Nikki Starcat Shields's Blog, page 31

Starcat’s Ten Best Books of 2014

Each January, I like to reflect back on what, in my opinion, were thebest books of the previous year. Below are 2014′s winners. Please note, these aren’t necessarily books that were published in 2014, though a couple of them were. These are just my favorites of the 45 books I read over the past year. Enjoy!

Creative Visualizationby Shakti Gawain. This book had lived on my shelves for many years, and I can’t believe I hadn’t read it yet. It’s a metaphysical classic! This slim volume contains ma...

A Graceful Snow Day

Sure, the weather outside is frightful. But it’s also beautiful. It’s been rather nice having a snow day, with the whole family here at home. Quester has been clearing the snow at our house and next door at Aunt Peg’s, with help from Dryst. I’ve been blessed to stay in and be cozy and warm. The kids went outside, all bundled up, and played like they were ten years younger! (They’re 18 and 16). We did lose our electricity for a couple hours, but it’s back on (at the moment, anyway).

This mornin...

Spending Time at Home (and a Recipe)

I love where I live. We’re in a small rural Maine town. Some of our neighbors include those who keep horses, sheep, and a very cool donkey who announces the arrival of morning. We live next door to my aunt, where my grandparents lived when I was growing up. It’s so peaceful here, and we can see the stars, take walks through the woods out back, and even skate on the pond down the road.

In the winter we spend more time at home, and I wanted to give you an update on our homesteading, something I...

Keeping Lists vs. Letting Go

“Desire is summoning. It’s always flowing through you. You have the opportunity of opening to the harmony of the vibration of your desire or not. As the desires are being summoned through you, and you go with the flow, you thrive, but if you use things to be your excuse for not going with the flow, you are arguing for your limitations. We want to show you how to go with the flow. Which means nothing more than finding vibrational harmony with your own desire, and letting the Universal Energy t...

Starcat’s Favorites: A Cozy Nest

I confess – I’m a “glass half full” kind of person. So of course, despite the icky colds going around in my family, I’m looking on the bright side. Which means, for me, plenty of time for reading (I’m really enjoying my former neighbor Lynn Flewelling’s Casket of Souls) and writing and plotting and planning and drawing and blogging. Curled up in fuzzy purple blankets in my Hello Kitty PJ pants and warm sweater. Drinking cranberry-juice-and-mandarin-seltzer-waters and eating hot soup.

Right now...

A Slow Start

How’s your 2015 so far? Are you still writing 2014 when you need to note the date? Have you taken any steps toward your big goals yet? Are you still ready to take on the world?

Or maybe, not so much.

If you’re like me, the first week of 2015 might have been a bit slower than you’d wished. I started off with my usual enthusiasm for a fresh slate and new plans. Then I got hit by a chest cold, and that slowed me right down. A lot of other folks have been sick, too – post-holiday crash, anyone?

But...

My Word of the Year for 2015: Grace

Have you ever picked a Word of the Year instead of making New Year’s resolutions? I first heard of this idea through Christine Kane’s website several years ago. I guess it’s getting pretty popular these days. There are a lot of great resources out there now to help you pick and work with your special word.

This is my fifth year choosing a Word of the Year, but it’sthe first time I’ve really had to deliberate about it. All of the other years, a word came to me easily, often before the month of...

Easing Into the Transition

A confession: I think I’m falling in love with winter. It used to be my least-favorite season, but over the past couple of years I’ve learned to appreciate it more. The snowy winter landscape is so beautiful. Even the stark greys and browns outside my window now, our snow having melted away during a warmer weather pattern, are lovely in their own way. The moon last night was so pretty!

The other thing I love about winter is the coziness of snuggling into my home and having time to reflect, cre...

5 Sorrows and 5 Joys

Hello there! How have your winter holidays been going? Do you celebrate? I do, and mine have been both full of fun and very tiring. This evening I’ve been enjoying some quiet time to rest and reflect.

This blog post was inspired by my friend over at Spinster Jane. She found a prompt that asked her to list 10 sorrows, and changed it into 5 joys instead. I began to wonder: could I even come up with 10 sorrows? It got me pondering, and I decided to morph the prompt into my own thing: a list of 5...

Starcat’s Favorites: Love and Family

This time of the year gets super zany for me. There are hundreds of things that populate my to-do lists, and all of them want my attention. It’s too easy to get overwhelmed. Know what I mean?

One of the things that helps me slow down and enjoy the winter holiday season is to remember what’s most important. For me, the holidays are about love. All of the tasks that get added to my list in December – shopping for and making gifts, sending cards, decorating the house, baking yummy treats, hosting...