May Day!

Sunday, May 1st, 2022

We’ve been musing at the varied and vastly different meanings for May Day/mayday and we may just talk a little bit about them all! May 1st also marks the end of Ramadan. We’ve been up since 2:45 a.m. ET (to catch a flight back from Ohio) so I think we’ll just leave it at that and turn in early tonight, thankful for our own bed! It’s a ZOOM Sunday (a little ironic for May Day and its associated festivities, but oh well!). Here’s the link.

Zoom Paths of Heart
Time: May 1, 2022 11:00 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87939469344?pwd=b1dLSzlLVkZLNFlxNElWcmk0SFBKUT09

Meeting ID: 879 3946 9344
Passcode: 204738

Love,
Colleen and Mark

Quotes to ponder

“May Day: a day we in the northern hemisphere have historically reserved for fun springtime activities, like the maypole and picnics; a day when we can see summer and sprinklers and Popsicles right around the corner; a day that can’t help but bring to mind…airplane pilots calling for help?…”
~ Merriam-Webster.com

“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.”
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

“That is one good thing about this world…there are always sure to be more springs.”
~ L.M. Montgomery

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Looking Ahead/Notes of Interest

Paths of Heart Schedule (Sundays, 11 a.m.). We will be moving our start time to 10:30 a.m. starting May 22nd.

Mask Policy Update:
Though Covid cases sure seem to be ramping up again, illnesses are generally mild in most cases and we are leaving it up to attendees whether they want to mask or not.

May 1st – ZOOM gathering

May 8th and 15th – Paths of Heart will take a couple of Sundays off. Our wood floors are being refinished and our POH meeting room will be holding the contents of half of our house while that happens! 🙂

May 22nd – in person, new time 10:30 a.m.

May 29th – in person, 10:30 a.m., potluck following our gathering.

June 5th – ZOOM gathering

The above schedule is subject to change as we collectively craft the path of our gatherings going forward. 🙂

An Opportunity to Learn “Mindfulness Meditation”! Our good friend, Tamara Stanfill, who joins Paths of Heart regularly from Sonoma, CA via our Zoom sessions, is teaching a 6 week course as part of her training for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Certification Program, being taught by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Her course begins Sunday, May 1, 2022 and goes through Sunday, June 5, 2022. Tamara is offering a special $50 discount to those who follow Paths of Heart, especially for those who would like to join for all six classes – just use discount code PATHSOFHEART prior to online payment and booking.
*Special pricing rates and scholarships are also available to those in need, and folks are welcome to inquire directly with Tamara for details.
Bookings can be made directly via her website at https://www.partofthesoulution.com/eventsandofferings
For questions or additional information, please reach out to Tamara via email at info@partoftheSOULution.com. A portion of the proceeds from this course will go to the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, which is also near and dear to Paths of Heart!

Sending prayers and affirmations ~ If anyone would like to receive our collective positive thoughts and prayers on a Sunday morning, please ask! We can be as specific or as anonymous as you’d like. Let us know if we can surround you and your loved ones in love and light!

Giving Opportunities – Paths of Heart continues (into its 9th year now!) almost entirely through your generous donations. What a beautiful thing! If you find value in what we do here each week, please consider donating to keep our non-profit running smoothly, with grace and ease. The past 2 years saw a severe drop in donations and we’d love to regrow our account balance to a more healthy and sustainable level now that we are meeting regularly again. During the pandemic, online donations became increasingly important to our organization, and are always gratefully accepted on our website, https://www.pathsofheart.org/donate/. You can even sign up for monthly giving, which we deeply appreciate. Thanks so much for supporting the continuation of Paths of Heart! We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, so your donations are tax deductible!

Two ways you can further support Paths of Heart are detailed below:

King Soopers Community Rewards Program – if you shop at KS and have a rewards card, you can “link” it to Paths of Heart and King Soopers will donate a portion of your dollars spent (around 5%) to our non-profit. Go to https://www.kingsoopers.com/i/community/community-rewards to sign up and link your card. Our organization name is Paths of Heart and organization number is RG782. Let us know if you want help signing up!

