A good friend is coming to stay with me next week....

[Green_Woman]

She's a Vegan and really wants to try some of my Raw Gourmet dishes! This is going to be 4-Days of fellowship and fun... but I want suggestions.

This particular friend has been struggling to find Work, struggling to heal relationships, and just struggling IN GENERAL for a few years now... she has been having a TOUGH time just trying to be ALIVE!!!

What would you do for a friend who is reaching out for help not just with her Health but with her Whole Life???

Below is what I'm planning, but I'm open for suggestions definitely:


Eating 100% RAW meals...LOTS of Green Smoothies!
Doing Yoga at home together...
Watching THE SECRET... she's been wanting to see it after reading the Book.
Relaxing, relaxing, relaxing...
Taking a Mountain Hike with our Dogs...
Reading together...


The purpose of her visit is to get a 4-Day break from Stress/Trauma/Drama and just generally feeling worn out and beat up... essentially, I am "designing" a one-on-one 4-Day Healing Retreat for her... so, those of you who do this for a living, can you please advise me? :)

[lovenlife]

A large part of me would JUST BE there and listen and not try to fix or change the person.

the other things sound fun

[sport]

Make some fruit leathers and flax crackers now and have them ready.

[Green_Woman]

Loven - I'm not trying to "fix or change her". I am, however, going to offer the things she has requested. I have been there as a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen to for a couple years now. It's time for action - she recognizes this and wants it, and it's time. :) There will be talk, there will be tears, no doubt... but that is NOT the purpose of this 4 days. :)

"If your friend is dying of obesity-related health issues and comes to you for intervention, you don't feed them Twinkies and tell them it's going to be okay..."

:D

[Green_Woman]

I also think we're going to create our own Vision Boards... she loves crafts, used to run a Studio but it bankrupted (right when she was also getting a Divorce) so we're going to channel her artistic leanings into something powerful and positive.

[Conscious Midwife]

Love and Hugs plus all the rest you mentioned.

Listen, hug her, kiss her, nurture her, pray for her, heal her...

[Irish_Vegan_Girl]

Green woman, I think what you're doing is so nice, no that's not the word for it, but it's really caring of you and touching. No matter what you do, (and all your plans you have listed sound Great, btw), your friend will be so happy just to have you there, for support and to be showing things that you find work. It's like being at the end of a maze, and you know your friend is in there, so you shout her a few turns and have a plane fly over with a flag of directions:), they can take it or leave it, but the fact that you are helping is help enough:D.

[Moretta]

Love your plan for your friend. It sounds rawsome and she is so lucky to have you in her life.

Hope all works out for her soon.

[Green_Woman]

I'm lucky to have HER.... she helped me through a really terrible time a couple years ago, which was the beginning of our friendship. It's time to return the energy directly and not just through phone calls and Facebook chats. :)

Thanks for the encouragement guys... more ideas welcome, too!! We have 4 whole days. :D

[Conscious Midwife]

GO VOLUNTEER at a foodbank, shelter, mission etc...

If she paints, charcoals or draws maybe she can do a portrait as a gift to a family in risis somewhere

giving out of our need feels so so good

[Revvell]

Allow her to decide if she wants to do anything at all. Maybe she just wants and need to "be".

[Green_Woman]

Revvell - We'll see what happens when she gets here but we've been talking about it the last few days and she has been offering suggestions of things we can do, as well. I agree that "be" is more important than "do"... on that note, it's likely we'll end up "doing" very little - but we WILL "be RAW". ;)

That in itself can help bring healing...

[klomasius]

Give her love.... :)

[lovenlife]

OH MY>>>and HOW did we leave this out?

Love is the most powerful of all. Love is incredible. It builds up, is kind, is long suffering, doesnt brag or boast, isnt jealous, never hard or resentful, draws more love to itself,is very very powerful and It never fails!!!

Wish I was there to do all the things mentioned..what fun!

Oh and I highly recommend lots of crying. I love tears. They release pain endorphins and cleanse the lil eye balls too!

And it is pretty powerful that someone trusts you enough to cry with you and for you.

For me, I put food in its proper place with being raw now. It is important in quality yet in quantity( how much of my life it takes up) is not so important. Well I guess it is in a different way. I spend more time on it than I did but its different time, enjoyable and more rewarding and loving time.
Anyway, the food is lesser and the love and care and concern and tears and LAUGHTER waaaay more important.

[Eva]

Hey girl.

Seems an important piece is missing. The space you are in.

Is it clean? Happy? Clutter free?

I would be 100% sure it is a peaceful space. May need to do a rearrange for the energy it moves around. And get some fresh wildflowers or something very happy, have them around your home.

The bathroom too. Have some candles in the bath area, some bubble bath, make sure it too is not at all cluttered.

