Stroll for Well-Being Featured in nextavenue.org

The Bloedel Reserve's Stroll for Well-Being program is featured in the current issue of nextavenue, an online magazine, described as

"public media’s first and only national service for America’s booming 50+ population. Our mission is to meet the needs and unleash the potential of older Americans through the power of media. We do this by providing news, information and advice to help our audience navigate their lives and inviting them to join in an ongoing conversation about the issues and transitions we all face.
"Twin Cities Public Television (tpt) in St. Paul, Minn. produces Next Avenue for the PBS system and 84 PBS stations are local affiliate partners. Our content extends far beyond our website, through our national network of media partners and government and nonprofit allies."

I was interviewed for the article; you can read it here.

The spring season of the Stroll for Well-Being will wrap up on Monday, and the summer session begins on Tuesday. I'm very excited to help facilitate the meetings, to hear what participants have to say after 12 weeks of strolling the gorgeous grounds of the Reserve (during an unusually sunny spring for Western Washington), to meet the new groups and assist with their orientation.

If you are interested in joining the program, go to www.bloedelreserve.org. You'll be glad you did!

WORD SOUP, Strolls, the SFDWG, and BIG News

I have so much to tell you that I awoke early this morning, excited to write about it.

I took a weekend trip to Victoria, B.C. with my beloved "Sh*tty First Draft Writing Group." We had a blast, staying in a Victorian duplex belonging to a friend of Reba's. We talked and listened, laughed and cried, ate, drank, enjoyed live music and walked for many miles. We didn't do as much writing as I had anticipated, but what we did was perfect. It is therapeutic to go away with friends and just BE.

Robin and Reba at the Blue Fox Cafe

Teri, Reba and Stefanie at the Irish Times Pub

Robin and me at the Irish Times

Dessert at The Snug, the pub at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel

The five of us at the Snug

I'm leading my WORD SOUP workshop this month for Field's End, every Tuesday night at the Kitsap Regional Library branch in Poulsbo. We have had two sessions, so we are at the halfway point, and it is magical to see the talent, generosity and enthusiasm of the participants. We are nearly bursting at the seams, and it is gratifying to see so many people excited about the craft of writing, all ages encouraging each other and surprising themselves in what they produce. I enjoy leading the group, and writing with them. More about that later...

The spring Stroll for Well-Being at the Bloedel Reserve is also at the halfway mark. On Monday, I facilitated two sessions (morning and afternoon), and was blessed by the group members' sharing of what the strolls have given them. Their experiences certainly prove that the program increases one's well-being.

I love the Reserve, the house and the program so much that at times, it is a little bit difficult to believe that I get to work in such a beautiful environment, and am paid to do it.

The summer session of the Strolls will begin on June 23rd, with the creator and founder of the program, Ruth McCaffrey, here from Florida to kick it off (and me as her co-facilitator). There is still space available in the summer session, and it's free! You'll receive a beautiful journal containing all of the information you need so that you may enjoy the beneficial effects of this program. It is comprised of 12 themed strolls, taken at your own pace, on your own time, during 12 weeks of summer. Contact ejennings@bloedelreserve.org to reserve your place!

The BIG news here is that David is about to begin a new job! He will be moving to Montana (one of his dreams) to work at the Yellowstone Club. Though we love having him with us, we are thrilled for this next phase of his life's adventure, and can hardly wait to visit, once he is settled.

For these gifts (and so much more), I give thanks to God!

Stroll for Well-Being, Spring Session

I started my new job yesterday!

I am a co-facilitator of the Stroll for Well-Being at the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, and am thrilled about it.

This program was created by Ruth McCaffrey, DNP, FAAN, a professor of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University. It's my privilege to be learning from, and co-facilitating with, Ruth. She is a gem.

