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The Path of the Blue Dragon
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| | Game night was a success. I ended up getting 8 people besides myself. I hope this will continue and maybe even get more. With a decent group of gamers people can play different games that they want to play and also be able to switch around a bit. Plus it's an opportunity to meet more people. I enjoyed the company of everyone I met tonight and was really pleased to have them there. Kinda wish I had a bit more furniture, but I can remedy some of that potentially. | Manifestations:Work some Magic   |
| | it occasionally amazes me how a person will make an assumption that I should know something about someone I don't even know...I got an email today that had me laughing quite a bit, because of just such an assumption. And not laughing at the person who sent it, but just laughing at the sheer absurdity of it all. | | Manifestations:1 reality manifested or Work some Magic |
| | Subject: | I'm forwarding this announcement from ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) innowen for a writing group she is starting | | Time: | 11:12 am |
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| Just a quick reminder that we're going to get together for our first
writers' meeting this Wednesday, July 23, 6:30 p.m. at Anna Banana's, 8716
N. Lombard. in Portland
This is going to be a pretty informal gathering, but I would like for all
of us to talk about what we want a writers' group to be like, what we hope
to get out of it, things like that. Also, please be ready to tell us
about your current project, what it is, what state it's in, what your next
steps might be, and maybe some ways a writers' group might help you reach
your goals with your project.
ETA: I will still be holding game night at my place. | | Manifestations:2 realities manifested or Work some Magic |
| | So today turned into a day to do some moving for the trinity. The movers they had upped and vanished on them and they needed help. Lupa, me, Jaymi, Amber, Silver, and Aaron came to the rescue today to help out I'm glad we could help, because our friends definitely needed it, and we also finally got to give back some help for moving. | | Manifestations:Work some Magic |
| | Subject: | Reminders, etc | | Time: | 01:21 pm |
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| This Wednesday from 6:30 to 11, I'll be doing board and card game night. Bring yourself, bring games, bring something to eat and drink. I have Apples to Apples, Spite and Malice, Twilight Imperium, Risk 2210, Shogun, and Cosmic Encounters.
This coming Friday we'll be doing anime night, starting at 8pm. We're still watching Neon Genesis Evangelion.
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Yesterday we saw Prince Caspian in the 3 dollar theater. I liked it a lot...thought it was better than the book really. I also bought a bike yesterday, which I plan on riding everyday and start using to get around. It'll be good exercise.
Last night I went out to dance and had a lot of fun. I feel like I'm getting to know Portland better and better. | | Manifestations:4 realities manifested or Work some Magic |
| | Subject: | Book Review and other things | | Time: | 06:43 pm |
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| Book Review: Your Money or Your Life
Out of all the financial books I've read so far, I believe this one is the one that speaks most to my values and beliefs about finances. Instead of preaching about how you can have it all, the authors discuss the value of frugality and recognizing when a person has enough. The authors have nine steps in their program and each step is designed to help you make your way to financial independence and intelligence by asking yourself what your really getting out of your spending habits, and also the way you live your life. The authors posit that it is entirely possible to retire earlier in your life provided you know how to live frugally, and I believe this is entirely the case. I've already been modifying how I spend money, thinking carefully about what the benefit is of buying a particular item, as well as what my overall goals are. I'm already noticing some effects and I'm willing to continue committing to a program that ultimately could lead to satisfaction in terms of having enough time to really do everything that I want to do.
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I'm feeling a bit guilty today. We were going to go camp with some friends today, but I realized with how social both Lupa and I have been lately, that we both needed a break. I left a message and apologized. I should have been more open about it when it was first brought up, but I wasn't for a specific reason that put some pressure on me to say yes I'll go (The pressure came from me though, not anyone else), even when I knew I was feeling a bit not so social. I guess too, I was hoping my mood would change by today but it hadn't. Still this just shows me that I need to be better about claiming my boundaries for myself so that instead of flaking at the last moment and potentially hurting friends feelings, I can just be honest and say up front, not this time, but next time could be good. | | Manifestations:4 realities manifested or Work some Magic |
| | Time: | 05:50 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/smile.gif) cheerful |
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| I got my teeth cleaned today. No cavities, a bit of mild periodontist, which doesn't necessarily need operation as long as I get my teeth cleaned regularly and also adjust how I clean my teeth. The person working on me today was really helpful and showed me exactly how to adjust how I'm cleaning my teeth. If any of you PDXers need a dentist, I'm happy to recommend the one I visited as very knowledgeable and helpful.
