Anne Heck

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

As most of you know, I'm a rape survivor (story here).  This is not uncommon; 1 in 6 women in this country become victim to sexual assault.  I'm grateful to have been supported by many angels along my path and Our Voice, formally the Rape Crisis Center, has been a source of much comfort and encouragement throughout my journey. 

April of each year is sexual assault awareness month.  I'd like you to consider supporting an event that will raise awareness and encourage men (and women and children) to become more active participants in creating a community free of sexual violence.

On Saturday, April 24 hundreds of local men will don their high heeled shoes and walk a mile through downtown Asheville.  This event is hosted by Our Voice.  Already, many local men are getting excited about the event.  The following video is brilliant (funny and inspiring) and has already motivated many locals to get involved in supporting this cause.

For details on how you can participate and to register, go to walkamileasheville.org

If you don't feel the walk is for you, but you'd like to support the effort, please consider sponsoring a friend in the walk or donating to Our Voice. Thanks for your consideration and support.

Passion

I've been tucking in during this windy cold of winter and am grateful for the inspiration to keep the flow of creativity moving within me.  Though that seed that yearns to sprout is snugly nestled, it's still most certainly being fed with the vibrancy of life. 

As I work with textures, mold colors, add beads, buttons, ribbons and lace, I'm reveling in the lusciousness of seeing my current passion take form.

And as it manifests as tiny stuffed hearts, it also manifests as these words . . .

Passion

So full
Boldness flows from my being
Like leaves from the maple
On a windy fall day

Strip my soul
Unveil my innocent branches
That I may sway impassioned
Vital in my vulnerability

Open to life's mystery
With potent honesty
Tapped from my heart
Sweet flow of wisdom

I who have censored
Pure essence
Now robust
In my innocence

I am the voice
Worthy and clear
In this forest
Listen

Potato Inspiration

The cold and damp are inspiring me to pull in, to hunker down and to go within.  I'm finding I need to nurture myself with more hours of sleep, more quiet time and more outlets for my creative flow. 

Today my bag of potatoes was calling to me to create some soup.  Now, I'm not a big potato eater, but something was definitely pulling me in this direction, so I listened.

As I thought about my strong desire for potatoes, I realized that this vegetable was likely gifting me with more than a meal.  It was strengthening me on another level. 

The potato has its roots in the windswept Andes Mountains of South America ~ a region plagued by poor soil conditions and fluctuating temperatures.  This vegetable has a humble appearance, but a ruggedness that's to be admired.  And this is just what I needed ~ a nurturing boost of rugged energy to support me through this wintery time.

I listened to my urge and created a wonderfully full and satisfying meal.

When I quiet myself enough to hear and respond to these inspirations, the flow of life is so very rich and fulfilling.  Mmmmmmm!

Compassionate Mother

I've been working for over a year on this dear one -- I pick her up and dream with her, then lay her down for a time.  

Her skirt is made of layered bright cottons with alternating layers scallop-beaded on the edge.  Her scarf is hand-knitted with mohair and some glitzy art yarn.  Her face is paper clay covered with cheese cloth and painted with acrylics. Her hair is wool roving.

She's required some inner work on my part for which I'm very grateful.  She came first in a vision.  I've journaled with her and have appreciated her teachings about being gentle with myself, about knowing my truth and trusting my inner voice and about being present with what is.

I recently completed her  (though I already sense another stage to her development).  Her completion came just before attending my 4th level of training for Healing Touch; her presence there was powerful and deeply healing.

This one I hold close to my heart and I'm looking forward to our walk together.

Creative Constipation

I've been feeling a hint of resistance to my natural creativity lately and my dear friend Elizabeth challenged me to come up with some creative expression of this.   This is my creation . . .

