I'm one of those people that loves to underline concepts and phrases that stand out for me in the books I read. I thought this would be a great place to share a few from time to time. I found these while doing research for the manuscript I am writing about my skipping adventure. They're from a book called Dark Nights of the Soul by Thomas Moore....

"It takes a strong heart, a steady intelligence, and a visionary imagination to go in the direction of life."

"It's all right to have grand and eccentric longings. It's all right to be afraid. Only by embracing these two emotional pillars will you glimpse the nature of your soul, which is the ground of your existence."

"Compared to surface life, the mysteries of the heart unfold within a different time scheme. The soul reveals itself in cycles and timeless circles of experience."

"Unconsciousness is like junk food. It's an easy way to go through life, but it doesn't give you the nourishment you need."

“A dark night of the soul is dark because it doesn’t give us any assurance that what is happening makes sense and will ultimately be beneficial. We can’t understand what is happening to us, and if we are in the habit of always wanting to know what is going on, this aspect of the dark night will be maddening. We can find meaning in these times of change, but we have to think differently about our lives, be less psychological in our approach, and more philosophical and spiritual.”

"You may not avoid tragedy, but you have the opportunity for a recovery of soul. Everything depends on how the dark night is handled: Will you try to overcome it and run away from it, or will you let it transform you and, "in solution," give you new life?"

Happy Full Moon! :-)

The video I am posting here is one that is permanently filed in the "things that are horrifying at the time, but end up making great stories later" file!



As you'll see, I overslept for this early morning interview back in 1999 when the skipping movement first started. I woke up hours after I was supposed to be there and was completely mortified at first when I learned that Mark Pitta skipped on without me!

Several months after the fact, however, I met Mark at a comedy club in San Francisco. When I sheeplishly introduced myself and told him how sorry I was to have stood him up, he said, "No worries!" Apparently he got TONS of positive feedback from the piece so all ended up being well at the end.

Enjoy! Skip on!

This past weekend I went back to Indiana to attend my 20th high school reunion...and had a super fabulous time. I graduated from Carmel High School in 1987!

Interestingly, I had dreamt about attending my reunion many times before the actual event, and I must say that the real thing far surpassed my wildest dreams. It was great fun to see everyone again.

Being from Indiana, my life path has ended up looking vastly different than the majority of my classmates. Most of them are happily married in the Midwest with at least a kid or two. It's funny, because part of me has always wished that was how my life would have turned out. I would have liked nothing more than to have found the right guy in Indiana so I could have settled down to live happily ever after, but it seems that life had a far different plan for me...and so I find myself out here on the left coast having never been married and living footloose and free.

My high school reunion ended up being a lovely reminder of how each of our lives and hearts call us in such unique and different directions...I left Indiana this weekend with a feeling of peace and contentment about who I have become in the world. Instead of wishing for the life my midwestern roots sometimes make me feel I "should" have, I feel happy and content to be right where I am. What a blessing!

There was a new moon tonight...and I had my second new moon manifestation circle in San Francisco! There were eight women there this month...and it was wonderful once again!

My fabulous friend Cathy helped facilitate the group...and she led us in an amazing energetic exercise where we first got clear about some of the limiting beliefs that habitually arise when we set intentions for ourselves and our lives....and then we released them. We focused on how the fear, self-doubt, shame, judgement, etc. that gets in our way feels in our body...and imagined cutting energetic ties with it through the power of our minds. It was a truly powerful exercise!

Then we got crafty with images and created collages that we got to take home with us as visual reminders of our intentions. It was a wonderful new moon night. May all of our intentions be realized.

The full moon is on Friday October 26th this month...and the next new moon is Friday November 9th!

Have gotten some fun stuff in the skipper mailbag this week...

From Edie in Pennsylvania... I was skipping last night... I was with 3 friends and we went to a local golf course to make wishes under the full moon. One friend (her name is Harmony) and I skipped and danced around one of the greens. What fun! I particularly enjoy the Wizard of Oz skipping style.

From Maria in California...I went on your website and had the most amazing memory of one my best friends in college skipping down the streets in New York city, and how I would join her in pure abandon, in the face of the hundreds of New Yorkers with somewhere to go, there we were skipping together, holding hands like Dorothy and the lion on the yellow brick road.

And here's a fun exchange with a skipper named Derrick in Nebraska..

He writes...Hello, I have a question, I'm a big fan of skipping and try to as much as possible when out at night, my friends know I'm gonna do it and most are past being embarrassed by me doing it around them. My question is, what is the distance of a skip? Reason being, my friends say that I bound or leap, not skip. And I always tell people that I can skip to a certain spot in a certain number of skip steps and then it causes a fight. Please clarify for me. Thanks, Brent

And my response...So is your question if size matters in skipping?! :-) The answer is no! The sky is the limit when it comes to skipping strides! That includes how high up in the air you go...and how much distance you travel. Skip large! Skip on!

Keep those cards and letters coming...Be sure to email me the next time you have a fun skipping story to share.