Dharma in the Garden

Happy Accidents

My recent art class had us working with ink and bamboo pens and I loved the effects so much I came home and ordered a selection of inks and different sizes of pens.  

I've been playing around with the inks on different papers using the bamboo pens and brushes. This painting was another of those happy accidents which I love so much. I had initially planned to try doing a very black sky using ink on wet paper. The paper was a bit too wet so the ink ran but it produced what looked like a tree when the paper was turned upside down. It made me think of a bleak and snowy landscape so I did a wintry sky using watercolours and used a white ink pen and liquid ink with a brush to create the snow. 

I don't think I would have produced anything like this if I had set out to do it and I am definitely experimenting much more these days rather than working on anything specific. I'm feeling a lot more confident in being able to create my impression of a scene and as a result I'm starting to produce more 'abstract' work.  However the art class was great for helping me brush up on my drawing skills while also challenging me to be more expressive.    

A tranquil oasis with trees, waterfalls and bridges, where ducks swim, children play and dogs are walked. Located in a quiet residential area, the noises of everyday life won't disturb you here. There are plenty of quiet spots where you can sit and contemplate, water and birdsong the only soundtrack to your dreams.

The bridges and winding pathways guide you over and around a deep pool which is fed from above by a small waterfall which gurgles and gushes over rocks and stones.

This garden paradise is only a brief walk from our home - we are truly blessed!  Today it was sparkling in the sunshine, a kaleidescope of colours.  The water was like a mill pond creating the most beautiful reflections.

Sketchbook and pencils remained in my bag as the camera was definitely the favoured medium for capturing all this vibrancy. 

The name of this paradise is Johnston Gardens.  More images can be found in this album.

Repeat daily until better

"Today I will sow the seeds of the fruits I wish to harvest by thinking juicy, good, fun, fresh, new, positive, beautiful, loving thoughts." Mystical Sunflower - Dorothy Mendoza Row

You are beautiful...

don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Operation Beautiful

A few weeks ago after finding this site I put my first happy post-it note on a door in the ladies' toilets at work. It's still there and has brought a smile to a few faces.  It was fun hearing the girls talking about it and wondering who had put it there - eventually I confessed! 

Start your mission today.

Trust the Process

My daily mantra is fast becoming 'trust the process'.  This was something Shannon told us on the first day of the Inside Out e-Course, that there was no right way of doing it and we had to trust the process.  This is my second time doing this course but it was only during the third week that my eyes fell on those words again and I suddenly realised what they meant.  Today during my messy attempts at creating journal pages I have repeatedly said those words to myself ("just trust the process Jennifer"). Too often I get hung up about things not being 'right' or 'perfect' so now I remind myself that I'm only having fun, doing a bit of collage, making brightly coloured pages for my journal. It's no big deal.  In the past I have ripped up a lot of artwork I didn't like, things that if I'd only trusted the process would probably have worked out OK if I'd just kept at it.  That was my lesson today.  To keep going even if I didn't particularly like the rsesults I was getting, to trust the process and see what happened.  Now I see that trusting the process doesn't just apply to my artwork but to my entire way of life. In all things, I must learn to trust the process.

It ain't big. Only 5.5 x 8.5 inches. That's the size of the moleskin sketchbook (mine will have a blue cover) which I will be using for The Sketchbook Project 2011.  

I have a sketchbook very similar to this which I have used on holiday so I guess I know what to expect re size, type of paper etc.  The paper won't stand up to too much water or paint so I think I'll go down the collage route using digital images, printed papers and ink. And colour, lots of bold colour!  

My latest arty book buy is 'Creative Paint Workshop for Mixed Media Artists' by Ann Baldwin.  A lot of the ideas in this book are more for large scale projects.  However, I am hoping to get some inspiration and ideas regarding texture and layering that will translate to a small sketchbook, obviously avoiding the use of small items like beads or buttons that could come unstuck!  My little sketchbook is going on tour after all.

I still don't know exactly what I'm going to do around my theme of "It must be..." but I think it gives me a lot of scope.  Once the sketchbook is here I have decided to allow myself three months to complete it so that I can ship it in plenty time (it needs to be State-side by mid-January 2011).

