey, you’ll identify with Pam as the
reluctant student who became a licensed pilot in her mid-50’s, with
the help of her “aviation therapist,” Clio. You’ll receive 7 of Clio’s
“flight lessons” that will shift your perception of yourself and your
authentic power. You’ll leave your past behind you like the landscape
and soar to higher levels of loving, leading and living. This is a
book-in-progress, and the first time the transformational workshop has
been offered to the public. A three-day retreat.
Ancient Tools for Contemporary Relationships
This workshop is open to individuals, families with teenage -or- older
children and couples. We will explore seven areas where we can apply
shamanic practices to daily life, in order to strengthen relationships
with partners, children, business associates, friends, ourselves, our
communities and our planet. You will leave with these tools: the
talking stick, a tool for communication; the power animal, a tool for
protection; the shamanic journey, a tool for decision-making; the
medicine bundle, a tool for acting “on purpose;” the sand painting, a
tool for transformation; the sacred circle, a tool for community; and
ceremonies that are tools for healing the planet.
A two or three-day retreat.
For details, email me at:
pam@ThroughADifferentLens.com.
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New Workbook for
The Sand Spirits!
Mother's Day Special
Buy a set of Sand Spirit cards for your mother, for another
mother you love, or for yourself if you are a mother!
Normally the workbook is $29.95 and the cards are $24.95, plus
shipping and handling. For this month only, pay only $40 for the two, saving almost
50%! We’ll even pay the shipping and handling!
Purchase Individually
Workbook $29.95 / Cards $24.95
Sand Spirits™
Wisdom Cards
$24.95 plus $3.95 S&H
International Orders
Click
here to learn more about
Sand Spirits™
and to order Workbooks or Cards
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
View Calendar |
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