There are many ways I could answer this question "What do you do?". I have been thinking about the different situations that I find myself in where I have to answer this question (as recently as today in fact). So what is it that I do?

My first answer - the list.

I am a fundraising and special events coordinator and senior assistant for a non-profit children's charity, I also work doing various things for another charity, Art for AIDS International where I volunteer my services to help women and children who are affected by HIV/ AIDS world wide, but in particular in Sub-Saharan Africa. I also take photographs, write, paint, draw, play five instruments, I read alot (sometimes 7 books at the same time), help my children whenever they need me, and sometimes when they don't. I volunteer teach yoga classes twice a week to seniors and have been doing that for five years this coming Monday. I'm a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend. I also knit, crochet, sew and quilt. I like to make things, out of whatever happens to be around - and I like to grow things out of the tiniest seeds.

but what do I really do?

I don't think of my job as a job. It is my life, and more than just being part of a group of people who care for the most vulnerable people in my community - children and youth. So what I do there in the building that holds my desk, I also do when I am not in the building.

but that's not what I really do. what do I do?

I listen. I feel. I love. I allow. And then I love some more. Actually I love through all of it, even when it is really hard to.

what else?

I also cry when it's time to cry. Laugh whenever possible. I eat the red smarties last because red is my favorite colour. I buy blank journals and then don't fill them with words because I like them that way. I collect mirrors but don't look in them. I meditate. I sing. I take risks and try to be brave even when i really don't feel brave at all. I eat when I am hungry. I drink when I am thirsty. I walk because I love to. I go outside whenever the sun is shining and when it is raining too.

what do I do?

hmmm stuff and mostly breathing.

are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?
are we there yet?

nope and if you ask one more time I am going to turn this car around

are we there yet?

yes,
yes we are.

xo ;-)

It's been a week already... wow. Time flies, indeed. I am happy to be able to step up to the desk and tap out another Follow Friday Five from my friend network and from the new Gaia members that I come across today. It's all about connection, and making it possible to do so. Plus it's fun to meet new people  :-)


My New Follow Friday Five



Bill Vollrath - billyvee

http://billyvee.gaia.com/




Debbie Barrera

http://debbiebarrera.gaia.com/




Diana Hartley-Kim

http://dianaoftheriver.gaia.com/





Mica

http://mrspacemonkey.gaia.com/




Rob Bayer

http://emoboy79.gaia.com/


Pop by and give some love to our newest members :-)


My Follow Friday Friends:



Samme

http://princesamwise.gaia.com/

Well, what is there to say about Samme, other than you are amazing - thank you for all of the great links and thoughts that you have continously put out there and made available for everyone. Inspiring!



Sparrow

http://sparrow27.gaia.com/

My gosh, your writing makes me smile and your little sparrow self is a bright light every day for me. Big hugs!




Love Eternal

http://loveeternal.gaia.com/

Their music is so touching and inspiring. One of the reasons I have made my way back to playing again!




Joseph Lukwago

http://joyforhumanity.gaia.com/

You are doing amazing work in Uganda! I am happy to have met you through Gaia, and am looking forward to learning more and more about your work for the poor!




Damian Tamre

http://damiantamre.gaia.com/

thank you for just being you :-) Happy to have met you and enjoy reading your website/ blog and other writing I have come across!


~

So there you go, another Follow Friday Funfest of Friends!

much love, and have a wonderful weekend!!

Leigh-Anne
xo

Before enlightenment: run, walk, teach yoga, pick up toys, do laundry, drive car, write, paint, take photos, listen to music, laugh, watch fish, grow flowers, eat chocolate, cook, make phone calls, stare out the window, watch children, help people, make coffee, love

After enlightenment: run, walk, teach yoga, pick up toys, do laundry, drive car, write, paint, take photos, listen to music, laugh, watch fish, grow flowers, eat chocolate, cook, make phone calls, stare out the window, watch children, help people, make coffee, love

nothing.

that is what I would do

I would do nothing
but paint
using every colour my fingers can find

I would do nothing
but write every story that rose up to be written

I would do nothing
but look down the lens of my camera at the
smallest sweetest details of beauty

I would do nothing
but sit with the life that flows around me
sit with the laughter of my children
sit with the happiness and sadness of my life
sit with the needs and hopes of others
sit with everything and nothing

I would do nothing
but love.

that is what I would do if I had all the time in the world

and
that's what I do
because I have all the time in the world
that I need
to live.

xo
la

This Tuesday my husband, Ian will be celebrating his 20th anniversary of speaking professionally to students. I am looking for some ideas for some fun ways to celebrate - could be just about anything. I am extremely proud of Ian and of everything that he has done to reach out to youth over the years.

