National Parks

Sequoia National Park

Sabrina

Here’s why you’ll fall in love with Sequoia National Park.

The U.S. has 62 National Parks (29 states have national parks and California has the most, 9 of them). I just got back from Sequoia NP for a 3-Days trip with a girlfriend so now I have been to 9 (3 in California) in the last 20 years while I live here (Yosemite, Death Valley, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Glacier, Mount Rainier, Olympic, Haleakalā, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes).

You can download this map HERE.

We went in through Hwy 198 Three Rivers from the Bay Area, and out through Hwy 180. We spent our time in the lower part of the park – the first day we went to the General Sherman tree area, the second day we went to Moro Rock, Tunnel Log, and Crescent Meadow, the last day we went to the Tokopah Fall area. That’s all we have time for because the park is too big.

From our hotel to the park entrance is about an hour, from the Lodgepole Visitor Center to King Canyon Visitor Center is about 1.5 hours (middle part of the park), and from the King Canyon Visitor Center to Cedar Grove Visitor Center is about 2 hours (upper part of the park) (it might be longer because there are constructions between the Lodgepole Visitor Center to Cedar Grove Visitor Center).  I wish we could stay longer to explore more.

*The entrance fee per car is $35 for a week; if you plan to visit 2-3 different National Parks a year, buying an Annual Pass for $80 per car would be better.

There are no Wifi or cellphone signals in most parts of the park.

Maybe it’s because Sequoia NP is less known and farther away than Yosemite so it’s less crowded which is what I wanted plus I haven’t visited it before.

We stayed in Comfort Inn & Suites at Three Rivers. Although it said they offer free breakfast, we went to Sequoia Coffee Co. to get our expresso and baked goods instead (3 min drive from the hotel and it’s on the way to the park) and there are two gas stations nearby as well (no gas stations inside the park). If you want better dinner choices, consider a 30 min drive to the City of Visalia; otherwise, there are few restaurants choices near the hotel (pizza, burgers, Mexican food, etc.)

Let me share some photos we took with our iPhones.

Day 1 – General Sherman Tree area

 

Day 2 – Moro Rock, Tunnel Log, and Crescent Meadow area

This view is the reward after all those steps when you are on top of the rock.

I love all the tree roots formations that I have seen. They are so beautiful like sculptures.

 

Day 3 – Tokopah Falls (from Lodgepole Visitor Center)

We found a perfect spot to do a meditation with water sound around us, so peaceful and calm. I took off my shoes and put my feet down in the water. It felt so good.

Most people wear a mask and keep a distance from each other so I feel very safe and comfortable to be in nature. I need to smell the fresh air and say hello to those giant trees because my body, mind and soul need it.

Although it’s fewer people due to COVID-19 (fewer people from out of the area and local area), I would still recommend come during the weekdays because when we enter on Friday morning we need to wait a bit at the entrance, and all the camping area are full.

I wonder how many National Parks an average American has been in their lifetime because if you visit one per year, it will take 62 years to see them all. I have only been to 9 in the last 20 years. Shame on me!!!

Hmmm, now I am thinking which NP do I want to go next!!!

Accessing the Sacred Energy of Trees

Diaries

My last event for Aveinda’s Village

Sabrina

Today’s “Lunch at the Park” was the last event I arranged for Avenidas Village. I am the Social Event Coordinator which was a new position that Village members created so I was the lucky one who gets to do many fun things with them for the last 21 months. (the photo above was my first event back in Nov 2018)

Since the COVID-19 hit, we are not able to do anything because they are the high-risk group so sadly I have to leave the job now and find something else.

Many of the members emailed me to tell me how they feel, and it really warms my heart,

Dear Sarbrina, I will miss you and I’m glad to have attended some activities you’ve organized. You have a way of making people (me) feel included. Best wishes always, -C.K.

Dear Sabrina, You are such a kind, thoughtful, young woen and I will miss you as I know all of the Villagers will as well. Stay well and happy, -C.H.

Dear Sabrina, Your many accomplishments for Avenidas Village are impressive! Thank you for your excellent contributions to Avenidas Village seniors health, safety, and happiness. -M.M.