Ruth originally created the program for the Morikami Garden in Palm Beach County, Florida. Over 700 people have participated in it. Here is what participants have to say about the Morikami Stroll for Well-Being program:
Ruth created a customized program for the Bloedel Reserve. Today was our first of three meetings for the spring sessions (one group in the morning and one in the afternoon). Each person present received a beautiful journal, filled with inspirational quotes, ideas for reflection, maps, blank (unlined - wonderful!) pages for writing/drawing and gorgeous, full-color photographs of the Reserve. The journal itself is a treasure, but in addition, each participant also receives a one-year membership in the Reserve.

I predict that it is going to be great fun, and a healthy experience for everyone, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Both of the Spring Stroll sessions are filled, but if you are interested in joining a summertime Stroll for Well-Being, just contact Erin (ejennings@bloedelreserve.org) and she will put your name on the list.

I cannot imagine a better job for me, right now. Thank you, Ruth, Erin and Bloedel Reserve for making this possible!

Bloedel Reserve's Stroll for Well-Being

You have likely read here about the Stroll for Well-Being at the Bloedel Reserve - how much I enjoyed the pilot program in 2014, how it inspired me to photograph, write and draw from nature, and the peace and healing which I experienced as a result.

Part of the reason I loved this program is expressed by Mark Nepo in his Book of Awakening, in the passage for March 12th (titled "In the Likeness of Everything"):

In truth, we each carry within our own innate makeup, like chromosomes, the minute aspects of everything that forms the Universe. And so, the art of freedom becomes the necessary adventure of grasping the secrets that are everywhere in the open and stirring their aspects within us, in such a way that we come alive: learning from the fish how to surface and dive, from the flower how to open and accept, from the stone how to crack and let the light in, and from the birds that wings are more useful at times than brains.

I'm thrilled to report that I have been invited to be a facilitator of the program, starting next month. The founder of the Stroll for Well-Being at Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens is Dr. Ruth G. McCaffrey (a professor at Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University). Dr. McCaffrey facilitated the pilot program for us last year, and it will be a privilege to work alongside her and to learn from all of her experiences.

If you live in the area and are interested in joining the program, please contact Erin Jennings at ejennings@bloedelreserve.org - we'd love to welcome you!

Enjoying Autumn

To every one who has served in the military forces for the United States of America, Thank you. I know that "freedom isn't free." We cannot "catch" it from others, and it is not "given" to all human beings to live in a free country. Though each of us has freedom within (as unique creations of our Creator), not everyone has the privilege to live freely. For that privilege in this time and place, paid for by your sacrifice, dear veterans, I thank you.

The last time I visited the Bloedel Reserve, I was rewarded with the pleasure of rich, intense colors of the remaining leaves on deciduous trees, and the patterns they created on the ground. I expect that the next visit will reveal many changes wrought by the high winds and heavy rains of autumn.

Just now, we are enjoying gorgeous, cold, clear days here in Western Washington. This was the view as the setting sun painted high clouds a tender pink, and a lone boat struggled against wind, whitecaps and current.

The wind caused widespread power outages that day.

On Saturday morning, I awoke early to this sunrise view...

It was a perfect day for a trip to Port Townsend. We never tire of walking through that town and the surrounding area.

This is the view looking over the old military buildings and parade ground. If it looks familiar, you might be remembering it from the movie, "An Officer and a Gentleman." Mt. Rainier looms on the horizon, faintly visible and wreathed in clouds.

If you had to make a caption for this photo, what would it be?

The deer were enjoying an apple-feast under that tree; not timid at all!

We walked around the marinas, and admired the craftsmanship of many wooden boats, especially the sailing ship Adventuress.

We saw tiles with messages from supporters of the maritime center.

Good advice.

I colorized the mermaid tile using Picasa.

I am thankful that Gregg and I still have so much fun doing something which is free of charge and open to anyone, which we enjoyed from the very first days we met. There is something comforting in the fact that, as much as our lives have changed during these 25+ years, this simple pleasure remains for us to enjoy again and again, in different places, seasons and moods.