Let the creative juices flow.

"It's like a concert tour but with sketchbooks"

Next year my sketchbook will be doing a tour of America.  And after a tour of galleries and museums across the country it will be part of a permanent collection at The Brooklyn Art Library.

It's not just my sketchbook of course.  There will be thousands of others from around the world taking part in The Sketchbook Project 2011 run by the Art House Co-op.  It's a chance for professional and amateur artists alike to show their work and be part of a creative community.  

For the sketchbook project I have chosen the theme 'It must be...' and I have until the end of the year to fill a moleskin sketchbook based on this theme.

Oh boy, what have I done?

Inside Out Explorers

Well the Inside Out e-Course has now finished and I'm starting to have withdrawal symptoms!  Missing my daily dose of reflection and creative fun.  I would love to do another one but time, money and a digital photography course have put paid to that plan. 

Anyway, Shannon (our inspirational guru and course organiser) has put together a montage of all the course participants' creative efforts from the four weeks and you can see this on YouTube

You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy. –unknown

I re-read that second sentence several times before I really understood what it meant. This morning, for a brief period, I really felt I was fully being what I am. A joyous, giving being, full of love and hope and happiness. I felt that joyous energy bubbling up from inside me, making my heart swell. It caught in my throat because I had to fight the urge to open my mouth and just let all my love and joy pour out. In what form I know not – laughter, song, a yell! I was sitting in my favourite café, taking time out on my way to work to enjoy a cappuccino. I had bought a cup cake for my friend to cheer her up (this café does amazing cup cakes), the sun was shining, the coffee was doing its stuff and the life felt good.

Today I am focusing on giving and receiving but more importantly on loving myself. As the quote above says, we must love ourselves first before we can love another. My creative e-course is helping me to dig deep, to reach inside, and discover (or should that be re-discover) who I really am.

I'm no expert but I know one thing. If you are filled with doubt and negativity, don’t consider yourself worthwhile or deserving of good things, if you are self-critical, angry or bitter, then it will not be possible to give lovingly to others.

It is incredibly difficult and scary to look inside yourself and see what is really there. All that dark horrible icky stuff we don’t admit to. Those traits and characteristics that we dislike so much in other people? We’ve got them too. Once you start looking, I mean really looking, shining a light in to all those dark corners, the dark stuff starts running for cover. Thing is, there’s no where to run. It’s been exposed to the light and dark stuff doesn’t like being in the light. I’ve shone the light on a lot of nasty stuff lately and it wasn’t nice to see. I wanted to put the cover back over them and pretend they weren’t there. But I had seem them and I knew I had to admit that yes I’d had those thoughts, I’d felt those feelings, I had been that awful person. But I also knew that inside me was lots of lovely stuff too - compassion, love, gratitude, passion, creativity, respect, generosity, joy, positivity, belief. An abundance of beautiful virtues, thoughts and feelings. Then I realised that if I could think and feel all that negative stuff with no real effort on my part, then surely it was just as easy to stop, reach inside and choose one of my happy traits instead.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm learning, day by day, step by step, to stop and examine all my negative thoughts and just find a better, nicer thought instead. Hey, I'm not perfect and I'm not saying it's easy. I still have times when life can threaten to overwhelm me and all seems pretty bleak. But I'm learning to accept that too, and to know that at least I now recognise these moments for what they are and that I can choose to change how I feel. In a heartbeat. How powerful is that?

Incidentally, my day just got better and better and the more positive and happy I felt about myself and my life, the more I found that nice stuff kept happening. As for journaling, I think I am becoming seriously addicted! 

Perfect Things - 20 of them!

