Beginning. Again. And again.

"Dear Friendly Girl,

Let people care for you. 

You are worth taking care of. 

 It's true." 

 XO

 Wouldn't this be a lovely message to receive? 

 What if you were able to deliver this message TO yourself, FROM yourself?  What if you really believed the message?

What if you are an adult woman who still doesn't grasp these truths?  

Yes,they ARE truths. 

Yes, you deserve to know them, and believe them.

and yes, YOU, my dear, are valuable and enough.

You've taken care of people, people you may not even know, to the point of pouring out every last ounce of "what you're made of"...until you've got almost nothing left to offer, haven't you?

  Well...no, that's not quite true.

  Because you're still in there.  

                   (The original you - the friendly girl - the beautiful soul.)

                             ...and you will fly again.  You will shine.

My name's Liz...and it's about time I get "bloggin'" (again!)...to share good things...beautiful things, such as pictures, quotes, observations of life.  Glimpses of what "beginning again" looks like, after retiring early, without a plan...and tools for regaining a joyful attitude, through learning...through therapeutic art  journaling and soul work. Yes, all beautiful in their own way.

Formerly at 40,000' altitude I worked with and for  many people.  Presently at 3700' altitude, I'm learning to become slightly more "grounded".  As I adjust to this new chapter of life...I'm determined to use what I learned in "Soulitude" to use talents with which God blessed me, and faith in His word  to guide me.

I like to encourage connection among like-minded women  through workshops, retreats, and one-on-one coaching, as a Certified Instructor of:

(click to learn more about  Soul Restoration )

It is an incredible curriculum.  ("Trust me".)

Through working hard on the modules of this course, I've gained tools to "get un-stuck" and propel myself forward in new life ventures, in optimism and faith.  I so look forward to sharing these tools, as I continue to learn, grow and become.

Additionally, here are descriptions of a few of the workshops I'll be teaching both locally and "on the road":

THE DECISION MAKER

We sometimes forget how many choices we make in a day. Our power is in our choices.
In this enlightening and life enriching course, we will learn extremely effective tools for making decisions in our lives, both big and small through asking ourselves a series of questions that help us get to the root of what we really want.
We will be creating beautiful, creative tools to take home and use on a daily basis. We will create a personal and artsy deck of cards that can be put on a ring or made into a small book, each card with a decision making question and the affirmation that goes with it.
This course can also be done as an art journal, each page with a question and affirmation and art that corresponds with it. 

SHE DID IT ANYWAY®

In this empowering workshop, we will write the story of what we have overcome in life and how we 
will choose to guide our life in the future by continuing to climb every mountain and jump over every hurdle to live our dreams.
Every heroic woman has had to overcome adversity, challenges and failures...one common trait in all 
heroines is that they have all chosen to look their difficulties in the face and move forward toward their purpose anyway.
We will be creating a deck of SHE DID IT ANYWAY® cards, each telling the story of our own 
difficult challenges, and our resolve to live the life we want to live in spite of our challenges.
This course can also be done as an art journal, each page with a personal SHE DID IT ANYWAY® story and art that corresponds with it. 

ROUGH DAY BOOK (or box)

Everyone has rough days...and often we are not prepared for them when they come.
In this workshop, we will make a “manual” for ourselves for what to do when rough days come. We will gather our favorite words, our favorite songs, our favorite foods and colors and experiences into one place to create the perfect medicine to soothe our souls when we will need it most.
We will be crafting a gorgeous art journal (or box..or both) full of beauty, comfort, peace and goodness that is exquisitely curated for our very own soul.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm wishing you a delightfully happy spring, and I'll be back here, soon! Until then....I'll be planning some of these events for YOU! If you have interest in attending  one, you'll be able to find them scheduled HERE! (They'll appear as they are individually scheduled.) If you're not in the Southeastern states, you might find a Certified Instructor closer to your own area, over HERE.

...and, if "real life" gatherings aren't your gig, you may rather meet your

 "online -sister-friends" over at Brave Girl University , where you'll find really cool classes by oodles of talented instructors...and for a low, monthly, no-obligation subscription price, you can have much more fun than you had in college. (Well...in the classroom, anyway.) You'll learn fun things, too.

Meanwhile, keep creating...keep loving...keep being kind and writing nice notes to people.  If you don't feel like being nice today, know that there's a lot to be said for "doing it anyway."  Be Brave. I'm glad you're here.  

A Living House

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." - C.S. Lewis

Hello, friends! 

I hope you're having a lovely day!

Isn't that a lovely quote up there?  What a wonderful thought...to be a "living house"!  

We discuss "Soul Houses" at our "Soul Restoration" retreats, yet, this little cabin is something different.  I call it "Casatini", and I named my first blog after it. If you peek at "that ol' blog", it'll give you a good example of what blogging looked like years ago...before marketers got ahold of our email addresses, and coerced us to read "their" stuff.  

My blog, back then, was purely a learning experience, coupled with a place to write and post pictures.  Yup, that's it.  And to connect. You see, Casatini doesn't hold a lot of people.  It's only 10'x10', so one must find other ways to connect.   In my mind, I'd imagine several tiny houses, such as at a camp in New England...where family and friends could gather outside, yet each have their own place to go... so, I painted a sign...the "Camp Liz" sign - header of that ol' blog.

This "new" blog won't be much different, frankly.  As I began writing it yesterday, it will surely take shape over the course of the next few months, and might even go through quirky and awkward "growing stages".  That ol' blog did.  Like us, and houses...blogs have a life of their own.  And God is in the details, I think.  

I hope you'll check back in, now and then, for a "look-see", as I build Soulitude U, LLC, with only the knowledge I've obtained thus far!  There's more to come, and I just love a good learning experience! 

If you'd like to know more about classes and workshops, travel over here,

 You can also follow me on Instagram, if you get the wild hair, @ohforcryingoutloud

Or on Pinterest as ECPC

So, there you go.

We'll leave it at that, for now. 

Still wishing you a happy day!

-Liz