Thursday, June 28, 2012

2012: Year of the Dragon - We're Halfway!

What a whirlwind the past few months of been.  It has been a time of great change in my life.  A time of great transformation.

On some level, I must have seen this coming.  Back in November 2011, I wrote a post called 'The Winds of Change are Blowing'.  Um, ya think?!  And I didn't even know the half of it back then!  Blow they did and they just keep on blowing!  Actually, somedays I feel as though I am living in a hurricane!  I take great comfort in knowing that at the centre of the hurricane lies a space of calm and peace - the 'eye' of the storm if you will.  I have experienced both elements of this 'storm' over the past 6 months, both the fury and power of living in the vortex and the stillness that lies within its core.



Can you relate?

Back in March of 2010, before any of these changes became so apparent, I wrote a post about 2012 - and the 'End of the World as we Know it'.  I really have to laugh when I look back on my relationship with this concept.  10 years ago, I was gripped with fear about the state of our world and where I felt we were headed.  2 years ago when I wrote this post, I can see that the lightbulb was coming on and my awareness had started shifting away from fear and now today, I am living in that time period that I once feared so deeply.  From the eye of the storm, I am watching the shift that is taking place in all three realms of my consciousness: body, mind and soul. And let me tell you, is it ever cool!  What a gift to be alive in this time of great change on our planet!



So here we are, about halfway through the year 2012, the year of the Dragon (a Water Dragon to be more specific).  Ironically (not really though), in Chinese mythology the Dragon is a symbol of transformation.   There is that word again.  Transformation.  Have you ever sat with that word and fully considered what it means?



To be transformed literally means to change forms.  It is to be FOREVER CHANGED.  In other words, there is no turning back.

This past weekend I was blessed with the tremendous privilege of participating in the Wise Woman Solstice retreat in Nordegg, AB, as part of the Essential Life Series.  Led by (and including) the amazing healer Sarah Salter Kelly, eight women came together to hold sacred space for one another in order to facilitate personal transformation.  True to form, we were blessed by both of the Water Dragon's elements: water and fire to assist us in this process.  And yes, I am forever changed.



This experience helped me to release some things that were no longer serving me, creating space for something new to arise.  It gave me a glimpse of what is next on my journey.  But more than anything, it re-affirmed the importance of simply being me.

Being me in the face of fear.  Being me despite the risk of it being uncomfortable for me or someone else.  Being me because it is simply too much work to try to be anything else.



This is what the FIERCE Integrity Project is all about.  It is about getting at the truth of who you really are, and then deciding moment to moment to live from that place of your truth.  This space of truth is the eye of the storm.  This is the place of peace that exists within all of us.  And in this time of great transformation, the time is now.  The getting is GOOD!  You get to decide if you would like to get caught up in the fury of the storm, or find the centre and hold on.

How are you going to ride out the storm?

Much love to you on this amazing journey,

MareBare















Friday, June 15, 2012

Living Your Dreams

I have known for a long time that I wanted to work with people.  As a kid, my career ambitions included: Doctor, Teacher, Counselling Psychologist, Hairdresser (the world is grateful that this one didn't work out!) and Marine Biologist - okay, so mostly I wanted to work with people and maybe a few ocean critters on the side.



This wide variety of desired occupations has led me through a veritable mishmash of University courses and varying life experiences.  In fairness, I did explore each of the above avenues (well, except the hairdresser one, and like I said, this is a really good thing!)  I spent a few years in Uni as a pre-med student, eventually graduating with a degree in Psychology, I went back a few years later and did both a B.Ed. and an M.Ed.  And, for the record I did take a course in Marine Biology, but hello, I live on the PRAIRIE which is a loooong way from the ocean!  So, after briefly considering a move out west, I abandoned that ship (pardon the pun).

So... here I am.  I don't currently work in any of those fields.  Not really anyway.  I think that I would have enjoyed working as either a teacher or an educational consultant except for the fact that I got pregnant before I ever got the chance.  I knew that I wanted to be home as much as possible with Chephren, so I have been working part-time from home ever since.

For the past three years, my 'career' has consisted of some consulting on the side, teaching yoga and more recently, facilitating some yoga retreats as part of the Essential Life Series in Nordegg, AB.  All of these experiences have been wonderful, but I knew that something was still missing.
Photo: www.jodygoodwinphotography.com

Of all of the paths that I have been on, I have probably felt the most passionate about Psychology - except that I knew that it wasn't quite the best fit for me.  I value the profession, and all of the people who work in this field, but it just didn't resonate with me 100%.  And why settle for less, right?

In December/January of this past year, I participated in the Receiving Project - facilitated by the brilliant and inspiring Intuitive Coach Jo Anna Rothman.  As part of the Receiving Project, Jo Anna offers participants a free coaching session and without hesitating, I signed up right there and then.