Amazon Smile – We do love shopping locally and very often do, but Amazon sometimes fits the bill. If you are an Amazon shopper, you can make a difference by shopping at smile.amazon.com/ch/81-4175487 to generate donations for Paths of Heart!

“Paths of Heart” Labyrinth and Zen Meditation Garden – This was intentioned to be a community space, so know that you are always welcome to drop by and walk or sit – you do not need to let us know in advance. Do note that we have experienced the outer “halo” of glass blocks in the labyrinth to be slippery when wet, so it’s best to walk it on a dry day (not usually a problem in Colorado!). We also welcome volunteers to help keep our labyrinth looking beautiful and free of debris and weeds. Thank you in advance.

Gratitudes

What a time we had last Sunday with Judi Lucero joining us for special music, and then having our Easter potluck afterwards! Thank you, Judi – we can’t wait for the next time! And the potluck selections were fabulous! Thank you all for contributing and joining us for our first potluck in a very long time. We hope the next one on May 29th will be outdoors. 🙂

What are you grateful for today?

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.”
~ Henri Frederic Amiel

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”
~ Henry Ward Beecher

“Going to sleep with a grateful, open heart
is a powerful healing practice. Your dreams will become more inspiring and you will awaken in the morning
with a lighter state of mind.”
~ Dr. John Demartini

About Paths of Heart…

Paths of Heart is a high spirited, heart-centered community where we gather together (in new and creative ways!) for music, poetry, commentary, and dialogue to create and nurture joy, compassion, gratitude, and love – in our own lives and throughout the world. Paths of Heart is a 501(c)(3) Human Services/Educational non-profit organization that uses the arts, especially, to encourage and propel seekers of a better, more peaceful world to find ways to serve, while becoming more kind and compassionate human beings.

We welcome you as we collectively and individually explore the sweet mysteries of life – this is an invitation into co-creation!

Visit us on the web at https://www.pathsofheart.org
We hope our physical paths may cross soon!

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.” ~ Ruth Reichl

04/21/202204/21/2022

Everything is New Again!

Sunday, April 24th, 2022

We’re going to be a bit unorthodox and celebrate our Easter THIS Sunday, which – according to the Julian calendar – happens to be Orthodox Easter, so I guess it’s really not that unorthodox after all…
Our health, as well as our wacky sense of humor, is back and we look forward to celebrating with you with special music and a potluck lunch after our gathering (all the details below)! The weather forecast doesn’t look that great to be outdoors, but we have come to expect miracles in our lives, yes? And we can stay inside for the potluck if need be. We’ll gather at our usual time of 11 a.m. and give Mother Nature some time to warm up.
Love, light, and continued wellness to you,
Colleen and Mark

Quotes to ponder

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again…”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

“As wave is driven by wave
And each, pursued, pursues the wave ahead,
So time flies on and follows, flies, and follows,
Always, for ever and new. What was before
Is left behind; what never was is now;
And every passing moment is renewed.”
~ Ovid

“I can hardly wait for tomorrow, it means a new life for me each and every day.”
~ Stanley Kunitz

“There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.”
~ Rachel Carson

Looking Ahead/Notes of Interest

Paths of Heart Schedule (Sundays, 11 a.m.). We are considering moving our start time to 10 or 10:30 a.m. as the weather warms. Stay tuned for updates.

Mask Policy Update:
Though we had come to a general consensus that we were ready to do away with masks, we might want to reconsider in light of our family’s positive Covid results last week! For now, we are encouraging mask wearing again while indoors, unless you are absolutely comfortable without!

April 24th – in person. We are delighted that Judi Lucero will be here from Grand Junction to join in the music! Emma and Ethan (originally scheduled for Easter as well) will join us on a future Sunday, TBA. We’ll have our gathering indoors and then hope that the weather gods and goddesses will shine down upon us for a potluck outdoors immediately following. Please bring a dish to share and a beverage of choice if you desire. We’ll have assorted non-alcoholic drinks and some beer and wine. We’ll also provide all tableware. See ya soon!

