Nikki Starcat Shields's Blog, page 46

Curried Tempeh Salad

Last summer, when Dark Follies was on the road quite a bit, our fearless leader brought along these fabulous picnic lunches. Everyone raved about the curried chicken salad she made. She also provided a curried egg salad version for the vegetarians. Since I don’t eat meat, and I’m not a huge fan of egg salad, I decided I’d make my own version.

This past weekend, I brought it along to our gig at the Steampunk Festival in Waltham, MA. It went over very well, and a couple of troupe members asked f...

Starcat’s Favorites: Spring Weekends

Hi all! I haven’t done a Starcat’s Favorites post for quite some time, my weekends having been filled up with all sorts of fun events lately. Ah, Spring! It’s great to get out and enjoy the world without freezing my toes off. I’ve also been focused on writing a new e-book, and really enjoying my creative process.

Over the past month or so, I’ve still been reading blogs and articles, especially on subjects I’ve been excited about, so I saved up some links to share with you. Enjoy!

I’ve been work...

Breaking Up With Worry

I’m breaking up with Worry. I used to have a pretty close relationship with Worry. But it never really did anything for me. Worrying didn’t help me solve my problems, reach my goals, or focus on my intentions. It left me in a stressed-out, slightly unsettled state, where I turned to comfort foods a bit too often. Over the past several months, I’ve decided that I wasn’t getting anything from the relationship, and that Worry had to go.

When worried thoughts pop up these days, I don’t feel attach...

Speaking It AND Living It

Quester and I have had a longtime inside joke about being able to either understand the meaning and flow of life, or to articulate it, but not both. When you’re feeling in the groove and you try to share it, all that comes out is “blahblahblah.”

Humor aside, I’ve noticed that I haven’t been posting here much lately. I’ve been out in the world, going with the flow, and living my life, for the most part, in a state of joy. The inner work I’ve been doing with self-love over the past few years is...

A Harmonious Union

I just finished reading Zen Druidry: Living a Natural Life, with Full Awareness by Joanna van der Hoeven. The premise of this Pagan Portals volume is that “Zen teachings and Druidry can combine to create a peaceful life path that is completely and utterly dedicated to the here and now, to the earth and her rhythms, and to the flow that is life itself.”

To begin, the author gives a brief yet comprehensive overview of Zen Buddhism (while pointing out that the precepts of Zen need not be associat...

The Library of Your Mind

My friend J.F. posted the most interesting question I’ve seen on Facebook in some time, perhaps ever. He asked, “If your mind was a library, what would it be like?” He went on to ask specific questions about what would be included, and summed up with, “tell me about the library of your mind.”

Here is what I wrote in response, postponing my start on my writing projects to follow my imagination inward:

The library of my mind is a converted stone cottage, with a stone tower as part of one corner....

Freedom in Daily Choices

I just finished the last session of the Shift Your Biz online course. It was excellent! I learned a lot, and I’m still integrating some of the lessons. One of the most practical and profound for me, though was about re-framing your daily actions as ones you are choosing to do.

Linda and Dani, in one of the class sessions, talked about updating your language. The first step, of course, is to notice it. When you hear yourself saying “I have to…” or “I should…” – stop. Re-frame your language righ...

Have Some Delicious Fruit

“Take the worthiness that is yours, and let the ‘Fairies of the Universe’ assist you. Stop taking so much responsibility upon yourself, and live happily ever after. Shorten that crevasse between where you are and where you want to be, on every subject, to now, now, now, now, now. Ride the wave. Just pluck the fruit… You don’t have to be the one who puts it in the ground any more. You can just skip across the top of things and pluck the fruit of all of the things you want. ‘Oh, fruit. Oh, deli...

Starcat’s Favorites: Expansion

I don’t know if it’s because of spring, the Life Rocks! conference, my inner spiritual practices, my Word of the Year, or some combination, but I’m feeling very expansive right now. I’m growing more each day, and my life is becoming more joyful. My creativity is soaring. My relationships are fun. Even the sad and challenging parts of life are there for me to learn from.

I’m so very thankful to be in this phase of vibrant renewal. After a long winter, the spring air is all the sweeter.

I love to...

Spiraling Upward

Last week we attended the Life Rocks! Radical Unschooling conference in New Hampshire. It was our second year, and BlackLion and I were even more involved as presenters. We gave a session on unschooling support groups, and offered joyshops on fairy house building and vision board making, a drum circle, and a morning meditation session. Everything was very well received, and we connected with so many amazing and delightful people! It was even better than I thought it would be!

ElvenTiger was wh...