When I had my session with her in February, I went in without knowing what to expect and I was surprised when I spent the whole session with her grilling her about how to get started into the coaching world.  For some reason, I just knew that I had finally found what I was looking for.

Now, 5 months later, I have started my own coaching business.  Want to know what it is all about?  Please take a look at my website.

While you are there, you might want to check out and/or register for the FIERCE Integrity Project.  It is something that I have working on in for the past few months and brings in a lot of the teachings/philosophies that I have been writing about here at MareBare Necessities.

Today, I am one step closer to Living My Dream.  Do you have a dream?  Are you living it?  If not, what's in the way?!

Get out there - today is all we really have for sure!

With my sincerest love and appreciation for your support on this journey,

MareBare xoxo

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

30 Years... 30 Reasons

I wrote this for my parents wedding 30th anniversary which happens to be today.  Their marriage and their love for each other is truly inspiring and something to be celebrated!


30 Reasons
1. A friendship like yours will endure the test of time.  2. Looking at each other with undying devotion3. Enough love  to carry you through even the toughest of times.  4. A sense of resolve  to see things through, even when you don’t know what you are up against.  5. Faith - In each other, in your marriage, in your family.  6. Trust  in each other and you know for certain where you stand.  7.  When you laugh  together, the world becomes a brighter place.  8. Working hard to always forgive, because everyone screws up sometimes. 9. Enough memories to fill your happy home and spill out into the homes of family and friends.  10. A sense of ease with each other, with yourselves.  11. Patience - because we all need to get our buttons pushed once in a while.  12. You could hold up a mountain with the support that you have shown each other.  13.  A sense of knowing that you are exactly where you need to be.  14. Seeing the gifts of each member of your family through the smoke and the mirrors.  15. You will always have dancing in the kitchen!  16. Taking comfort in each others presence, and through shared moments, words and caresses.  17. Understanding - for each other and of each other.  18. Celebrating your sense of fun and adventure, because there has been a lot of both!  19. Similarities - You know what they are.  20. Differences - Knowing that these are just as important to celebrate and embrace.  21. Having empathy for each other and being willing to see the world just a little bit differently.  22.  Finding a blessed source of intimacy in each other’s touch23. Cherishing your time  together, because that’s all we really have in this world.  24. You will never run out of things to talk about.  25.  You are an amazing team and together you make miracles happen.  26. Giving - of yourselves to each other.  27. Receiving - Because without this, there is no gift.  28. Bicycles built for two  - How many have there been?  29. Boats built for two  - Your newest addition.  30. HOPE  - For another 30 reasons to come.


I love you two like MAD!!! 

MareBare xoxo

Friday, June 1, 2012

The Importance of What ISN'T

Lately, I have taken a bit of an interest in Taoism.  I am not sure exactly how or why this has crept into my consciousness, but it has, so I guess that I will just go with it.



One of the ideas in the Tao Te Ching that really got me thinking is the idea of what is NOT.  In my existence on this planet, thus far anyway, I have focused a lot of my attention, maybe even all of my attention on what IS.  In other words, the tangible, physical objects that make up my day to day reality.

Lao Tzu talks about the clay making up the pot and the materials that make up the house as examples of these physical realities... and I think that we can agree, that these things (in other words, what IS), are important.  But have you ever considered the importance of what IS NOT?  For instance, the space created by the materials that make up the pot -- isn't that space actually what makes it useful and gives it its essence?  Don't we actually live in the space created by the materials that make up our home?  And yet, these spaces are what ISN'T.

If it helps, think about it in terms of yin and yang.  You really can't have one without the other -- you need both to make up the whole.



How many other 'IS NOT's' can you think of?  Probably many... after all, there are essentially an infinite amount of them.  One that I would like to draw your attention to though is the 'IS NOT' of you.  Your body well, that is the 'IS'.  What then, would be the 'IS NOT' of you... that which we could call your essence?

What?  Are you waiting for an answer?  I don't have one for you - but if you sit with it for a bit, you might be able to come up with one on your own.

We pay a lot of attention to what IS in our lives... especially our bodies and our material belongings.  And I am not saying that this isn't valid - of course it is!  However, I am suggesting that what we have been focusing so much of our time/energy on is only HALF of the equation.

Can you expand your thinking to include the other half?

My brain hurts just thinking about this, but hey, that means that I am expanding right?

Marebare xoxo

For your reference, the part of the Tao Te Ching that I am referring to here is Chapter 11:


The Uses of Not


Thirty spokes
meet in the hub.
Where the wheel isn't
is where it's useful.


Hollowed out,
clay makes a pot.
Where the pot's not
is where it's useful.


Cut doors and windows
to make a room.
Where the room isn't
there's room for you.


So the profit in what is
is in the use of what isn't.


(From Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching ~ An English Version by Ursula K. LeGuin)