Serendipity

Happy New Year to you all and welcome to the
first Joyinmovement e-letter of 2007.

A few words of encouragement this month followed by
2 announcements, so here we go.

This photo was taken a few weeks ago at mile 5 when
I participated in the Honolulu Marathon. I liked this woman’s spirit,
appreciated the sentiment and thought of ALL of us as we continually
journey towards finding the Joy in our lives.  I was
anticipating sharing more of my marathon experience in this first letter
of the new year until I had a “foggy” experience on New Year’s Day, and
I’ve chosen to write about that instead.

One of my favorite things to do is to put on a
small fanny pack and take off on foot to explore some trail, whether it
be an urban trail or more woodsy one. On New Year’s Day I took off for
what turned out to be a 2 1/2 hour adventure of hiking, running, hill
climbing, and some Yoga by the water’s edge. I have used this mostly
urban, fairly hilly area for the past 19 years, so I have seen it during
all different times of the year—never as I saw it on this day,
though. The path runs alongside the San Francisco Bay and on New Year’s
Day at 11:30 AM it was TOTALLY fogged in. I could see ahead of me for a
few feet and I was right by the water’s edge, which i knew from memory,
yet i was surrounded by fog.

As I observed my thoughts during the early parts of
the hike, I couldn’t help but notice how amazed yet uncomfortable I
felt about all this fog. I had, after all, come for the spectacular
views, the sunshine and the breeze off the water. These conditions were a
large part of what was going to make this my special first outing of
the year! And metaphorically I didn’t like being in all this fog, didn’t
like not seeing where I was going and what was in front of me.  How
interesting it was when I started to simply observe what the voices in
my head were saying. Observing in amusement rather than judgement this
“plan” of mine.

Now, I am someone who enjoys serendipity. I think
if we all look at our lives we will find those times when our “plans”
took a back seat to serendipity and we were thrilled and grateful that
they did. There’s a saying, “Act as if everything depends on you and
pray as if everything depends on God.”  One interpretation
of this might be that of course as human beings we make plans, have
goals and are action oriented. However, coupled with that, I would like
to suggest that we create a place in our lives for quiet time, the
“unplanned” time so that we can listen and appreciate that which offers
itself to us when we allow ourselves to open to serendipity.

Of course, once I let go of being so fussed out by
all this fog, I had an incredibly wonderful outing. I appreciated the
fog for having shown me how controlling I can be and providing me this
time to reflect upon some very important and deep ideas about how I move
through life.  And wouldn’t you know it………as the fog
started to clear after about an hour or so, I wanted it to come back!!!

So as you begin 2007 with what I’m sure are some
exciting plans, please allow for the unexpected pleasures………when
someone says, “Hey let’s go dancing or let’s go kayaking,” don’t be so
quick to say no if it’s not one of your “regular” joys-in-movement.
Who knows what’s out there for each one of us to explore and
embrace in 2007?

As for my announcements:

1—On March 3rd and 4th I will be
in Portland, Oregon teaching ChiRunning/Walking Workshops.  I
am being hosted by two enthusiastic friends of Joyinmovement and am
looking forward to it.  Each year I do a fair amount of
traveling and teaching, so if you know anyone in the northwest who would
be interested in attending, have them contact me.  I lived
in Portland in the early 1980’s and still have family and friends
there. If you have never been there it is one of our finest cities so
come and make a holiday out of it.

2—I am excited to announce that the 2nd Annual
Yoga and ChiRunning/Walking Retreat will take place on June 29th-July 1.
We are returning to Santa Sabina Retreat Center for the weekend. We had
a wonderful time last year and I am looking forward to hosting it again
this year.  My co-host this year will be Steve Mackel.
Steve is a ChiRunning Coach and triathlete from southern
California and I am proud to call him my friend and colleague.  You
can find out more about Steve from his link on my website.  I
will of course mention more about the retreat in future e-letters—it
is never to early to sign on though, as we will only be able to host 25
people.

In closing, I know you all think I go to Honolulu
solely for the marathon, fantastic ocean swimming and even more
fantastic sushi!  Well, I won’t say you are incorrect.
However, I also spend time writing about what I call my “year in
review”.  2006 was a banner year for Joyinmovement.
I was busier than ever teaching and providing coaching and
training services for many students.  I had time in Hawaii
to think about all the questions, needs and concerns that people talk
with me about and how best to address them through the Joyinmovement
forum. I will be writing more about this in February and have come up
with some pretty exciting ideas…………not to worry though……I
have left plenty of room for serendipity to come a knocking!

As always I appreciate all the support, e-mails and
Joy-full stories and look forward to spending another year sharing our
lives.

Shelli