justBeConnected

Getting to Know You Day: Happy Halloween!

Hi again everyone, it's groovyholly here again for the last Getting to Know you Day here at Create a Connection.  Thanks to Melba for letting me host this month, hope you all had fun. First of all, let me wish everyone a Happy Halloween!!!  I've loved Halloween ever since I was a kid.  Halloween rated right up there with Christmas in the fun factor.  I love hearing how everyone celebrated Halloween, how you figured out your costume, who made their own or who took them out to choose their costume.  I just get a kick out of Halloween!!! Please share  your favourite Halloween memories with us.  You can learn more about Halloween here.
1)  What did your family do for Halloween?
2)  Was your Mom (or Dad) the home made costume maker or did you get to pick your costume out at the store?
3)  Looking back at the various costumes you wore over the years, which one was your favorite? 
4)  What kind of bag did you take Trick-or-Treating?
5)  Now that you're not a "kid" anymore, do you still enjoy Halloween?  Do you give out candy or do you take your own kids/nephews/nieces/ neighborhood kids out trick-or-treating?
6)  What's your favorite part of Halloween?
7)  Are you wearing a costume to work today? Tell us about it and post a picture if you can! 

Well, I hope you enjoyed my questions this month.  Happy Halloween everyone, to all of you who celebrate it.  Thanks for playing along.  I'll leave you with a picture I took of my son, this is the first time we've carved pumpkins since he was very little.  It's my newest favorite picture.

 

Getting to Know You Day: Ghosts, are you a believer?

Hello again everybody? It's been a little quiet on this website lately, so quiet, it's Spoooky!!!  Groovyholly here again and since it's October, season of ghouls and goblins, I decided to do something a little off the wall for GTKY day and thought we'd delve into the paranormal! I've always been a firm believer in the spirit world, I never could understand how you could just not be here when you died. My mother being a very wise soul taught me to believe, she encouraged me to question what others thought of as Poppycock and rubbish, and she related stories of many other cultures who believe in the afterlife and spirits that still walked the earth.  I've had quite a few encounters that made me go "hmmmmm" or just down right scared me out of my wits!  I also found this cool website dedicated to ghosts and the paranormal.  I sincerely hope you'll play along today, after all, it is the season!
1)  Did you grow up in a household that believed in ghosts and spirits?
2)  Growing up, did you attend camp where you told ghost stories around the camp fire or were you one who found scary movies when you were in high school?  What intrigues you most about ghost stories  or scary movies?
3)  Did your family ever have a story about a ghost/spirit that visited?  Did anyone in your family ever see a ghost?
4)  Have you ever been anywhere that you felt a strange presence you couldn't explain?
5)  What's the scariest or spookiest thing that's ever happened to you?
6)  Have you ever known anyone who was not a believer suddenly have something happen to them that changed their mind?

You can find my answers here.  Have a spooky week!

Getting to Know You Day: Tried and True Remedies

Hi everyone, it's groovyholly here hosting another week of getting to know you day here at CaC.  Here in the Northern Hemisphere, things are cooling down and we're getting ready for the big chill, aka Winter! Usually with winter come colds, flus, over eating, over indulging (think Christmas and New Year's!), and just that run down, winter blues!  I'm fortunate to be very healthy (knock wood) but I usually come down with a cold or I just get run down, tired and sniffly. My tried and true remedy has always been tea. My Mum and I are from the school of "tea cures everything so drink lots of it."  Tea has always worked wonders for me, not just any tea, but the wonderful echinacea or even rose hip tea (rose hips are very high in Vitamin C) or the lovely blend for those pesky sore throats "throat comfort".   I'm also a firm believer in getting enough rest!  Women tend to be overachievers, so when our body is feeling low, we must relent and give it rest! Also, don't forget the healing power of a nice warm bath (throw some Epsom salts in there to take out the toxins in your body too)  I'm a girl who can appreciate modern medicine, but I also like to take a look at alternative medicine as well, especially since acupuncture has worked wonders for my headaches!  We all have some tried and true recipes for healing, so I'd like to hear all about them. Maybe we can learn something and keep those nasty germs at bay this winter! 

