Thanksgiving

Usually by this time of year I feel like a whirling dervish, trapped in the chaotic seasonal frenzy of the holiday rush. Buy, sell, buy, sell, restock, smile, thank you …next! Repeat, repeat, repeat. The onslaught lasts until mid January when my husband and I finally collapse into a disheveled heap of post-retail depression.

This year is different. With all the changes of the last two months, everything is fresh. New perspectives, new attitudes, new priorities, new challenges all leading to a more calming serenity than I have ever experienced. This year I am truly thankful. Thankful for family, thankful for friends, thankful for the complexities of life, which have suddenly become so damn simple. Work is work, but family is everything. Despite the trials and tribulations of a family Thanksgiving, this year make sure you call everyone that matters. With our ever-widening world, overwhelming instantaneous information overload, this year, come back home and get grounded. This year be thankful for what you have.

My husband and I have decided to start our own family tradition. We usually donate to the requisite charities including our favorite: Animal Control. We will continue to donate as we can, but this year we will do something else. We encourage everyone to do the same. Pick something or someone, randomly, and do something good. It doesn’t have to cost anything; it can be a simple gesture, a helping hand, some random act of kindness. We hope this will catch on, even if for a limited time, spreading some hope and happiness. I never did think much about the future, but now I can’t stop. I want it to be better, to leave this world a better place than I received it. Not just to use it, but to cherish it, enhance it, and replenish it. This year, be gracious, be good, and be fulfilled.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Wesley Winter

In 2009, the young women of Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church formed a fellowship group called The Susanna Wesley Circle. Susanna Wesley was the loving mother of John and Charles Wesley who did much to encourage the careers of her notable sons. In keeping with their namesake, the women of the Circle desired to make a lasting impact in the community through dedicated Christian fellowship and service. The Wesley Winter Candle fundraiser supports local goodwill initiatives including a renovation to the church's own Espy House playground.

Please come join us Monday, November 23rd, 2009 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm. Priced at twenty-five dollars this soy wax candle has over 50 hours of illumination and makes the perfect holiday gift. One hundred percent of the proceeds of the sale will be donated to this noble cause.

Wesley Winter is produced locally by Savannah style maven, Natalie Evans, and her wonderful Low Country Luxe Candle line. A lively complex of earthy greens, sun-dried spanish moss and effervescent citrus accented with aldehydic rose, midnight gardenia, white magnolia, fresh herbaceous sage and ambered woods lifted by nuances of hydrangea and woodland fern, Wesley Winter is sure to get you in the Christmas spirit.

Balance

Sometimes it is the unexpected, the serendipitous, or the unforeseen that transforms us more than anything. Chance? Accident? Luck? Maybe a combination of all three. Maybe none of the above. Divine intervention? Not according to my previous calculations, although I never have been that good at math. Fate? Destiny? Karma?

I have recently been dealt the perfect hand. Check and checkmate. In the midst of my usual self-made storm, one of my homespun hurricanes, I suddenly find myself smack dab in the eye. The torrent of life and work still swirls around menacingly, but I have pause, relishing the peaceful, serene center. Those of you, who know me well, know what I am referring to. To everyone else, I hope this will suffice: I have been granted my balance.

Don't Forget

Toast to the Season

Friday, September 25, 2009
6:00 - 9:00 pm
30 West Broughton Street
(Ballroom located on the top floor above The Paris Market)

Join the Friends of the Philharmonic for an evening of cocktails, classical music and tastings from many of Savannah’s fine restaurants.

Minimum donation $25/person*

(100% goes towards your membership to the Philharmonic)
*tickets available at the door.

Silent Auction

RSVP 912.232.6002 or email: friends@thesavphilharmonic.org

www.thesavphilharmonic.org

Too Much On Your Mind?

Ever feel like you have too many irons in the fire, too many projects on the backburner, with a bunch of new ideas piled like kindling in your brain? My to do list yearns for a GPS system, just some, any, guidance through the myriad of tasks - old and new, crossed out, underlined, highlighted. Sticky notes have become a flowing, ever-changing, workspace performance art piece. My iPhone just groans instead of ringing. Voice, data, text – oh, my!

So… I’m sitting on my porch swing, wearing my clown nose, drinking some coffee, eating some left over cotton candy and contemplating my day. Give up and give in, never. Clown nose off, smile on, forge ahead, Monday, here I come.

Nominate Us

Okay, this time we are asking for your help. Nominate us as a “Shine a Light” small business. We only have until Midnight Sunday September 13th. Sign up, read our story and vote for us if you think we are deserving. If we make it through the selection process, we will return the favor with a big party! Tell all your friends. Let the voting begin!

http://shinealight.ivillage.com/sbo-profile/?ProfileID=9134

Two Blocks, Three Blankets, and One Strap

Ingredients of the perfect torture formula? …Maybe. The above, however, also constitute the “enhancers” of my twice-weekly Yoga practice. I was first introduced to this holistic spiritual experience while in India a couple of years ago. Graceful, serene, and elegant, the exercise melds mind body and soul in a series of unified poses and transitions. Initially coy, the isometrics insidiously build one upon another, pain mixing with pleasure, endorphins vying for adrenaline’s attention, until one is ultimately reduced to a quivering, perspiration drenched, noodle of relaxation.

My current Yogi, Lynn Geddes (yogamefit.com), has helped transform my “plank pose” with ever more flowing, measured modifications gradually creating a more seamless, sinuous me. Now granted, compared to Lynn, I still feel like a mechanical robot, crudely bolted together, with several rusted parts that seem to creak and groan at inopportune moments. I am, however, better than before, stronger than before, and more determined than ever. The incredible poise and stamina gained through Anusara Yoga emboldens one for the day-to-day circus of life, and I’ve got one of the best seats in the house.

Namaste.