​Communication is EVERYTHING. It is a meaningful tool for achieving your "you-ness".

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Attending to and hearing others speak their truth can open our eyes to completely new ways of seeing, enrich our lives with information of which we may have never been exposed, and deepen our relationships through interaction as our authentic selves. Our willingness to LISTEN to others without judgment, and creating a safe space in which others can be their true selves, creates a magical space where seeing and being seen is achieved.

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"We need to connect to each other like we need

  water and air. It is the essence of our being to

  interact with life around us."

 

Having also earned my keep for many years as an Integrative Medicine (IM) Practitioner providing holistic approaches in healing and wellness environments (e.g., processing trauma, managing stress, transitioning through life changes, incorporating relaxation methods, managing and minimizing pain, etc.), I've learned that the physical - or perhaps more specifically the metaphysical - aspect of connection with ourselves in respect to all that surrounds us is equally vital to maintaining balance. Self check-ins conducted with kindness, understanding, acknowledgment of our challenges, and belief in our ability to be more than our suffering are our greatest gifts to ourselves, to our families and friends, and to society at large. 

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Lest we not forget the value of comedy and laughter: the least costly and most fulfilling of responses to our fallibility.  Humor and the act of not taking yourself too seriously offers a reality-check when we feel like the sky is falling. Besides, humans are mistake machines. We trip up, and occasionally (or for some of us more frequently) look, feel and act ridiculous.  Because - let's be honest now - we're all a bit weird.  You are the only you in this great wide world, and there will never be another - warts and all. How beautiful, goofy and wonderful is that?!!

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So what on earth does this have to do with a blog?

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To be honest, on some level this blog serves as my own personal refrigerator: I pin up essays, photos, pictures and for argument's sake let's call it "poetry", because I'm too old to hang them on the actual real-time fridge in my kitchen. But WHY I write, take pictures, render, rhyme and otherwise engage in creative expression is what keeps me thinking, exploring, learning and laughing. Providing a physical outlet for my ideas, feelings, ideas and observations helps me process and move through confusing and difficult thoughts, rather than get stuck in and mired down by them. I also use photography and art as a tool to actively seek and record the beauty, awe, and also the comical that I notice in the everyday. It's become my mindful practice for paying attention to my surroundings, as well as an expression of gratitude for the depth of their gifts. By feeling the feels and transforming them into something tangible, I get to process it, let go of the inner ick and leave the world hopefully somewhat better than I found it. i  I guess this makes my blog a "letting-go" and "holding-on" kind of place.  

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Yin and Yang, people. It's all about the balance.

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Now that you're here, come take a look around. See what you like, what you don't, what moves you, what doesn't - this is a no-judgment zone. If you'd like to keep an eye on what I put out into the interweb, feel free to join the mailing list. Or check back in. You do you...as Oscar Wilde said, "everyone else is already taken". Which may be a kinder way of saying you're your own brand of weirdo. In any case, all weirdos are welcome...even the weirdo-deniers.

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X's & O's - Hayley