Nikki Starcat Shields's Blog, page 40
February 16, 2014
The Healing Power of Mythology
The grieving process is not to be trifled with. Over the past two weeks I’ve been hard at work on a guest post for one of my favorite blogs, Kind Over Matter. Longer, really, as I was framing the story in my mind before I started putting it on paper. This is my 6th piece for them. Back in late November, I agreed to write about my friend Jenn’s final days in hospice. I’d written an article about Jenn when she was first diagnosed, and this would be sort of a follow-up. Jenn had passed away in S...
February 11, 2014
Of Animal Myths and Magic
I recently read a wonderful book called Invoking Animal Magic: A Guide for the Pagan Priestess by Hearth Moon Rising. I’ve encountered other guides to working with animal totems or animal energies, and most often they are encyclopedic lists of attributes for each creature. Useful, perhaps, but dry reading. Not this one! I was captivated by the skillfully-woven mix of myths, facts, ideas, stories, opinions, and questions for further thought. This is a book to curl up with and savor.
Invoking An...
February 1, 2014
Starcat’s Favorites: Fruits of Hibernation
Happy weekend all! Yes, it’s still pretty darn cold. So yes, I’m still in hibernation mode. But it’s been a very productive quiet season thus far.
The most exciting thing I have to share is that BlackLion and I have completely revised and redesigned our Feline Dreamers website. We added some adorable artwork (by BlackLion!) and new photos, simplified the layout, made the font bigger, etc. It’s now so clean and pretty and polished. Can you tell I love it?! Click here to check it out. I’d love t...
January 30, 2014
Free Kids Rock
I spend a fair amount of time with kids, mostly kids in the homeschooling and unschooling community. The majority of them have much more freedom in their lives than you and I did at their age, or than most of their public-schooled peers do now. And I’m impressed. These kids are some of the most creative people I meet, and for the most part they’re not caught up in proving themselves to anyone else.
I’m talking about kids of all ages:
The toddler who loves to explore her world, wandering away fr...
January 22, 2014
Hibernation, Schedules & Transformation
I started my yoga practice up again yesterday. It’s an off-and-on thing for me. I’m trying a new routine for the days where I’m working from home, for myself. When I wake up, I write in my daily diary, then get up and ready for the day.
It starts on the yoga mat, and then I go to the laptop and get writing. I’m trying not to check e-mail and such until after my first writing session.
The rest of the day’s activities vary, but often involve working on my business, more writing, housework, prepar...
January 18, 2014
Starcat’s Favorites: Snow Day
I’m enjoying being snowed in today. The cats are sort of bored, but not me. I have plenty of projects to keep me busy.
Currently I’m listening to A Prairie Home Companion and waiting for the vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie to finish baking. Everyone else in my family is playing video games of one sort or another. I don’t see what the draw is, personally, as it would cut into my reading time. Heh heh. But they seem to enjoy it, and it’s a good day for it. [And they were rather amused when I mentioned...
January 12, 2014
Keeping the Faith
January can bring me down. How about you? Sure, the days are a bit longer, but it still gets dark pretty early, and it’s either cold or wet out. I do enjoy living where I can experience the seasons, but winter just isn’t my favorite.
It also seems to be a time when our family’s income decreases, and costs like heating fuel increase.
The exciting new energies of starting another year come up against the body’s desire to hunker down and hibernate.
The crazy weather cancels events left and right.
So...
January 9, 2014
Starcat’s Ten Best Books of 2013
Here is my annual list of the ten best books I read in the previous year. These are my favorites of all the books I read in 2013. Please note, these aren’t necessarily books that came out in 2013, just my favorites of the ones I read. And yeah, I do like quite a few different genres.
The Art of Uncertainty: How to Live in the Mystery of Life and Love It by Dennis Merritt Jones
Cloud Atlas: A Novel by David Mitchell
Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice by Dr....
January 4, 2014
Starcat’s Favorites: Welcome 2014!
I did two things yesterday that told me it’s really the new calendar year, and that the sun’s light is returning. The first one is that we took down and put away all our Solstice and Christmas decorations, including the tree. Well, we did leave some festive faerie lights strung up around the house, to keep our spirits bright on these cold grey winter days. But since our space is fairly small, we needed to have that portion of our living room back, so the tree had to go. It will be saved to be...
January 3, 2014
Vision Board 2014
Today I got up, had a cup of tea, and created my vision board for 2014. It features my Word of the Year, which is ENJOY!
Have you chosen a word, intention, or special goal for the new year? I’d love to hear about your plans in the comments. Blessings!
