Newsletter 11

by with One Comment Media representation

Life and its little obstacles…

Hello again

I’ve never been one to write a newsletter just saying hello and what’s coming up…. there always has to be a story attached of some sort. No exceptions today. (though if you just want the lowdown on the workshops coming up, just scroll down…   up…down…)
This one comes with a message that’s been coming up for me lately: Blessings in Disgiuse.

Ok so Falu my ‘mum’ called me up the other day asking if I could take her and ‘dad’, Mike, to the train station – the first leg of their journey to the airport to fly off for two months overseas. Yes! Of course! I dearly wanted to see them before they left, and give big hugs and kisses. Only thing is, on that day I had a business meeting till 2pm, and had to pick the kids up at the busstop before coming to fetch them. Tight schedule. But never too tight for me, I told myself. I’ll just rush, and in the event of missing the train, I’d take them to the Goldie airport myself. Just wanted those hugs and kisses, and to see them, and to be of assistance because I love them, you know.

Of course the schedule tightened up even further as the school bus got there 5 minutes late, and I had forgotten to make space in the back for all their suitcases so I had a bit of quick shuffling around to do before we left Nambour. Now if anyone knows Nambour, you’ll know that just past the Big Pineapple, over the roundabout, Maroochydore Road has been widened and now looks like a highway… seriously! I hit that road running at the average highway speed of 110km per hour. I was going to make it in time to get them to station, I was! Now, if any of you who know Nambour had told me beforehand that Maroochydore Road is notorious for our (not so) favourite people (speedcops), I might have missed my blessing altogether. Luckily I was happily (and speedily) oblivious to the fact that I was doing… 40kph over the speed limit! But not for long.

OUCH!!!! So much for getting to Falu in time for hugs, so much for saving up for my unpaid rates notice, so much for being of assistance. Mmmmm… (and a supressed curse). I think… I just…. lost… my license. ##@@****^^%%$$$!!!!!! And four hundred and sixty six dollars. Breathe, Rene….. breathe…..

How do I integrate this challenge, weave this full of meaning so that I can let the heavy emotion go, and trust in the universe? What story can I see that makes sense to me, that feels right in my heart, that looks from the perspective of the lotus on the mountaintop? Surely this is just an obstacle. And with that thought I remembered a friend channeling a message for me at the beginning of the year: ‘The wind is picking you up from under your wings, Rene, you are set to fly! There will be a few setbacks, a few obstacles, but don’t worry, you will get over those in no time, they’re just bumps in the road.’ ‘Obstacles?’ I asked. ‘Yep, maybe… something like… speeding fines.’ SHE SAID THAT TO ME! So I went: ‘Ah! its just a setback, an obstacle, and I’m beginning to fly!’ And: ‘What can I learn from this, where is my opportunity here?’

And I have decided that the opportunity that will serve me best in this situation is… on the probabibility of getting a year’s probationary license with no fines: the neccessity to be conscious of every moment, to notice where I am inside and out, and to make the choice of driving within the set limits, every time I climb into the car. And not to slip into the complacency of auto-pilot. Surely there could be no greater blessing than to be reminded to be aware at every moment, to live each moment with full consciousness of the choices I am making (and not making…) A great gift indeed.

Offroad is another matter altogether – yee ha! (he he). Now if I completely lose my licence through a gross accumulated loss of points: the lesson? Dunno, there’s no use in worrying, is there? I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it! Make friends with the neighbours maybe…good friends…mmm… I can be creative in finding a solution! Trust in the universe that all will be just as its meant to be, in divine perfection. I’m thinking teleportation will be invented soon?

I had to call and explain my predicament to Falu… she got her neighbour to take them to the train station and I missed out on my hugs and kisses. That’s the worst punishment.

Anyway, I will under all circumstances be able to make it to all of weavery’s upcoming events…

The soonest of which is… our 1-day workshop in Redcliffe Botanic Gardens this coming Sunday (5th)! It’s a special one, so check out the link for this event and contact me if you are keen to join us. We will be making beautiful water bottle carriers that will be the envy of your friends! Brilliant gifts, they make.