Below is an excerpt from the little press release that I wrote for him:

On April 21st area resident, Ian Tyson, will celebrate 20 years as a professional motivational speaker. In honour of that occasion, Ian will be returning to the first school he ever performed at – John Paul II S.S. in London ON. In April of 1989, at the age of 18, still a high school student from St. Thomas, Ian stepped on stage for the first time and launched a career that would take him to every province in Canada, from northern Alaska to Katrina-ravaged New Orleans and even as far away as Berlin, Germany, just after the wall fell.

A former Funniest Person in London winner (2003), Ian shares his unique brand of ‘Comedy with a Message’ with thousands of students and teachers each year from middle schools, high schools and universities. He has dedicated his life to helping people realize their potential, make positive choices, lead in their communities and overcome adversity. As his show’s title says, Ian truly helps people find the ‘Hero Inside’. The celebration of this milestone continues in September 2009. Ian will embark on a month-long driving tour across Canada, sharing his message and raising money for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. The Foundation helps fund research with the Rick Hansen Foundation in Canada.
~


So... any ideas on what I can do? I have a few but would love to hear your thoughts on it. 20 years is a big milestone! If you would like to read more about Ian you can go to his website here: www.iantyson.ca

thanks
Leigh-Anne
xo

well... at first I thought I would just skip this question. My body doesn't worry about much, it's my monkey mind that is tied up in knots... but then I started to think.

 I know full well that even when my mind is calm, my body is the truest indicator of whether or not I am worried.

Headachey, nauseated, swollen, bloaty, squinty, snuffly, chubby old bag of mostly water, that's me. The head is rushing around hoping for spring, the body is going "meh whatever put a sweater on for crying out loud, shivering here!".

Actually I am pretty sure the white blood cells are in full revolt. The head however is not in the mood to slow down... so the body is probably a little worried about what kind of intervention will be necessary in order to re-establish some balance.

The eyes just checked in. They are concerned about the toes being naked. "Look your toes are naked. You need to put some colour on them. It's offensive really."

The ears are quiet.  Thank god. There's nothing worse than when they get rowdy.

The heart's a little pinched - been arguing with the brain alot these days.

The fingers agree though, with each other, that the brain is overstimulated and everyone should just lay off the caffeine. Maybe tomorrow I will start that.

maybe.

World expanding
Contracting
Night contained
Within a glass bottle
Formed of nothing
Shaped by clarity
Life – life the stopper
That keeps
Everything from spilling
Outward

Silent witness
As the sky rips
Itself open
On the sharp edge
Of light and air

Where in this sudden illumination
Am i?

Paper boats float down
Swift waters
Rising higher with tropical rains
Pushed under and broken
Yet some, one remain above
Riding the curious unknown
Current

Close my eyes god let me go
Flow through this moment
This day this week this year
Until
The river quiets again

Night swimming in calmer waters
Pleasant memory
time stands still
When old souls meet again
And joy leaps out
At first sight after so many years

Night moves through me
Limbs and rushing thoughts
Breathing in
Breathing out
Awake asleep
Untold and waiting to be written
Every line
Scrolls itself across the skin
What witness will the river
The night be
To the sudden surge ….
~
la tyson

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to let everyone know that we are still working on raising some money to help send our very dear friend, Sandra (who is the cultivator of Diving Deeper Writing Workshop) to attend a writing retreat next month.  We have raised a little less $500 so far, but we are still in need of another $1,000 to $1,500. There is no donation too small – every little bit helps. Sandra works very hard managing the  Diving Deeper workshop here on Gaia and asks nothing in return. This retreat with Deena Metzer means a lot to her, and would be a great experience.  In turn, I know that we will benefit from her experience there as she shares with us afterwards. Her experience will enrich us all. I have added the description of the retreat below as well as a link to the Chip-In site that Ayla/ Michelle has set up for this fundraiser.

Please, give what you want, and make this dream come true for a very special person. If all 300 of us pitched in just $5 each we'd meet our goal. That's the same as buying a couple of cups of coffee or a cheap night at the movies. The crunch is on – the retreat starts May 16th. We can do this!!