I also took a walk around Laurelhurst today. I've been making an effort to do so on a consistent basis and it is paying off as I feel good in general.
Last night I went to the SECP networking group, which is the Self Employed Creative Professional group. I had a fun time and will be joining it, as I think it will benefit my life coaching practice immensely.
Other than that I'm real excited about the gaming group for wednesday. I've gotten some responses thanks to discovering some resources and I should have a decent crew of people show up. | | Manifestations:Work some Magic |
| | Subject: | a long time ago... | | Time: | 08:28 pm |
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| | I ran an e-list called timemachines on gnostica.net. I was emailed by someone today who had a question about STM and I ended up going into a folder I had on one of my old email accounts to dig out info. That folder was the time machines folder. Re-reading those emails from 4-5 years ago I thought, "Has it really been that long" and "Wow things have changed since then". There were only a few people on the e-list, but we had really good conversations. It brings back some nostalgia for me, in reading those emails. | | Manifestations:1 reality manifested or Work some Magic |
| | Tags: | boardgames | | Subject: | Gaming night July 23rd 6:30 to 11pm | | Time: | 03:51 pm |
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| Bi-weekly gaming night at my place. The next gaming night is a week from today on July 23rd from 6:30 PM to 11 PM.
I have Apples to Apples, Twilight Imperium, Spite and Malice, Cosmic Encounters, Risk 2210 and Shogun. You can also bring games that you might like to play.
To get info on where I'm located please email me at taylor [at] spiralnature.com | | Manifestations:2 realities manifested or Work some Magic |
| | Subject: | Oh the horror! | | Time: | 10:59 am |
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I found this amusing to listen to, partially because his voice has a really annoying whine to it...he'd be an excellent voice actor. | | Manifestations:10 realities manifested or Work some Magic |
| The weekend was good, really good. On Friday erynn999 came down from Seattle for the potluck the next day as well as Lupa and I renewing our vows. My Dad and I spent a good part of the day out. We went to Powells on Hawthorne and also the Chinese Gardens. After he dropped me off I saw Erynn and we chatted a bit. Later my dad came over and we had dinner with him and Erynn. When I cleaned the dishes, I spoke with Erynn for some time about writing blocks that come up in writing as it's something I know somewhat well myself. Afterwords, I played chess with my dad...he soundly defeated me and then we talked for a long time about finances and the past.
On Saturday, my dad and I went out to Mount Tabor and I showed him a couple of neat things...later showed him some of the street art. Later that day Lupa and I did a ceremonial vow renewal with heron061 officiating...with everything we've been through we thought it appropriate...I spent a lot of time thinking about the last two years and lessons I've learned, but that's a post for the magical experiments blog
After the renewal Lupa and I and the many guests who honored us with their presence went back to our place and we had a potluck. The food was good. I enjoyed everything I tasted and I also enjoyed the conversation. Eventually we started playing Apples to Apples and Settlers of Catan, which was a lot of fun. It was a wonderful party, the kind I enjoy having because it provides us opportunities to connect with people.
Today, was the last day of my dad's visit. After we saw Erynn off, he took us to the Pittock mansion and we got to explore it. It's an old mansion on the West side of Portland. It's an amazing place. You can see Mt. Rainier from it. I enjoyed learning some more about Portland. He dropped us off for a bit after that and then took us out to dinner. We had a good dinner, lots of conversation and just enjoying each other's company. It was restful. I was sad to see him off tonight. I'll likely see him a year from now...but in seeing him this time, it just made it more apparent how precious each time I see him is to me. I am glad I got to have a long chat with him. At a networking meeting a couple weeks ago, we we were asked who we'd pick to have lunch with if we could so we could have a long chat, and I picked him, because he is someone dear to me, and also a very fascinating person who's done and is doing so much with his life. I'm really glad he and I talked for a very long time on Friday evening.
He also gave me quite a gift. He had copied some writing my grandfather did about my grandfather's life and also my great-great grandfather who fought in the civil war. Getting to read those histories was really, really fascinating. I felt like I got a picture into my dad's side of the family, which I'd previously not known much about. I learned a lot and reading about them and wondering a bit about who they were...it was fun to talk with my dad about it.
I had a wonderful weekend, blessed by friends, blessed by my wife, and blessed by the opportunity to spend time with my dad and hear his stories.