The bedroom I use for private retreats has 4 pieces of furniture:
1 bed
2 side tables
1 bedside lamp

That's it.You can see the pictures HERE (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016586&id=1105024410&l=03d2246a61) (the 1st, 2nd, and 4th photos in the album).

Everything else you are already doing, and the suggestions here, sound really lovely.

But she may not want to do some of those things. Release some expectations and be ready to be flexible and let the time flow as it flows.

:) xxo Eva

[lovenlife]

Eva, I love this idea. Your pictures are lovely!!!

I just got back from my sisters and it was the most chaotic environ with clutter and noise. I went there not feeling well and it almost wrecked me. The love was still there tho,phew.

Home now in my unchaotic and peaceful ,uncluttered space. ahhh a healing place, yes indeed.

[Green_Woman]

My house is not chaotic, but I haven't yet been able to get Couches for the Living Room so the meeting area is sparse. I will definitely be cleaning before she gets here, but now it looks as though she's not going to be coming next week at all.

Apparently her ex-husband is giving her grief and her parents (whom she temporarily lives with) are also giving her grief for "abandoning" them right before Christmas.

Can we all say this together??

BOUNDARIES: MAKE 'UM, then DON'T BREAK 'UM.

:D


Well, I keep y'all posted... great suggestions, btw, on all fronts!!!

[Eva]

So sad when people let others make their decisions for them. Too bad she is not doing what she wants!

It's very possible she's not ready to be in a healing/healed place. :-/

[Green_Woman]

It's very possible she's not ready to be in a healing/healed place.

Eva... you just said so simply what I've been feeling and thinking for a few months now but have never voiced...

[lovenlife]

People have to be READY to deal with things. If they know they we are a person with forward movement, forward thinking, motivational, then they know what to expect from us and might just feel more will be rewired of themselves.


Sometimes ,by being with us, people think beyond their lil circle and the ways they limit themselves.

She might know, that by being with you, she might be involved in going places she doesnt want to go right now.

You know, healing has been spoken of as layers of an onion. If we took a knife and cut right to the center, thats a whole lotta layers of growing cut right thru (and there are no shortcuts, gotta go thru it to get to it) and that is a whole lotta crying (unless you wear goggles).

I also see this....whatever is happening with people right now in their life, be it good or not so good, is working for them on some level. It is giving them something, doing something for them, filling some need for them, or they would stop it.

Be there when she is ready because she will be. What a good friend you are to her!

[Green_Woman]

New Development: She's not going to be visiting until after Christmas... and when she comes, she's staying... for several weeks. As in - moving here! SHE GOT A JOB!!! Hallelujah! :D This has been a long time coming... until she can get her own place, she's going to camp out with me... get her feet wet, eat mostly RAW and Green Smoothies for awhile, and get settled into her new home.

Please pray that I have Grace and Generosity at my core - she's a beloved friend, so we will be extra cautious to have Boundaries for BOTH OF US in order to preserve the friendship... I've learned in the past that even strong friendships can corrode if there's messiness in a room-mate type of situation.

This is temporary, but it's also crucial to her to have this Break... I want to create a Restful, Peaceful, Raw environment for her AND for me as we both begin 2010!

2010 is MY YEAR!!! :D Exciting things are happening!!!

[lovenlife]

What amazing news.!!!!!!!!!!!....that is super. Things rarely turn out how we think and sometimes, even better.

[Eva]

.

Eva... you just said so simply what I've been feeling and thinking for a few months now but have never voiced...

I just saw this.


New Development: She's not going to be visiting until after Christmas... and when she comes, she's staying... for several weeks. As in - moving here! SHE GOT A JOB!!! Hallelujah! :D This has been a long time coming... until she can get her own place, she's going to camp out with me... get her feet wet, eat mostly RAW and Green Smoothies for awhile, and get settled into her new home.

Please pray that I have Grace and Generosity at my core - she's a beloved friend, so we will be extra cautious to have Boundaries for BOTH OF US in order to preserve the friendship... I've learned in the past that even strong friendships can corrode if there's messiness in a room-mate type of situation.

This is temporary, but it's also crucial to her to have this Break... I want to create a Restful, Peaceful, Raw environment for her AND for me as we both begin 2010!

2010 is MY YEAR!!! :D Exciting things are happening!!!

And then I saw this.

And I would do this :D but I'm oil pulling so look more like this :rolleyes:

haha, Fabulous!!

xxo Eva

[Green_Woman]

*sigh*

She emailed this morning. After accepting the job, she decided against it. She won't be coming, and in her words, "enough of this Law of Abundance [attraction] crap, I give up".

I empathize with her frustration... I've been there, lived that.

Only you can save yourself, ultimately, by what you choose to do. Choose to get out, and you'll get out. Choose to stay in, you'll stay in. Neither path is easy, unless you're lucky. :)

C'este la vie!

I stick to my path - and it's a damn good one.

I LOVE RAW!!!!

:D