A Good time Was had By All!!

That's me at my live Discover & Connect with Your Passions-the Effortless Path to Living Your Life Purpose Seminar held this past Saturday. We all had a great and challenging time uncovering what we were most passionate about. During the 3 hour seminar, the participants unlocked their top 5 passions and crafted markers to align themselves along the way.
As one participant said,"This is challenging". There were some AhAh moments. The results were clarity on what to focus our time,
energy and resources.

Yesterday marked the first interview in the 2008 Fall Consciously Living Green Teleseminar and Interview Series with Lindianne Sarno of the Sonoran Kitchen Gardens speaking on The Best in Things in Life Are Green. Below are some resources Lindianne shared along with her Starter Kit of Ideas to begin living more consciously green. Were you on the call or did you register to receive the audio? It was awesome. I took 4 pages of notes.

The Humanure Handbook, by Joseph Jenkins ( yes , you read this correctly)
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, by Brad Lancaster’s
Read Little House on a Small Planet, by Shay Solomon
Permaculture, by Bill Mollison
Gaia’s Garden
A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, by Toby Hemenway

You'll want to register for the next upcoming interview with Marianna Olszewski of Madison Financial Management,LLc on financial planning for now and the future. If you can't be there in person, that's okay. You do need to register to receive the audio of the interview. What's your money story? Watch for the announcements!

Time to get up and stretch.

Joyful blessings,

Colleen

Stuck? Overwhelmed? don't know where to start? Bring your biggest "I want to ___." challenge to a complimentary Get Acquainted Activation conversation to see what we can co-create what matters most to you.Schedule by e-mailing colleen@consciouslivingconnection.com

Colleen Crook is a Life & Leadership coach and owner and founder of Conscious Living Connection providing coaching/mentoring for forward thinking individuals and groups who want to create what matters most by connecting them with their passion and inherent creativity through the Consciously Living with Passion Purpose and Prosperity Success Program. Colleen is also known as the Passions to Action Mentor. www.consciouslivingconnection.com Sign up for your Fr^ee Create What Matters Most gift bundle.

Small Town Festivals

Greetings!

Two weekends ago my husband & I traveled down to Patagonia, a small, diverse and vibrant community south of Tucson for their Fall Festival. I love small towns having grown up in one and attending grade school in small town. Our intention was to have a nice easy day and enjoy the scenery and thunderclouds that were scaling up past the southern mountain ranges. As my husband & I walked among the displays and art booths, we were hoping the skies wouldn't open up with the impending rain until we had listened to some music and had a bite to eat. The Patagonia festival highlights local and regional music talent and it's some of the best around. One group I fell in love with is the Way Out West trio. Lots of fun and beautiful music. You can check them out at this link then click on artists.
http://www.bluebhikku.com/artists.htm

After some fry bread(for me) and a gyros for hubby, we headed over to the Gathering Grounds coffee shop for some dessert. Nice cozy place to settle and watch the rain that eventually came.
Before we left, I peaked in the bookstore and lo and behold the author of the book I was going to buy for my dad was there signing books. So I was able to get the book I wanted and get a signed copy to boot.

Patagonia is able to create a beautiful community event with an eclectic mix of generations, cultures and lifestyles from new age to ranchers, from artists to cowboys and everything in between. That's what matters most to them.

Here's to you creating what matters most to you. No pics-left my camera in the truck.

Much Joy,
Colleen

FR^EE The Best Things in Life Are Green Teleseminar

The Best Things in Life Are Green Teleclass & Interview with Lindianne Sarno, AB
Monday, October 20 from 1-2 PST
Tuition: no charge.
Led by: Colleen M. Crook, M.A., Certified Life Coach www.consciouslivingconnection.com

Join me and Lindianne Sarno, Co-Executive Director of Sonoran Kitchen Gardens on The Best Things in Life Are Green in this interview of the 2008 Fall Consciously Living Green Teleseminar Interview Series. She'll be talking abut food security, urban gardening, food storage, and more. This is so NOW! After Lindianne said “yes” to this interview, I read an article in Body & Soul on this exact topic. Lindianne will share her knowledge and give us a Starter Kit of Ideas so we can become more self-reliant and community connected to increase our own self-reliance and empower us in connecting more deeply with the Spirit of our Natural World. Actually, Lindianne will re-introduce us to habits and practices that our grandparents and even parents are probably very familiar with.

For more information and to register click here http://www.consciouslivingconnection.com/greenliving1.htm

If you can’t attend the Teleseminar live- no worries. The call will be recorded. Registration is required to receive the audio recording.

Much Joy,
Colleen

Upcoming Live Seminar: Are you ready to live life fully? Last day for early bird discount tomorrow.

October is Passion Awareness Month

Dear Friends,

80% of the population is living disconnected from their passions, from what they love and care about.

The Passion Test is a tour de force--a fast track path to turn on and up the passion, the excitement, the success in your life--for you, your loved ones, your friends and your associates.

On October 18 you have an opportunity to reflect on how much richer and happier your life will be when you becomemore passionate, more stimulated, more turned on about your life, your relationships,your work, your possibilities.

