Time to leave Blogspot for the Sixteen Stones Blog. We have a brand new website and the blog is now part of that site. Check us out at www.sixteenstones.net. All future postings will occur on the blog at that site.
Thanks for visiting...
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
News Flash!!!
First Big News!!! We have a date change on our next Arizona Retreat - we will meet on Saturday, April 16 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Superstition Springs Golf Club in Mesa. This is a date change from March 26. Too many conflicting events were getting in our way on that date. We hope you can ALL join us on Saturday, April 16. Comment here if you would like a registration form. Or message us on Facebook.
OR...2nd News Flash!!!!
Our website is all but finished! A couple further tweaks are still to come, including moving our blog to the website! But for now, check out the new site at the old address: www.sixteenstones.net and tell us what you think of the new design!
We can't wait to hear from you!!!
OR...2nd News Flash!!!!
Our website is all but finished! A couple further tweaks are still to come, including moving our blog to the website! But for now, check out the new site at the old address: www.sixteenstones.net and tell us what you think of the new design!
We can't wait to hear from you!!!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
We're Back...and off to a great new year!
Sorry, all, for that long absence. Since we last spoke on the blog, the Sixteen Stones crew has been busy with lots of activities. Carrie got married, Wendy has been promoting a new book (The Why of Work - co-authored with her husband, Dave) and Chris had the wedding of a son. We've also been busy discussing directions for Sixteen Stones and where we want to spend our efforts.
We are working on our website! That's good news for any of you who have tried to navigate it in the past few years. We've been happy to have a site, but have found it unwieldy and difficult to update on our own. We want a site that's much more user-friendly, understandable, and continuously updated. Our blog will also find a home there when it's completed. We're busily working with a website designer and hope the new site will be up and operational within the next month. When we get it so, you'll be able to register for seminar/retreats right on the site. We're excited for that day to come, but like all good things, it takes time to gestate. We'll let you know as soon as it's operational.
And the third piece of news is that we're heading back to Arizona for a seminar/retreat on Saturday, March 26, 2011. The topic will be "Coping with Disappointment and Loss." The reality is that our mortal lives bring us to times of both disappointment and loss pretty constantly. The job promotion that doesn't materialize, chronic or terminal illness, infertility, finding myself living a life I don't want in terms of relationships, marital status, or other difficulties, financial stress, depression, anxiety, loss of confidence in myself, divorce - my own or my parents' - addiction, mental illness, losses in the extended family - the list can go on and on. This seminar/retreat is intended to build hope, lift spirits, open the way to new perspectives and growth and give us one of those sixteen stones of light in the darkness to help us move forward. The content will be appropriate for all LDS women. We hope you can join us, once again, at the Superstition Springs Golf Club on Baseline Road in east Mesa from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on March 26. The registration fee is $75 and includes lunch and mid-morning snacks. Comment here or message us on Facebook for a registration form.
We've set our calendar for 2011 and you can find it on the current website: www.sixteenstones.net. We hope there's an offering there that interests you. We're excited to do more sand tray work, create oases in our busy lives to pause, reflect and rejuvenate.
We hope to see you soon - here on the blog, on Facebook, and, especially, at one of our seminar/retreats. Come join us.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Our Upcoming Arizona Event
Come join us!
Register at www.sixteenstones.net or send a message on Facebook and we'll e-mail you a registration form.
Hope to see you on October 23!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Arizona Event - Saturday, October 23, 2010
Hello, Arizona Friends,
The time is NOW to register for our first Arizona Event - a 4.5 hour retreat on Saturday, October 23 at the Superstition Springs Golf Resort - Superstition Springs and Baseline Road in Mesa. We will have some facilitated discussion, workshop events and plenty of time for your relaxed, individual consideration of the theme, "Creating an Abundant Life During Trying Times." We want to keep the experience individual and personal, thus seating is limited. The $75 registration fee includes lunch and hopefully you will emerge from the morning (hours: 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) refreshed, rejuvenated and with your creative juices flowing.
