moving....

Just blog sites :)

new site is http://leslieschipper.wordpress.com/

Please follow there! Thanks.

Great Aloha RUN

Great Aloha Run was a success!! I beat my goal of running under 1:30:00 and rewarded myself with a fulfilling breakfast buffet at Duke's right afterwards. Such a thrill running a race with 25,000 other people... definitely gave me the motivation to keep going when my thoughts started flying and I started getting bored and tired! 

Marathon in December? ehhhh....  

Maybe I will work my way up with a half marathon next. 

Happy running! 

Happy Valentines Day

"Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love." - Leo Tolstoy

I made a quick stop at the grocery store last night on the eve of Valentines Day.  I couldn't help notcing the giant cookie, candy, flower and balloon stations set up at the entrance as easy targets for the confused men hovering around it. 

On the one hand, I applaud their efforts, because they are actually making one.  On the other hand, why is this holiday reduced to the monotonus card, box of chocolates, and bouquet of flowers?

I hope this doesn't make me sound ungrateful (it is the thought that counts) but the best part about a gift (besides giving it) is the thought process that goes with the selection of it.  Searching for that perfect gift for that special person- not under pressure and time ticking circumstances that makes you go out and buy whatever is left. 

This holiday reminds me of Thanksgiving- we need a day to remind us to stop and give thanks for our blessings just like we need a day to remind us to show our love to those in our lives.  Like many holidays, it has turned into a buying game great for chocolate and greeting card companies, jewlery stores and florists. 

Guys- save your money.  I can't speak for every female but I have no problem not celebrating Valentines Day. 

Leave me a love note randomly to find, pick me a single flower, use your words not your wallet.

But if you still want to give me chocolate I won't deny you that pleasure.

Celebrate and spread love everyday!

aloha



1/29/11

"Im sitting in Waikiki enjoying a beautiful sunset  There are a few boats sitting idly a few hundred yards out.. surfers sitting on their boards catching one footers in for a fun clean ride, and countless people to my left and right all lost in their own thoughts or conversations.  Families, singles, couples, tourists, locals, homeless, kids, all stopping and taking fifteen minutes our their day to witness the suns last shining moments. 

As I watch, I remember that this is my everyday- how fortunate I am to catch a sunset like this- it's here for my viewing every night.  

The sun is shining on the still water, reflecting yellow, gold, orange glitter on the surface.  It has become the biggest and brightest globe of hot light, sinking into the ocean, calling it a day and letting the moon take over for the night shift.

A few moments later, the spectacle is over.  There are no more photos to be taken, the moment has passed and people begin to get up and move on.  

But the most beautiful part of the whole marvel is not even the sunset.  It's that for an extended amount of time, nature captured people's eyes and hearts- made them stand still for a moment and bask in the beauty of a Hawaiian sunset."

crystal energy

Crystals have peeked my interest lately.  How can a crystal have healing powers? Realign and rebalance energy? Bring peace and relaxation? Safeguard and protect you from harm? 

Into my hands falls the book , "The Illustrated Guide to Crystals" thanks to my hippy sister Tess.

I learn quickly that crystals transmit and receive energies.  They transmute and transform, attract or repel. 

For example- the crystal quartz amplifies energy.  Quartz receives energy, contains it, transmutes it, and then radiates the energy back out. 

This focused energy means that they can be used for specific tasks like healing physical conditions, creating positive relationships, grounding, aiding with meditation, enhancing with creativity and so on. 

As I continued reading, I got really jazzed at the thought of crystal shopping. 

Where did I need some extra energy in my life? Where could I test this crystal theory? 

Last night I went to a shop called "Sedona" - that sells everything from crystals to aromatherapy oils and candles and even physic readings if you so desire to gaze into your future.

It is said that the best crystal chooses you.  So I tried to let go and let the crystals do their job.  Thirty or so minutes later I had a quartz cluster in my left hand and a honey amber calcite in my right.  Im not sure if these crystals "called" to me in any sort of way, maybe it was just personal preference with color and shape? At any rate they felt right and I left with them both. 

Quartz cluster: one of the most powerful healing stones.  An energy amplifier that doubles auric field- storing, releasing, and regulating every on physical and mental dimensions. Stimulates the immune system and enhances psychic awareness.

Calcite: Connects intellect and emotions. Alleviates emotional stress and brings peace and serenity.  Memory aid, brings insight.  Cleanses organs and bones, strengthens skeleton and joints. Brings in spiritual light and knowledge. 

Now that these crystals are in my possession, they need to be purified and cleansed and then I'll need to dedicate it's energies to the higehst of all good.

The power of a crystal could be true. It could be the power of the mind, or it could be in the heart- but I'm open to seeing what happens with my new beauties.

"constantly go to the breathe and find sacredness in it. 

don't just land in it, but forever melt and go deeper...

because it's a mystery that has no end."

"The Power of Now"

I've picked up this book multiple times, read the first couple of pages, and put it down.  The language is a turn off, every sentence seems to say the same thing, the author is too enlightened and just babbling off about it.... I had so many excuses as to why I couldn't get through the first few chapters of this book. At the time, I just wasn't ready to hear it.  We listen and hear things at the moment we are ready, and finally I am ready for the book.  

I picked it up again after a trying January- and was amazed that instead of automatically reading a few pages and trading in for another book on my shelf- I couldn't put it down.  All the jargon I had thought was so confusing and unclear before, suddenly made perfect sense.  I began highlighting all of the points that resonated and pretty seem my pages were covered in neon yellow. 

What this book has really taught me is to not get wrapped up in the future.  I have a problem of always being in my head- thoughts constantly zipping in and out, and I sit there and spend much of my time analyzing every thought that enters. 

It's exhausting.

I constantly am planning for future events, thinking about what to do next, looking into my planner to see what things on my "to-do" list I haven't checked off, it feels endless.

"The Power of Now" teaches you to realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. 

There is never a time when you're life is not "this moment" 

So now, when I find myself traveling beyond the "now" and jumping into "what could be/what might be" in the future, I just take a few slow deep breathes and remind myself that all I ever need is right now in this moment.