Women who choose to live in the Southwest Desert have a style and spice not found elsewhere.
We do things differently, care about people’s dreams and don’t put up with much.
Manners are important, grace is necessary and grit makes us fine.
Thank you for stopping by and taking a walk where turantulas, javelina, snakes, horses, pack rats and mountain lions live among pool dwellers, tumbleweeds, cactus and a very big blue sky.
“Men like this, and it is mostly men, learn how to keep secrets early and young and are good at it, experts at deception.” – Jilly Jesson Smyth
Rising from the Ashes
This photo of Mary Havens says it all, she is building an ice cream sundae with toppings galore, enjoying her life, traveling and meeting amazing people across the land and making a difference. It is hard to believe when we met a couple of years ago, we were both recovering from trauma beyond belief. I saw her across a crowd of friends getting ready to walk at a beautiful space called La Encantada as the sun was going down under the magnificent Catalina Mountains in Tucson, Arizona. I sensed she had been through something very serious, something heartbreaking and shocking, the kind of stuff that no one believes can really happen so close to home.
Since we met and began speaking to the unspeakable, she has been on a mission to bring light to a very dark subject with her new memoir The Shadows In My Heart.
Life is a process of forgetting and remembering.
“Still the hardest thing for me is self-forgiveness, even though I know I did my very best under all circumstances,” Mary says.
Remembering takes courage, reflecting back on a horrific time in order to write about one’s life honestly brings up buried secrets and horrors.
In order to expose what happened, the images flowing through Mary’s mind and heart had to be looked at again.
Dr. Allan Hamilton. Mary Havens and I at the Tucson Festival of Books.
Because it is still happening.
During this journey Mary met an incredible support team including Paul Krupin and Lynn Wiese Sneyd, Publicists for Mary A. Havens, and Allan J. Hamilton (pictured) an American physician and medical consultant to ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy based in Tucson, Arizona. As her sisters believed and knew, so did her expanding circle of helpers and she left to start a new life. Mary Havens is now speaking out in intimate and larger gatherings to help guide others to rise and love again. The first thing a friend can do is listen and believe.
There are no more secrets.
I read Mary’s story and it resonated with a deep knowing of how Coercive Control happens like a slow drip of a “pattern of behaviour which seeks to take away the victim’s liberty or freedom, to strip away their sense of self. It is not just women’s bodily integrity which is violated but also their human rights.” (more)
Every woman of every age needs to read this book.
“Secrets like these are so damaging.” – Mary Havens
Being miserable can be buried deep in order to protect the kids and parents, but it doesn’t. When Mary told her In-Laws about her ex-husband’s pedophilia, they did not believe her, when she told her own parents, they did not hear her. They all effectively set up Mary’s children, their grandchildren, to be abused. It is the tip of the iceberg. An abuser of any kind knows how to hide around corners and turn into a monster at the flip of a dime. Men like this, and it is mostly men, learn how to keep secrets early and young and are good at it, experts at deception.
Believe.
Mary Havens shares her compelling story in, The Shadows in My Heart, where she unmasks the truth and tragic consequences of family secrets and mysteries. This groundbreaking autobiography, her lifelong quest, is about real people who inhabited a sleepy, peaceful Midwestern dairy farm in the Wisconsin Ocooch Mountains.
I was introduced to Lori DiGuardi at this time last year and knew right away she was a woman of substance, love and inspiration. We met on New Year’s Eve at my friend Linda Joy’s celebration on the last day of 2017 and I was excited to learn of her new book soon to be published.
The first event we all participated in was the Woman’s March Tucson, a very exciting time of strength and momentum with 5,000 people marching through the historic downtown with high positive energy. We gathered and raised our voices in unison above the turmoil and chaos soon to manifest in the year of firestorms beyond our knowing at the time.
As soon as I held Lori’s new book in my hands this year on New Year’s Eve 2018, I was ready to read her story of a spiraling upward journey to knowing her truth. The reality of a real yellow brick road and hero’s alchemy titled “Anger 101: The Healthy Approach to Being a Bitch”.The timing could not be more perfect.
“Join me in celebrating the inner truth of anger together.” – Lori DiGuardi
I highly suggest every woman read this book and…
Become Your Own Superhero in 10 Simple Steps by Lori DiGuardi
Being a superhero is more about the quality of your being rather than what you do yet it takes everything you got. 1 – Superheroes live for honor. Make a commitment to honor yourself. Proclaim, “From this day forward, I am committed to honoring myself.” Making a commitment forms an energetic contract and you will…
My introduction to a strong and courageous woman named Kalyn Wolf began a few years ago at a friend’s yard and patio party in Tucson Arizona..
She was wearing an artist designed scarf in blues and purples that reminded me of the ocean and introduced herself with a bright smile.