Please join us...you can register at www.sixteenstones.net or to obtain a registration form, e-mail cspackard@cox.net. Send the registration form and a check for $75 payable to Sixteen Stones to:
Sixteen Stones
c/o Wellspring Counseling Center
207 North Gilbert Road, Suite 107
Gilbert, AZ 85233
Past participants at our Utah events have reported them to be rejuvenating, revelatory, helpful, playful, creative, refreshing, and "an answer to prayer...I felt the whole day was a prayer..."
Come join us...find out what Sixteen Stones is all about. We'd love to see you there!
The time is NOW to register for our first Arizona Event - a 4.5 hour retreat on Saturday, October 23 at the Superstition Springs Golf Resort - Superstition Springs and Baseline Road in Mesa. We will have some facilitated discussion, workshop events and plenty of time for your relaxed, individual consideration of the theme, "Creating an Abundant Life During Trying Times." We want to keep the experience individual and personal, thus seating is limited. The $75 registration fee includes lunch and hopefully you will emerge from the morning (hours: 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) refreshed, rejuvenated and with your creative juices flowing.
Please join us...you can register at www.sixteenstones.net or to obtain a registration form, e-mail cspackard@cox.net. Send the registration form and a check for $75 payable to Sixteen Stones to:
Sixteen Stones
c/o Wellspring Counseling Center
207 North Gilbert Road, Suite 107
Gilbert, AZ 85233
Past participants at our Utah events have reported them to be rejuvenating, revelatory, helpful, playful, creative, refreshing, and "an answer to prayer...I felt the whole day was a prayer..."
Come join us...find out what Sixteen Stones is all about. We'd love to see you there!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Mindfulness...In Sunday School??
Often when I read the lesson for Sunday School it's a rote blurred reading of material I tell myself I've heard a thousand times over. The words zoom past, but my mind is only partially engaged, as my to-do list and a myriad of other distractions compete for attention. Such was the case when I read the lesson last week: "Moses, creation story, I need to get that window fixed, what's for dinner...." and away my mind goes!
The skill of mindfulness helps me, first, recognize, that I'm off in la-la land, and second, come back to the narrative at hand. I imagine that for the monks who are "good at this mindfulness stuff," this recognition of drifting into "monkey mind" looks like a gentle epiphany of awareness, with a wise nod, a little smile and a knowing sigh. For me it looks more like this: "...window fixed, hey! CARRIE! What are you doing!? PAY ATTENTION!!"
And I'm back.
I read the words, "And I God, said: Let there be light; and there was light." I imagine the scene from the stage of my own head: A giant thunderous God, high in the clouds, with huge billowing robes, wielding a golden sceptre; He speaks in a booming voice, commanding to the darkness, "LET THERE BE LIGHT!!" Rather than rush, I sit. I sit with the words. I sit with the images of my own mind. Curious and aware...
...and the story starts to settle and evolve. Like one of those dot-pictures: with focussed attention the random colors and blotches transform into a 3D image.
I start to see in this ancient biblical story my own journey. Darkness. I think of the times when I have felt small, hurting, and surrounded by enveloping, dense, darkness. How far away God's Heavenly power has felt in those moments. As I continue to sit with the words on the page, a different image arises. I imagine the Savior, whispering to me, in deep empathy that comes from personal understanding. He is not far away, He is here. Right here. Reaching to me, looking me in the eyes, whispering, offering, "Carrie, let there be light." I feel His love, and His tender respect for my agency. I sense the possibilities that He is offering if I will allow myself to receive it. Oh, how I want that light!
Sometimes people ask me why I am interested in "Mindfulness." I notice that when my mind is present and focussed I am better prepared to hear those quiet whisperings. Practicing mindfulness helps me be more present and focussed. That's valuable to me, even, no, especially, during my weekly reading of the Sunday School lesson.
~ Carrie Kelley
The skill of mindfulness helps me, first, recognize, that I'm off in la-la land, and second, come back to the narrative at hand. I imagine that for the monks who are "good at this mindfulness stuff," this recognition of drifting into "monkey mind" looks like a gentle epiphany of awareness, with a wise nod, a little smile and a knowing sigh. For me it looks more like this: "...window fixed, hey! CARRIE! What are you doing!? PAY ATTENTION!!"
