2/11

The care package and Valentine's cards arrived today. Thank you all so very much. The candles and rose are splendid, and of course Jenna adores her new sweater! It was just in time, too, because a front came through bringing big storms and colder weather. We were all a bit shaky through this storm because of the tornados that came through with it. But none came through our living room this time--we're okay. It has turned dreary, rainy and cold in the aftermath, so Jenna has brightened in her new sweater.

The workmen have started working on the house. Supporting the old rafters in the roof. They work on the foundation tomorrow, then a new roof, then the center wall. Incessant pounding. It'll be a few weeks.

On Valentine's I celebrate 6 years being smoke free! And I bet you guys will celebrate great good love in your hearts and your family. Oh JOY!

Love to you,
Aim

It's always easier to attract the things we want in life than to chase them down and catch them. My grandmother said, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." I've never understood why I'd want a collection of flies, but there are many other things I do want.

One thing many of us want is a vibrant network of great relationships, both personally and professionally. The following Principles for Attracting Great Relationships are borrowed from material at Attraction University, and were originally developed by Thomas Leonard. I am a certified instructor at AU, and the following are shared with permission:

1. Become incredibly selfish! Yeah, it's ironic, but as you take care of yourself, manage your time, your space and your life well, you have more to give and share with others. If you want more clients, take extremely good care of Client #1.

2. Over-respond to every event! This is the opposite of over-reacting. Respond immediately to phone calls, answer questions in full, take time for others, thoughtfully and creatively go the extra mile.

3. Add value just for the joy of it! Do more, provide more, go further than you are paid for. Caution: Don't just give more stuff, give more stuff that people really want and appreciate.

4. Market your talents shamelessly! Have fun, be proud of what you do and tell everybody! If you aren't excited, proud and energized by what you do, do something else!

5. Affect others profoundly. Get out of the roles and job descriptions we all have. Connect with people, question, respond, be silly, get "outside the box". Whatever it takes, make an impact on your world.

6. Eliminate delay. Time is expensive, and wasting it is unattractive and irritating. Think things through, plan carefully, but in the end, actions count!

7. Thrive on the details. Pay attention to the subtleties, the small things. It's the little extras that build you up, and the little slips that bring you down.

8. Tolerate nothing! Clean up all the irritations, the daily frustrations and predictable annoyances of your life once and for all! Don't just fix the problem, redesign your routine so those predictable irritations never bother you again!

9. Orient life around your values. When you spend your days living in harmony with your values, you become incredibly energized, peaceful, focused and attractive!

10. Develop more character than you need! Beyond being good at your job, and living with integrity, become very good at being YOU! Be a "real character", the unique, gifted, complex and unforgettable individual that you were born to be.

2/15

How is your Thesis coming along? Isn't this incredible that we're actually this close?

Aimee

Pam wrote:

Aimee --

How is *your* thesis growing?

Pam,

I call this stage *mud soup*. Soup because all these ingredients, parts and pieces of research and writings, are floating around in a rich broth of ideas. And the broth is the only cohesive substance to all the various pieces and parts. Mud because the beginning growth of seeds and new life comes from rich moist ground....

I like the frenzied chaos of this stage as I gather in ideas. It's the richest, fullest and least invasive part of the process. I get to be the objective observer. When I finally get so whacked out of balance by the chaos and lack of clarity, I begin to do the hard work. "Digging in the dirt" is what I call the next stage. I usually have to dig it all up and touch every particle before I can begin to gain a little control over my sense of it, and then begin to organize it. I'm one who has to write the whole thing to the end before I can *see* it, and know what it is I'm trying to say.

Today for me everywhere I see context. Pam, it's amazing that so much of my perspective, my response and my creative juices are so closely related to the context within which life is happening. Park Plaza Mall had on the side of the building when they first opened: "Attitude is everything." Sorry, I disagree. Context is everything. It's a Zen kind of approach.

Friday the builders jacked up my floor. Today, they're ripping out the center wall. Somehow, I cannot leave the house. The animals are a bit shaky. I feel so blessed that everyone (my kid, my friends, my lover, Michael, Julia, Chuck, Susan Queller in DSS...) are being so patient while I work through this upheaval. But I've got to work through it!!!

I have a friend, Margaret, whose house was hit, and she and her animals are staying with us. She and I have been working on a collaborative piece about the tornado. We're healing through this large drawing, making sense of our experience by making it visible and working through the meaning of it. It's powerful. Will include it in my thesis exhibit.

Hang in there, girl. We're all in this together!

Aimee

VA,

What's happening with this weekend? I haven't done any planning or contacting. My life is crazy right now, and its all I can do to do what's in front of me!

There are workmen crawling all over the place. I can hardly do my own work but can't seem to leave. I want to protect my space, hold on to the healing energy we've generated in here. There was even more damage from the tornado than we originally thought. And incidental damage occurring as the repairs take place. (Like no heat today.) It all seems so invasive and disruptive...especially having a guest and 3 extra animals. But we're working hard to make the best of it and be cheerful. There is some good healing taking place too. Margaret, Jenna, and I did a collaborative drawing, and we've been writing too. It's helping.

My contractor, Charles Kendrick's, roofer has postponed work on my roof for the moment to work on Margaret's house, so that she can move back in. It's always amazing how God works! Meanwhile, the painter, Ben, that I went out with a couple of times, has been by to check on things. Charles and his crew are giving him a really hard time, telling him he can't come around here until they call him to come paint. Ben is tell ing them he didn't come by to see the house, he came by to see the woman of the house. I've told Ben I'm dating another guy, and he said he's patient, and he'll be waiting.

Have had a few splendid times with my special guy - going to lunch mostly. But he left again yesterday for the week. We've been having some lively discussions. I'm getting to evaluate whether I can handle some of his opinions or not. He seems to lack tolerance of certain kinds of people. So how can I be intolerant of intolerance?

Aimee

Aimee,

Work is going good. My guy has said some things that have hurt real real bad ... I told him I was not the enemy and to put his palms out and receive the goodness of the world, boy, a relationship takes a lot of time-

love you VA

VA,

It got pretty weird here today. I wonder if when they jacked the center of the house up this morning, it might have released some weird energy, dust, ions, SOMETHING! Jenna, Margaret and I have all been very delicate, touchy, depressed and out of sorts. I picked up Jen after lunch. I'm struggling to focus. Margaret came in from the morning's work at her house very scattered and shadowy. I feel like I need to realign.

Sounds like you and your guy are dealing with the issues of the "Skeleton Woman" like in the Innuit tale on page 130 of Women Who Run With the Wolves. You may want to read it. It sheds light on the "life/death/life" cyclic nature of love.

I haven't given up on my guy quite yet. But I am certain that his intolerance of human diversity - not accepting people as perfect expressions of God / universal love, won't be easy for me to live with.

Whew! Boy, am I ever needy right now!!!

Love ya
Aimee

you got it, me too-

here is positive energy coming your way at this very moment-feel the flow of my love and caring to you, Jenna, Margaret...