Inspiration

Nature’s Message: Inspiration and Hope are All Around Us

Erin Keane

When we take the time to see nature around us, we can learn deep truths about life. I live in the Northeast. The changes in the weather from one day to the next is a complete mystery this year….You never know what the day may bring. This can be true in our life too…we may wake up and expect the day to be one way, and it brings something completely different or unexpected. But when this happens, we have the choice to embrace the opportunity to be inspired by the experience or we can choose to completely miss it. This morning, I looked out my doorstep and saw this image in nature speaking to me.

This image is ironic in some ways. It’s the image of snow embracing a plant that has died for the season, against the backdrop of new life ‘springing forth.’ Walking out my door I could have just seen the snow, and the decaying plant, but instead, the green…the image of inspiration, and HOPE, caught my eye, and thus, changed the way I woke up to my day.

I felt

HOPE: New beginnings are just around the corner, for each of us, if we just open our eyes and take the time to look for them.

INSPIRATION: if nature can break through the winter and live, then we can break through those things that hold us back and LIVE our lives!

My invitation to you:

1.Take some time today to pause and look at life around you.

2. Note what you see.

3. Let yourself feel the inspiration within you.

4. Put the inspiration into your day and see where it leads you.

5. Write down what inspired you and where it lead you.

Blessings on your day,

Bella Bleue

Copyright, the blog, “Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life”

Comedy

Cat in Tub: The Unexpected Moments in Life that Heal Us

Erin Keane

So this morning, my cat, Max decided to visit after my shower. He was sitting outside the door “Meowing” and when I opened it he jumped right past me, and into the wet tub. So whoever said cat’s don’t like water was wrong. I have proof that some do, including my kitty: Max.

Sometimes the unexpected moments in life can make you smile. Max did that for me today. Even more unexpected than having him in the tub, was that he actually waited for me to take photos of him, as though he wanted to be on my blog today and make his mark. It’s quite possible he was watching me write about the dog outside in the snow, and got jealous. And thus, wanted to be the center of attention. Whatever his reason, he made the blog today.

And most importantly he reminded me that sometimes the little things in life, like an unexpected moment of a cat jumping in the tub, can make us feel really good; and for a moment heal us.

If we let these kinds of moments

stay with us for the day,

we actually will be happier

and our day will be better.

I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow, and that something unexpected happens that makes you smile. Be well the whole day through.

Blessings,Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All Rights Reserved.


Healing

“Healing” Winter Snow

Erin Keane

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My husband walked in the door…”Did you see the snow?” “No!” I hadn’t even realized that it was snowing. That’s the wonder of a winter night. Here I am all warmed up in my house; the curtains are pulled shut; my cat is snoring on the bed beside my computer.

It’s quiet… And yet there is so much going on outside in the world. The white snowflakes are falling quickly, quietly, softly on the earth; changing the sights around, and leaving their mark. No matter how quiet the snow is, we find it. We can touch it and feel it; we can taste it; we can hear it crunch under our feet; we can see how it’s transformed the world and yet it is so quiet when it arrives.

This is what a moment of healing awe is like for me. It’s that profound moment of something unexpected, yet so wonderfully welcomed that it literally transforms something in you and awakens something special. This awakening happened when I threw on my boots, grabbed my camera, called the dog and ran out into the back yard.

“Pause!”

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Take in a breath…shhhh….listen do you hear it? The snow is whispering in my ear: ‘I am here.’ Yes something greater than me is here.”

“Stop.”

The dog runs by jumping playfully back and forth around in circles. White snow on his little black nose. And I’m back to reality.

Blessings, Erin

Copyright, text &images, the blog, Bella Bleue

Healing, Relax

Leave worry for tomorrow

Erin Keane

So last night I couldn’t sleep. It was one of those nights when I had my mind worrying from one thought to another.

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Every time I told myself to just relax something else would pop in my mind.
I bet we’ve all had nights like this!
I don’t even remember how I fell asleep but I somehow did an hour and a half after I put my head on the pillow.

What do you do to help you fall asleep when you are being a worry-wart?

I found two ideas of wisdom I wanted to share. I’m certainly trying to remind myself of them:
1. From Martha Beck, “Take a Load off”, in the Oprah Magazine. Martha Beck shares,
“Instead of fretting about getting everything done, why not simply accept that being alive means having things to do?”

Okay, I’ll work on accepting that I have things to do in life just because,

BUT

That doesn’t make the worry disappear..
So I found this quote:

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of it’s strength.– Corrie Ten Boom, Clippings from My Notebook–

“Worry empties today of its strength.”
Okay so I get the formula now:
To be strong in myself I need to let go of tomorrow’s worries today, and just accept that each day there will always be something to do.