1)  What's your favorite form of therapy for when you've got a bug?
2)  Did your mother/father/grandmother/grandfather have a "cure" for certain ailments?
3)  How do you keep yourself healthy?  What special measures do you take to ensure your good health?
4)  Are there any methods of healing you've heard about that you'd like to try?
5)  Have you considered or done anything that your family/friends thought was wacky?
6)  What's one way you pamper yourself or a loved one when they're feeling under the weather? (Do you make chicken noodle soup? Grilled cheese? Let them watch tv in bed?)
7)  What helpful advice do you have for staying healthy?

I'll post my answers tomorrow, it's very late and I'm really tired.   Have fun. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Getting to Know You Day: Aromatherapy

Hello again everyone, it's me, groovyholly, your host this month for Getting to Know You day.  I got to thinking after my last entry and questions and wondered if anyone has ever really thought about the role that scents and aromas play in our lives.  I can remember my Mum telling me that our sense of smell was our most powerful of all our senses. I found this article here about using scents to help the quality of life for Alzheimer patients. I am fascinated with the power of scents and have always been able to recall wonderful memories simply by catching a whiff of a comforting scent, scientists are really starting to catch on to the power of scents and memories.  I worked with a young man who had lost his sense of smell in a motor cycle accident and recalled him saying he rarely ate, he had no appetite since he lost his sense of smell.  He often said food had no taste without being able to smell it.  How would we function without our sense of smell?  I think we overlook this very significant sense when we think of all of our senses. So today's questions focus on how powerful our sense of smell is and what memories and sensations are evoked when we catch the scent that brings us back to childhood.

1)  Throughout childhood and even adulthood certain people always smelled different to us, what scents remind you of a loved one?
2)  Are there any scents that remind you of a special place or time in your life?
3)  What are some comforting smells for you?
4)  Do you use any form of aromatherapy in your home or throughout the day?
5)  What scents evoke the most powerful memories for you?
6)  What are some of your favorite scents/smells?
7)  If you had to describe yourself as a scent (or combination), what scents would you be?

Well, hopefully those questions got you thinking and maybe reminiscing a little bit too.  My answers are posted here. See you next week.

Getting to Know You Day: Creating

Greetings fellow bloggers! It's me, groovyholly, here hosting GTKY day.  I am participating in ArtSoMoFo this year and am having so much fun. I am a total paper addict and I love playing with glue, markers, pens, anything you can write or draw with and it got me to thinking what exactly "art" is to me and how I am inspired to keep on doing it and to try new things all the time.  I consider everyone an artist, it takes a lot of effort to running a household, packing the school lunches, getting everything ready for supper on time, but what charges your batteries?  What things to you do just for you?  I want to know how you reach inside of you and find the energy to create your own little master piece each day. I find blogging fascinating as there are so many different kinds and reasons to blog.  Let me hear why/how/when you create!  Go out there and be creative. I'll post tomorrow, it's late, I'm tired!
1)  Do you do something creative every day? If not, do you wish you could?
2)  Where do your ideas come from? Are you inspired by others art, music, your children?
3)  What is your favourite art form?  Why does it call to you?
4)  What is one art form you long to try? What holds you back from trying it?
5)   Are you the type of person that concentrates on one thing at a time or do you have many projects started that you are trying to finish?
6) Do you belong to any creative communities, swap groups, yahoo groups that encourage creativity/art?
7)  Is there a group of friends in your community that you get together with to help each other out with your art?
8)  What is the most important reason you create?
I look forward to seeing your answers.  Thanks for playing along.

Inspiring Words

Ok, I'll be the first to admit it: I'm a Quote addict.

I love quotes. I write in and highlight my books, and I collect quote in Word files on my computer. I even, and I'm not exagerting here, use a quote book as my devotional sometimes.

The thing is, I'm truly motivated by the lives of others, and I find quotes to be a powerful source of learning, growth, and inspiration. There was a time when what I wanted more than anything was a mentor, and yet, I never got one. Now, I think of quotes as a kind of distant mentor. The very nature of them (when they are collected and passed around) is to be a piece of distilled truth that someone else has learnt through their experience. I think almost anything can be taught with quotes.

Yes, I admit it, I'm addicted, hopelessly so. Which is why I've had the stroke of genius that is this week's Getting to Know You Day. If I ask you about your favorite quotes I'll get to be inspired by what inspires you and get some new quotes to add to my collection. (I'm a genius I tell you!)

So, what's your all time favorite quote?