Much love,
Leigh-Anne/ Quietlaughter



http://lovingandreamauk.chipin.com/sandra-to-go-to-deena-met



Writing Intensive  – By application
May 16 - 22, 2009
Pine Mountain, California. [Los Angeles area.]


This workshop is for a small group of people who will gather to devote themselves to their work, that is to the work. The structure of the week will resemble other workshops offered by Deena — directed writing, reading to each other, dream telling, meditation, silence, solitude, teaching, questioning, daring, ritual, ceremony….

The state of our world and what is being asked to meet it requires all of us to consider our assumptions and understandings about who we are as writers, peacemakers, and members of a community of beings. For this reason, Deena has been meditating deeply on the purpose of our coming together at this time, seeking to understand the true calling of Spirit in regard to this Intensive. As a result of this contemplation, our time together will be a council, guided by Spirit, the ancestors, animals, elementals, inviting and embracing the voices of both the visible and invisible presences. Using the tools of writing, story telling, dreaming, prayer, silence, and divination, we will seek to move more fully into the writing paths that each of us have been called to on behalf of the planet and the restoration of creation. We will address our personal healing if and when it is necessary to remove the obstacles to fully embracing those paths, though the emphasis will be on global, rather than personal, healing. For these reasons, this will be the first Writers Intensive offered that welcomes both women and men.

Writing is a sacred act of conscience because the writer has been given the gift — stories, insight, vision, images and words — on behalf of the community. In accepting and using these gifts, the writer has profound responsibilities to herself, community, and Spirit; she must proceed with consciousness and ethical reflection because writing creates culture. Words are sacred: what we say, how we say it, to whom we speak, these are urgent considerations. We cannot be innocent or shy about our gifts and wisdom and must step forward to meet the urgencies of this time if we are to help create the kind of world we truly wish to live in, if we are to imagine a Story with a future.

Through the experience of living in a field of interlocking stories and alliances that may at first appear random but are deeply connected and dynamic, we will enter into a web of dreams, stories and voices, human and non-human, visible and invisible, to find and explore new cultural forms and language aligned with Spirit for the sake of healing, community, peacemaking, the natural world, and visions for the future. To enter into such a dialog is to enter into a Council. It is the discourse between the writer's self and this council that invites knowledge and vision. In this Intensive we will examine what happens when this wisdom comes alive on the page. Toward this, the ideas explored in Deena's new book, From Grief into Vision: A Council will be at the very core of our work together.

Deena is inviting approximately 20 people to meet with her in Pine Mountain, California in order to engage, alone and in community, in the rigorous work of writing and creativity. Working as we do in her groups, a map will come forth and we will follow it, each in our own way, into the world of language, imagination, concern, ideas, beauty, history, myth and story.

Living together cooperatively for a week, addressing the issues that must be addressed, we will explore our lives, souls, minds, and creative work through formal and informal teaching, directed writing, dream and story telling, meditation, silence, solitude, music, improvisation, council, visioning, ritual, and ceremony.

This is a retreat for serious and experienced writers. The work is difficult, arduous, often risky, engaging, beautiful and thrilling. Though you will be guided, it is expected that you are also self-motivated and will come prepared to devote yourself to what concerns and fascinates you, to what is calling to be written, particularly in these times. We will work in prose, but the workshop lends itself to writing in any form, fiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry.

The description, above, is only a possibility. This Intensive is intended to gather together those individuals who are willing to heed the call and direction of  spirit in such times and, accordingly, to devote themselves to developing the gifts, skills and visions given to them for the sake of restoring creation. We trust that Spirit will gather those who need to be gathered and that, individually and in concert, we will engage in the training and work to become who we are being asked to become and to participate in the visioning that is being offered to and asked of us in these times.
~

so... I'm officially done Script Frenzy... I actually finished 7 days ago, but due to my brain being overloaded with other junk, I forgot where I saved the finished script (not on my hard drive)and couldn't validate my page count (blahblah). Tonight, I suddenly had a flash of where I had saved it (on a flash drive that was shoved in the bottom of my briefcase) - just in time to validate on the Script Frenzy site and receive my "I won" pic.

PHEW! thank goodness I found the script. Going to go through the edit process and see what comes out the other end. All in all though, this was a great experience. I set out to see if I could write a full script in 30 days... and I did. I even like the story... hahaha.

ok... onto the next thing!