Dillo Mom

I want to introduce you to an amazing person. Her name is Laurie Anderson. I met her back in 1987 in Los Altos, California. We met at an event company called California Host. We became fast friends and she has loved me like a daughter ever since. She was the Operations Manager and I was an Event Coordinator. There was a 3^rd character that was part of our team. Her name is Susan and she was the Sales Girl that sold the events and Laurie and I did to the work with her to bring them to life. Well, the three of us became family. Laurie never had children of her own but instead we found each other and she is our official “Dillo Mother.” We coined the phrase Armadillos after we had a going away dinner for Susan when she and her husband moved to Las Vegas early in their marriage. We all had a departure dinner to celebrate her new chapter and the party ended in my backyard howling to the moon and doing these amazing “Dillo” poses as the moonlight graced our gathering.

Yes, years have passed since that glorious night of wild Tequila and Dillo poses. But, the three of us have stayed connected on some heart level ever since. Recently, Laurie and Susan both received Healing Knots bracelets. Laurie was one of those dream daughters that took care of her mother. And her mother was a “pistol!!” Probably where the Dillo Mom got her spark.  Laurie’s mother lived well into her 90’s and this bracelet was made in memory and celebration of her mother. Laurie is the queen of color!!! Every outfit has matching earrings, necklace, socks and down to the undergarments. She is an event coordinator in every sense of the word. I love her and will always cherish that I have a “Dillo Mother.” I share these photos with you because they tell her story….just enjoy the gorgeous scenery of the California ranch…breath in the fresh air and the beauty of a mother-daughter memory of love and celebration. Introducing, Laurie’s bracelet at the Running Creek Ranch! As we head into the week of Thanksgiving…Laurie, always know I am so thankful for you in my life!!!

Anaïs Nin

"I must be a mermaid...I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living."

-Anaïs Nin

May your Saturday be filled with love and adventure. 

A Year of Love

The last year has been filled with so much love and healing. 

Here are a few of our bracelet wearers & story sharers.

35 beads for Matt's family to hold them and remind them of Matt's love and spirit

 A bracelet in memory of Sophie. So happy to see that smile!

With love from a brother's garden in Sebastopol, California

Bracelets at the Farmers Market

Stacked necklaces at church 

Bracelet for a new move

Bracelet to remember Matthew...always and forever

Bracelets going to yoga in Alabama

For a successful surgery 

Headed to Pikes Peak. Bracelet for safe travels

At long last. Aunt and momma bracelets that prayed this baby out of ICU

 Bracelets to carry you through the next chapter: college orientation

Bracelets for turing 50. A grand celebration indeed!

Thank you for the last year of love, healing, sharing and so much more. We're thankful for each and every one of you who support this journey and new chapter. Happy Wednesday!

Prayer Beads

Today, I teach a Healing Knots class and found a book with some words about prayer bracelets and all of the wonder they can offer:

Words from Sophia Rising, Awakening your sacred wisdom through yoga

By: Monette Chilson

"Prayer beads share this universality, yet serve a more personal, less outwardly expressive, function. Rather than gesturing to another, they tether us to ourselves, keeping us present, each bead a moment that we experience, not intellectually, but tactilely. Passing beads through our fingers, we relieve our overburdened minds of their duty, shifting away from our hyper-intellectualized existence. As the secular name for prayer beads - worry beads- suggests, the kneading of the beads somehow takes our worries from us."

-Sophia Rising, by Monette Chilson

"Prayer beads are a subtle energetic and physical reminder to live life to its fullest, stay present and focus on an area that needs cultivating."

-Diana Charabin, interviewed in Sophia Rising

The word "bead" itself is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word bede, which means prayer, likely at etymological derivative of the Sanskrit word bodhi which refers to self-realization or enlightenment.  Beads, it seems, were destined to be tools of prayer.

The mala serves as an outward sign of an inward desire to align with the principles of peace, unity and love by ceasing negative behavior or initiating a positive one.

Happy Monday! Wear your bracelets and let them carry you to a new place in your heart or in your life!!

Thankful For...

This little framed quote has always been one of my favorites…and this time of year “Being Thankful” is just the right thing. Emily and I decided we should do a Thanksgiving countdown. Starting today just write one thing you are thankful for and do that every day until Thanksgiving day.  By the way….I am forever thankful for Emily…

So every day until Turkey day…a moment of “Thankful.”
Why not?  They are always telling us the way to happiness is through gratitude. The smallest moment of deep gratitude can lift depression and bring that light back into your heart.

So let’s do it today….what are you thankful for? What keeps your heart feeling warm even when it is chilly outside? Write it down, call someone and tell them you are thankful for them, just take a minute and know you are blessed in so many ways. One moment of gratitude will make you have a better day!!!

Have a great Saturday!!!

Soul Music

Sometimes music can carry you through a chapter in life when words alone just cannot speak your message…sometimes just the sound of a song can crush you…sometimes a song can send you soaring…and, believe it or not, when your heart aches, sometimes any music is too much.

When I was coming out of my deepest grief for my brother, music was very dangerous to listen to for me. Some lyrics could just send me in a tailspin, some tender ballads and guitar sounds were to close to my soul to be able to process. Being so fragile is such an intense experience.

As, I slowly started being able….it was fascinating what tunes were safe. Sometimes my day starts with teaching a stretch class. This experience became very sketchy when music was hard to hear.  The instrumental piano was safe…and only one person could sing in a way that brought my wounded heart to a place of safety. Keb' Mo'. 