May 1st – ZOOM gathering

May 22nd – in person

May 29th – in person

June 5th – ZOOM gathering

The above schedule is subject to change as we collectively craft the path of our gatherings going forward. 🙂

Two ways you can further support Paths of Heart are detailed below:

Gratitudes

We are SO grateful to all who came to our house concert or just donated to the cause! It was a great success and so much fun. We were sad to suddenly realize the possibility of Covid spread, which we again deeply apologize for! All the musicians donated their time, so $1,285 was raised for Paths of Heart. We are also grateful to the outpouring of support for Paths of Heart in general during these challenging times. Our gratitude goes out to our survey committee who are working on specific questions to ask our community as we co-create the future of Paths of Heart. Thank you all!

What are you grateful for today?

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.”
~ Henri Frederic Amiel

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”
~ Henry Ward Beecher

About Paths of Heart…

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.” ~ Ruth Reichl

04/14/202204/14/2022

The Best Laid Plans…

Sunday, April 17th, 2022

Alas, though we all wish this “Covid Cloud” that has been hanging over us for so long would just disappear already, it is still very much present and unfortunately has hit home. After 2 negative tests earlier in the week, Mark and I both tested positive yesterday and are hunkered down in quarantine. This of course means there will be no Easter Celebration this Sunday, though we DO hope to move the celebration to the following Sunday, which is Orthodox Easter! We also apologize to those who we may have unknowingly exposed to the virus, as it’s hard to say when we were first contagious. Our symptoms are fairly mild and shouldn’t keep us down for long, but it sure does wreak havoc on the daily schedule of lessons, music gigs, and our beloved Paths of Heart! We’ll check in next week about Sunday the 24th, and please email or call us with any concerns or questions. Happy Easter and be safe out there!
Love, light, and wellness to you,
Colleen and Mark

Quotes to ponder

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.”
~ Robert Burns

“Chaos is roving through the system and able to undo, at any point, the best laid plans.”
~ Terence McKenna

“When things go awry, if they are mostly an inconvenience to you or a threat to your ego, instead of getting furious, can you laugh? Sometimes even the best-laid plans, the most carefully planned events can turn out quite differently than planned.”
~ James Martin

“Carefully laid plans aren’t always the best. Sometimes Plan B is the real dream come true.”
~ S.J. D. Peterson

Looking Ahead/Notes of Interest

Paths of Heart Schedule (Sundays, 11 a.m.). We are considering moving our start time to 10 or 10:30 a.m. as the weather warms. Stay tuned for updates.

Mask Policy Update:
Though we had come to a general consensus that we were ready to do away with masks, we might want to reconsider in light of our family’s positive Covid results! For now, we are encouraging mask wearing again while indoors.

April 17th, Easter Sunday – NO Paths of Heart, due to Covid Quarantine

April 24th – in person (subject to change). We intend to move our Easter Celebration to this week (Orthodox Easter!) with a long-awaited-for POTLUCK after our gathering (hopefully outdoors!). Judi Lucero will be here from Grand Junction to join in the music! Ethan Roth will also join us on guitar, along with Emma Sloniker on vocals – a fine musical celebration indeed!

May 1st – ZOOM gathering

May 8th and 15th – Paths of Heart will take a couple of Sundays off. Our wood floors are being refinished and our POH meeting room will be holding the contents of half of our house while that happens!

May 22nd – in person

May 29th – in person

June 5th – ZOOM gathering

The above schedule is subject to change as we collectively craft the path of our gatherings going forward. 🙂

Two ways you can further support Paths of Heart are detailed below:

Gratitudes

What are you grateful for today?