Meg's Answer: Oh, this one's hard... But, I think I'd have to say this one:

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I love. I rejoice in life for it's own sake.
-- George Bernard Shaw

Which is really just a piece of a longer quote, all of which I love.

What quote inspires you? What quote have you learned the most (about yourself, the world, anything) from?

Now these are easier for me to answer. Inspiring, it may be over done but this one always gets me bouncing in my seat with a desire to act:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. --Marianne Williamson

And actually, I've learnt a lot from this one:

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. -- Viktor Frankl

Who's quotes do you always keep an eye out? Who's your guru of choice?

I don't know much about him, but George Bernard Shaw's quotes always catch my eye. I keep adding them to my collection, I've never been disappointed by what he has to say; challenged maybe, but not disappointed.

So, I shared mine, now you pass some of your gems on! Come on, I'm waiting!

Thanks for a great month folks. This has been a blast!

Till next time,
Megan Potter

What Color Are You?

After last week's deep thought I figure today we'll just have a little fun.

I can't remember where we were, but a restaurant we once ate in happened to have a card in the middle of their table with suggested "Conversation Starters" (it's a great idea don't you think) and we read through them and anwered them just for fun. There was one on there that seemed light and simple, but we were still talking about it when we got home.

I've used it for all kinds of ice breakers and conversation starters since then because I find it to be truly fun (and fascinating). When I signed up to do Getting to Know You Day it was the very first thing I thought of (and yet, we've done two weeks without resorting to it!). I figure you ladies will probably like it just as much as I did, so here it is.

If you were to be a color, what color would you be.

Now, let me lay out the rules. It's very tempting to give a pat answer: "I always wear red, so I'd be red." Or, "Purple's my favorite color, so I'd be purple." The game's no fun if all you do is pick a color that you'd like to be. No, no, it becomes a really interesting exercise when you try to pin down which color best expresses what makes you you.

So, to pick your color think about how different colors make you feel. Then pick the color whose attitude best suits your own. What color do you think best expresses the way you are in the world?

As I mentioned before, this question ended up being a long debate, and the reason had to do with me. My husband (aka Wakizashi), insisted that, were I to be a color, it would be Brown. He said that I have huge ups and downs and that brown is a color that can really very in shade and vibrancy.

Ick. Brown. Who wants to be brown? Wakizashi insisted it was a rich color (and I think he was influenced by the fact that I have brown eyes and do look good in brown - I'm not brown-haired, no matter what he says though!). I didn't want to be brown.

I, personally, thought Orange suited me very well. I still do actually (and Wakizashi probably agrees with me now). I can be both very extroverted and energetic (pumpkin orange) or introverted and isolated (soft or deep oranges); mostly though I have a lot of vibrancy either way and the color really does suit who I am. It's not my favorite color, but it expresses who I am well.

By the way, we solved our disagreement over the years as I began to feel more comfortable actually being myself and letting my natural vibrancy shine. (You might note that brown seems like a very dulled out orange after all.)

What color best expresses who you let other people see you to be?

What color best suits the real you you know is deep inside of you?

Do the colors match, or do you need to learn to be more comfortable being yourself too?

Why do you think that color expresses you well? Would your better half agree??

If you need some help, here's an article on Color Symbolism that reference a few different cultures and systems.

This is going to be fun... Come on, post already!

Till next week,
Megan Potter

More Than Skin Deep

Thanks for all the comments on last week's Getting to Know You post, it made me feel great to see that you really liked my questions. I felt even better when I saw all the thinking that went into your answers (I'm a big proponent of asking ourselves questions). I hope something great comes of it and I hope you like this week's post just as much.

Originally, I was going to post on something different, but then I started writing a few posts on my recent thoughts about beauty and I decided to let my blog (yet again) inspire this thread and so I've decided to put off my other topic (maybe next week?). Instead, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on Beauty. (If you care to read my ramblings on beauty so far you can see my posts here, here, and here.)

Let's not talk about sheer physical beauty, because frankly, there's no way to come to an agreement on that. And, who wants to have a surface conversation anyway? I want to look a little more than skin deep.

So, that said, what do you think Beauty is?

Do you believe that all women are beautiful? Why or why not?

Do you believe that YOU are beautiful? Why or Why not?

