This letter was broadcast to the Creative Awakenings NING community today. It shares changes in the way postings and information for Sheri Gaynor and Creative Awakenings will now be consolidated for our beloved online community…
Hello to my Beloved Creative Awakenings Community,
I am writing to let you know that I will be closing the NING Salon as of September 30, 201. I have been in Florida with my mother for the last 10 days. She has a long-term degenerative disease and became very, very ill. We almost lost her last week and it has caused me to take pause and evaluate life and business priorities. My mom is home now, but still very weak and we are currently sorting through options for her long-term care.
This incident has been an initiation for me…and with it, I have fully crossed the bridge into my life as crone. I am now in the 3rd spiral of life and as such, I feel compelled to make some changes that reflect this rite of passage. The first is to simplify and to downsize my public persona and the time I spend on the internet.
Western culture offers many distractions. Very often these distractions are a way of keeping our true feelings at bay and with this recent incident, I made a conscious decision to stay completely and totally present. After receiving the call, I closed my studio doors and flew to Florida to be with my mother; and although doing so was terrifying-as I’d just opened the doors to my dream-nothing else mattered, she was the priority. I have not checked email for over 10 days and have had very little phone contact. It was not easy, being so present, in fact it was incredibly painful to stay with the process. Many tears were shed and there were moments of being completely in the abyss, yet I stayed in the dark, where I imagine she was and allowed myself to feel. I recognize the stages I went through, as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote about them long ago. I passed through each door and not always gracefully: Denial…Anger…Bargaining…Depression…Acceptance not once, but over and over. A few days ago after the crisis had passed and my mother was home in Hospice care, I was able to hear the voice inside that had been calling for sometime….”Simplify….slow down….find what’s important…”
I am the first to admit I love what technology has offered to our lives in terms of connecting with a global community, the flip side for me are the countless hours it takes to maintain those connections and so I have made a decision to be downsize the places you will find me on the web. In many ways, this will make it easier for me to communicate with everyone and also to get you more in-depth information in relation to Creative Awakenings and the Expressive Arts.
The gratitude I feel for the time we’ve spent together here in the Salon is unspeakable. To me, it’s a miracle that anyone came at all to be honest! When I wrote Creative Awakenings and made a decision to put a web address and community hub for gathering, a community network had not been attempted by North Light Books author before. As an author, you write in the dark and you write because you are compelled to. There are times you wonder, ‘Will anyone ever read this? Will people relate to it? Will it be on the remainder table in a week?’ but you keep writing, because in the depth of your soul, you have something you need to share with the world and in the end, it doesn’t matter if one person reads the book….or thousands as in the case of Creative Awakenings, thanks to all of you.
As creative beings we are familiar with risk taking and what it means to take the leap. The CA Salon was one of those leaps and when the first person found the trailhead and wrote the answer, “reading the book,” to our profile question, “How did you find us?” it seemed like a miracle to me. Now we are over 900 strong and from all parts of the globe and the joy and deep sense of gratitude this brings me is beyond description!
So, let’s keep the spirit of community alive by finding a way to communicate in a less fragmented way. Let’s build an even stronger community, one where we have the ability to reach out, share and cheer one another on with DREAM SPIRIT! As I write this, I feel a sense of relief and this always tells me I’m on the right path…yes…I am feeling…will you join me for the next stage of the journey we call life?
For the time being, I will be limiting postings, discussions and events, to two sites, sherigaynor.com and my personal Facebook page. Please make sure you subscribe to both today. More information will be shared with you in the next 30 days, as things progress. Please remember time is of the essence, as I will close down NING on September 30. 2010. There have been a few miracles in the last 10 days and I am hoping for one more. It would support my mom and I to double the number of friends and followers we have on our Facebook pages and my blog and to feel the love. Send her some love by friending her today….
Thank you for joining me here, I look forward to seeing you soon on FB, sherigaynor.com or even better in person! Please feel free to leave a comment below or on my Facebook page.
Hugs and purple boots,
Sheri Gaynor
CFO-Chief Feisty Officer and Author of Creative Awakenings: Envisioning the Life of Your Dreams Through Art
Website: www.sherigaynor.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sherigaynor?ref=profile
by Heart Light Digital