DandeLion Grove

This year has been one of discovery, sometimes wrapped in beautiful-colored wrapping, and some of it plainly sitting there staring up at me, as a pile of poo. The ugly truth. I've learned a lot about myself, and continue to break down the lies I've told myself every day. I've come to discover that ultimately, I've been living life SCARED. And that's...well, disappointing. I was aiming for SACRED. (You know, making every moment count, honoring myself and all things in this life). Oops. Having been given enough experiences in the past few years to make me realize that I'm a perfectionist, things now makes a lot more sense. I had just never delved this deep into who I am. I've always considered  other people's opinions of me very important. When someone was angry or disappointed in me, I tried to do everything I could to make up for it. I never realized until this year, that people's judgments of me are about them, and not me at all. Others are judg

 A wise minister once said something that stuck with me, "Speak the truth with love". Speaking our truth with love is expressing our needs, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings in a way that is honest and respectful to ourselves and others. The words we say and how we choose to say them makes a huge difference in how they're received by others. When we find ourselves in a situation that feels out of place for us, we need to be able to step away and say, "no thank you". We shouldn't judge or be offensive in expressing ourselves, but we do have the right and responsibility to withdraw our support and energy from things that are not right for us or harm us and others. When we stay with things that we know don't fit us, we become miserable. Sometimes we fail to act until the pain of staying in a place that we don't belong is worse than the fear of speaking our truth. And then we speak our truth in an explosion, and not usually with love. "And th

It's been an intense few weeks. It's summer and things are hot and burning - wildfires in the west, drought conditions in much of the country, and chicken empire CEO's. The whole Chick-fil-A thing has been a comedy of errors. Businesses do have a right to operate their business based on their values, so long as they're not violating current law. Cities should not have the right to disallow businesses because of the owner's religious beliefs. Consumers have the right to patronize businesses they like and agree with, and those who disagree with a business owner's practices and policies have the right to take their business elsewhere. I acknowledge and honor and agree that we have religious freedom in this country, and the Chick-fil-A CEO has the right to say he doesn't believe in same-sex marriage. I read an article that talked about business owners needing to stand on two feet in their values. Bravo, Mr. Cathy. You've done just that. That being said