Personally, I think beauty has a lot to do with what we put out into the world around us (and of course, that's what "Beauty is more than skin deep," is referencing) and not just what people see when they look at us. Which is why I'm convinced that each of us has our own kind of beauty, and a woman who's really found hers can transcend what her exterior looks like (though, I do believe it ends up affecting our exterior too).

Do you know a woman who is truly beautiful like that? Have you ever told her so?

I think my brand of beauty has to do with other people. I love people, I love to support and encourage others, and I think I'm at my beautiful best when I'm reaching out to others. But, I know women who's art is their beauty, and others whose wise counsel is... Beauty takes all forms. What's your brand of Beauty?

Wow, this could get to be a really deep conversation if we wanted it to, but I think I'll stop there. I'm dying to hear what you all have to say, so leave a comment linking to your response or just reply in our comment section.

Till next week,
Megan Potter

Adventures in Learning

Hi, Megan here, from Flaming Renaissance ; I'm really excited to be your Getting to Know You Host for September. Honestly, I find this category a little intimidating... Can I actually think of four new topics to ask you about?? That's been bugging me ever since I volunteered to host this month.

Luckily, last week I posted over on my blog about learning, and I thought that might be a fabulous place to begin over here too. A book I was reading (The Myth of Ability) sparked a post about the myths we have when it comes to education.

(Not that we need to get into that here, but just in case you are interested the myths are that we believe people either are geniuses or they aren't - you are constrained by your genetic intellegence, and that you are born with a gift or you aren't - things like math, art, science are innate abilities that can't really be taught. Both WRONG!)

Here's the little excerpt from my blog that sparked this week's Getting to Know You:

If we were only allowed to pursue those things in life that teachers had noticed our ability to excel in I’d be doing… well, nothing. I never really excelled at anything in school. I was only ever an average student (good at learning, but not better than the others at anyone thing). Actually, I used to have a terrible complex about the fact that I wasn’t actually good at anything. (I’m still prone to compare my work to that of others and start to doubt why I (paint, write, speak, you fill in the blank) when they are so much better than me. I’m working on overcoming that, but that’s neither here nor there.)

If you believed that you could learn anything with the right teacher, what would you be learning to do? If you had the ability to become good at anything what would you do?

So, what did you excel in in school (if anything)? Do you still pursue that subject in someway or have you forgotten about it?

Do you, or have you believed in the myths about education?

If you believed you could learn anything with the right teacher, what would you like to learn to do?

If you really believed you could become a genius at anything just by putting your mind to it, what would you put your mind to?

What have you always wished you understod better, or wished you could learn about?

I love to learn new things; I am an information junkie! I'm actually studying aromatherapy at the moment (and a few other things for my business too), but what I really want to learn and have been holding back on is painting with acrylics. I've taken watercolor classes, and am pretty good at them, but acrylics handle differently and I just can't seem to get my paints to do what I want them to. So, if I was going to believe that I could learn anything I set my mind to, I suppose I'd be out searching for an acrylics class and really pursuing that.

Your turn! Make sure that you leave a link to your blog post so that we can all read about your adventures in learning.

Faith & Hopes...Getting to know you day

Greetings scattered with warm energies and millions of poppies***

How are you today?
Summer is coming back a little here, we really have had a weird summer here in France.
Not very warm. Well at least not here in the north.
So today for the Getting to know you day, I was thinking about Hopes and Faith.

Thus here are my questions:

1) Tell me about Faith, your different kind of faith?
what it means to you?

2) are you rather religious or mystic/spiritual? what does it bring to your life?

3) Do you trust and have faith in your self or do you have this tendency to abandon your self, to procrastinate and give up because of this lack of faith maybe?

4)Do you believe in parallell realities? how would you see them?how do they show for you?

5) Do you believe in Past, do you sometimes feel echoes of these life?

6)do you believe in things that can not be proved?

7) Love is about Faith and Hopes, tell us why you are with the person you are at the moment, what are your hopes with them for tomorrow, projects etc and how do you express and show your faith in them?

8)Tell me about a time you have lost hopes? how did you react?

9)what do you do when you see another one losing hopes and faith in them in life and everything, friends or complete stranger? how do you deal with that?

10) if Hopes was a metaphore or poem what would it be according to you?

Many blessings and little pixie faery smiles , be well dear creative beings!

Helenina