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.”
~ Henri Frederic Amiel

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”
~ Henry Ward Beecher

About Paths of Heart…

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.” ~ Ruth Reichl

04/08/202204/08/2022

Prosperity Consciousness

Sunday, April 10th, 2022

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who joined in on the conversation about the future of Paths of Heart ~ not only “in person” and on Zoom over the last 2 Sundays, but through your numerous emails as well. We got so many valuable suggestions and as we compile them, we are also putting together a survey (thank you to Pat K. and Cynthia M. for heading up the survey team!) that we’ll send out with more specific questions for you, as Paths of Heart moves forward into a sustainable organization once again. Many of you also showed your love for POH by making extra donations and signing up for monthly giving. We deeply appreciate your faith in us and this community that we’ve co-created over 8+ years. It is evident that people value what they experience each week at “Paths” and we are even more committed to keeping it alive! One member did observe that most of the suggestions to remedy our financial concerns were “more in the direction of how to do less vs. how to bring in more.” It was an astute observation and got us thinking more about increasing our “prosperity consciousness”! Thus, our topic for this week. We hope you’ll join us at 11 a.m. this Sunday. Myles and Emma Sloniker will join in the music-making!
With love and gratitude always and all ways,
Colleen and Mark

Quotes to ponder

“Your mind is creative. Expand your thoughts and your imagination beyond your current circumstances, and your mind will create ways to turn what you think and imagine into reality.”
~ Remez Sasson

“Celebrate feelings of abundance within you so that you can experience the physical manifestation of prosperity now.”
~ Tanja Jaeger

“Your most precious, valued possessions and your greatest powers are invisible and intangible. No one can take them. You, and you alone, can give them. You will receive abundance for your giving.”
~ W. Clement Stone

“Prosperity in the form of wealth works exactly the same as everything else. You will see it coming into your life when you are unattached to needing it.”
~ Wayne Dyer

Looking Ahead/Notes of Interest

Paths of Heart Schedule (Sundays, 11 a.m.). We are considering moving our start time to 10 or 10:30 a.m. as the weather warms, and we’ll definitely meet at 10 a.m. on Easter Sunday to accommodate other family gatherings happening that day.

Mask Policy Update:
The general consensus so far has been that folks are comfortable with others being unmasked, though some are choosing to wear their own masks, which you are always welcome to do! We continue to assess our policy as conditions fluctuate concerning Covid.

April 3rd – ZOOM gathering

Special Event – April 9th, 7 pm (doors at 6:30) – Paths of Heart House Concert with the Sloniker-Crosson Clan – The concert is basically “sold out” at this point (thanks everyone!!), but if you’d like to be put on the waiting list, let us know, as last minute changes usually occur. If you aren’t coming to the concert but would like to contribute anyway, we’ll give you 3 of our CDs (you pick!).

April 10th – in person, with Myles and Emma Sloniker joining in on the music.

April 17th, Easter Sunday, 10 a.m. start time – in person, with a long-awaited-for POTLUCK after our gathering (hopefully outdoors!). Judi Lucero will be here from Grand Junction to join in the music! Ethan Roth will also join us on guitar, along with Emma Sloniker on vocals – a fine musical celebration indeed!

April 24th – in person

May 1st – ZOOM gathering

May 22nd – in person

May 29th – in person

June 5th – ZOOM gathering

The above schedule is subject to change as we collectively craft the path of our gatherings going forward. 🙂

Two ways you can further support Paths of Heart are detailed below:

Gratitudes

We’ve seen some lovely Paths photos in the last couple of weeks and we appreciate the graciousness with which folks agree to allow their use in our newsletter! Thanks to Serena Rusden for her England path featured this week, and also to Dave Leatherman for this beautiful bluebird here!

We remain grateful for all the good folks bringing humanitarian aid to Ukraine at this time. Here is one link shared from a trusted friend with family in Poland, of an organization there which is helping Ukrainian refugees.

https://www.siepomaga.pl/en/pah-ukraina?fbclid=IwAR2Ej5YMUz1aV1cqkaQXd_ekWknYjvQ_yInIP7I5NGkQL2jPPfuZUE5aBHw

In addition, World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders are worthy organizations that would welcome our monetary support.

What are you grateful for today?