I felt then that she knows what she wants and goes after it like a lioness protecting her cubs. I am honored to share her story on beginning a business of bliss.
When You Are Pushed Into Your Bliss
By Kalyn Wolf
After 10 years being at the top of my field in corporate sales with 2 very large companies, I found myself over the past year bemused and befuddled at having no job! “How”, I thought to myself “can it be that NO ONE in Corporate America would want an overachieving, high performing, positive sales person like me on their team?” And then it hit me. Because I’m supposed to be taking everything I’ve learned to date and put it to good use for myself and humanity.
For many years I had a successful healing practice in Los Angeles, and a successful Flotation Tank business in Tucson back in the day. After being literally “kicked out” of Corporate America I had the inspiration to go back to my roots and open another Flotation Tank center AND marry it with my healing work and et voila! Cloud Nine Flotation with Flotation Energy Therapy (FET™) was born. That was on Aug 1, 2015. Within7 weeks, almost to the day, and moving at lightening speed, Cloud Nine Flotation is a reality. When I had the thought to open a Flotation Center, I had NO IDEA that Flotation Tanks are having a HUGE resurgence. In fact, there are more centers today in the U.S. and Canada than EVER before; only 2 years ago there was 1 center in Canada, and today there are 53!
The industry is booming and my timing couldn’t be better.
I went into massive action, but with ease. In fact, everything came together with SUCH ease, that I felt I was being guided step by step through the process. Within days, I found the perfect tank (with some modifications for commercial use), found a web artist who created my beautiful logo and website in record time, and even helped me with music tracks for the tank. I found beautiful Himalayan Salt Lamps for my retail side, along with the perfect aromatherapy diffusers and designer bath and kitchen salts.The most fulfilling part is I’ve been really tuning into all the training I’ve had with crystals and sound and other vibrational healing modalities.
On Sept 30, 2015 we officially opened Cloud Nine Flotation, and we have had people floating every day since then. We continue to grow as a company, I continue to grow as a healer, and as a woman.
I have much to sharefrom how to improve your sales, to how to relax, and how to follow your heart and dreams, even if it means being pushed into doing it. @KalynWolf
Open House with Cloud Nine friends 2015
Tiny Notes of Wisdom from Athena
I hope that you are inspired by Kalyn Wolf’s story and wish to create your own!
Women to Watch Arizona are Stories about women that influence our neighborhoods and lives. Woman in Biz hosted by Jilly Jesson Smyth and the PowerPunchSplash JillyLIVE Show!
We would love to talk to you!
Contact us with your info and a sentence or two about yourself with your website or blog link.
What is your passion? What drove you to begin your project?
I am completely inspired by reading the wisdom of the magnificent women I know. Having several blogs and websites is like having different styles of homes in different locals, I can express the variety of themes that excite me.
One of the themes I care about is theology and spirituality. My Doctor of Divinity degree is inspired by my long family history of Episcopalian and Lutheran ministry and how the study of the Unitarian Universalist Church Faith aligns with my heart.
Cynthia is pictured in the center back.
I met Cynthia at a Tucson Women’s Blogger gatherimg and felt her strong, heartfelt need to express her expertise in understanding why spiritual history is important.
“We create spirituality and community beyond boundaries, working for more justice and more love in our own lives and in the world. Unitarian Universalism affirms and promotes seven Principles, grounded in the humanistic teachings of the world’s religions. Our spirituality is unbounded, drawing from scripture and science, …” uua.org/beliefs
This blog is not about the study of theology, or an apologetic, or an explication of dogma. It’s about my life, coming to faith in God, discovering truth, learning lessons. So, by definition, it’s autobiographical, and contains my observation about life and my own ideas about how things are – my “take” on what might be called theology, plus a lot more. {Image: The blogger dressed for New England weather, circa 1955.}
When I met Pam, I was inspired by her “lets get it done” attitude towards finding her passion. Since we met she has blossomed into an amazing businesswoman, taking charge of her life and meeting new people everywhere by helping them create their dreams while growing hers and supporting her family.
Pam is pictured on the left.
“Those who can, do. Those who can teach, inspire those who can.” – Pam Varner @MySassynotions
I have vivid memories of my mom at the sewing machine when I was a child. I watched in awe as she turned pieces of fabric into clothes for my sister and I. She studied fashion design at The Art Institute of Chicago where she learned to draft her own patterns and produce clothing that looked store bought. My sister was taking Home EC and from my view was on her way to fashion freedom. I desperately wanted to learn too. I begged my mom to teach me to sew and eventually she relented.
My mother had many talents; teaching was not one of them. A combined lack of talent and patience led to frustration on steroids. The blue overall pants, I so desperately wanted to sew myself, were constructed beautifully by her. I hated wearing those pants; a symbol of my failure.
Jilly Jesson Smyth 