If you missed January's newsletter and want to know why these journals are spilling over with ribbons click here to download the pdf file on Gratitude, Appreciation, & Celebration.

Or read it here:

Gratitude looks back on things that have come before.

Appreciation looks at what is currently present.

Celebration opens the door for more to appear.

I want to share my latest method of celebration with you — so you can use it too. This idea came about in November when my friend Judy asked me what new and exciting things had happened in the two weeks since I had last seen her. I was stopped cold.

Had anything new and exciting happened?

It took me at least ten minutes to come up with something, and another ten minutes to come up with another something — and they were both big “somethings”. How could I have ever forgotten them?

Shocked at how far from my memory my good times were, we brainstormed ideas to celebrate them. Clearly I needed a way to keep the good times in the forefront of my mind.

You are going to love this idea. It is so easy, playful, inexpensive, and FUN! If having a glass of wine every time something good happens to you seems a bit excessive, try this instead:

Tape a piece of curling ribbon to the top of your journal, or to the edge of your calendar, to commemorate and celebrate the good as it comes into your life.

Today my journal has five different colored, curled ribbons hanging out of the top. Just looking at it every morning makes me smile. NOW I am regularly remembering all the good things happening in my life. How wonderful is that!

It is so easy for us to fall in-step with the gloom and doom pervasive in the media these days that we often forget the good times we are actually having. We don’t have to do that.

When we remember to LOOK for the good that surrounds us, when we remember to CELEBRATE the good that surrounds us, we open ourselves up to allow even more goodness in our lives. Celebrate Now! What have you got to lose?

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This month's featured painting, Promises & Secrets Within, was titled by good friends and the people who watched me paint her in public.

This mystery woman peers out at the world from within us, quiet and confident in her wisdom. She is delighted with the many promises and secrets she holds for us. They are all there for us to find - if we will look with our hearts instead of our eyes.

Who knows what really lies within the inner landscape of our existence? Can we navigate through to find out? Our future stretches out before us. We're on the verge of learning something new, of becoming more fully present in our own lives.

These times in which we live can be exciting or frightening. The choices we make regarding our perception of events, dictate our feelings and our responses to them.

Fear and excitement are "kissing cousins" of one another. When we realize that we can choose between fear and excitement, we have the power to decide which to feel in any given moment.

The awareness that there is a choice to be made comes first.

Collectively we have all begun a new year, 2009. On January 26, we entered the Chinese Year of the Ox, a year representing prosperity gained through fortitude and hard work; how appropriate. In addition, we have a new president who has emphasized the need for accountability and responsibility.

A new time is truly upon us. Who knows what promises and secrets lie ahead? We all have access to our greatness within. Let us choose to open ourselves up to all that is left to be discovered.

Our strengths await our presence. It is up to each one of us to stand tall and true ... our lives hinge on our decision to do so.

To read about Finding Your Promises and Secrets Within, click here.