Dear Sabrina, I am very sad and sorry to know that you will be leaving AV. I didn’t even have a chance to know you better and to attend more of your outings. I would like to tell you how much we enjoy knowing you. We appreciate and are grateful for all you have done for us during this time of lockdown. We will certainly miss you. Keep well, -S.L.

Dear Sabrina, I will not be at the lunch but I do want to tell you how sorry I am that you will be leaving AV. I will miss you as I am sure many other Villagers will. You have always been a cheerful, friendly, helpful person. You have done an amazing job for us. With good luck in all your future endeavors, -Z.Z.

Dear Sabrina, I want to say thanks and goodbye to you even though I’m upset at your leaving. I was really enjoying the places that you chose for us to visit. There is no easy way to say goodbye to someone who has brought such fun to me in the months that I have known you. -G.G.

Today I arrange one last gathering (I haven’t seen most of them since mid-March) so I get to see my regulars and a few new faces one more time and say goodbye. One member even just drove by to give me a card and drove home (because she didn’t want to say goodbye). I was reading the cards they gave me after I got home and my tears just couldn’t stop. You have treated me well and I am going to miss you all. I wish you all safe and healthy because I want to see you again in the near future.

Health & Beauty, Jewelry

能量水晶手鍊

Sabrina

女友Vivian介紹她住在加拿大的朋友Angsa讓我認識，Angsa可以根據你的需求去感應你，然後根據她的感應幫你設計一條獨一無二的能量水晶手鍊. 我跟他沒見過面, 純粹用Messanger簡訊聯絡。我告訴她，我想要在感情和金錢上感到豐盛富足，想要勇氣和自信，感到人生是美好的。我請她按照她的直覺去幫我做這條手鍊。 三天後她傳照片給我看，並分享她製作過程的心情和感應：

首先，我想分享一下我在製作這條手鍊的感覺，我可以感受到Sabrina現在所想要的，其實都已經在眼前，就如我們一開始討論的是沒有勇氣去要，但是我想說的是，當Sabrina開口跟我說要這個手鍊，其實就已經開始跨出那一步，提起勇氣說出自己想要，再更深入去感覺原因，其實是來自於害怕不一樣，可能表面上表現的給人的形象好像已經很不一樣了，但是那個不一樣還是來自於他人認為的不一樣，這個不一樣其實是來自於想獲得他人認同，覺得你很有想法不一樣，但是事實上本質的你，其實是更不一樣的人，甚至有時候會不一樣到讓人無法理解，而這個不一樣可能不一定會讓他人覺得欽佩或是認同。 這條手鍊我希望帶給你的是，好好的勇敢往內看，深深地欣賞自己的每一個細節部分，接納自己可能無法被他人接納的部分。因為想要獲得豐盛，不是在外面獲得多少的認同，而是心底深深的相信自己什麼都可以做到，要記得這世界上所有的東西都是中性的，只有我們自己去定義這個好壞，當你這樣深深相信，你就會獲得那份勇氣，一切豐盛美好自然會到來。

