Comfort is the foundation for creativity and creativity is the flower
that gives off the fragrance of service.

Dear Honey Bees,

I'm on a bee kick--from giving myself the nickname Jenny Bee to collecting bee images to use in my collages to watching their fat little bodies loving my lavender and Oriental poppies. I love the idea of sipping the nectar out of summer, and spreading life while I be (instead of do); it's a good metaphor, yes?

Below you'll find bits and pieces I wanted you to know about; think of this as a sample communication from me as a I find my way to a new form of staying in touch.

warmly,
Jenny Bee

GOODIES

A Fr*ee Buzz into Summer with a Life Organizer tele-class. An interactive one hour on using The Life Organizer to create rest, recreation, and renewal during your upcoming summer. (For those of you who live down under, please join us as you can use the same ideas for your winter).

Thursday, June 14th
5:00 pm Pacific/8:00 pm Eastern
Fr**ee

The focus of this fast-paced, light-hearted and practical call will include how to:

• Use the five step life organizing process to help overcome "choice overwhelm" and learn to choose between the many interests and possibilities you want to sample (and overcome the deer in the headlights do nothing syndrome)
• Dissolve the "I have to take care of everyone else during the summer" blues
• Identify what true rest is for you and how much you need

We will record the call but we will only send the link to you for the mp3 recording if you register! Register and join us, live or later via mp3. You will automatically be sent the bridge info.

Please do join us -- I want to hear how you are using the Life Organizer; please bring any questions you have; we'll make time to address them.

"You took me from struggling to write for 15 minutes to happily writing for hours every day--it's a miracle!" Isabel Gaddes, 2006 Writer's Spa Participant

We have one space in a Double Room in the Writer's Spa July 28th-August 3rd, 2007. This will go fast so please email deb@jenniferlouden.com ASAP with your writing sample.

Get all the details here.

WRITING NAKED TELE-CALL

We'd had our clothes on -- and we will in St. Thomas. Listen in while Michael Neill and I share some of the ideas and energy we'll impart in our upcoming writer's intensive. Download the mp3 recording here.

"The retreat was a remarkable learning experience. I clarified my aspirations, learned techniques for checking in with myself, and developed compassion toward other women.

It was also a wonderful combination of your workshop and what Kripalu offers: sauna, whirlpool, yoga, the Women's African Drummer performance, communal sleep quarters, and good food.

The weekend was a turning point for me. On a daily basis, I am better able to know how I am feeling, to listen to my body, to relax and accept the moment, and to be gentler with myself, and as a result, to others near me. I am much more sensitive to the benefits of taking good care of myself, not in terms of vanity but in terms of fulfilling a greater potential of being alive.

Thank you for the wonderful work you do." Laraine

Have you been focused on taking care of and supporting others? Are you deeply tired? Come soak up some authentic self-nurturing with me at Kripalu. Stop your busy life, enjoy a deep breath, and gain some perspective on what is working and what isn't. Join a community of like-minded women to experience real rest and comfort, reenergize body and soul, listen to your desires, and reconnect to the spark of your divine feminine wisdom.

Please feel free to email with me with questions: jennifer@comfortqueen.com

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
While I admit to getting lost in the names and dates at times, it's also hard to put down. This is not the story we were told as kids--so much I never knew!

The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Riso and Russ Hudson
This book was in the trunk of my car when Christine Kane mentioned it--and I'm so glad she did. I've never given much attention to the Enneagram but this book frames the system a way to know your personality so that you can free yourself more easily.

Dancing with Joy, 99 poems collected by Roger Housden
Any of his collections make me happy -- he has helped me discover poets I would have never read.

Would the world change if we all danced together -- in the supermarket, the streets, our children's schools? Is it one of the answers to our desire to live in a sustainable way?

Read more here.

We gather in the town square
Tentative, shy, we don't meet each other's eyes
men loosen ties, put down calculators
women slip off shoes;
Children don't have to do anything to prepare

The music begins and
we move, clumsy at first, not willing to feel
the day, our grief, the ever-present rushing doing have-tos that get
lodged between shoulderblade and hip bone, vertebrae and tendon
The beat builds, children dash and weave between us, accompanied by a
dog or
two

We sigh, accept and become
breath artists
dance divas
devotees of play

Our eyes meet; we merge in sweaty freedom
moving life into being.