Sweet dreams tonight.

Blessings, Erin

Copyright, text, the blog, Bella Bleue

Relax

Relax & Read

Erin Keane

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So tonight I’m doing something I don’t take much time for. I’m reading a novel. Jumping into the lives of other people and letting my imagination take flight. I’m reading “The Help”. Yeah I know I might be a little out if date…I haven’t even seen the movie yet! But I like a good book every now and again, even if everyone else has read it. So relax, put your feet up, grab a good book and read!

‘Reading can be healing for the soul.’

Blessings, Erin

Copyright, the blog, Bella Bleue

Discovering Strength, Healing

Coffee Healing: A New Flavour

Erin Keane
Healing Bleue Coffee

So I’ve started reading “O” The Oprah Magazine, and I’m really truly enjoying it! I am always searching for healing, as you know, and so often the articles touch on just that. The thought to leave you with today is from Roma Downey. She says,

Pausing between stimulus and response allows you to show up in your life.–The first of Five things she knows for sure.

Hum, showing up in life? I’m not sure if I fully got what she was saying, but I think what she was leaving us with, is find something in your life that breaks up the beginning and the end of your story, your moment, your day. She shares about her wonderful family ritual of drinking tea, whenever they had something to share with each other. So when her dad passed away, she made a cup of tea, and it helped her pause in the moment. The tea reconnected her to her father, her family, and at the same time centered her.

We all need that “something” maybe a cup of tea, maybe a song, maybe a prayer…that takes us out of the extreme and puts us back into the ordinary, the safe place, our comfort zone.

My something I guess would be having coffee with my husband. It does center both of us. It is a happy time of day. It’s a moment in time that’s us.

Coffee Healing

What helps you feel reconnected to life when you are stressed, overwhelmed, or caught up in something that’s not really you?

What helps you Pause, so that you can reconnect with yourself?

Blessings, Erin

COPYRIGHT, The Blog, Bella Bleue

Healing

Blog, Eat with Love & Heal Your Body

Erin Keane

About three weeks ago a friend posted on Facebook an article from the Huffington Post. I actually took the time to read it and really enjoyed it. This was a strange occurrence for me; for the last two years I haven’t had much time to pay attention to anything other than making sure that I kept breathing, & that my son and husband were taken care of each day. I’ve officially been a stay-at-home mom for four months this Tuesday. It took me about three months to de-stress from my very hectic life. Finally at 3 1/2 months I developed the courage to begin to write this blog, and now I’m addicted to speaking on this screen. I’ve found the time to read more and write more, and thus, nourish my mind and spirit more.

So today I needed to pause and focus on my body: I nourished my body by reading an article on the Huffington Post called, “Could Mindful Eating Wean us From our Bad Food Habits?” by Harbir Kaur, a UK science teacher. She states, “Allow your senses to be electrified by something as simple as a slice of bread.” To be so focused on something like a piece of bread, to savor every single bite; to let your mouth be conscious of how the bread feels on your teeth, and your tongue to notice every flavor and texture takes a lot of intentionality. Of course it does! But who really has the time to truly enjoy what they eat? That there, is the challenge-making the time! So challege yourself: make yourself feel alive! Savor your food and enjoy it more; notice how you begin to eat healthier and thus, your body reaps the rewards of healing and wellness. Congratulations to you! You have joined celebrities such as

Oprah Winfrey as an advocate for ‘Mindful Eating.’ In fact if you are interested in this even more there is an entire organization centered around the goodness ‘Mindful Eating’ does for us:

Mindful eating has the powerful potential to transform people’s relationship to food and eating, to improve overall health, body image, relationships and self-esteem.-The Center for Mindful Eating.

Okay, so if other people are talking about this, it must mean something! Pause! “Let me take a bite of this grape. Ahhh..refreshing, crunchy, wet. sweet and a bit sour…”
So today be intentional about eating your food. Enjoy every bite. Recognize what a wonderful gift it is to be able eat food. Take the time to pause and reflect on what an amazing creation your body is: You open your mouth, take a bite, and your body knows just what to do with the food you eat: giving you energy for the day ahead, healing your wounds, bringing you back to a childhood moment of something good…all happening in moments without any effort from you other than eating your food.

Today be intentional in your life, and see what wonderful things may happen! Heal your body!

Blessings, Erin

Copyright , the blog, Bella Bleue