Who Am I?

I am a lover of love and peace. I have a cute fabric purse that has Peace and Love on it with the obligatory peace symbol. My clients tell me, "That purse is so you, Cheryl".

My husband, Sid, will frequently call me when we're home, "Okay, Cheryl, you've got 5 min. if you want to rescue this spider." I rush in from whatever I was doing, armed with a tissue, gently pick up the spider so that all 6 legs are intact, carry him to the door & wish him well on his new home outside. Now, if the truth were told, I would be perfectly okay with leaving spiders in the house, assigning a corner & appropriate name to each one. But, since I choose to live with Sid, that is not a viable option.

I am a tree hugger. (If you put your ear up to the deeply furrowed bark of a cottonwood or oak tree, and spread your arms as far as possible around the trunk, you will be amazed at what you hear and feel.)

I cry whenever any unfortunate creature is hurt on tv or in a movie.

I recoil from any signs of aggression or violence. I believe that we should do our best to live and let live.

On a trip to Virginia a few yrs ago with Sid we came upon a lovely pine tree with a thick vine that had a strangle hold on it. It was wrapped over, under and all around the poor tree. Sid & I spent almost an hr. unraveling the vine, saving the pine tree.

I tromp through the snow on my deck to fill the bird feeder so that my feathered friends will have full tummies.

I rescue worms who have been washed out of the soil in a hard downpour & are stranded on now dry sidewalk. I pick them up & carry them over to the grass so that they can once burrow into the ground.

HOWEVER, yesterday, as I was walking past my glorious roses that are enthusiastically growing outside my office window, I spotted an enemy! There to my disbelieving eyes were Japanese beetles, at least 10 deep chowing down on my once beautiful roses. The leaves are now totally riddled with holes. I ran back into my office, cranked up my computer & googled "how to destroy Japanese beetles". Armed with a plan, I then found a tall coffee cup, filled it with hot water & liquid hand soap from the ladies' room, tore out the door into the 98 degree heat, feeling like a soldier in Iraq, & began knocking, grabbing, dunking beetles by the handful into the coffee cup. When it was full, I proudly strode into my office which is next to Sid's office. I asked him if he wanted to see what I had caught in my coffee cup. He wisely said, "Not really", then curiosity got the better of him & he peered into the vessel. There he saw a crawling pile of drowning Japanese beetles. A look of horror came over his face. "Who are you?", he said with dismay. "They look like they're suffering & in agony." "So?", I replied.

Slowly I began to feel a little remorse. What have I done? They're only trying to make a living the only way Japanese beetles know how. I took the now quiet pile of irridescent corpses out to bury them in the soil not too far from the roses.

As I stood up, I spotted another pile of Japanese beetles munching away on a formerly glorious rose. Before I knew it, I was tearing back into the ladies' room to get more hot soapy water.

I guess we all have parts of ourselves that don't seem to match who we like to think we are. I have decided to accept all of these parts of me. How about you?

Back Home Again

Well, here I am sitting at my computer in my office. We returned from Sedona Tues. evening. What a glorious trip. It's hard for my brain to get it that I'm back here again when I have flashes of beautiful red rock mountains flashing through my head.

But here I am. I look out of my office window & I see a riot of color from the rose bushes that continue to produce tons of bright magenta roses & the hyacinth bushes that are loaded down with a profusion of blue & pink balls of petals. There are bushes with stacks of pink flowers that I haven't identified yet, along with hostas in purple bloom. It's so much more spectacular that I even dreamed when I signed the lease for this space last Fall.

I have had 2 days of sitting with clients back to back, every hour, from 10 to 9 and it has been so fulfilling - every single hour. I truly love, love, love what I do. It is such a pleasure and honor to sit with my clients and feel that I am a part of their lives. I wouldn't trade it for anything else that I can think of. Why do I love it so much? Hmmmmmmm....I believe it's because I believe that people are capable of change. We now know that the brain is "plastic" in that it is capable of change at any age. One of the main things that is necessary for change is attention. I have learned how important it is to be aware of where we place our attention. Do we really want to focus on all that is wrong with us, our children, our spouse, our neighbors, our world? Or would we be better off noticing what is wonderful in this one life we have to live? Which is going to uplift us? Which is going to make us want to do even better than we did the day before?

I want to listen with compassion and empathy to my clients' pain. I want them to know that someone hears and cares.

I want to offer my clients the gift of hope - hope in themselves and in their ability to change their lives in positive ways.

It's so great to see the "lightbulbs" turn on over my clients' heads when they suddenly have a new insight. It's reassuring to see over and over again that when we finally understand that very little in life is under our control other than the way we choose to behave, everything does, indeed, turn out ok. Often it doesn't turn out the way that we think it should, but when we are able to see the big picture, we see that it's ok.

It's wonderful to teach a client how to meditate, how to slow down & eat mindfully, and, ultimately to see that food is not really their problem. Each person comes to see that food has been a symbol of what they are really hungering for in life. After this realization, food is no longer their enemy or their best friend.

It all seems so meaningful to me. It's a pleasure to be a part of this beautiful process of change.

Family trips to Sedona are wonderful. Coming back to my beautiful office and inspiring clients who work so hard is wonderful. IT'S ALL GOOD!!

Greetings from Sedona

As I write this,I am able to look out the window to see the most amazing red rock formations believable. This is my 3rd visit to Sedona & there is a reason for that. The peace, natural beauty and awesome energy fill me when I'm here - especially when I'm present to them. As usual, it's still easy to find that I've slipped into my thoughts about other places and times. I can even remove myself from the experience of being present in the moment by remembering former Sedona trips & then making comparisons &/or judgments such as 2 years ago, I remember that the sunsets were a little more colorful, or this room is even greater than the one we had 4 yrs. ago. I also have caught myself going out of the present moment to make comparisons within this trip such as yesterday it was sunnier & warmer & I liked that better than today. You see, I only have this moment right now, right here. It's the only time that I'm truly alive.....and now this moment.....and now this moment. When I'm aware of my experience, perhaps, feeling the cushion under my bottom, the one behind my back, the feel of the floor holding my feet up, the plinkety-plink of my netbook keys as I push them, and once again, glance out the window at the spectacular view, I am truly here. I can feel the joy of being alive. I can feel gratitude for being here on vacation with those I love. Life takes on a vibrance when we are in the moment.

Now, I have to say that there is a Sedona vibrance that is hard to beat. But, there is a vibrance that is available no matter where we are and no matter what we are doing.

I am here with a cast of thousands, or so it seems at times. Sid is next to me at our table, and we drove out here with my son, Doug, daughter-in-law, Carlene, grandchildren, Alex, Julia & Isabella & my 86 yr. old Mom. With small children, there are many opportunities for me to forget to be present. However, every time I "wake up" and remember, I take a nice, slow breath & look deeply into their beautiful eyes and everything & everybody calms down. All it takes is one person to regain her footing, and everything changes. Really! Try it!

Time to go on our hike of the day. I will do my best to be present & soak in every last drop of the experience.