Could have thought of a lot more but here are 20 perfect things in no particular order:

An Agatha Christie novel (any of them, it doesn't matter) and a comfy chair
The scent and taste of vanilla. Vanilla perfume is the best!
Newly cut grass - summer's here!
Laundry blowing in the breeze and the fresh air smell when you bring it indoors
Viennese Truffles - makes the first item in the list even more perfect
Life because it is perfect, in every way. I just need to remind myself and get in the flow
Gardening - it's the best therapy ever and you never stop learning
Art - my saviour, my passion, my dream
The White Sands of Morar  May they always remain so blissfully unspoiled  
Spending time with Mum, lunching, shopping and chatting - so rare but bliss! I love you Mum
Girl talk - giggling, gossiping, gassing, great fun
All the amazing people I have met through blogging - bless you all
Katharine Hepburn movies
My Alegria PG Lite Red Scribble Clogs - funky and comfy!
The Inside Out e-course because it's OK to not be perfect!
Granola with cranberries, blueberries and organic yoghurt. Yum!
My summer house and it's view of the garden
Bird song - it never fails to lift my spirits
The sound of waves breaking on the shore
The man who shares my life. Nothing would be perfect without you.

Lose the scissors!

Just completed Week 1 of my creative e-course Inside Out and about to leap into Week 2!  It's been great to just mess about with paint and other fun materials and not worry about the results on the paper. This is something I have real difficulty with so hoping to learn how to release all the angst I feel when I start a painting.  The best part has been snipping words and images from magazines and making wonderful collage.  For a little while I was taking time to cut words and pictures out with scissors but then I realised that it was actually far better to just rip and tear things out.  Essentially learning to let go and just be a child again, not caring about being neat or tidy.  Lesson of the week for me has been "lose the scissors"!



There are some parts of the e-course that are challenging for me.  Particularly the journal writing exercises. But I am finding the free form writing to be cathartic. After all the course is called Inside Out and that is just what is happening when you get your thoughts down on paper.  Some thoughts aren't so nice (lots of negativity that needs a light shone on it) but equally I am finding lots of nice stuff turning up!  I have done something similar many years ago when I tried to work my way through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way (no fault of Julia's that I never managed to complete it). Anyway, morning pages (as they were called) threw up some pretty good stuff and I re-read them again the other day to remind myself of what was going on in my life back then.  



Loving the relaxing meditation (which I just don't do enough of) and looking forward to learning about yoga. 

So can't wait to see what's in store this week, although definitely will need to plan my life better so I can do a little something every day instead of a huge splurge of activity at the end of the week!

Other pictures from my journal of self-discovery can be found here

Wishes

I have just received a small pack of the Angels of Awakening Angelic Wishes Oracle Cards by Daisy Foss & Laraine Krantz. There are 36 cards in the pack - 12 Wishes of Life, 12 Wishes of Creation and 12 Wishes of Love.  

Asking the angels for a wish of love for myself, a wish of life for others and a wish of creation for the world, I selected three cards at random:

Wishes of Love - I sing and dance to my own tune, I make a positive influence in the world
Wishes of Life - Ensure all creatures are safe and healthy
Wishes of Creation - Help nature maintain a balance of health for our planet

These are beautifully illustrated little cards and their messages are uplifting and inspirational.

Beginnings

"Every morning is a fresh beginning. Every day is the world made new. Today is a new day. Today is my world made new. I have lived all my life up to this moment, to come to this day. This moment - this day - is as good as any moment in all eternity. I shall make of this day - each moment of this day - a heaven on earth. This is my day of opportunity." Dan Custer, Author

Organised?

Determined to get myself organised so have bought myself the Life Book Diary which has lots of space to jot down notes, has tear out shopping lists and fun stickers for all sorts of activities and events, even has a portable address book.  Have already started adding to the handy pocket at the back so suspect that all too soon it will be bulging with all the usual lists, receipts and bits of paper torn out of magazines that I plan to do something about and then forget.  These are the lists, receipts and bits of paper that were located in several other journals/diaries/notebooks that I bought in an attempt to "get organised".  The journals/diaries/notebooks that I start to fill until I discover something prettier/smaller/larger/with stickers.  But I will use this one. I will. I definitely will...

Done complaining (well, almost)

My Complaint Free bracelet has been ordered but as it could take up to 45 days to arrive I have decided to start my challenge now and consider it a bit of a practice session to see how I get on.  So far I have learned that by monitoring myself for every little moan or complaint I might make I am able to turn my attention to more positive thoughts and feelings.  I have forgotten a few times of course and ended up having a good old rant about something or other.  So early days yet.  I think the physical act of having to switch the bracelet from one wrist to the other each time I catch myself complaining will definitely help.  Even if I stop complaining simply because I get so fed up switching the bracelet back and forth!  Of course I could just take the bracelet off altogether but that's just defeatist.