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.”
~ Henri Frederic Amiel

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”
~ Henry Ward Beecher

About Paths of Heart…

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.” ~ Ruth Reichl

04/03/202204/04/2022

A Paths of “Heart to Heart”

Sunday, April 3rd, 2022

Dear POH Community ~ Our topic this week will focus on the future of Paths of Heart and how we can, with your help, keep it alive and thriving, if it is meant to be. We shared some of our concerns with the folks who were present in person last week, and will discuss in more detail this week on Zoom. Since Path’s inception over 8 years ago, we have existed solely through your generous donations and have met our budget requirements most years with grace and ease. As we’ve already mentioned in these newsletters, the “pandemic years” changed that. Like many other businesses and non-profits over these past 2 years, our income has not kept up with our expenses, especially in this last fiscal year when we went back to meeting regularly on Sundays. At this juncture, Paths of Heart is unfortunately no longer self-sustainable in its current form. Our expenses are roughly $20,000 – $24,000 a year, yet our income this fiscal year has been half that. We would very much like your help in determining what might turn these circumstances around, especially if you are a regular attendee and/or you find Paths of Heart to be a valuable entity/resource in your life. It seems a large percentage of our community has been slow to “return” to our gatherings. We’d love to more fully understand why this might be ~ whether it’s simply still due to the pandemic, or whether a different day/time/frequency might better serve our community. These are some of the questions we’d like you to ponder with us as we come up with a new plan together! We’d sure love to hear your thoughts and suggestions! Here is the link for Sunday’s gathering:

Time: Apr 3, 2022 11:00 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82363490377?pwd=aEdhcHpMY1FRT2pKeWJRZUVJTmszQT09

Meeting ID: 823 6349 0377
Passcode: 044611
With love and gratitude always and all ways,
Colleen and Mark

Quotes to ponder

“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.”
~ Dorothy Day

“One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn’t as individuals.”
~ Jean Vanier

“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”
~ Margaret J. Wheatley

“It is not more bigness that should be our goal. We must attempt, rather, to bring people back to the warmth of community, to the worth of individual effort and responsibility, and of individuals working together as a community, to better their lives and their children’s future.”
~ Robert F. Kennedy

Looking Ahead/Notes of Interest

Paths of Heart Schedule (Sundays, 11 a.m.)
We are considering moving our start time to 10 a.m. as the weather warms, and we’ll definitely meet at 10 a.m. on Easter Sunday to accommodate other family gatherings happening that day.

April 3rd – ZOOM gathering

Special Event – April 9th, 7 pm (doors at 6:30) – Paths of Heart House Concert with the Sloniker-Crosson Clan – The “Pandemic Years” were not particularly kind to the coffers of Paths of Heart, so we’ve decided to have a benefit concert to give our non-profit a boost! Since space is limited, we are asking folks that’ll be attending to prepay, either on our website
https://www.pathsofheart.org/donate/ (with the word “Concert” in the note/message section), or through Colleen’s Venmo: @Colleen-Crosson, or with a check or cash prior to the event.
Suggested donation for the concert is $25 (more if you can, less if it just doesn’t fit in your budget!). Feel free to bring a beverage of choice. There will be no intermission but we’ll hang out a bit afterwards with some light snacks/finger foods which you are also welcome to bring/share. If you can’t come to the concert but would like to contribute anyway, we’ll give you 3 of our CDs (you pick!). We hope you will join us!

April 10th – in person, with Myles and Emma Sloniker joining in on the music.

April 17th, Easter Sunday, 10 a.m. start time – in person, and we are fully intending to have a long-awaited-for POTLUCK after our gathering (hopefully outdoors!). We’ll also have some guest musicians TBA!

April 24th – in person

May 1st – ZOOM gathering

Two ways you can further support Paths of Heart are detailed below:

Gratitudes

We are surely grateful for all the good folks bringing humanitarian aid to Ukraine at this time. Here is one link shared from a trusted friend with family in Poland, of an organization there which is helping Ukrainian refugees.

https://www.siepomaga.pl/en/pah-ukraina?fbclid=IwAR2Ej5YMUz1aV1cqkaQXd_ekWknYjvQ_yInIP7I5NGkQL2jPPfuZUE5aBHw

In addition, World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders are worthy organizations that would welcome our monetary support.

We are also grateful that Myles Sloniker is coming to CO for a short visit in April. Much music and family fun will ensue!

What are you grateful for today?

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.”
~ Henri Frederic Amiel

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”
~ Henry Ward Beecher