當我做完這份手鍊的時候，我有種說不出來的感覺，它很美，而且它的美是真的很獨一無二，讓我無法用一般審美形容詞去形容，我甚至一度覺得我是不是要重做，因為我不確定這麼獨特的風格是不是Sabrina要的，但是我再回想Sabrina的需求，我會覺得如果我要給你這份勇氣，我也要一樣勇敢的去展現這個作品給你看，因為它同時也是我的心血，我也應當踏踏實實地接納我的創作。基本上我在製作手鍊的時候，我感覺還蠻順的，很快就擺好選好珠子， 卡住是在做完之後，就如我前面敘述的，其實當天聊完，我半夜靈感來了很快就做了，只是就是感受到一股恐懼不確定，所以我讓那能量消化幾天，等到差不多了，我才好好坐下來寫昨天那段文字。我覺得這對你來講可能是要跨出比較大的一步，但是在我看來其實內在準備好了（所以一開始製作沒有什麼問題），就等你自己準備好了去實行（所以花了些時間讓那能量感覺沉澱）。這串手鍊其實蠻多鐵跟紅色元素的能量，基本上水晶有 超級七-主色是紫色， 灰月光石-比較偏灰咖啡跟灰色， 紅石瑠-它是深紅色，通常光照下才會透出比較紅的顏色， 白水晶-就是透明色， 我感覺是你的上半部脈輪跑的快，下半部接地氣的脈輪卡住，所以才會有海底輪/生殖輪相關的水晶出現，會有這種靈感來的很快，行動力不足的狀況，我以前也是這樣，其實很多較敏感的人都會有這種問題，靈魂跑的速度肉體跟不上，要多活動下半身，我有陣子幾乎天天出去公園走一小時，走了一個月，我的行動力明顯提高很多。我覺得做你的手鍊靈感很多，應該也是我跟你有類似的經驗，我也是在台灣沒法 fit in, 才來加拿大，反正手鍊戴了，之後就是多照顧下半身脈輪，我覺得豐盛能量就會順暢很多。

就在我等著手鍊從加拿大寄到我手上的這一週，我剛好在我臉書上貼了一篇缺鐵會容易感到疲倦的文章，也說我之前驗血得知我鐵質和維他命D的數值超低，Angsa看到便告訴我，難怪她那時候覺得需要幫我加很多鐵質水晶，並建議我可以買紅石榴原礦(Raw Garnet)放在水裡三四個小時後喝，可以補鐵，平時拿來握著冥想也不錯，於是我上Etsy買了幾顆紅石榴原礦。後來拿到手鍊了，在簡訊裡聊天時，Angsa說Super seven水晶真的很神奇，有客人戴一戴變色，這個就跟玉一樣，戴久了會因為戴的人的能量變色，月光石也會這樣，你這串就是Super seven 跟月光石為主，所以你這一串，未來戴久了也可能會有不同的樣子。我說你現在提到月光石，我突然想起我的情緒，好像蠻容易因為月亮起伏。Angsa回我說能量敏感的人，大部分都對月亮敏感。(可是我並不喜歡那種自己無法控制的敏感和有時沒理由的情緒起伏啊)

這裡是手鍊使用注意事項:
1. 較少配戴時放在密封袋裡，可以防止銀飾品氧化。
2. 如果有碰到水請立馬擦乾，特別洗澡與運動時候請把手鍊取下。
3. 盡量不要讓他人碰觸水晶，如果有碰觸，最好事後做淨化的動作。
4. 平均一到兩週淨化一次水晶。

有關於淨化方式，可以參考 https://www.jianshu.com/p/2e05ff71185a

因為我的手鍊是用有色水晶和銀飾，所以適合的淨化方式是曬月圓光，或放在頌缽裡敲 (利用聲音和震動)，或放在透石膏 (Selenite Plate)上，或放在大水晶洞裡。

有興趣的朋友, 可以上她的 IG https://www.instagram.com/angsa.ca/ 或網站 https://meishidoconcepts.pixieset.com/crystalbracelet/

Dating, Self-Improvement

The Healing in Relationships Program by Artie Wu | Preside Life

Sabrina

感情 – 應該是所有人的生命中最常問的前三大問題 (感情, 金錢, 工作), 不論是卜卦問神算流年或諮商, 問得不外乎這三個主題 (我自己的經驗也是), 情侶或夫妻之間的感情問題大概是一輩子的功課 (親子問題緊接在後). 我這輩子一路走到這, 也經歷了不少人生上的各式問題, 也因此開啟了我走上自我成長和修行的這條路, 因為我希望能減少痛苦, 尤其是來自心靈上的痛苦 (當然也不想有身體上的痛苦), 所以我也接受了好幾年的心理諮商, 看了一些有關感情/婚姻或身心靈方面的書, 接觸和學習不同的療癒方式和身心靈的課程, 慢慢的發現, 追根究底到最後, 很多根源都來自童年, 甚至在媽媽的子宮就開始 (暫且不提前世那一塊). 每個人的個性不同, 對於所發生的事的接收和反應也不同, 加上兄弟姐妹之間的年紀差距 (代表事情發生的時間點不同), 所以即便是同一個家庭的兄弟姐妹, 最後的發展也不同.

