Summer Greetings from Joan

I hope you’re having a wonderful summer in spite of heat, fire, floods, tornadoes, and all the rest of the unrest.

My summer continues to be a blessing, heat dome and all. It’s been filled with fun and heartful visits with family and friends. As my husband Gordon and I transform into vintage elders, every day is a truly a gift. We’re sipping the nectar of life- really living!- as we meditate and read together in the mornings, review our Earth journeys, and appreciate our lifetimes from a sacred perspective. Love is what it’s all about.

And…I’ve been enjoying simplifying and organizing our home. Every cleaned-out drawer feels like a triumph over entropy. Happiness is giving stuff away. And time off from teaching means time for creating with the hands rather than the head.

Check out these mosaic stepping-stones I created by gluing broken Mexican tiles onto cement bases. Very Southwest! All they need is to be grouted and then I’ll set them into a path. Digging is medicine for body and soul!

Our raised bed garden is home to the traditional “3 sisters” of Indigenous agriculture- corn, beans and squash. They make family and nurture each other. Just what we humans need to do as well.

A few cans of paint and a couple of long hot afternoons was all it took to transform a weather-beaten armoire into a whimsical storage space for our gardening tools. Such fun!!!

And finally- a selfie homage to rest- swinging in the hammock in the shade of our little scrub oak woodland in the high desert. Learning how to let go of a lifetime of doing and allow myself to rest and “be” is a major accomplishment in this home stretch of the Earth Journey.

May your summer be filled with joy, creativity, rest and love. I look forward to being with you again in the fall. We’ll soon be listing fall programs at joanborysenko.com. Check it out!

But first, a quote from the fabulous Sophia Loren about the simple joys of life that keep you feeling young at heart at any age.

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age. 

With love and gratitude, Joanie