May your conversations with the children in your life about tough topics be candid, courageous and transformative; that future parents they may be naturally are the same with their children. Restoring connection and balance will alter the choices future generations make.

It is about talking straight with kids about underage drinking and drug use.

When it comes to talking about risky behavior and young children what is the bottomline?

If we seek to change future generations choices around underage drinking and using drugs, we must embrace being honest about our own experiences.  Parents had questions for years that Jeff Wolfsberg addressed candidly at presentations. Now they have been captured in a way that the message and wisdom can reach more parents and the communities that raise children toward adulthood and making better choices.

Imagine being asked the same questions by intelligent people (in this case parents attending School or Community presentations) with children who deserve to equipped with the skills and fortitude to make the better decision in a tough situation.

Kids are sponges who also come with wisdom locked within that our parenting of them either draws out or suppresses. Generations before now and generations to come will talk about tough topics the way they experienced these very conversations themselves. We do what we know more often than we try new approaches.

If you have a child of school age, or if you mentor children, inevitably they will be faced with “opportunities” to either experience drinking prematurely or pass on it (because they say with conviction, No Thank You.)

I am the mother of a Middle Schooler who is acutely aware. In co-authoring and editing this book, I found myself stunned at first that parents (for years) have been asking Drug Education Specialist, Jeff Wolfsberg certain questions that I would never need to ask.

I knew already how I was going to handle certain Rites of Passage and conversations with my daughter, who is very aware of the potential for being encouraged to experiment as early as middle school. I am transparent with her as much as it is appropriate and my language changes as she grows and evolves. She though has always been a watcher of what I do and how I am being. She has been given truthful attempts on my part to explain what might be going on and what can be done to do right by one’s self first.

When she was in fifth grade she was told by a child in her school with an older sibling that in Middle School they offer you drugs on the school campus. This scared her and thankfully she shared this experience with me. I knew that “Max” who attended our Unity Church was a Middle Schooler at the very school she would enter the following year. I encouraged her to ask him if what she had been told was true. And she did. He assured her that it didn’t happen that way but if it did to go tell a teacher.

She believed him and relaxed and began again to look forward to Middle School.  So far so good and she is having a stellar year.

My commitment to candor and transparency on tough topics is what I give her BECAUSE in my own family history, many secrets were kept to protect me. I choose to do what is essentially the exact opposite, as I attempt to stay the Middle Way and not over-correct.

Coming April 2012. What is within?

This slender volume represents the collective wisdom of Drug Education Specialist, Jeff Wolfsberg, who is committed to inspiring parents to dialogue courageously with their kids and the communities that co-rear them. Parents are not the only adults raising children to adulthood. School time has a huge impact on how kids think. Teachers are mentors too and for much more than academics.

All children are my children and what I want for them is a vibrant life that is a full expression of their potential and awesomeness.

Young minds need honest counsel and actively engaged parents and other mentors.

If you are a parent who doubts their best instincts and doesn’t have the ability to talk straight to your child (who sees or senses all that is going on anyway) I WHOLE HEARTEDLY recommend this book. (I am honored to be part of the writing of this book due out in April).

Recommended reading from the Blog at Jeff Wolfsberg and Associates:

What Do We Tell Our Teens About Our Own Histories with Substances?

I crafted my profile thoughtfully, hoping to attract like-minded TED-sters. We are not limited these days to the people in our immediate physical communities and I invite my readers to see that for the gift it is.  We live in an age that allows for us to have friends and colleagues around the globe and to live more than one life in our life time:

One TED  Talk presenter got my undivided attention for the first hour. Sarah Kay of Project V.O.I.C.E

http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_how_many_lives_can_you_live.html

How Many Lives Can You Live?

If you have a desire to be a writer then I have one simple piece of counsel.

Write. And find the courage to share it.

One comment by a John Smith on this TED Talk struck me for it could have been my words:

The only way to learn to write is to write. There is no substitute. There will never be. You can’t sit back and THINK about writing, you have to write. It’s the same with everything else. Here’s the catch, tho. Some people are born with an instinct about what sounds right. They write (or play music or do mathematics or hang dry wall) and that instinct gets stronger. I don’t know Sarah but I can guarantee that she spent hours and hours reading and writing from the time she was little. Though she has found her ‘voice’, I can also guarantee that she’s a voracious reader and writer even now. There’s another thing everyone needs to know about people who are good at what they do: they HAVE to do it. Sarah probably HAS to write. Something in them compels them to do it. When you’re not compelled to write  you may put it off.

To have a voice you need to spend your 10,000 hours just like everyone else.

Hence, he the original commentator suggested reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outlier (on The Reason for Success) over doing The Artist Way.  I recommend reading Malcolm Gladwell anytime AND embracing The Artists Way process for it supports developing confidence in our writing skills and stretches us creatively in the process. I concur it is magickal to be a voracious reader and writer!

AND I would reiterate that writers of every level capture the raw moments experienced via spontaneous writing and then step away from editing it. When you return to this writing, you will find “coal” that could be transformed into a “diamond.”

First pass is best unedited. Therein is the pure and raw feelings and thoughts. Then let it sit some and return to edit to the piece that can be healing for you and helpful for others.

We must remember we are humans having seemingly individual experiences BUT in truth, we are never the only one feeling what we are feeling.

When we share our experiences people come forward to say, “me too.”

Bottomline from this lifelong student of writing and the spoken word: The more permission/freedom we give ourselves to capture our napkin notes as life is lived, the better a writer and storyteller we will become.

It cannot be avoided when we practice the craft with enthusiasm, commitment, passion and an open mind seeking to improve as much as we can. Good writing and art comes in many forms.

The question is which suits you best as a medium for authentic self-expression?

I pledge to Cultivate the Poet.

I pledge to Cultivate the Writer.