我的療癒個案每次跟我說她覺得她不太正常, 我都會用很理解和溫柔的微笑回答說, 沒有一個人是正常的, 每個人身上都背負很多來自兒時的傷痛, 只是多寡和深淺不同, 所以站在那個角度來看, 我們都很正常, 因為我不知道哪個家庭是真的都沒有任何問題, 就算有, 也是極少數. 當我們日子過得順利時, 我們通常不太會花時間精力去思考一些 “重要的人生課題”, 只有當重大事件發生時, 例如生重病, 有親人過世, 離婚, 或者像這次的武漢疫情, 美國加州政府下令就地避難已經12週, 還不知道要持續多久, 所有事情瞬間停擺, 等等特殊情況下, 我們被迫放下原本習慣的生活模式, 多出很多時間不知所措的時候, 才有機會迫使我們去思考, 我們人生走到這一步, 目前擁有的 (不論是工作, 關係狀態, 財務狀況, 生活方式等等) 是我們想要的嗎?

所以有些看似大災難的事件, 換個角度想, 也許是上天給你的禮物, 危機也可能是個轉機, 端看你用哪個角度和心情去看, 你會有完全不同的體驗.

回到感情問題, 有一些我們本身的問題如果沒有解決, 我們會一直遇到不同的人, 重複相同或類似的問題, 然後分開. 沒知覺的人會一直重複這樣的狀況, 有知覺的人會開始尋求幫助, 找諮商師, 看書或上課, 然後先解決自己本身的問題, 從自己開始改變, 才會開始慢慢看到不同的結果.

臉書是一個很厲害的地方, 因為我不知道為什麼, 它突然出現這個人的影片在我的臉書上, 而且就剛好是有關感情問題. 看完他的預告短片, 再點進去看他的網站, 他的自我介紹裡說他是哈佛和史丹福畢業的, 之前創辦二個科技公司, 從小開始打坐冥想超過三十年, 2011年開始這個Preside是因為興趣, 他想幫助大家學習讓自己的腦袋靜下來, 所以他寫了很多主題的文章, 和錄了很多影片, 根據他幫助過的上千人所累積的經驗, 將課程分成三大類 Meditation, Healing, Bliss, 然後每一類裡再細分幾種課程. 他的Open Group冥想課程是免費的, 而且都只有三到五分鐘, 很適合沒經驗但想開始嘗試冥想的人. 他另外還有付費的私人團體冥想課程. 而他的Healing課程裡有三個主題 – 七天的Self, 四週的Parenting, 12週的Realtionship, 看到學生的課後感言都非常正面和激勵, 讓我很想試試.

以下影片是有關12週的Relationship program,

How to Decide on Ending a Relationship

When a person is thinking about leaving their relationship, one of the biggest fears is “fear of making the wrong choice” – either leaving a secure relationship and not finding something better or staying and suffering even more, with no lasting improvement and wasting precious time. The reason it’s so hard to make a “stay-or-leave” decision with confidence is that we often don’t know the true deeper reason we are actually unhappy in our relationships – which is deeper than the typical complaints of poor communication, lack of trust and diminished passion.

In reality, the deepest core reason for unhappiness in a relationship is most deeply rooted in the pre-existing emotional wounds that each partner has had – often from childhood – even before you both got together or even met. These preexisting emotional wounds will often be overlooked in the passionate beginning of a relationship, but then, left unhealed, these emotional wounds will be the root cause of all other major relationship issues later on.

The ideal process for assessing your relationship, with full clarity and confidence, would be to:

A. Map the preexisting emotional wounds of each partner (see below).

B. Begin healing the wound pattern in each partner, starting with the easiest wounds first and working up from there, slowly.

C. Make an interim plan to reduce co-wounding each other, to give the healing process some time to take effect.

After this process, you may decide that continuing the relationship no longer makes sense, and that is a possible outcome as well.

