A Lovely Transformative Summer

To begin to describe my summer would be strange because in some ways I find myself feeling a warm, wonderful feeling after a warm, wonderful summer, and in other ways it is as if it passed in the blink of an eye. In some ways it is as if it didn't even happen. But I know it did, and though I was for many reasons unable to bring forth new things in my business Love's Garden this summer, I feel that what my summer was comprised of was in time crucial for what Love's Garden is emerging to be now that the leaves are glowing with change and I am on the verge of total passion and the life that I have always longed for.

Let me share with you some of my experiences from this beautiful summer.

It began with a job that was very challenging for me on a lot of levels. Perhaps though, the most challenging part of my job was that I was working for many more hours than I had been previously and I was feeling myself being pulled away from Love's Garden and what felt like everything I loved. These feelings sent me reeling into a place of resentment, and I then created a space of boredom and lack of joy in my job, which I assumed was the job itself, but over time realized that it was my own creation that eventually lead me to a very important lesson.

Throughout the summer I found myself moving through many feelings of anger, sadness, and loss, as I gave myself (but not my passionate self) to something while simultaneously feeling that I should never have agreed to it in the first place. There was a lot of resistance, which in turn caused a lot of inner suffering. But I do not regret the work I did during that time because sometimes what we go through in life really helps us to form an idea of what we do want-- An idea of what we are and are not willing to accept for ourselves--and my experience this summer certainly did that for me.

The most valuable lesson that I learned through my job this summer was that if you are feeling miserable in your work, it is because you have not or are not infusing your work with your own personal passion and purpose. I found that towards the end of the job, when I finally realized that I was not being true to my own purpose and finding a way to infuse this work with it, and when I finally began doing so, EVERYTHING changed. The job became a joy. I was no longer miserable. My creative passion was lit again. Those I was working with were happier, and no longer gave me as much trouble. And then the energy shifted and my new vibration no longer matched the vibration of my job and it was time to move on...

You see, I believe that we each have within us a precious divine purpose, and the most accurate evidence of what our purpose is, is Joy. But I also believe that there are many layers to what that purpose might entail, and we can break it down to find what the very root and the very essence of that purpose is. And what it is that is the purpose at the very center of our purpose, is the part of our purpose that can be lived out no matter what work we might be doing on the physical plane. So even if we haven't quite gotten to a place where we can give our physical, mental, spiritual selves to doing the physical work we love to do every minute of every day, we can at least bring the essence of our True Purpose into whatever job we have now, and who knows, this could even bring on a shift that propels us into more fullfilling work that is even more in line with that which we really came to do on this lovely planet. This is the lesson I learned through my summer job, and for that I am forever grateful. Reach for Joy, wherever you are on your path. Joy will propel you into your next and most worthy step.

Here are some of the things that kept the real me alive this summer:

Throughout the month of May, I facilitated my painting for process class, Soul Painting. In my class we begin in a circle for centering, connecting, and bringing intention into our painting process. We then move into an hour of non-critiqued free-painting, and then close with a circle for sharing. I found new fulfillment in my role of leadership with my class. Lots of good things happened for those who attended, and it helped bring life and passion and leadership into my experience...

June was a very busy month with lots of travelling. The first weekend in June, we traveled to Lawrence, Kansas to attend a wedding. Preston got lots of practice with his new camera...

The third weekend we traveled to the Kansas City area again for business where Preston was the photographer for our friend Sharla's wedding. I was his assistant. It went really well and his photos were fantastic. I was so filled with excitement and pride for him to see him in his passion, to see Stohs Photography in motion. I so look forward to the next wedding season with him , and to watching his business grow. He is so talented and his photos keep getting more and more amazing...

The fourth weekend, guess where we traveled to? Kansas City! Of course we are that nuts. We went to attend Preston's mom's amazing annual fundraising event, "Stems: a Garden Soiree," a wine, food, and music event in the gardens at the Overland Park Arboretum that raises money for the Overland Park Arts and Recreation Foundation...

By the end of June, were were pretty wiped out from all the travelling, then back to work, travelling, then back to work. June was gone in a flash.

July was a month of great power and transformation for me. In all my personal struggle, I managed to decide that I needed to go and have a girls week in California with my incredible sister Annie, and my sister by choice, Gabriela. We arranged for Gab and I to arrive in LAX on the same day, and we had the most wonderful time together at Annie and Kevin's home in Ventura, CA. It was very rejuvinating, and I loved being able to collect sea glass in the surf, and build little cairns of smooth ocean rocks, have heart to hearts with my sisters, and laugh my ass off with Kevin and my sisters every evening. The girls and I even went shopping together in downtown Ventura, which is something we hadn't really done together since we were in high school, and it was so much fun to try on silly sparkly dresses and get lunch at Nature's Grill. We traveled up the coast to see the elephant seals and found a wonderful, rocky cliff side view over the ocean. We went to my favorite vegan and raw restaurant there; Mary's Secret Garden. We hiked a lot and took a day trip out to the Channel Islands.

It was just the break I needed, but when it came time to leave, it didn't feel like it was time yet. However, I do believe it helped me prepare for the next and most amazing step in my journey which took place at the end of July...

On July 30, I stepped beyond what I believed was possible for myself, and broke down old walls of doubt and fear as I served as the officiant for a dear old friend's wedding. I had prepared spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically for this day for months, and on the day of the wedding, the sun sparkled across the perfect mountain meadow, and I could feel the support and power of Love all around me, as I slowly spoke each word and witnessed Love merging two beautiful people as One. I can say that I will never be the same after this experience, and I am so grateful to sweet loves Amber and Blake for entrusting me with such a sacred request. What a beautiful, transforming experience to have here on earth. It enabled me to live out my purpose in new ways I never knew possible for me. It changed my perception of myself. I am so grateful.

At the end of August, my beloved and I set off for our annual National Park trip. This year, we spent one week visiting Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and finally Rocky Mountain National Park. There are many stories and many things I could tell you about our journey this year, but I will for now share with you a couple of journal entries from the first couple days...

As we turned another corner on the rocky mountain pass driving towards Grand Teton National Park, we were at once awed as we looked up and the thick, gray sillouettes of the Grand Tetons appeared in the sky. I felt filled with wonder once again at the majesty of our National Parks and the uniqueness of the craggy peaks, unlike any I'd ever seen before. Our first evening was wonderful. We made a fire at our sweet campsite surrounded by tall, skinny pines. We ate Sunshine Burgers and drank cups of tea. The air was cold and crisp...

Today we began our morning with an incredibly beautiful hike by the shore of the lake that banks right at the base of the Teton range. It was a vision. We returned home and ate breakfast and prepared for our 10 mile hike and we walked all day from about noon to six. It was a beautiful scenic hike with a turnaround of a stone-filled lake shore that overlooked Mount Moran and Elk Island. We took off our shoes and waded our tired feet in the cool water...

During our National Park trip we enjoyed many wonderful and inspiring moments together and I once again felt very much at home living in nature. It was the greatest ending to a lovely, transformative summer...

Now that I have caught you up on lost time, I am very excited to begin to share with you regularly, and now you can go to my shop to see the new Love's Garden Fall collection that I have been working on with all my heart. Thank you for reading!

All of the photos in this particular blog post with exception to the pictures from my visit in California were taken by my talented photographer husband, Preston. You can view more of his work at www.StohsPhotography.com and order fine art prints at www.StohsPhotography.Etsy.com

Love,

Abbey