Fall’s Fall

With Fall 2008 came my moving away from Maine to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  Besides putting my Maine Mommy status on hold, I’m back in the classroom teaching English Language Arts to 112 eighth graders.  The move was a necessity to hold onto house and maintain basic living standards.  Like so many thousands of others in this country, we’re experiencing the big question of  how long we can hold onto what was once considered a given commodity for the working middle class. 

My dad’s cancer is back as well.  He’s returning to chemo and a new drug combination with hopefully fewer side effects but with the same level of effectiveness as his last med cocktail.  Prayers are early and often. 

I miss the cold Autumn air of Maine, the rich colors of the changing leaves, and the feeling of being close to what Creation was all about.  I don’t wake up at 3 in the morning and talk to God in admiration for the scene outside my bathroom window of a stunning silver moon or the sound of an owl on her nightly rounds, but in thanks for being well, being employed, and that I have another two hours to sleep by the glare of the digital clock facing my pillow and set for 5 a.m.

It’s good, it’s different, and I will never have that freedom of mind and spirit again.  Hopefully freedom now will come without a price I can’t pay.

Happy Fall 2008 to All

Mel

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Dance Stones – A Two Moms in Maine Company

Dance Stones – A Two Moms in Maine Company
There we sat, Merrillee and I, just listening to the sound of the surf rolling over the stones on the little beach cove near her house in Maine. I’d never heard anything quite like it. Ultimately we would define the sound as rolled stones dancing in the waves, but the initial sound were indescribable and the effect mesmerizing. The song was only produced just at the right moment during low tide when the stones are exposed and the surf is just beginning to return to the shore. We spent several hours, seemingly minutes, on the beach that day praying, meditating, and discussing the dreams for our future and how to make it happen. The outcome was a rough hewn plan to begin a business we could run from home that provided lasting gifts from the heart giving hope and comfort. Dance Stones was born.

As moms, like nearly every other mom on the planet, we wanted to contribute to the family finances while living our passion and being available to our children. It’s a grand scheme and hundreds of moms are doing it with grace.

After having toured the northern most coastal regions of Maine, I told Merrillee about a stunning beach we’d been introduced to with vibrant and intriguing rolled stones for what seemed like miles. She then told me of stones on the beaches right here where we lived and we headed down to check it out that sunny warm fall day. Although different from the beach I’d visited in the north, Merrillee was true to her word, there were beautiful rolled stones everywhere in the small cove. Maine possesses many beaches and rivers filled with stones and each location has its own signature stone. “Wish” stones were the predominate type of stone found that day on the beach and we began feeling them, rolling them around, and examining the rough natural beauty each one possessed. I reminisced about a prayer stone my minister in California had given out to the congregation one Sunday that I still kept in one of my coat pockets. Though twenty years had passed, the stone always signified a deep meaningful moment in my life. Looking at the stones we were touching, I realized this was the perfect gift to send to my father who had just been diagnosed with colon cancer while he went through his chemo treatments. What do you give someone you love and care for to let them know your prayers are always with them? No amount of money can fix the situation and gifts are made obsolete by the ramifications of the illness. But something the person could touch and be transported to another place and time, that was useful. Merrillee realized the same would be true for her friend who had been just diagnosed with breast cancer. The light bulbs flickered and Dance Stones began to evolve.

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”—Martin Luther King Jr.

So we took the first step and many more after that. We are a new business, in existence for only three or four months but we have come a lifetime in evolution and have lit an undying fire of desire in our hearts to reach out to all people whether in celebration or desperation. Our product, by its very nature, is unique in every way and no two are alike. The tiny cards attached reach out to its recipient with custom messages of inspiration designed to meet their needs or facilitate their joy. My partner has taught me to embrace bright rich and true colors in unlikely combinations to help illuminate the heart to heart path being fashioned by friends and family when a Dance Stone is given—and the brilliant colors glow. We had the privilege to provide 400 Dance Stones for an event in Beverly Hills showing Ricki Lake’s documentary, The Business of Being Born. My partner and I worked feverishly to make the deadline and as we turned to look at the boxes filled with every color of gossamer bag and pocket, it appeared as if we had packed boxes full of rainbows to reach out to these new moms, caregivers, and event sponsors.

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”—Joseph Campbell

Although there are many walls to maneuver ahead and we are far from completing our ultimate plan, we continue to search for meaning in all that we produce and use it as a guide for the future of Dance Stones and these two moms in Maine.

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”—Oprah

Dance Stone – A Two Moms in Maine Company

Check out the article on Divinecaroline outlining our ultimate beginning as a natural product home based company…http://divinecaroline.com/browse/career_and_money/work

We’ve changed our writing club to include a greater number of experiences – checkout Dance Stone Writer’s Club…do you have a story to tell we could use?

Eve of 2008

The new year dawns and with it dreams of celebrating a year of passionate living.  My dad celebrates his last chemo session in two weeks with great anticipation for a future free of rashes and full of ice cream and ice cold soda.  Next comes Dad’s surgery to remove any suspicion and worry of Cancer’s return.  2007 challenged souls with unexpected peaks to scale; 2008 holds the possibility of freedom and complete recovery – may all your prayers be answered this New Year.