And I'm back.
I read the words, "And I God, said: Let there be light; and there was light." I imagine the scene from the stage of my own head: A giant thunderous God, high in the clouds, with huge billowing robes, wielding a golden sceptre; He speaks in a booming voice, commanding to the darkness, "LET THERE BE LIGHT!!" Rather than rush, I sit. I sit with the words. I sit with the images of my own mind. Curious and aware...
...and the story starts to settle and evolve. Like one of those dot-pictures: with focussed attention the random colors and blotches transform into a 3D image.
I start to see in this ancient biblical story my own journey. Darkness. I think of the times when I have felt small, hurting, and surrounded by enveloping, dense, darkness. How far away God's Heavenly power has felt in those moments. As I continue to sit with the words on the page, a different image arises. I imagine the Savior, whispering to me, in deep empathy that comes from personal understanding. He is not far away, He is here. Right here. Reaching to me, looking me in the eyes, whispering, offering, "Carrie, let there be light." I feel His love, and His tender respect for my agency. I sense the possibilities that He is offering if I will allow myself to receive it. Oh, how I want that light!
Sometimes people ask me why I am interested in "Mindfulness." I notice that when my mind is present and focussed I am better prepared to hear those quiet whisperings. Practicing mindfulness helps me be more present and focussed. That's valuable to me, even, no, especially, during my weekly reading of the Sunday School lesson.
~ Carrie Kelley
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Making Peace with Loss...
Loss is a fact of life for all of us - whether large or small, we are continuously needing to make peace with the reality of loss...and with the specific losses in our own lives. Loss is inherent in mortality - part of our life experience since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden and through their transgression lost the opportunity to live in the presence of God.
When losses come to us, we are usually taken aback, depending on the strength or depth of the loss, sometimes stunned, bitter, devastated, even lost ourselves for a while. Sometimes we feel plunged, overwhelmingly, into deep water, submerged, unable to get a breath.
It takes time to find our way amid losses. Sometimes it's a matter of transition to a new way of making a life in the midst of loss. Sometimes it means overcoming a loss and finding a different way. Oftentimes, in the midst of our losses, in our search for effective coping, we seek God in a different, more-focused way.
God draws near to us in our times of loss. He recognizes the potential power of these times to soften our souls, deepen our compassion, hollow out, through suffering, a larger capacity for kindness - and for joy. His presence is healing when we are open to receive it.
At Sixteen Stones we recognize the sacred space inherent in times of loss. We honor and respect the very real pain that accompanies it. We invite grieving as an appropriate response to any kind of loss, recognizing that mortality has many. In the quiet, private pondering time allows movement to a healthier hope for understanding our losses more completely, and finding a place of peace, even in the midst of pain. Our losses shape us, as much as any experience of life. Learning to work with loss peaceably is a healthy coping skill that will serve us throughout the journey of life.
When losses come to us, we are usually taken aback, depending on the strength or depth of the loss, sometimes stunned, bitter, devastated, even lost ourselves for a while. Sometimes we feel plunged, overwhelmingly, into deep water, submerged, unable to get a breath.
It takes time to find our way amid losses. Sometimes it's a matter of transition to a new way of making a life in the midst of loss. Sometimes it means overcoming a loss and finding a different way. Oftentimes, in the midst of our losses, in our search for effective coping, we seek God in a different, more-focused way.
God draws near to us in our times of loss. He recognizes the potential power of these times to soften our souls, deepen our compassion, hollow out, through suffering, a larger capacity for kindness - and for joy. His presence is healing when we are open to receive it.
At Sixteen Stones we recognize the sacred space inherent in times of loss. We honor and respect the very real pain that accompanies it. We invite grieving as an appropriate response to any kind of loss, recognizing that mortality has many. In the quiet, private pondering time allows movement to a healthier hope for understanding our losses more completely, and finding a place of peace, even in the midst of pain. Our losses shape us, as much as any experience of life. Learning to work with loss peaceably is a healthy coping skill that will serve us throughout the journey of life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)