A Complaint Free World

I'm seriously thinking about taking the challenge to go a full 21 days without a single complaint.  This inspirational challenge has been set by A Complaint Free World, an non-profit, non-religious organisation who envision a positive shift in the world's consciousness.  The want to inspire 1% (60 million people) of the world's population to leave the toxic communication of complaining behind and experience an internal shift towards being more positive, hopeful and optimistic.

One of the ways they hope to achieve this goal is by selling purple bracelets. You wear the bracelet for 21 days and each time you complain (about anything) you switch it to the other wrist.  The goal is to go for 21 consecutive days without complaining or switching the bracelet.  

I found it interesting (and slightly synchronistic) that their motto is "if you don't like something, change it, if you can't change it, change your attitude - don't complain."  I have this quotation pinned up beside my computer at work but didn't realise these are the words of Dr Maya Angelou. She received the 6 millionth purple Complaint Free bracelet on 10 September this year.  Eckhart Tolle also expresses these sentiments in his book The Power of Now.  

It's certainly very easy to complain about our lot in life rather than counting all the blessings we have. I've just finished reading an article by Doreen Virtue in which she asks that we enjoy our life now in this moment and not waste our life waiting for some future day when we have no problems.  Every single moment contains a blessing, even the worst day of our life.

The same magazine had an article by Tim Freke in which he talks about the mystery of the moment and how by spending so much time engrossed in the story of our lives we are missing out on all the wondrous magic of our existence. Just by stepping out of our 'story' for a little while and noticing the beauty and mystery all around us can be exhilarating and helps us see everything from a new perspective.

21 days of no complaining seems like a tough challenge - I wonder if I'm up for it.  Watch this space.

New Abbey Artists Workshop

 

On a very warm and sunny day while visiting New Abbey in Drumfriesshire we came across the New Abbey Artists Workshop.  Phil, one of the artists, was happy to spend time chatting with us about his work while he sweltered in his workshop - a metal shed the outside of which is painted in many colours.  His partner Roz makes Batik pictures, wall hangings and scarves in a summer house in another corner of the garden.  Roz only gives demonstrations at weekends but Phil was able to show us the basics.  The workshop is crammed full with his paintings and ceramics as well as Roz's Batiks and when we visited he was also sharing the space with one of his six cats (Pipin?), a very affectionate black & white feline who didn't like to be ignored!  I knew I wanted to purchase something but there was so much to choose from.  In the end I chose one of Roz's framed Batik paintings of a small black & white cat which seemed appropriate.  I explained that I was an amateur artist who had a similar work space in our garden and that it was my dream to be doing what they were doing.  Phil asked if I had sold any of my work.  Of course I was now able to reply in the affirmative (see my previous post) and he said in that case I was now professional!  Phil & Roz have a website showcasing their work but their workshop in New Abbey is definitely worth a visit and you can be assured of a warm welcome from artists and cats alike. 

Learning to follow my bliss

"Nobody else knows your reason for being. You do. Your bliss guides you to it. When you follow your bliss, when you follow your path to joy, your conversation is of joy, your feelings are of joy -- you're right on the path of that which you intended when you came forth into this physical body."

Quote courtesy of Abraham Hicks

How many of us can actually say that we are on our path to joy, that we are following our bliss.  There are brief moments, heck I would go as far as to say there are even whole days, when I know I am on that path and bliss is my companion.  Most of the time however I find I'm way off the beaten track and stumbling through a fog.  Sometimes the detours can be interesting but I always feel bliss calling for me to get back on the right path.  More and more I am starting to listen to my guide.

Tony Hart

Like many children in the 1970s, I loved watching Tony Hart in Vision On and Take Hart.  As a child who loved to draw and 'make things', Tony Hart was my hero.  He made art accessible and he made it look fun.  He was definitely an inspiration to so many young artists and I am sad he is gone.  