I pledge to Cultivate the Artist.

I pledge to Cultivate the Creative Thinker that I Am.

And that these stumbles are a gift is quite frankly hard to hear, feel and feel deeply~ at least at first.

Yes, I know logically, to adopt an attitude that bad things happening to good people can be turned into an advantage, fine, just let me grieve and have my breakdown (with some unconditional support, please) before you expect me to get up for the eighth time after falling down seven. My knees and palms are bruised and need a rest.

For this split second, I feel like one of those kids who should be on the “nice” list of Santa’s at Christmas, but I some how wound up on the “not-so-nice” list and like Charlie Brown, got only rocks in my Halloween Candy Bag.

What gives? How am I supposed to be upbeat when there is a history of a downpour and I have again left the house without an umbrella.

So what is an eternally hopeful soul to do?

Is it okay if I cry a while? Shall I shred a phonebook that never did a mean deed to me?

******************************************************************************

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. You tell me. (You always tell me this.)

Okay, I will. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. (And I feel Spirit as a warm wind enveloping me like that soft fleece blanket I cherished as a babe and was unwilling to give up as a growing child for to me it was forever soft despite the wear and tear of endless use.)

Even when my body feels in chaos inside and my mind takes a wander down to the shadowy side, and my heart feels for a moment so weighted down, Spirit appears with wings and warmth and ways to lift the heaviest of heartaches.

I’ll see the crisis of my own or of the friend as the gift it can be in time.

I remind myself I Create My Reality and Angels Beat a path to my door to support my vision.  I have remembered to ask for help and be grateful.

I  AM once again Gratitude my Self.

“It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship.
Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment,
it will not be created for years or even generations.”

Khalil Gibran

Consider this quote if you will; entertain me a while, please and say it once substituting the word “creativity” or “self-expression” and sit with that a moment. This quote found at the Quotes page of British Astrologer Jonathan Cainer, leapt from the page when I scanned the submitted quotes. (I have a quote of my own to submit that I will share at the end of this so stay tuned in, please.)

Consider also a VERY simple concept, eloquently presented by author Laura Day in the book of the same name: The Circle: How the Power of a Single Wish Can Change Your Life.

“The Circle is an energetic state of being that allows us to connect with ourselves, with one another, and with the transformative powers of the universe. In The Circle, what you perceive, what you conceive, and what you create are one–and you are at one with the infinite energy and possibility of creation.”

Place in “The Circle” the very ideas that you can, you will, you must and you will be well-received, successful, accountable, productive and any other “wish” that is your fancy. Let people know you are open to growing, changing and adopting attitudes that serve your highest good and others. Ask for help and support. Keep a journal. Honor the ritual of speaking your “wish” as though it already existed. Offer a vibrant, specific, positive, passionate picture of what is.

Watch the magick happen.

And consider…Engaging a champion be it a fellow writer or someone professionally who you will listen to when they offer suggestions. We grow when we stretch ourselves. It is only natural.

And about my addition to Jonathan Crainer’s collection of quotes:

Love is omni-inclusive, progressively exquisite, understanding and tender and compassionately attuned to other than self. –Buckminster Fuller

Attunement with the forces all about us in the Universe at large is what it is all about for this Creator/Manifestor. What will it be about for you?

If you have arrived here now, it is for a reason.

My vow to myself and all who follow this particular blog is a longer bit of expressing my gratitude and wonder.

So, I invite you subscribe to the blog knowing that daily as I start my day, there will be a “reflection” or a wish and a prayer for the readers.

Sometimes a canvas wider than 400 characters is needed. Subscribe if you are called.

Visit as you are curious.

Blessings.

Deborah Drake
Co-founder. Writer. Dreamer. Catalyst.

I invite you….

Take a deep breath, close your eyes, open your hearts wide and take stock of ALL you have to be grateful for.

And knowing that how will you make a difference not just today but tomorrow.

We are in a state of holiday bliss and family connection whenever we CHOOSE it.

Imagine it is simple and so IT is.

And for the people we miss the most,  cast a long warm virtual embrace and see them feeling it wherever they are.

Your BELIEFS become your THOUGHTS;
Your THOUGHTS become your WORDS;
Your WORDS become your ACTIONS;
Your ACTIONS become your HABITS;
Your HABITS become your VALUES;
Your VALUES become your DESTINY.

…and use the power of words written, spoken, felt and sensed to describe, visualize, realize all of the above.

It’s been way too long since I wrote and I realized why today. I am not giving myself the freedom to simply express my Self at my most spontaneous best.

Then a question was asked by a friend of mine, who works in service to children day in and out. Margit Crane of Gifted Teens, Gifted Parents, who is herself a counselor and coach to Teens with ADD and their families.

She posed a question to her community today, and I am in that pond so I answered the following question:

What is the most important thing you can give your kids?

Resilience?

Emotional Security?

A Good Education?

Financial Security?

I ultimately chose one but commented: “Hard to select one only…I’m drawn to resilience as the foundation for having all the others in time. But then I think well that is grounded in emotional security. The seeds of resilience lie in emotional security, yes, that is it.”

To the children in the world and those nearest and dearest to me I compose the following heartfelt and spontaneous affirmations for you and your parents to use as often as you will and can:

Child of mine, may you know deep love from the moment you are conceived.

Child of mine, may you grow to be emotionally secure and unstoppable in your creative expression always.

Child of mine, may you be supported through all stages of your growth and development.

I could go on and create affirmations for you all day long, oh children in my life and in this world at large.

Bottomline: May you know love and feel supported to fly from this nest I created for you long before you were born. And may you sense the presence of love all the days of your being of the earth.

What are the affirmations you tell the children in your life? And remember, these will always apply to the child of every age in you as well!

No time like the present!

Validation

Watch daily and as often as needed.