September is coming up fast, and with it, our special Weavery Spring Retreat at Bribie Island. There are 3 places left, so if you are interested in joining us, do it sooner rather than later, and remember that you have just two weeks left to catch the eary bird price. Check out our facebook page for this event too…

At the end of the year we will be hosting an amazing 4-day retreat at Stradbroke Island –Authentic Reflection. This is a collaborative event between Emma Creed of Sound Affects and myself, Rene Bahloo of Weavery. It will be an amazing experience, bringing to you a sense of peace, of stilness, an opportunity to tune into the challenges and gifts of this year of 2012, and to integrate and consolidate and celebrate the coming of the new. We will weave, sing and laugh our way to a better way of being in this world, together.

For a list of more upcoming events, click on this link.

Our community is growing, weavery@facebook now has 459 likers, wow! Social media never ceases to amaze me with its networking power. Join our conversation here, too, and see the photos and videos I post of recent events and links to upcoming ones. If you haven’t checked it out yet, that’s http://www.facebook.com/weaverywork

Also, feel free to browse our website, new things are appearing all the time…!

Brilliant!

Thats it for now. Have a great week!
Love, Rene

Newsletter 10

by with No Comment Media representation

Weaving it all together…
with news and upcoming events 

Aaaaahhhhhh….. a relaxing Monday doing the washing and all that neglected stuff to catch up on, after a long exhausting weekend at the Mind Body Spirit expo in Brisbane. But what a buzz it was! Four workshops a day, lots of people to talk to, lots of stories to share. Surrounded by weavings and fibre and friends, I was in my element. There was so much interest in Weavery, I was blown away! Thank you, universe, for leading me on this awesomely perfect path! And welcome to all those new Weavery members who signed up for this newsletter… here is another snippet of my journey…

Last week I booked flights to Cairns. For the whole family – yes! all six of us. Yee ha! I have applied to do workshops at the Eclipse festival in mid Nov, 2012http://www.eclipse2012.com/, hold thumbs that I get selected.  It was a bit risky buying tics just for the fun of it, even though at half price discount (which was of course what swayed me!) Our first family flight! Yee ha! Manifesting fun and laughter. And we will get to see the FULL solar eclipse in 2012, wow!  Any suggestions of how to spend the last week in November, up north? I bet there’s a million cool things to see and experience in Cairns and Port Douglas…
But right now, its end of financial year, and I’d better get my stuff up to scratch. By stuff, I mean organizing skills and financials and that kinda thing… never been my strong point, but hey, that’s the joy of running your own business… !! Please don’t tell me now I have to start planning, can’t I just go with the flow of the universe? Course I can.

And speaking of flow, guess what? … I have just received a RADF grant for researching weaving and dye fibres to be found in South East Queensland, and I plan to share the my research process with you in a series of Weavery blogs! Just gotta set up the WordPress blogsite, connect it to my website http://www.weavery.com.au and off we go! Yee ha! So, any smart plant or dye tips you might have, I’m all open to learning and sharing! I’m also going to be taking an active part in a project about repatriating Indigenous Fibre Culture on the Sunshine Coast with local Kabi Kabi elders, how exciting is that?

It’s in my flow to create a fibre-based artwork for a local exhibition… stirring up those creative juices to venture forth beyond the normal shapes and forms of traditional basketry, channeled through an inner space that I like immensely.  I wonder what it’s going to look like? Never mind, I’m sure it will be perfect. Everything always is, no matter how wonky it seems at the time. I’m thinking of maybe …words… (a hint) hee hee, no more cats out the bag till later though! Another creative expression manifested in my application in to Floating Land 2013 http://www.floatingland.com.au/, for a woven installation piece and possible associated workshops… hope I get selected!