One regret is that I never did send in one of my drawings for display on the 'picture wall'. Although I understand that Tony Hart's website is still accepting artwork for display in his online gallery so I guess it's still not too late.

Thank you Tony for making me believe (and for Morph).

Two Days

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry,
two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is Yesterday with all its mistakes and cares,
its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.

Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in
the world cannot bring back Yesterday.

We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a
single word we said. Yesterday is gone forever.

The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow, with all its
possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and its poor
performance; Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.

Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendour or behind a mask of
clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in
Tomorrow, for it is yet to be born.

This leaves only one day, Today. Any person can fight the battle
of just one day. It is when you and I add the burdens of those
two awful eternities, Yesterday and Tomorrow, that we break down.

It is not the experience of Today that drives a person mad, it is
the remorse or bitterness of something which happened Yesterday
and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring.

Let us, therefore, Live but one day at a time.

Author Unknown 

Floating down the stream of time...

I am so pleased to hear that Yvonne Innes and Olivia Harrison have been awared a Silver Gilt at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for their garden 'From Life to Life'.  This specially designed garden was inspired by the life of George Harrison - I particularly love the Indian pavilion which represents the spiritual aspect of his life.

"With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy." Lope de Vega

The true meaning of celebrity

"I'm a personality as well as an actress.  Show me an actress who isn't a personality, and you'll show me a woman who isn't a star." Katharine Hepburn

When we talk about celebrities and personalities today we are usually referring to a television soap star or a contestant from a reality show enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame.  Once upon a time actresses (and actors) were celebrities in the truest sense of the word.  They were larger than life personalities who shone so brilliantly they were called 'stars'.  Katharine Hepburn was one such star of stage and screen with a career that spanned seven decades.  A talented actress who was by far the most decorated actor of her generation with 12 Academy Award nominations for Best Actress and four wins in the category.  She was also nominated for four Emmys.  She died on the 29th of June 2003 at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.  She was 96.

WhiteSpace

WhiteSpace is a local art workshop run by the City Council's Arts Development Team. I stumbled across a page about them on the Council website about a week or so ago during a google search for local art classes but the information there was well out of date.  Then last night I was flicking through our local free newspaper (which I don't normally do) and there was an article advertising the latest programme of art classes at WhiteSpace! 

I knew they would be very popular so phoned first thing this morning.  As I expected most of the classes were fully booked already but they did have a jewellery class starting in January which still had places left.  Now synchronicity definitely played a big role here.  Surely it was meant that I would find this course at this particular time...  So I didn't hesitate and booked a place there and then.  It's a ten week course for beginners. We will be working with silver which is exactly what I'm interested in. 

Testing the water

Woke this morning feeling quite down and worrying about what I should be doing with my life, whether I should stay in my current job or take the leap and do something completely different.  Last week I had tentatively put my toes in the water regarding becoming a Virgin Vie Consultant but then immediately pulled them back out again as my confidence plummeted. 

However, in the short space of a couple of hours I have phoned my Reiki teacher to arrange a hypnotherapy & motivational coaching session, exchanged emails and phone numbers with a consultant from Virgin Vie about having an informal chat over coffee this week, and spoken to a recruitment agency about dropping in sometime with my C.V.  Of course this time next week it's quite possible that for all my plans I'll be right back to square one again as far as my confidence is concerned but at least I've done something.

Creative License

I am currently reading "The Creative License: Giving Yourself The Permission To Be The Artist You Truly Are" by Danny Gregory

My Sense Of Summer

newly mown grass

insects buzzing

the warmth of the sun on my skin

the first local strawberries

the fresh new green leaves on the trees

a cloudless blue sky

lemonade

children’s laughter

a picnic blanket

being woken by birdsong and sunlight

washing blowing in the breeze

warm sand between my toes

eating outdoors

Watercolour Flowers

I was doing a bit of satellite channel hopping yesterday and came across the Painting and Drawing Channel.  So I stopped and watched a 20 minute programme on watercolour flowers by Jeremy Ford.  His demonstration of 'wet on wet' was excellent - very easy to follow and a complete joy to watch as his painting of poppies unfolded. 