That is all I need to say. If you do not know his music get on YouTube or a music site and listen right now. His song "One Friend" was just the gentle faith I needed to know that one person can be safe and you can consider yourself lucky. And sometimes that one friend is actually YOU!

He sings in a way that makes you feel like he is sitting next to you and talking just to you!!!

So my class would start and I would announce, “Keb is going to sing us into this morning…”

People would just stare at me…and then someone would say, "Who is this?" Most classes, I am showing them my CD case and they are writing down that silly 5 letter name…Keb' Mo', always saying under their breath, "he is great."

I am still “old school” (in soooo many ways!), one of the ways being Keb' Mo's CD in a broken plastic case that I grab to go to class. It is one of his really old CD’s, 2004 release to be exact. When you open it the lid comes off in your hand, those darn hinges never last. The title is Keb’ Mo’ Keep It Simple! Well, need I say more…He is sitting with a guitar in what looks like a dusty porch scene.  Just simple. A man, his guitar and sweet words from his heart to yours.  I wrote an email to him today. I want him to know that his music helped me move forward and step back into the world. If he writes back he is sooo going to get a bracelet!!!

I recommend listening if your heart is weak. I recommend listening if you need to smile. I recommend listening if you need to feel the voice of a dear friend. 

Just like I say to start my stretch classes, "This sweet man is going to sing us into a new day!!!"

Enjoy this day and I hope you have a song in your heart!

New Month...Stay Zen

How in the world did November happen this fast??? Sigh. Take a deep breath and get ready for the roller coaster of holidays, winter days, decorating, shopping, food and fun.

As I was fixing some hot tea last night…I stopped and realized that maybe this can be how I hold on to the calm over the next few months.

Just stay Zen…sip your tea wear a bracelet…watch the sunset and remember the best moments are those when we connect with another person’s heart. When we share something so deep that both people walk away with a piece of their heart shared and loved.

Last week I gave a friend a birthday bracelet. We are new friends and she has not been a part of my life for more than a few months. So she has not watched this Healing Knots story grow into a new piece of my landscape. We work together so it is one of those relationships that we only know each other on the “work” life level. She had lost her brother 10 years ago and also, her father. I put a silver bead for her father and a gold bead for her brother. She came to me with tears in her eyes after she opened her little brown bag. Her bracelet was on and we hugged. She cried so hard she was shaking.  It was raw, it was real and it was love.  Her love for her brother has been on her heart for years, but, where is there space or time to feel it and process what it is doing to our hearts and lives? We sat together and shared what it is like to love a brother so much and not be able to accept that we must live without them. I shared with her a tiny tip that my “Dirt Sister” taught me. When you miss someone that is gone….just say this out loud…..I LOVE YOU KEITH.  I asked her what her brother’s name was (and is!) and she answered Kevin. I invited her to start saying it over and over when her heart aches for him….I love you Kevin!!! I love you Kevin!!! I promise you it will soothe you and keep your love alive. The love in your heart will always be there….he will always be there.

She cried again….and that is okay. Those tears are watering the seeds for new growth…..every tear brings us deeper into our hearts. Our tears keep us living, feeling and loving.  

Most of all, we are so lucky to love someone so much that even years later our heart aches for them.  Love never ends…keep loving, crying and connecting with others. This is how we make this life experience so rich and so true.

Sherri, know that Kevin loves you, today and always. 

Happy November. Stay chill. Stay real and love each other!

Spain

A few weeks ago I received a text from my friend Angela. Her daughter, Allie, attends Millsaps College in Mississippi. She has taken a semester to study abroad, in Spain to be exact. Angela’s text read like this...  

"Got this text from Allie this morning. You are known for Healing Knots all over the world!  You have arrived!...From Allie - “Mom! A girl in my class in Spain is wearing a Healing Knots bracelet!!!”

Now you can hardly believe the quote that the world is actually a small place...but, on days like this one it is miracles, destiny or just pure bracelet luck that two wonderful young women that are on the other side of the world could find each other by wearing a little bracelet made with love, healing and celebration.

Brittany Clarke is a firecracker of a girl that was going to Concordia University here in Austin. She is from Illinois. We were working together as she was preparing for her next semester of study. She was so excited to go to Morocco....and then the Ebola outbreak caused her program to change her destination. She was now off to Spain. I had spent weeks making Morocco references and how she was going to have to dye her blonde hair to fit in...and now off to Spain. Well, she can still dye her hair. I gave her a bracelet I had just made because she loved it and I wanted her to feel safe and remember that we loved her and supported her even from our tiny little world in Texas as she headed out into the big world.

Allie D’Andrea has always loved traveling and spent the summer preparing for her trip to study in Spain. She carefully designed her bracelet to keep her hopes, dreams and family close to her while she ventured out to new adventures.

Both of these girls are so kind, so thoughtful and such joys to be with. It makes my heart feel like I am 20 again just to be in their company. If I could have hoped they would be friends and have each other to lean on....I probably would have put them in touch...it just never even crossed my mind. 

Spain is a big place!!!

Well, as we say around here...bead by bead, knot by knot!!!!  Hearts connect, bracelets connect...who knows what today will bring. Wear your bracelet you never know who you might meet!!!

Allie and Brittany in class at The University of Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain.