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"Wings" is a SHORT more or less monthly museletter written to brighten your day. It may include brief takes on personal growth themes for your quick and thoughtful contemplation, adventure travel, soulfood, book reviews, fun quotations, a "share" bag and funny but true anecdotes.
IN THIS ISSUE: Cleaning your Clock (Tolerations)
FOLK WISDOM: Even a blind sow finds an acorn now and again.
BOOK REVIEW - "I Heard My People Cry"
SOUL TRAVEL - Aravaipa Canyon, Arizona
THE EDGE - "I am hearing exactly what you are saying. I wonder if you do." - Coach
4 DAY RIVER RAFT TRIP FOR MEN AND WOMEN AGE 50 AND OVER -- an adventurous and gorgeous ride down the GREEN RIVER in Colorado, July 21, 2002. We promise excitement, campfires, music and camaraderie. The guide will do the rowing of the rafts but there will be kayaks available for those who want more action. Cost is $750. Includes four days on the river, two overnights in Vernal, Utah and transportation to and from Salt Lake Airport. Reservations (deposit of $350.00) must be made by the end of March 2002. See www.dancewitheagles.com/soultravel.html for more information.
CLEANING YOUR CLOCK
Have you ever taken the time to think about what you might be tolerating in your life? Has anyone asked you that question before? You may be tolerating more than you think. Our coping mechanisms are designed to make things tolerable and we scurry about in our hectic lives putting up with tolerations because they are just there and "oh, well, that's life" or "later". We put up with, accept, take on and are dragged down by people's behavior, situations, unmet needs, crossed boundaries, unfinished business, frustrations, problems and even our own behavior.
What if you really started trying to identify those tolerations and what if you could eliminate or modify them or perhaps make them conscious choices. Would your life be richer? By just bringing them to the forefront of acknowledgment, might you naturally start handling, eliminating, fixing, growing through and resolving at least some of these tolerations? Tolerations can be anything from the serious to the seemingly benign - abusive relationship, friend who is habitually late, interfering in-law, the stack of papers on your desk that keeps growing, the messy closet, the missing button from your shirt - well, you get the idea.
Curl up in your favorite chair, create a relaxing environment - music, hug you dog or cat, have some favorite comfort food nearby, take a deep breath, close your eyes and give your mind its job description. Give your mind a chance, it may be momentarily confused. This soul searching stuff probably isn't its normal venue. Make this a fun exercise. Nobody is listening. You owe no one an explanation.
Okay, I'll help you out here. I know this is an initially challenging exercise because I have done it and being a left brain predominate individual (I'm working on that) it required more discipline than I like to admit. Here are some cues:
Toleration Areas: AT WORK - Manager, Working Conditions, Procedures, Requirements, Hours, Job Tasks, Environment, Equipment, Company Culture, Co-Workers, Compensation WITH OTHERS - Close friends, Spouse, Children, Social friends, Relatives, WITH YOURSELF - Self-harshness, Criticism, Behaviors, Home, Car, Clothes, Image
Tolerations subtly and clandestinely rob your energy and create stress. In coach lingo, it is referred to as "background noise". Address them and eliminate them where possible and you will feel LIGHTER, be HAPPIER and have more ENERGY.
Question: Are there tolerations that are worth the trade-off? What is the price? Such tolerations may now become conscious choices. Consciously choosing to tolerate the toleration might eliminate some of the static they might be contributing to your life.
If you would like to further explore this exercise, contact me through my website at www.dancewitheagles.com or email me at Allison@dancewitheagles.com.
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SOUL TRAVEL: ARAVAIPA CANYON, ARIZONA
Aravaipa Canyon is one of Arizona's jewels. Having hiked Aravaipa Canyon every year when I was a young wife and mother, I anxiously anticipated returning after some 20 years. I hoped the visit would confirm my memory of it as a place of inspirational beauty and tranquility. I was not disappointed.
Three devastating floods over the years have changed the configuration of the stream (which flows all year) but the canyon is as beautiful as ever. Entering the stream after a short hike from the trailhead, we walked upstream, much of the time in the water, taking in the lush vegetation on both sides of the stream. After about one hour or so, we suddenly found ourselves dwarfed by the high, sculptured canyon walls. I felt as though I had entered a cathedral. The sound of the clear running water and small little waterfalls here and there provided the music; the reflections in the water from the greenery or gold of the sun and canyon walls painted the stream. We walked until the walls began to diminish and then doubled back. Now the late afternoon light played differently on the canyon's walls and often backlighted the saguaros on the hillsides. This is truly a place of peace.
An additional bonus is Carol Steele's B & B where my friends and I spent two nights. Carol, a local culinary legend, purchased the ranch/orchard nearby and opened a charming B & B about six years ago. The food, of course, is to "die for". (Recipes are available upon request.) The entire experience of canyon and B & B comes pretty close to heaven.
 Where: Aravaipa Rd. is on your left just south of Winkleman - about 2 hrs from Phoenix (on your right if coming from Tucson). Can't miss it. Carol's B & B is marked only by a colorful sign saying Organic Peaches for sale, $1.00 a pound. This is not an appropriate place for children. Her telephone is 520-357-6901. You need a permit to enter the canyon. Call the BLM 520-348-4400 for a permit approximately 12 weeks before you want to go. It may not be a problem if you call later but I recommend that you don't take the chance. (Only 50 permits are given on any one day.)
Photos of ARAVAIPA CANYON, ARIZONA
BOOK REVIEW
"I HEARD MY PEOPLE CRY" by Elizabeth Lenci-Downs
Published by Inkwell Productions, 3370 N. Hayden Rd. #123-276, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Tel: 480-315-9636, Email specialty@home.com Available in major bookstores.
Anytime I read a book I can't put down, I am eager to share it.
This is a true story of the incredible struggle of a mother and her four children to survive in Stalin's Russia under the most oppressive, harsh and degrading circumstances imaginable. Yet she never loses her focus on escaping from Russia and finding freedom for herself and her family. The story of her life and the horror, fear, poverty and abuse she and her people - 120 women and children - faced is heroic. The first-hand reporting from one of the daughters (Lise) who lived the journey captures the reader in the moment and creates a fascinating commentary on life in Russia under Stalin. This is a story of raw courage, inconceivable physical and mental stamina, amazing family bonds, and monumental faith. Miraculously, they escape Russia with the Red Army at their heels, and after a total of 21 years of trying, are finally reunited with family in Canada.
Some quotes: Of Stalin's Russia - "From 1920 to 1940 one entire generation had been sacrificed." (This is probably very conservative.)
"One day (Mother) gathered books from one of the (deserted) houses, steamed the cloth covers off and sewed those cloth squares together. That was how she made underwear for us."
During their frantic escape - "Finally, she (mother) spoke quietly to Mary and me. 'Before we fall into Russian hands I'm going to kill you all and myself too,' she told us."
On the train from Berlin to Poland, Lise was given an orange. "I had never seen an orange, a beautiful round orange with dimpled skin. I thought it smelled like something from heaven and rubbed it over and over in my hands. At last, someone showed me how to eat it. That orange was the best part of going to Poland."
For the reader, an orange will never look quite the same again.
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WINGS ISSUE NO. 1 - Feb. 02
