Nikki Starcat Shields's Blog, page 41

Word of the Year 2014: Enjoy!

“Everything exists for joy. There is not one other reason for life than joy. We’ve got nothing to prove to anyone, because nobody other than All-That-Is is watching. In other words, we’re not trying to get brownie points from some other galaxy. We’re not trying to get someplace else; we’re not trying to get it done, because there is no ending—we cannot get it done. Everything exists for the purpose of joy in the moment.” – Abraham through Esther Hicks

My Word of the Year for 2014.

I read recent...

Starcat’s Favorites: Waning Days of 2013

How were your holidays? Are you basking in a contented glow, feeling glad that they’re finally over, or a bit of both?

I had some joyful times with my dear family and friends. Yet there was also sadness, and some overwhelm. It’s all good. I’m content with where I am, and I’m wishing you the best, right here in this moment. Remember, you are worthy of love just as you are – your own love, as well as that of others.

Here are some links for the final weekend of 2013.

First, a couple of lists for my...

Aspirations or Inspirations?

Usually at this time of year, I start feeling motivated and excited to charge right into the new year. Last year I switched things up a bit, and decided to focus on intentions rather than goals. Still, I think the underlying motivating force was essentially the same: I was aspiring to improve my experience, to expand my success, to get somewhere.

Let me make it clear: I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that.

Yet for me, things have shifted. Yes, I’m excited about 2014 and the new projec...

Starcat’s Favorites: Snuggling In

As I write this, the snow has just begun. We’re promised a pretty significant storm, so we’re snuggling in and working on projects, and planning to sleep in tomorrow. Hurrah for a white Christmas! And for not having to go out and drive around in the mess.

We put our tree up yesterday, and we’re slowly decorating the house for our Winter Solstice gathering and the family Christmas festivities. Here’s what it looks like:

Our tree, all pretty and ready for celebrations!

Here are this week’s goodies...

So Thankful

My gratitude project is going well. I’ve been having a tough time this fall. I’m grieving the death of my friend, going through some kind of rather intense spiritual transformation, and have managed to injure my lower back. Bleah. Yet every day, when I get ready to list the 3 things I’m thankful for that day, I always have plenty to say. There are always blessings, even in the midst of the most difficult days.

Which is, I guess, the point.

I’ve long been a fan of the power of positive thinking....

Trying for That Unselfish Tone

“You canhave anything you want,” writes one of my heroes, astrologer and author Rob Brezsny, ” if you’ll just ask for it in an unselfish tone of voice.”

I haven’t been writing here as much as I usually do, I guess because I don’t want to sound whiny, or ungrateful, or perhaps even selfish. But I’m struggling a bit. Okay, maybe more than a bit.

National Novel Writing Month, as I’ve posted, was great. After the novel was done, I’ve been in a slump.I told a friend yesterday, “It’s like NaNo just s...

Creations, Gratitude, and a Sparkly New Project

It’s the last day of November, the final hours even. How did my NaNoWriMo go? Here’s a simple answer:

We did it! BlackLion and I finished our first-ever novel around noontime today, with a combined total of 105,332 words. Yessss!!! The working title is The Door Is the Key: A Modern Faerie Tale.

The entire experience was fantastic. My goals were to finish the requisite 50K and to explore my creativity in a new way. Both goals were achieved, and to add to that, I actually really like the draft we...

Creativity Begets More Creativity

I saw a quote on a writing page about writers being “drained” after a couple hours of writing. In my experience, that’s just not true.

Lately I’ve been working on my novel for NaNoWriMo nearly every day. When I finish a session of writing, I feel exhilarated and happy. I’m not saying that it’s always easy – sometimes I struggle to figure out how to make a certain scene come alive, or get distracted by the bright and shiny notifications on Facebook. But for me, practicing my creativity causes m...

I Lost It

I’ve lost it. No, it’s not like I freaked out or anything, although that can happen to any of us from time to time. Not my sanity, per se. I mean, I lost the list of links that I had planned to share with you today. I’m not sure how it happened. Perhaps I was mistaken – I thought I still had a long list of links that I’d been saving up in an e-mail to myself. But I’ve searched for it in many different ways, and it just doesn’t exist.

I used to be pretty organized, and for the most part I still...

Weaving Your Own Web

I just finished reading Web of Life: Guidance for Your Life Journey by Yvonne Ryves. It’s part of a series of volumes called Shaman Pathways. The book is described as providing “information, guidance and exercises to help readers find ways to connect with the web of life and weave their path within it.” It certainly does that, and provides much practical wisdom along the way.

The author begins with an overview of medicine wheels, illustrating how the concept of one’s life fitting within a circ...