Month: January 2014

Better by the Day

Disclaimer: This blog post is not about trashing or making fun of anyone. This is a personal thought about myself and my own dreams/goals/ambition. Nothing at all to do with anyone else being less than.

You this post is going to be a doozie if I have to begin with a disclaimer… lol.

The other day I asked a co-worker what they wanted to do with their life. Straight away the answer was “What kind of stupid question is that?” in a raised and defensive voice. I said it’s just a question, a normal, common type of question. I then rephrased it and asked what is it you wanted to be when you were a kid. Others in the office started answering but it took her longer to finally give an answer. It doesn’t matter the answers, what does matter is the fact that she was defensive straight away. I wasn’t attempting to judge anyone, it was a common, curious question.

I think we all have dreams of how we’d like our lives to be. Certainly when I was a child my dream wasn’t to be working in some office doing busy work every day, but there are parts of what I do now that were part of my childhood dream. I have transformed my job to best fulfill my own dreams/goals and ambition. While this job may not have been what I planned or hoped for it is a job that pays the bills and I take pride in doing it to the best of my ability.

I should start getting to my point. It is not the job but the person and what they choose to do with the job that they have. You can do a job just as it is labeled to be done or you can step up your own personal game and better yourself and the job that you do. I have to say that yes I know that you cannot always do this .. some jobs do call for precise actions only and well I’m not talking about those type of jobs. There are always exceptions. Let’s be smart about this … if you are in a particular job that has to be done in such a way that if changed could be damaging then this post is not meant for you. If you are in a job where there is wiggle room, then YOU’RE IT!

I have always been one to go into a job and when I see opportunity to improve a process in my duties, I just do it. I don’t wait on someone else to figure it out for me and then wait for them to inform me of these changes that will benefit me and my daily processes. I am always teaching myself new things and pride myself on knowing my job (whatever it may be) inside and out. It’s not about showing off or being better than anyone. It’s about feeling accomplished for myself .. the only person I strive to be better than is the person I was yesterday.

Now why was there such a defensive mindset coming from the other person? Not for me to figure out. That’s all for the other person to consider and figure out on their own.

Don’t allow the daily chore of getting by stop you from reaching new heights. If you are breathing, you can also be achieving. It doesn’t matter the size of he steps you take. What matters is that you continue to take those steps forward.

I hope that didn’t sound like I’m putting anyone down… I just want everyone to know that dreams are achievable at any age. Don’t give up on YOU.

Many Blessings,
Raventalker

Turn Ordinary into Extraordinary!

Holding on to Pain and Anger

Someone suggested yesterday that I speak a little about holding on to anger, so here I am talking about holding on to pain and anger. I’m adding in pain, but this should include any type of negative emotion, behavior or thought.

Holding on to these things do us no good at all. They stew inside us and destroy our chances of peace and happiness. Negativity robs us of so many things and can hold us back from progressing forward.

So, you are holding on to anger from something that has happened to you, or you are holding on to pain from a past event or you have developed some sort of negative behavior, stemming from something that happened…. in the PAST. PAST being the keyword here. You cannot go back and change what has happened, you can’t rewind and replay and expect a different result. Why hold on to these thoughts or feelings? What good are they doing? Is the other party learning any lessons, are they suffering from what you continue to hold on to? NOPE! They are most likely oblivious to your own internal pain and self punishment while you suffer daily.

So why hold on?

It’s in the past… it happened. EVERYONE has had bad things happen to us… EVERYONE. You are not alone. LET IT GO! It does not serve you at all to continue holding on to the negativity. It hurts you and you alone… why allow a negative experience from the past to continue interrupting your present and infect your future?

LET IT GO… It will be the best gift you ever give yourself… that release will be your new found freedom.

Many Blessings,
Raventalker

Transformation

transformation

I paused for some time this morning and ask Spirit to guide me into the right direction for today’s blog topic. I gathered my Vision Quest cards, put on some soothing music and allowed myself to be in the moment. As I sat there shuffling the cards, Spirit showed me a small herd of deer just over the hill across the way. They peered over the hillside, looking right over in my direction and I smiled inside. I sat there shuffling my cards and taking in the moment. As I watched outside my window, the wind was blowing and leaves would rush past, some of them resembling other things. I thought one was a small bird and another I thought an animal rushing behind a shrub for cover from the freezing wind. I shuffled my cards a little longer and when I stopped this was the card that layed on my desk. TRANSFORMATION.

My first thought as I looked down upon this card before me wasn’t of a physical transformation but a transformation of thought.

We have the power within us to transform. Transform our mind, body and spirit. I am my own example this morning as I am not feeling very good today, a bit moody for reasons I don’t even know… I just am. Every time I begin to think negative thoughts I found myself whispering.. stay positive… stay positive. So I would focus on positive thoughts until another negative one tried to creep in … and there I would go again, whispering to myself “stay positive, think positive thoughts”. It may not be easy, it may not be simple but if you wish to transform whether it be your body, your life, your thoughts or something else in your life…. you can do this. Persistence and a will to change is all that is needed to set the wheels in motion for whichever transformation you wish to create.

Many Blessings,
Raventalker

What’s to Come….

We are smack dab in the middle of winter and outside look bleak while the Earth continues to rest for the remainder of winter. It won’t be long and she will awake with much to do. Flowers to grow, trees to bud, animals to birth and life to nourish.