I have a few workshop opportunities arising, on the near horizon. The first of which is the one-day workshop coming up at the Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens on Saturday the 14th July. Yep, that’s this weekend! http://www.facebook.com/events/238446909592180/
Then there’s a similar experience to be had at the Redcliffe Botanic Gardens on Sunday August the 5th. http://www.facebook.com/events/308905802538489/ . This opportunity is in in alignment with the event “What’s cooking in the gardens?”http://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/whatscooking so that you can bring kids and family and they can be entertained by the free kid’s workshops alongside, while we relax and enjoy the active meditation of weaving (a twist weave water bottle carrier). A weekday workshop on Friday the 10th of August, from 10:30am – 2:30pm, is offered as well, offering the chance to learn an additional weaving technique. Workshops are subject to numbers.

Spring is in the air, well soon enough it will be, and alongside, comes Weavery’s Spring Retreat http://www.facebook.com/events/250126465105668/ … a delicious weekend on beachside Bribie Island filled with weaving, yoga and Ayurvedic cooking (an ancient ‘Science of life’, based on the flow of energy throughout the body/mind). Book in for this one now as spaces are limited… and it will be amazing! Check out the retreat info on my website at http://weavery.com.au/event/weavery-retreat-at-bribie-island-feb-2012/

OK, so, more weekday and weekend workshops are coming up at Goombuckar Indigenous Cultural Centre in Forest Glen, Sunshine Coast, as well as a six week course in Cooroy, at the Butter Factory Arts Centre, starting on the 1st and 6th August (Mondays and Wednesdays) http://library.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/sitePage.cfm?code=butter-factory-cooroy. I’m also taking a trip down to the Brunswick Heads area, where I will be sharing some magical times in a two-day palm fibre workshop, and then in September is the very special Spring Weavery Retreat!http://www.facebook.com/events/250126465105668/ So exciting! Email me to find out about these events as details unfold every day.

One very popular weaving opportunity is the “design-your-own-workshop”, where, for a set fee, I come to your neck of the woods and we work our weaving magic with your chosen group. This can be quite cost-effective as you split the cost amongst the attendees. Great for community groups, environmental groups, friends, celebrations – wherever you are, I’m just an email away!

And then, when you’ve experienced one of Weavery’s workshops and feel the urge to do more (i.e. been bitten by the bug), you can come and join our regular weaving group on Tuesdays at Goombuckar Indigenous Cultural Centre in Forest Glenhttp://www.goombuckar.com/ and carry on the journey! It runs from 11 30am till 2 30pm: for only $15 per week, come and hang out with us and let your creative self emerge… fibre is provided.

To see photos of my weaving groups at work and share our experiences without actually partaking physically, check out my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/weaverywork. Enjoy!

So, just to recap the workshops:
14th July – one-day workshop at Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens $80 early bird $100 full price
5th August and 10th August – one-day workshop at Redcliffe Botanic Gardens $80 early bird $100 full price
August – weekend and weekday one- and two-day workshops at Goombuckar Indigenous Cultural Centre, email or call for details
Starting 1st August and 6th August: 6 week course – Butter Factory Arts Centre, Cooroy
August/September – two-day workshops at Brundwick Heads, email or call for details
14-16 September – Weavery’s Spring Retreat at Bribie Island $350 early bird $425 full price
Any other time – any other place, ‘design-your-own workshop’

Coming up in December is a really special treat my special friend Emma Creed and I are weaving up for you – a 4-day RETREAT at Stradbroke Island, where you can reflect on  your past year, celebrate accomplishments and integrate learnings from a place of inner stillness. To sing and laugh and to weave it all together, to recognise the masterpiece you have created with all its bumps and twists. And to open a loving space inside yourself for a new year of positive manifestation to enter. Sound good? Check out our facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthenticReflection with more info to come in the next few weeks…

Email me at tribahloo@hotmail.com, or call me : 0438 162 552

Have a great month!

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Love, Rene

www.weavery.com.au