Last night I held my first Sacred Women’s Circle. An amazing group of women gathered in a cozy office away from the heat, humidity and traffic of the city. We gathered this month to talk about Creativity. We lit a candle, went over groundrules, played some appropriate music and got started!

We talked about creativity, our beliefs about it, and our own insecurities about our own creativity. I believe everyone is creative, but often we are taught in the standard education system not to be. I brought up some stories from a book I had been reading called: A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative. In this book, Roger Von Oech describe 10 “locks” that lock us out of our innate creativity. These locks range from the belief that there is only one right answer, the idea that we can’t break the rules to it’s not OK to be foolish or make mistakes. Do you relate to any of these? Probably most of us do!

I had set out an assortment unrelated items and everyone picked one. The assignment was to list what it could be used for other than its normal use or write a poem or story about it. Wow, once we got over the hump, the juices were flowing! We had a closing reading from Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. We then finished with tea, cookies and chit-chat!

I think it is so important for women to be able to gather together away from children, husbands, jobs, etc. and be with each other. We can let our defenses down, be ourselves and share joys and pain. If you don’t have a place to do this, I strongly suggest you find one or create your own. You won’t be disappointed!

Peace and Blessings,

Rev. Tricia

Today I am working busily on the final touches for my workshop this weekend entitled: Ritual – Bringing the Sacred to Your Everyday Life. It is going to be full of information, exercises, creating your own rituals and lots of fun making new friends. I can hardly wait!

There are so many little things that have to get done before then: Type up the outline, pick out some supporting stories, poems, etc., create the handouts, create the parting gifts (oh, yes – fun stuff!), and purchase supplies…I’m sure there’s more, but no need to bore you with the details!

If you are in the Houston area on Saturday, I encourage you to join us. The cost is only $45 and it lasts from 1 PM until 5 PM – giving you plenty of time for morning errands and evening fun!

We will be going over:

• What is ritual? It may not be what you think!
• Who does it? Everyone at some point or another!
• Why do they do it? Different and varied reasons
• When should you do it? You tell me!
• Where should you do it? Anywhere and everywhere! Oh dear, how does that work??
• And last, but not least, how??? Well, come on over and find out!

If you feel like your days have become meaningless and unfocused, bringing the sacred into your everyday life will certainly bump things up a notch! Click here to register: http://theblissfulsoul.com/events/ritual-bringing-the-sacred-to-everyday-life/

See you there!

Rev. Trish

August 21, 2010 1 – 5 PM Central

Location: Spectrum Center, Houston, TX

Cost: $45

Ritual is a universal language that brings substance, meaning and peace to our lives. It is important to honor the significant moments in our lives: both happy and challenging. Whether you’re releasing fear, bringing deeper meaning to a family or community gathering or celebrating an important event, rituals can enhance daily routines, enrich milestones, and guide us through difficult transitions.

Do you want more peace in your life?

Are you going through a transition period?

Are you facing a challenge?

Do you feel stuck in your business or personal life?

Ritual is the cornerstone of not only religious traditions, but also of our daily lives. It brings us back to ourselves, to our center and to the Divine. This in turn helps us create lives of peace, nurturing, honor, joy and abundance.

Learn:

•    How to incorporate Ritual into your everyday life without effort
•    How to create your own ritual
•    About the elements of ritual
•    When you should use ritual

This is a poem that has been going around for a while. I thought it might be good to post here as a reminder…

What Does it Mean to Be a Minister?

by James Dillet Freeman

It means to make yourself small so that others may feel large.

It means to make yourself a servant so that others may feel their mastery.

It means to give so that those who lack may receive.     

It means to love so that those who feel unloved may have someone who never rejects them, someone with whom they can always identify.

It means to hold out your help to those who ask and deserve help — and also to those who do not ask or deserve it. It means always to be there when you are needed, yet never to press yourself on another when you are not wanted.

It means to stay at peace so that those who are contentious will have someone to whom they can turn to stabilize themselves.

It means to keep a cheerful outlook so that those who are easily cast down may have someone to life them up.

It means to keep faith and to keep on keeping faith even when you yourself find little reason for believing, so that those who have no faith can find the courage to live.

It means not merely to live a life of prayer, but to turn your prayers into life — more life for you, more life for those to whom you minister.

It means to be God-centered and human-hearted, to involve yourself in humanity, and to keep your vision on divinity — and so draw forth in all around you the human form divine.

It means to share in the great moments of life – in birth and sickness and marriage and death — and at all times, whether of crisis or of celebration, to bring comfort and a blessings and, above all, a sense of a presence that sometimes we cannot see and of a Meaning that often we overlook.

This is what it means to be a minister of God and a minister to humanity.

I hope I can strive to be a minister!!

Peace and Blessings!
Patricia