Today is one of those crazy Tennessee days where it’s nearly 60 degrees, mid-January…. I have stepped outside with my camera several times in hope to click something spectacular but I’ve not found much at all to focus on.

As I stepped outside and was leaning against the railing I spotted this little downy feather in one of the shrubs, it was waving back and fourth with the breeze. It is a reminder that although today might not bring me the things I hoped…. there is still that… HOPE. I smiled at the little feather, so small and delicate there waving at me. So tiny and yes it still got my attention and I am thankful for the reminder that there is always more to come. More to look forward to and more to live for.

I made my way back around to the other side of the building, about to step back inside to get back to work when I noticed this bird nest in a little tree up on the hill. I stepped up to take a couple of shots and again smiled at the thought that in a few shorts month this nest might be home to a new family, creating new life. I’ll definitely keep my eyes on this one and with any luck we’ll all get to witness the miracle of life in the Spring.

So much to look forward to.

Don’t waste your time energy thinking about the things you don’t have… instead shift your focus on what’s to come, life will be so much more fun and enjoyable with that new perspective.

Many Blessings,
Raventalker

The Arm Knitting Craze

One afternoon just before Christmas I saw someone post a link to a video on how to Arm Knit a Scarf in 30 minutes. I thought, no way! I made a mental note of the video title to look up later. Several days passed and I was out buying other crafting supplies when I remembered the arm knitting video, so while I was there, I picked up a skein of yarn to give it a try. Still, a week or so passed and I hadn’t yet tried it. Finally things were slowing down as Christmas was approaching so I took 30 minutes to watch the video and give it a try. OMG, it’s TRUE!! You CAN Arm Knit a scarf in 30 minutes!!!!

So about 20 scarves later here I am and I’ve made my own how-to video. Be warned that once you try it … yarn will mysteriously start showing up in your home. It’s an addiction not like any other!!

Many blessings,
Raventalker

Our Inner Instincts

This morning as I was driving to work I was thinking about one of the Olympic ads about a cross country skier I had seen last night. While I was watching the commercial, it made me think back to when I had that kind of determination as a child. I had found an old pair of roller skates at my Grandmother’s house, they were way to big at the time but I put them on anyway and began teaching myself how to skate in her living room. I can’t tell you how many times I fell down and got back up. The thing that stuck with me was how determined I was to stay upright on those skates and to be able to use them without having to hold onto things. I remember doing this for days and days, for hours at a time until I finally found myself skating without any trouble at all.

My mind then went to how fearless I once was. The road I lived on as a child was a steep hill with a level part right where my house was and then back to a steep hill again. I would skate up to the top of the hill and without consideration of traffic (thankfully back then there wasn’t much) I would then skate down the hill. I wish I knew how fast I was going.

At this point you are probably wondering what all this has to do with instinct, well I’m getting to that. The instinct comes from how I skated down that steep hill. Without anyone showing me how to do it, without seeing anyone else ever do it, somehow I just knew the best way to skate down the hill. By some magical inner knowing once I got to the top of the hill, I would squat down low as I made my way down the first steep section of the road, once the road started leveling out I would stand up and then as I approached the next steep section I would squat down again and ready myself to skate into an empty lot across the street from my house. Just before turning my body to glide into the empty lot I pushed one foot forward to keep me balanced as I transitioned from pavement to the grassy lot. This kept me balanced and shifted my weight to the back so that I wouldn’t go head over heels into the grass on my face. No one ever told me this and no one ever showed me and I had never seen it done. Something inside me just automatically knew what to do and what might happen if I didn’t do this. As a kid I never gave any thought to it. All I knew is how much fun it was to coast down that hill at full speed ahead.

Determination taught me how to skate, instinct kept me from killing myself.

When we stop over-thinking, when we let go and trust our inner knowing, when we let go of our fears… we find the tools to do anything we wish to accomplish.

Many Blessings,
Raventalker

Learning New Things Now vs Then

This morning on my way to work while wearing my newly knitted scarf, I was appreciating how easy it is in this day and time to learn new things. I went back to when my mom use to knit and thought about how if she wanted to learn a new stitch, pattern or whatever, she would have to go to the library or buy a book. Yesterday I learned a new stitch by typing in a few key words on Youtube. In less than 5 minutes I learned a new knitting stitch and implemented it in my knitting and have made plans for a new project with what I had just learned.

My husband and I have taught ourselves many things thanks to Youtube and the world wide web. We took up lampworking recently and learned everything we’ve done so far from videos. There isn’t much in this day and time that there isn’t a video how-to for. Within minutes you can learn just about anything your heart desires. What a fantastic time we live in!

Here’s to always learning!

Many Blessings,
Raventalker

Understanding Crow Sounds

I had an interesting chat with a Crow this morning … he kept making the Rattle or Comb Call that you’ll find on this link… he was really quiet and just made this sound gently. I did a bit research to find out what that particular sound meant and this is what I found (it is used to acknowledge familial association, whenever a crow does such a performance, they are expressing a willingness to be approached, and a need for affection).

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_crow/sounds

This was the first time I had heard this sound from my crow friends … usually in pairs this one was alone and I walked up close and he sat there watching me, so would whistle and talk to him and he made that sound back at me so I went inside and brought him out some extra treats.

I have seen several documentaries that speak about the meanings of the different crow sounds so I am always paying attention to the sounds they make when I see them.