On a different note, my friend Rachelle, from back in the State College days has a blog about archaeology...it's really neat to read about it and what she does. | | Manifestations:6 realities manifested or Work some Magic |
| | Tags: | dad, tattoo | | Current Music: | MGS 3 Snake Eater | | Subject: | Tattoo and other fun adventures | | Time: | 10:34 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/dwaggins/blank.gif) indescribable |
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| Several adventures today:
So today at 1:30 PM. I got my new tattoo, a Blue dragon tattoo from Infinity Tattoo, done by Alice Kendall. Highly recommend her work to the locals. I was inked for a total of four hours and by the time it was done, I was definitely in an altered state of mind from the pain. I think my pain threshold got extended after that. I'm quite proud of myself, because I didn't make a sound, other than two or so times. Below are several pictures of the tattoo. To read about the tattoo adventure from a spiritual perspective, please check out my post on Magical Experiments
( tattoo pics )
And my dad is visiting. He took us out to dinner tonight. I'm really, really happy he's here for this weekend. It's been a long time since I've seen him. I'm glad he could make it out and I'm pleased I can introduce him to my friends, because he's nifty and would find them interesting.
Have to admit, I worry about him just a bit. I want to know he's well taken care of. I know he's doing really good right now. I just want to make sure it stays that way. | | Manifestations:58 realities manifested or Work some Magic |
| The last couple of days have been interesting. I picked up some new clothes at the goodwill, which I really like. Purple and red shirts are made of win. On Tuesday we went to a game night and I got some information about resources where I can post information about my own game night. I believe this could give my game night a good shot in the arm, which would be nice, because I've been jonesing to play board games with people.
Yesterday I talked with teaotter and heron61. They and amberite are unfortunately getting booted out of their home. I've been trying to offer support and hugs as they scramble to find a place before this month ends. Their situation does make me feel more determined than ever to get into a position where I can buy a house.
Today I will be getting my left forearm inked with the spirit of this land, as it manifests to me. I'll also be getting a visit from my dad. Pictures later! | | Manifestations:1 reality manifested or Work some Magic |
| | Subject: | a few announcements and my weekend | | Time: | 01:35 pm |
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| This Wednesday, from 7-11, I'll be doing a board gaming group. I have Risk 2210, Twilight Imperium, Cosmic Encounters and several other games. People are also welcome to bring their own board games. If you don't know where I'm located, contact me at taylor [at] spiralnature.com
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This Friday, anime night is going to be canceled because we will be doing the potluck on Saturday as well as having guests from out of town over. It will resume on Friday July 25th.
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This Saturday at 6pm, the Show off your Best Recipe potluck will occur. We will be celebrating amberite's safe return, as well as sadly having the first and last full house party. So come over and show off your best recipe and meet new people! Contact me at taylor [at] spiralnature.com if you don't know where we're located.
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Weekend was good. I visited innowen and Kender's 4th of July bash...got to see the wii fit put into action and lots of fireworks. Saturday was a lazy do nothing day, which was good to do...I don't take em often enough. Sunday, we hiked up to mirror lake. It was a good hike, and the lake is beautiful...recommend it to anyone in the PDX metro area who likes to hike.
On a slightly different note, I recently swapped pillows with Lupa. Her pillow (now mine) is firmer than mine and I've already noticed that my neck feels much better. It had been bothering me a lot, but the firmness of the new pillow seems to be supplying it the necessary support it needs and my upper back is also feeling much better as a result...so if you feel like your neck or shoulders are stressed, you might want to look into a new pillow. | | Manifestations:1 reality manifested or Work some Magic |
| | Subject: | Been thinking... | | Time: | 12:09 pm |
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| I've lately been mulling over discontinuing this journal, and directing people to my other two journals, if they wish to keep up on what's going on with my life.
I don't think I'll entirely do that. I'm not quite ready for that yet, but I am transitioning out of this journal or rather, I think I will keep this journal mainly for announcement purposes for stuff we might be doing such as anime night, and also to keep up on what's happening for different people I know.
I don't write a lot in this journal anymore...For that matter I don't write a lot anymore period. There's a lot of reasons for that, none of which I'll go into here.
I've been going through some really deep changes in my life on a variety of levels for the last few years...coming to a more conscious awareness of a deep sense of dissatisfaction with myself, and a lot around me. In growing aware of that deep sense of dissatisfaction I've started taking steps to change my life, to recognize what causes that dissatisfaction and make the necessary internal and also external changes that I feel need to occur.