But with a full and proper wound mapping, you will at least be able to make your “stay-or-leave” decision with full confidence and clarity, to save your energy for the road ahead.

The Healing in Relationships Program

To help with this entire process, I teach a powerful, intensive program called “Healing in Relationships”, which dives deeply into how co-wounding in relationships happens, based on a powerful method of “mapping” each partner’s preexisting emotional wounds with a series of simple but comprehensive exercises. Using these customized “wound mappings” for each of you, we then identify how your wound patterns cause each of you to accidentally co-wound and “poke the preexisting wounds” of each other, which then leads to an escalating spiral of back-and-forth over the years and even decades.

Once you have this mapping, it will act as a kind of “x-ray vision” for you to see the real dynamics of why there is so much frustration and unhappiness, and you can then make a clear and confident decision about whether you want to stay and work on these issues (which the program also helps with), or if it may be time to stop the relationship in its current form. You do not have to convince your partner to do the program with you – it is designed to be done by you on a solo basis, individually and in private, and once you have the full two-way wound mapping of the relationship, you can make a plan as to what you want to do, and how to share your learnings with your partner.

Watch the video below to hear the introductory session of this powerful program which is completely confidential, hassle-free and 100% online.

I guarantee that by the end of this 12-minute briefing, you will already feel better, and will have a clear path for how to fully heal the patterns of co-wounding in your own romantic relationship, and how to unlock the full power of the nurturing, support and nourishment in your life that you fully desire and fully deserve.

Warmly,

Artie
Founder, preside meditation

有興趣的可以上他的網站看看, 或是點選他的文章和影片, 希望這個資訊能幫助到需要幫助的人. 自我成長需要耐心, 時間和意願, 但最大的受益者, 是我們自己.

最後想再和大家分享另外一篇來得及巧的文章, (她的文章總是來得剛剛好, 非常奇妙), 她的部落格上還有許多很棒的文章喔!

只要向宇宙請求指引，只要你願意耐心地走下去｜讓宇宙開始愛你

6月 05, 2020 – 

親愛的，

當你感到苦惱時，
你需要明白，
每一次困苦之中，
你都在生成一個全新的自我，
它正在努力誕生，
也許你現在遇到困境，
也或許你過去遇到了危機，
意識中沒有時間限制，
你需要重新的調整內在，
改變自己的視野，
釋放自己的痛苦，
原諒自己的無助，
最終看見自己正在學習什麼。
當你穿越這樣的困境，
那裏正在教會你一種品質，
將你的變得，
更勇敢，
更堅定，
更清晰，
更有愛，
更有耐心，
更明白你想要的是什麼。
實際上你正在被照顧著，
只要當你專注著，
內在最高的道路，
在這條路上，
你會發現你會走得更輕鬆，
當你走著別人的道路，
你會覺得自己走得很費力，
宇宙給予你的是，
真正內在的核心品質，
但你不能用特定方式，
要求宇宙給予你滿足，
而是讓宇宙用各種方法，
來滿足你的需求，
那種安定、
那種被愛、
那種放鬆，
為你帶來巨大的豐盛。
你為自己設定什麼舊有意象，
當你擁有這些陳舊的畫面，
那些執著與煩惱，
就會再次顯現，
放下那種執著，
這種執著會為你自身帶來限制，
這樣的限制卻帶來痛苦，
為自己創建新的意象，
妳可以請求指引，
並信任那來到的指引，
可能只是一些瑣事，
然而這些瑣事會不停的幫助你前進，
使你越來越靠近，
內心所想要擁有的品質，
有時候你可能懷疑，
這真的有幫助嗎？
因為太過於簡單、
太過於細小，
使你覺得，
那並不可能會轉變什麼，
但請相信那樣的直覺，
一但你決定，
往內在最高方向前進，
帶來的豐盛，
超乎你的想像，
只需要時間，
給予你自己時間，
當你有問題，
把問題交給宇宙，
讓宇宙幫助你，
當你有困難，
把問題交給宇宙，
讓宇宙指引你，
你並不孤單，
你並沒有被拋棄，
那裏總是為你敞開，
只要你願意耐心地走下去。
祝福你
亞蒂絲
Painting

Mii Creative – Pain by numbers

Sabrina

(中文版在英文版之後)

There are many online stores selling “Paint-by-numbers” types of products (16×20 canvas). Some selling identical pieces, some have unique ones, and some are only accepting custom ones (you upload photos and choose different types of look).