I’ve got oodles of fabric
Hand-dyed yarn and bright floss
Colored pencils and ink stamps
Metal foil to emboss

I’ve got brushes and journals
Pastels and some beads
No art store on earth
Can supply all my needs

Ideas, dreams and images
Fly all about
But I can’t seem to get
Even one of them out

I’ll try this new pattern
I’ll study her art
Oooooh!  there’s inspiration ~
 . . . One petite fart

Just this one bit of movement
Can influence, ya know
So I’ll sit myself down
And I’ll visualize flow

I can feel the twinge,
The restriction and pain
I will sit here determined
This can’t be in vain

Okay, I can see it
And its color is wood
I can feel it emerging
And it’s gonna to be good

Running into my workshop
Now surrounded by stuff
There I stand feeling freer
There I stand in my buff

In this naked free place
I feel myself drawn
My creative expression
Is like the sun at its dawn

I will no longer hesitate
No more hint of “I can’t”
Out with the laxatives
They’re not for Rembrandt!

Snow Day

Some define a "snow day" as a day when public schools or other institutions are closed due to heavy snow.  My definition of "snow day" is a glorious day celebrated by playing board games, drinking hot cocoa and making your own pizza!

Growing up in Ohio, I remember well my snow days -- the excitement of waking early and listening to the morning news announce our schools closed, running around in jammies 'til lunch and the simple and wonderful feeling of freedom I felt having those extra hours to fill with activities of my choice.

It's been a very cold couple of weeks and with some snow, the children have had some days off school.  I'm grateful to have the extra time with them and to be reminded of the gift of freedom and choice that we have in our lives.  It's certainly made more evident when we're granted a "day off."

Today, I'm choosing to revel in the choices I make every moment.  I choose a snow day!

2010 Predictions

A friend shared this with me and I found it inspiring and uplifting.  I encourage you to take a few moments to watch . . . and then to "dwell on your dreams!" 

Fertile Earth

I've just begun an online class with Susan Sorrell entitled Fertile Earth.  I decided I wanted to begin the new year with stretching myself creatively and this feels like the perfect fit.  Our first assignment is focused on veggies and I chose corn -- symbol of abundance.

So, I'm rolling my corn in paint and all over fabric and covering this same fabric with shiny threads and textured layers and glitzy beads. 

Susan's teachings encourage me to feel my way outside the box and into the next natural step.  I find myself inspired with the flow of my creative self, not looking outside for a recipe or pattern, but feeling colors and textures wanting to express from within and going with it.

No telling how this will turn out, but that doesn't seem to matter.  In this case, my experience is teeming with lush, vegetative, fertile earthly abundant fun.  This moment -- yes, that's what matters.

Holiday Review

It was an extraordinarily wonderful holiday from my perspective.  We had snow the week before Christmas which set the stage for the festivities.

The local postal service delivered all our holiday gifts from Amazon to someone across town and they've never been seen, so I had some last minute shopping to do which was actually quite fun despite the crowds.  And as I suspected, the children didn't know the difference . . . I expect someone else needed that holiday cheer more than we did.

I continue to enjoy the lusciousness of the winter season:  the warmth of our wood stove and the smell of fresh baked goods coming out of our oven, snow days and board games and hot cocoa to sooth cold noses, looking out on the cold scenery as I dive more deeply into hand-made creations. 

It's January now and I continue to celebrate ~

~ each moment as a gift.

Blessing All

I've just returned from a 5-day intensive training with internationally renowned dowser Joey Korn. It was an inspirational learning experience and one that I have truly taken to heart.

Joey has developed a form of spiritual dowsing that works with Life Force energies to bring healing and balance to peoples’ lives and living environments.

In the training, Joey taught us in the same manner that this information was revealed to him, enabling us to ask similar questions and test energies with our own dowsing.  We had the opportunity to practice intensely with balancing energies -- patterns that appear in our homes and on our properties as well as within our own beings.   We also had the opportunity to participate in some remote work for individuals who had requested it.

I've returned home inspired to bless all people, places and situations.  It's such a simple act and yet produces  such profoundly beneficial results.

Joey will be in Asheville to teach a workshop the weekend of November 21 -22.  Contact him for details if you're interested in this work.