Livejournal has become a time sink for me, to some degree. One of my ways of changing the dissatisfaction I feel about my life has been starting up my own business, but I've been realizing that sometimes I've let myself get distracted by LJ, which isn't really good...
So what does all of this mean:
First, I'm doing a friends cut. I like all of you. I'm honored you've friended me. If I keep you on my friends list, it's because I'm really fascinated by you, or you're a friend I know in person and I want to keep up with what's going on with you, or a combination of the two. If I don't keep you friended, it's nothing personal.
Second: This journal will mostly be public, but it will primarily be used for announcements, whether its announcing an anime night, a gaming night, or a potluck event in the Portland, OR area, or it'll be a recounting of how much I enjoyed doing something and what it was I did. I don't really post about my spiritual practices here anymore, other than the love work and that will be moving, which brings me to the next point:
Third: If you want to keep up on my spiritual journey, my magical practices, or want to know about workshops I'll be doing at pagan/occult events, you might wish to either add ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) taylor_ellwood, the syndicated feed for Magical Experiments to your friends list or book mark the magical experiments blog. I'll likely start posting a bit more frequently on there. Also as a note, the rest of my posts about the year long love working will be moving to that blog.
Fourth: If you want to find out about my life coaching practice, how it's developing, what classes or teleclasses I'm offering at different events related to life coaching, either add manifestfeed to your friends list, or add the Imagine Your Reality blog to your book mark. Additionally I'll be posting my Thankful Thursday/conscious commitment posts there and also my journey to continue developing creativity, wealth, and mindful awareness.
So that's that...I'll still be here, just not so much. | | Manifestations:10 realities manifested or Work some Magic |
| I haven't done Thankful Thursday or conscious commitment for the last couple of weeks...not because of anything drastic, but because life has been busy in good ways...still:
I am thankful for:
Opportunities to network with new people and learn more about what they love doing.
discovering that many people love what they do and it really makes their lives shine.
I get to see my dad in a week.
Lupa and the continuing journey we have.
Good friends in my life.
I consciously commit to:
Continuing to do something each day to manifest my life coaching business
believing in myself and my journey
being of service to others
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So unlove...I'm reading The third John Welwood book Perfect Love: Imperfect Relationships, and he's brought up this concept of unlove. He explains that unlove is the feeling of not knowing whether we are truly loved or wanted. He further explains that unlove shows up as emotional flare-ups in reaction to the feeling of being slighted or treated badly.
Something else he says, "Most of the things we strive for, security, success, wealth, status, power, recognition, validation, praise, are ways of trying to fill a gaping hole within us, a hole formed out of our separation from love."
I really like how he explains this concept, because it does seem to fit some of the feelings that I and others have. I know that many of my reactions are defenses prompted by that feeling of unlove, a fear that a person can't be loved. And I think he makes a valid point about what people strive for, in terms of filling that emptiness, but I also don't think filling that hole is the only reason a person strives for those things.
Still, when it comes down to it, I can say that unlove has definitely been a motivating force in my life in terms of how I treat myself and others. In accepting that (but not condemning it), I feel I have a choice I can make. Do I want my motivation to come from this source? | | Manifestations:2 realities manifested or Work some Magic |
| | Subject: | Five Principles of Wealth Teleclass | | Time: | 10:40 am |
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| Five Principles of Wealth
When: Tuesday July 1st, 2008
5 pm to 6 pm (PST) 8 pm to 9 pm (EST)
In this teleclass, I present five principles of wealth that are needed in order to build a successful foundation for wealth in your life. Becoming wealthy means learning about what wealth is and how you know when you have it. If you’ve ever wanted to be wealthy or simply wanted to know you were living your life to the fullest, this free teleclass is for you.
Come ready to learn:
How to define wealth so you can claim it,
How to organize yourself to success
and much, much more...
To join this class, register online | | Manifestations:Work some Magic |
| Weekend was good. We had a small group of people over for anime night, which I enjoyed a lot.
Yesterday we went to thesecondcircle's and Bryn's place, with Bill W, and got to meet their friend Myra. It was a fun evening despite the heat.
Today I movie watched and ran errands and then took care of some miscellaneous details (but the devil is in those details, I tell ya)...I'm continuing to read Your Money or Your Life, which is helping me identify those gazingus pins I just so need...and that leads to a different topic on...
( expectations )
ETA: Magical Experiments my occult blog
My life coach blog | | Manifestations:Work some Magic |
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The Path of the Blue Dragon
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