Cheers -

Mel of Dance Stones

Just a few images of someone dear…

make even the most grueling procedures more bearable.  Every two weeks I send my father, who is undergoing cancer treatment in California, a stack of my daughter’s pictures taken of whatever activities she engaged in during the week.  At first I wanted to create stories of her adventures to send in a little brag book but the process was too cumbersome for me as well as my dad.  He simply wanted to fill the photo book with the pictures himself.

After awhile I grew accustomed to taking the pictures and let too much time lapse before dropping them in the mail so I missed his most dreaded session (he has a different procedure every week and the third is the worst).  My mom let me know how much they meant to him and how disappointed he was to not have those pictures to focus on when he felt his worst.  Just as I had planned, the photos offered him an escape and allowed him the opportunity to remove himself mentally from his cancer prison.

Now I make certain he has his pictures to go with his rolled stone that he caresses while dreaming of being with his granddaughter in Maine.

Hello Healthy Consumers! I need your advice…

What gifts, or items that could be made into great holiday gifts, promoting health and wellness are your favorite? 

My next article on health at Mommyscompany.com, will focus on what people think are truly beneficial gifts and are healthy too!  Before sitting down to put in my two cents, I thought I’d find out what the blogging population has to say.  I’m thinking a spa vacation would make a wonderful “healthy” gift but who has that kind of cash?  (Don’t answer, I know that one too.)

Please, let me know as soon as you can so that I can get writing…Oh, and humor is good too!

Mel

How many people can we touch?

In one of our daily brainstorm sessions, my partner and I began discussing all the possibilities Dance Stones has for touching lives in a positive way and the list was endless.  Who do you know that could use a stone of friendship, support, encouragement, love, prayer, meditation, providing the catalyst for mental transport, inspiration? 

Children struggling with serious illness deserve something special that is unique to who they are to help cope and feel encouraged by their loved ones.  Our “pockets” for the stones are especially made for hospital wear so that the stone is in a “pocket” necklace.  To take it to the next level, we’ve designed a writer’s club.  Kids who get one of our pockets also get a care card.  Their care cards are personally designed to fit the pebble being sent and have an intriguing message that leads easily to a story of the pebble’s adventure prior to being a supportive talisman.  Kids who are able to write their own pebble story can email it in to us on the blog or through our dancestones.org website.  The next step would be to compile all the stories into a book that could be given to children in hospitals or are going through treatments for severe illnesses and need something to read that offers a fun escape.  How about pebble stories from anyone interested in writing a pebble story for fun and donation to Dance Stones ?  Anyone interested is invited to contribute a story.  If you need a stone to help you write, check out the “Pockets” tab on our website where there are several different pebbles pictured there or send in your pebble with your tale (IMPORTANT: the book is free to patients needing a lift and won’t be sold for profit.  Our stones are sold only to cover costs to hospitals and patient programs)!   Start reaching out with us today.  Let us know what you think…

Beautiful Lengths!

I just watched Oprah’s show featuring haircuts and, most importantly, Hilary Swank’s cut for Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths.  What a great cause, giving hair to make wigs for cancer patients.  It’s so simple and moving for someone like Hilary to direct media attention to a cause that takes little effort for the average person to contribute and it doesn’t cost great amounts of money or time!  I’m currently growing out my hair but I would need more than six months to get the needed 8 inches!  However, if the hair is dyed it’s still wanted! Check out Pantene’s site for more information on hair requirements and how you can help with or without hair to donate! 

http://www.beautifullengths.com/en_US/index_home.jsp

“Tiger, Tiger burning bright…”

…or so it says.  My sixth grade students loved the sound of that poem but they couldn’t quite grasp the meaning, or discover one of their own, which means I didn’t lead them very well but that’s another story.  I love The Golden Compass books.  Much like the Harry Potter movies, I am skeptical about viewing the new film based on this much loved novel.  The stars are heavy hitters but the dream world created by the author is in the mind of the reader.  To try and capitalize on those thoughts on film is a risky business to say the least.  I am still drawn in to check out the website, view the trailers, and hope that it will be just another version of the story in my head that brings me pleasure.  Harry Potter, was like that it didn’t ruin my literary experience it was just a different version.  Now to the point, while perusing The Golden Compass film website, I discovered a cool item where kids can discover what their daemon would be based on their personality.  So I tried it out since I think having this changling animal as my companion is just the best and I was curious.  Mine was a tiger!  Perfect.  Right now I need a tiger’s strength and resilience.  Tigers always stand for strength against all odds and that’s what I need most.  How interesting that I should be assigned a tiger and his name is Gabriel perhaps to remind me that there are angels at work and all will be well even if the path doesn’t look the way I envisioned it.  I wallpapered my computer with Gabriel so that each time I sit down to try and make my dreams a reality I will see him and remember to stand tall with a GRRRRR in my throat.

The Tiger

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water’d heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? - William Blake