source; unsplash by allef vinicius

Well, I’m sitting in a smokey haze. It’s not that I’ve taken up smoking but it’s the forest, wild-fire smoke that has blown into town this week. It’s cast a yellow tint to everything including my brain.

Maybe it’s a summer slacker thing, but I’ve been avoiding my blog.

I’ve recently finished reading the non-fiction, self help book,  Allow Yourself To Be a Better Person by Balroop Singh. I felt compelled to share my review with all of my Escapees. Why? Because not only did I love this book but I’m sure you will also find value in Balroop’s wisdom.

In yoga class, often the teacher will ask you to “set your intention” for practice. In my first year of taking yoga class, this request would stump me. What is my intention for today’s class? Hmmm.

image source rodeo.net

Are you inked?  If not, are you thinking about getting a tattoo?  Are these thoughts connected to an event in your life such as divorce, marriage, death, love?

It’s human nature to want to mark an event with a celebration or a ceremony and sometimes with INK.

Last year I rounded up a ‘look back’ at The Great Escape blog. It was interesting to see a year in the life of this little blog, so I’m doing the same here with a slight twist. We’ll end on my (and your) hopes for 2017. My theme for the year is building a dream…a year to build a dream on…because why not?

image source; collider film review. Will Ferrel in Everything Must Go

Letting go of our stuff is one of the steps to moving forward but how and when can we do this? That’s the tricky part and there isn’t one perfect answer. Each of us hold different attachments to our things, stuff. We all have various degrees of emotional attachment.  At the outset of divorce we can be a little too hasty in discarding our old life. Until some time passes, we don’t know what these items will mean to us. What memory will they evoke or what part of ourselves will they represent. if any? If you’re not sure right now, then keep them and let some time pass before revisiting their worth.

image source unsplash by Kevin Lee

I used to equate grace with ballerinas. Their long legs and perfectly held arms and delicate buns atop their perfect shaped heads, said ‘graceful’. I thought of myself as the polar opposite of the ballet dancer. I had no grace.

I was often called ‘clumsy’ as a child. I still lose my grip sometimes, spilling milk, not to cry over or maybe it’s spilled wine to cry over. Regardless, things get spilled and people cry.

image source yoganonomous

Every Saturday I attend yoga class but it’s not just any old yoga class. It’s Goddess class. Our teacher calls on one of the ancient Goddesses during class and has us all join her, while holding our Goddess pose. We may call on Kali to conquer our fears or Aditi to overcome obstacles we are facing. Goddess To The Rescue!

Just look at the power in the Goddess (Fierce) pose (pictured above). The legs, abdominal and arms all firing and increasing blood flow, generating heat and with that our own physical power.

This class is affectionately referred to as ‘Goddess class’ although it’s not named that on the schedule. Our teacher has

image-by-Creative-Commons-Ninha-Morandini

I’m not sure what chapter I’m in but I hope it’s somewhere in the middle. The saggy middle. That’s the part of the story where we have to continue the suspense and rising action or we’ll get bored and abandon the book. How many chapters will our life even contain? While we don’t know the answer to this, an unknown ending is what keeps us moving forward.

image source creative commons

Maybe while we were married we could afford to let a little money ‘go missing’ or be ‘stolen’ from our wallet but things change when we get divorced. If you’re a single parent, you’re likely on a budget or at the very least cognizant of where your pennies are going. Maybe you just want to tighten up your