Northern California’s “Shelter in place” order started on 3/17 so I place two orders with two different companies on 3/19 and 3/23.  The custom one I used Mii Creative with one image I took from Switzerland last summer. They came with a rolled canvas with paint in tiny containers with numbers on the lids plus three small brushes.

Some of the areas are very small.  I paint a little bit every night after dinner and it took me about a week to complete. It was very therapeutic and relax (not so relax on my eyes and fingers because the brushes were too thin to hold for a long period of time).

The other order was with “My Paint By Numbers” with 6 from their painting collections and only one arrived and the other 5 are still somewhere (after almost 2 months). NOT RECOMMENDED.

Both companies shipped from China. The custom one was placed a few days after the other one and arrived way sooner, with a better quality of canvas and with instruction.

There are many these type of “Paint-by-numbers” companies so I think most of them are shipped from China, few are from the USA; however, I do believe some has better quality or tracking system than others so choose wisely.

Here are what I have seen, and I am sure I have missed a few.

https://paintbynumbers.com/

https://paintbynumbers.shop/

https://mypaintbynumbers.com/    I have been waiting 61 Business days for the items. (NOT RECOMMEND this company)

https://bestpaintbynumberkits.com/

https://www.miicreative.com/ Only Custom piece (from your photos)

https://www.craft-ease.com/

https://moreascraft.com/

https://maxnovelty.com/

https://diy-artwork.com/

https://paintplot.com/  more expensive but nicer choices

https://masterpiecebynumbers.com/ a UK company, has nicer pieces

https://paintercraftclub.com/

https://sg.niftyin.com/  their Animal Crew series is very cool and also offers something different like the abstract, alphabet, etc.

There are also other websites that you can try to create your own “special color blocks” image.

Turn an image into paint by number: https://pbnify.com
Image processing with artistic effects: https://www.imgonline.com.ua/eng

我在臉書的廣告上常看到這一類按數字上色的美術勞作品, 有點像繪本, 以前工作忙, 練書法都來不及了, 沒想過買來試試, 但三月中舊金山灣區因為武漢肺炎的疫情被強迫就地避難, 多數人都被迫在家上班, 不能在家上班的就被迫停工或失業, 很多商家都關門不營業, 除了可以外出買菜, 遛狗散步, 看醫生 (有些醫生也不看診了), 餐廳只能做外帶外送, 其他時間都鼓勵你待在家裡.

時間變多了, 於是就有興趣來試試按數字上色的事了. 我分別跟二家不同公司下訂單, 二家都是從中國大陸寄出的, 一家是從他們的畫作主題裡選擇喜歡的六款, 一家是我上傳去年夏天我在瑞士拍的一張照片. 前者(“My Paint By Numbers“)到目前為止我只有收到一幅, 後者(Mii Creative)我還晚了近五天才下單的, 但我都已經畫完了, 前者的另外五幅還不知道在哪裡 (前後都快二個月了), 所以非常不推薦這家公司.

照數字上色不難, 細心一點都能塗得乾淨. 不過附贈的三支畫筆都太細, 握久了手很酸, 有些區域很小, 也挺傷眼, 所以每半小時還是得起身動動, 不過大致上說來是挺療癒的. 那幅畫我每晚的晚餐後就畫一點, 大概花了一週時間完成.

市面上有很多家公司都是做這種按數字上色的產品, 有好幾家公司賣的畫作都一樣或類似, 也許他們都是來自同一家公司吧; 有些公司有比較特別的畫作可以選, 有些公司的價格高一些 (也許品質好些), 有些公司只做特製 (你上傳相片), 所以還是要多比較一下.

市面上還有一些網站可以讓你自己弄出 “色塊類” 的照片檔, 有興趣的也可以試試.