If you have the feeling that something is missing from your life
If you find it difficult to make decisions about where to put your focus
If you really have no idea about what you are even passionate about, then join me at the

Discover & Connect with Your Passions- the Effortless Path to Living Your Life Purpose Seminar here in beautiful Tucson, Arizona.

When: October 18 from 9am-12
Where: Freedom In, Ventana Canyon , 5660 North Kolb Road, Tucson, Az. 85748
Tuition: $65
$55 if you register by October 13
(the paperback The Passion Test is included in the tuition)
Maximum of 10 participants

To register: e-mail colleen@consciouslivingconnection.com
Facilitator: Colleen M. Crook, M.A.,Certified Life Coach, Certified Passion Test (TM) Facilitator

If you are an individual whose life is changing, this seminar will rock you to the core. What you will go home with will help you navigate the unknown, calm the fearful and anxious parts of you, and start moving you into bite-sized action.

Along with Jack Canfield, Jay Abraham, John Gray, Marci Shimoff,and Harv Eker, check out who else has benefitted from this process and find out more about me http://www.consciouslivingconnection.com/passionseminar.htm

Much Joy,
Colleen

October 2008. How do you get rid of ANTS?

October 2008 Conscious Cconnections Feature article

While on my sort of daily walks, I’ve noticed that the ant hills are getting quite high. I’m wondering if we’re going to have an interesting winter here in Southern Arizona. Ants are very industrious and if you’ve ever watched them they are very persevering. There’s much to admire in their behavior yet if they get in your house or in your food they are quite annoying and can do considerably damage. There are lots of solutions to manage visible ants. How then do you manage those non-tangible and invisible mental ANTs? Yep those Automatic Negative Thoughts ( or sometimes called Another Negative Thought) that pop up every time we are called to go beyond our comfort zones, entertain a new idea or proposal, look at another’s perspective and when we are poised for the next step or level in our personal development. They stop us at the starting line before we even take that first step. They do considerably more damage that can actually last a lifetime.

These ANTs are also very persevering and come in all sorts of disguises:
“I don’t have enough time.”
“Who ever heard of anybody doing that in our family?”
“What if I fail?”
“What will people think?”
“I’m not good at that.”
“What if they say no?”
“I don’t want to embarrass my self?”
“That costs too much.” and the list goes on into judgement and assumptions of other people’s motives, actions, perceptions and behaviors.

These ANTs work on your fears of the unknown. They try to keep you safe in the routine and habits that are familiar to you. They are hardwired into your DNA so will always come up. So the best solution is to come up with an ANT management system that will keep you in a state of expansion rather one of contraction. When you‘re in a state of expansion you are open to the possibilities and can assess the situation from all perspectives and then make a heart felt decision versus one that leaves you feeling guilty or lacking.

There are a plethora (a favorite word) of ways to handle mental ANTs. One mentioned in the video on Change Your Brain, Change Your Life highlights thinking of the negative scenario in all its glory as if you re writing it down on paper then taking it to your virtual shredder and shredding it. This tactic worked for my husband the other night as he was ruminating on a situation when he was trying to go to sleep. He finally decided to try this method and it worked - resulting in a good night’s sleep.

One of the many methods that I’ve used is Byron Katie’s 4 questions. You take your ANT through these 4 questions:
1. Is it true?
2. Can I know (in my infinite knowledge of course) that it is absolutely true?
3. How do I react believing that thought? Where do I feel it?
4. Who would I be without that thought?
Then turn the thought around.

When you find your ANTs driving you crazy and you feel contracted that’s usually a sign to take a break and come back to the situation with more perspective and openness.

Your Homeplay if you should choose to accept it is: The next time you recognize an ANT try out the 4 question method or use your virtual shredder.
Please let me what your experience was like managing your ANTS?

Passion, Simplicity & Joy,
Colleen

Colleen Crook, a Life and Leadership coach and certified facilitator of the Passion Test™, is the founder and owner of Conscious Living Connection and the creator of the 9 step Living Consciously Program with passion and joy.She partners with forward thinking individuals to create what matters authentically and with integrity. Sign up for your fr^^ee mini-e-course on the 5 keys to Conscious Communication at www.consciouslivingconnection.com

Good Food, Good Friends

Hello All,

Here's a photo of my good friend J.J & I after enjoying breakfast

at the Club Cafe at the Hotel Congress here in Tucson. We get together once every 4-6 weeks to support each other and exchange uplifting experiences and books that we've read.

We discovered we are partners in curiosity as we explored the in and outs of this historic hotel. If you want to experience the 1920's and 30's this is the place for you. The intention for our get- togethers was to stay in a positive energy and avoid falling into the "complaint mode". I'm so very fortunate to have someone in my life that desires to strengthen and create inner wealth because I learn so much from her wisdom. Part of your personal environment consists of the people you surround yourself with. It's critical in creating your happiness, joy, abundance and emotional health to have people near you who are interested in your well being as well as in strengthening their spiritual connection. Our discussion prompted the topic for the feature article in the upcoming Conscious Connections. You can read it in the next blog post.

Much Joy to You,

Colleen