The programme gave their web address at the end so I've had a look at this and printed out the programme schedule for the coming month. I really want to see more of this artist doing his stuff - he's a great inspiration!  Also Jeremy Ford's watercolour flowers series is also available on DVD and can be purchased from the SAA shop (Society for All Artists). Will try to make room in the budget for this next month.

Healing Angel

I am reading the 'Angel Bible' by Hazel Raven and have discovered several fascinating facts about Archangel Raphael.  I have always called on Raphael (and other angels) when I practice Reiki but I didn't really know why.  However, I did know his name means "God heals" and that he is the angel of healing.  Since reading the Angel Bible, I now know that Raphael is also associated with Spring (my favourite season), Wednesday (the day I was born), the zodiac sign Virgo (my birth sign) and the planet Mercury (ruler of the sign of Virgo).  It's no surprise that he also appears in my favourite book, Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers! 

Raphael grants us many gifts, including joy and creativity. He encourages self-motivation to become who we are meant to be. He is also the angel of communication (I am calling on him right now to help me convey this message!). Raphael spreads love and laughter and delights in helping people.  I am reassured that, despite being an Archangel, anyone can call on Raphael for help and we don't need to be psychic or have any special powers to do so. We just need to open our minds and our hearts.  Synchronisities are the angels' way of letting us know they are there. Thank you Raphael - I've got the message.

I have been looking for a jewellery course for some time but it's always been difficult to find one with a time and location that suits, not to mention being too late in applying! I stumbled over Wire Sculpture a while back and bookmarked it because I thought it looked like a 'goer' at some stage in the future.  I was drawn to it again the other day and read some of the testimonials.  With a view to the summer house being ready by May, I am starting to plan the kind of activities I want to do there and certainly jewellery will be one of them.  I've initially signed up for Preston's free 7 part e-course and weekly newsletter but will certainly be thinking about buying his CDs in the near future.

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity. Gilda Radner

I long for the perfect ending. If a book I’m reading doesn’t have an upbeat conclusion, I feel let down, cheated somehow out of the “happy ever after” that doesn’t exist in real life but that I look for in fiction.

Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that I’m a perfectionist, or should I say a recovering perfectionist. I was, and still am to a certain extent, a real stickler for everything to be just right, nothing out of place, to always have the perfect ending. But you don’t half set yourself up for disappointment when you try to control and organise every aspect of your life. I learned that the hard way. Of course, life isn’t perfect. Deep down I knew that. It didn’t stop me trying though.

Today, I can accept life and all its imperfections (although not without a struggle!). I wouldn’t want it any other way. Life can have moments of desperate sadness and terrible tragedy but equally can give us moments of sheer joy and untold pleasure. We definitely do have to make the best of what life deals us. To learn from the past but not dwell in it, plan for the future but live for the moment. To look forward, not with fear or dread but with anticipation and hope.

Thought for the Day

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities." Dr Seuss

Growing Stronger

There’s no doubt that most of us spend a lot of time dwelling on our weaknesses.  We regularly beat ourselves up about all the things we believe we are no good at.  If we could only apply the same amount of time and enthusiasm to praising our strengths!

A colleague received a mailing from the Centre for Applied Positive Psychology which is a new organisation promoting the science and practice of positive psychology.  The pack contained several cards with a word or phrase on each, and a comic representational drawing on the reverse. We decided to do a quick exercise with the cards to identify what we thought our strengths and weaknesses were. Thankfully, of the two piles of cards we chose, the one representing our strengths was bigger!  Our choices were similar.  We had both picked ‘social intelligence’, ‘perspective’ and ‘humour’ as strengths.  I had also picked ‘creativity’, ‘kindness’ and ‘spirituality’ as my strengths. Interestingly, we had both picked ‘love’ as one of our weaknesses.  Not that this means we are completely incapable of feeling or giving love.  We just felt we didn’t express it as well as we could and this was something we wanted to work on.

This was an exercise that definitely got us thinking about how little we recognise and acknowledge our strengths.  I am particularly inspired by the suggestion on each of the cards about starting a daily ‘Strength Journal’ where you record three occasions during the day where you displayed that particular strength.

Dharma Creation

In the beginning...

Dharma in the Garden is being created.  Watch this space!