Insight | Bonnie Barnard - Part 13

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Girl Scouts Take the Stand of Inclusion

While on my morning walk listening to Beth and Friends, KEZ 99.9 fm, on my iHeart Radio app, disc jockey Beth played a portion of the YouTube video, below. It is a talk given by a 14 year old Girl Scout advocating a boycott of Girl Scout Cookies because they allow transgendered individuals in the troops. Beth’s response was something along the lines of “I will buy MORE cookies this year because I want to support a compassionate organization.” I agree with her. It would great for hate toward others unlike us to end in our generation. Listening with an open heart to the full YouTube video I remember how sheltered and naive I was at her age. And, I applaud this young woman for having her voice heard and making an argument utilizing the written tenants of the Scouts. Bravo. However, the lack of understanding and compassion spoke louder than her argument. The bigger question, I believe, is not how do we extricate individuals who are different than...

A New Year, A New Theme

What is your theme for 2012? Every year I choose a theme for the new year. Why? It becomes my year’s anchor and guide. Instead of waddling through a year, I have purpose. At the completion of the next year, God-willing, I can look back through a lens and see my life with a given perspective. My themes usually are about calling forth an inner quality of being. In 2009, my theme was Self Care. 2010 I was “birthing my Soul.” 2011 was different as my focus was on a skill or profession. I was cultivating The Writer. To do this, I became a member, then secretary, of the Phoenix Writer’s Club. I could be found in writer’s workshops, such as Stella Pope Duarte’s workshop Drawing Down the Muse. Or at Paradise Valley Community College taking a creative writing or magazine article writing class. As a guest writer for a local blog, I wrote weekly about the Soul for liwi.com. I started my own blog soulfulresources.com which then turned...

Here Comes Claus in Old Town Scottsdale

My daughter visited over the Thanksgiving Holiday, and like any good mother I brought her to Old Town Scottsdale for an afternoon. As she was in a store, I stepped outside following my ears. I was hearing something which sounded like Christmas singing, guitar playing and a horse neighing. An odd combination, or so I thought. Until I saw it, yep, you guessed it, I’m sure … Cowboy Claus. This got me thinking, as it often does about non-traditional jobs. Work one creates out of a passion and a calling. His style is similar to Sister Wendy’s style who gave my entrepreneurial drive juice for many years. I would catch myself saying something like “if Sister Wendy can be an art critic with a large following, then I can design my life to work for me.” Yes, I could watch Sister Wendy for hours, as many do. She sells videos, books and her popular show is seen on PBS. Sister Wendy is a contemplative. She works two hours a...

Recognizing the Field of Plenty

In church one Sunday, sitting on a pew in the corner cubby, I meditated. I don’t recall much of anything said or music sung, I recall instead an inner question which bubbled up from inside me about half way through the service. The inquiry said “have you felt into the field of plenitude?” The answer was “no.” The question has followed me since. I have avoided states of being or fields of collective energy out of fear. Trusting has been difficult for me. Trusting is difficult for any child with a history of abuse. Letting go into Life feels like certain death. Yet, when the question of plenty arose, I knew its significance, and I was a willing student. My entire life I have been surrounded by plenty, however, I haven’t trusted myself to yield into it and know its address. To hold an address, is the key to returning to a place, whether inner or outer. The how is imbedded within the inner state of location. Location, location,...

Permanently Changing

Impermanence. Buddhists use this term to describe the constant state of change. Life is impermanent. Everything changes. Suffering, the Buddhist says, exists in part when we hold on to that which changes, wanting it to stay the same. Today in Phoenix is the perfect day to write about this. It is the second day in a row we’ve had non-stop rain. I have mud-caked tennis shoes in the car port looking like I just left a horse stall, not walked down my palm tree lined street. I’ve lived here for two and a half years and this is the first time I’ve experienced this. It is different, not the same. And, today I like it. It reminds me of Seattle without the promise it will remain this way for four, five, or six months. It will change. It really doesn’t matter if I like it, anyhow, because it is what it is … raining. Elements of life are this way. We do have influence over much of life, some...

Meaningful Gift Ideas for the Holidays

Friends, Can’t think of what to get your beloved this year for the holiday season? Grab your spiced cider, decide you will have an answer by reading this post and invest three minutes in finding your answer. Last week I celebrated a MAJOR birthday. Major in terms of number of years I’ve walked above the earth. At an intimate home gathering twelve friends created this masterpiece for me, before my eyes, at my party. Five others had contributed to the blank canvas prior to this evening. If you look closely you can see some phrases such as: Loud love Skipping through life Joy Love Speak light Peace Blessings Responding to the ideas I imagine Every day is a nice day Included in the design are hand prints, doves, a woman’s head, lips, an eyeball, numerous hearts and a cloth multi-colored peace sign in the center. I LOVE this painting. It represents all that is good in my life. The colors wake me up. When I see...