All of Creation is a Song of Praise to God

Japanese Garden, Bloedel Reserve

 The fire has its flame and praises God.
  The wind blows the flame and praises God.
In the voice we hear the word which praises God.
  And the word, when heard, praises God.
So all of creation is a song of praise to God. 

- St. Hildegard of Bingen

  
Strolling each week at the Bloedel Reserve is continuing to inspire and bring solace and healing to me, even in places where I didn't anticipate healing. One of those areas is ART.

The shapes and colors of the leaves, and the changes in the landscape from week to week keep me in deep, yet gentle observation. It is like Christmas morning each time I start out walking the paths. I move in different directions on different days - responding intuitively to the mood and the map. I find that I observe as an artist, and even if I think "I won't take photos today," I can't NOT take them. I am seeing - and composing with my eye - as an artist, and it's joyful.

It so happens that one of my favorite art bloggers, Collage Diva, started a new project using mandalas. She calls it #100MandalasChallenge, and the idea is to create 100 Mandalas in 100 days.

I'm not sure I'll complete it in that amount of time - and there is no pressure to do so - but I am loving drawing mandalas using the Zentangle concept of Zendalas, inspired by all that I see at the Bloedel Reserve.

Here are a few of my drawings...

It's relaxing and fun to draw in this way. It has opened me up and relieved some of the stress I felt around doing artwork. It is play, not work, and it comes naturally, rather than being forced.

I'm deeply thankful for this season of strolling, healing and renewed creative energy. It is a time of quiet joy and praise to our Creator.

This struck me as a "faerie's-eye view" of the Bloedel residence

 No detail is too small for the Creator's creativity. I love that fact.

Awe, Refreshment & Shinrin-Yoka

It’s becoming essential that we learn how to relate sanely with difficult times. The earth seems to be beseeching us to connect with joy and discover our innermost essence. This is the best way that we can benefit others. - Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

Our goal should be to...get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted...never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed. ―Abraham Joshua Heschel

I also remember coming upon a clearing in the woods so densely overgrown that it felt depressing, for nothing seemed capable of getting through. Something in my own makeup resembled this and made me return there several times. But it was finally in winter, without its leaves, that this same clearing undressed itself as a magnificent bed of light that happened to be on the crest of a beautiful hill. It humbled me to realize that winter can be freeing, too, and that I am often overgrown with memories and reasons and twigs of mind that block me from the light. - Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

Slowing down and truly listening to the wind, birdsong, frogs croaking, running water, the sound of our own footsteps, alder leaves susurrating, fir needles whooshing like ocean waves - really hearing whatever is around us - is a gift. The sense of hearing is a gift.

Seeing the wonder of a leaf drifting on the wind, two trees growing together - entwined like passionate lovers - berries sprouting from a decaying log, moss cloaking trunks of maple and roots of upturned cedar, alders dancing, trailing fingers in a pond, ducks diving in duckweed, clouds passing overhead, ripples on water - is a gift. Seeing is a gift.

Caressed by a breeze, temperature changes, heart lifting, pulse rising in the freedom of open spaces, muscles working up and down trails, a slippery boardwalk or the crunch of stone and bark underfoot, smoothness of grass, ripple of roots, soft springiness of moss - is a gift. Feeling is a gift.

The scent of turning leaves, a salty breeze, pungence of skunk cabbage, decaying mushrooms, rain-washed trails, sap-filled pines - is a gift. The sense of smell is a gift.

The Stroll for Well-Being is teaching me that the Japanese healing intervention of Shinrin-yoka, or "walking in the forests to promote health" is effective. Nature's variety of shape, color, scent, function and form remind me that everything, at every stage of life, has its own particular beauty. We are not made to look - or be - the same as others. Each one of us has unique purpose and gifts, revealed as our lives evolve. What might be your gift, in this time and place?

The Bloedel house, viewed from the bluff