{"id":5302,"date":"2013-07-01T08:46:08","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T12:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/?p=5302"},"modified":"2013-07-01T08:46:42","modified_gmt":"2013-07-01T12:46:42","slug":"the-elements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html","title":{"rendered":"The Elements"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/946229_10201332204125269_788321865_n.jpg\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This weekend I spent much needed restorative\u00a0time immersed in nature.\u00a0 Anticipating it for months, I\u00a0knew that on the last weekend of June, I would be heading to Happy Tree Farm, which\u00a0is the home of my friends Stephen and Kathy Redding.\u00a0Each year, they welcome our far flung tribe of family and friends to their lakeside property (although I\u00a0imagine they would\u00a0hesitate to think of it that way, rather they would likely consider themselves honored stewards of the land.) for a Solstice gathering.\u00a0Music, drumming,\u00a0dancing, swimming, pot luck food, hugging, fireworks, and a \u00a0bonfire built from trees that had fallen in Hurricane Sandy, offered us their light and warmth.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-ash3\/1011202_10201331179619657_397164940_n.jpg\" width=\"540\" height=\"720\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Pre-bonfire wood with my friends Susan Duval and Carrie Willette Hipkiss<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Redding family is a unique clan. Stephen has had numerous return-from death experiences (I hesitate to refer to them as near death, since he literally did die and came back with stories about his experiences which he chronicles in his two books, <em><strong>More Or Less<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 and<strong><em> Something More<\/em><\/strong>), and he speaks about life, the Universe and everything to gatherings who are amazed by the wisdom he gleaned. The family owns and operates a landscaping and tree-care business. I think of Stephen as The Lorax &#8216;who speaks for the trees&#8217; and<em><strong> to<\/strong> <\/em>the trees. He acknowledged having a painful and difficult winter when many trees fell to the whirlwind that was Sandy. He and Kathy and their 4 adult children live there, working together as well. What has always amused me about their interactions is that his kids seem to accept Dad&#8217;s unusual activities, while my son thinks of me as his &#8216;weird hippie Mom&#8217; for talking to trees (among other things).<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, I walked down the meandering paths, breathing in the fresh air, saying hello to the horses in their pen, the trees and plants that lined the dirt road, and\u00a0the pond with fish, as I headed to my destination; the lake where people were already splashing about, floating on &#8216;pool noodles&#8217;, canoeing, and diving off the board into the literally healing waters. I have never experienced another body of water quite like it. A combination of minerals in this spring fed lake makes it buoyant and beneficial. A few years ago, I had a weed whacking accident, during\u00a0which, from lack of attention, I sliced 18 lacerations in my right calf. A week or so later, Stephen invited me to come over for a swim, telling me that I would likely see some healing take place. Just being there was soothing. Within a few weeks, these formerly deep gashes were gone and to this day, you would never know they had ever been there. Needless to say, I was relieved, since I had imagined life long scarring. I joined my friends for some fun and frolic, followed by swinging on a swing-set and glider. As the sky darkened, we were treated to a fire works extravaganza that rivaled any 4th of July show I had ever seen.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-prn2\/1045162_10201332199725159_1036073803_n.jpg\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then the fire roared into action, sending sparks that leapt into the sky much in the same manner as the other pyro-technics had dazzled us a short while earlier. It was as if\u00a0 we and the fire spoke and listened, a back and forth dialog of story telling as we sat for hours, perched on boulders, in trees, on chairs and benches, mesmerized by the flames.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo: Edie Weinstein on her cool perch to watch the fire.\" src=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/p480x480\/486767_489472437737511_712971025_n.jpg\" width=\"504\" height=\"559\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The next morning, I participated in a Sunday lakeside service for Circle of Miracles, speaking about the power of intention and the ways in which we can plant seeds for that which we want to attract and sustain. I gave each person a feather as a talisman to remind them of their desire to take wing and fly and then asked them to call out their thoughts, blowing bubbles for each one, sending them into the sky as the sparks and fireworks had done the night before. We were all embraced by the elements on this beautiful second weekend of the Summer of 2013. May we all look back in awe and wonder.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Edie Weinstein\" src=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net\/hprofile-ak-frc1\/c17.17.207.207\/s160x160\/1002757_10201338598085114_1491554183_n.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stephenredding.com\">www.stephenredding.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.circleofmiracles.org\">www.circleofmiracles.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; This weekend I spent much needed restorative\u00a0time immersed in nature.\u00a0 Anticipating it for months, I\u00a0knew that on the last weekend of June, I would be heading to Happy Tree Farm, which\u00a0is the home of my friends Stephen and Kathy Redding.\u00a0Each year, they welcome our far flung tribe of family and friends to their lakeside&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,13,19,94,49,3,22,1176,14,25,4,54,15,16,7,6,18],"tags":[481,355,426,2414,424,431,425,412,3238],"class_list":["post-5302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attracting-what-you-desire","category-bliss","category-blissfull-thinking","category-empowerment","category-family","category-friendship","category-gratitude","category-healing","category-holidays","category-how-to-invite-bliss","category-hugging","category-inspiration","category-interfaith","category-living-their-bliss","category-my-personal-bliss","category-re-creating-your-life","category-visualization","category-wellness","tag-4th-of-july","tag-circle-of-miracles","tag-happy-tree-farm","tag-hurricane-sandy","tag-more-or-less","tag-something-more","tag-stephen-redding","tag-summer-solstice","tag-susan-duval"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Elements - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Elements - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; This weekend I spent much needed restorative\u00a0time immersed in nature.\u00a0 Anticipating it for months, I\u00a0knew that on the last weekend of June, I would be heading to Happy Tree Farm, which\u00a0is the home of my friends Stephen and Kathy Redding.\u00a0Each year, they welcome our far flung tribe of family and friends to their lakeside&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-01T12:46:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-01T12:46:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/946229_10201332204125269_788321865_n.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EdieWeinstein1\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Elements - The Bliss Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Elements - The Bliss Blog","og_description":"&nbsp; This weekend I spent much needed restorative\u00a0time immersed in nature.\u00a0 Anticipating it for months, I\u00a0knew that on the last weekend of June, I would be heading to Happy Tree Farm, which\u00a0is the home of my friends Stephen and Kathy Redding.\u00a0Each year, they welcome our far flung tribe of family and friends to their lakeside&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html","og_site_name":"The Bliss Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","article_published_time":"2013-07-01T12:46:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-07-01T12:46:42+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/946229_10201332204125269_788321865_n.jpg"}],"author":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EdieWeinstein1","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html","name":"The Elements - The Bliss Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/946229_10201332204125269_788321865_n.jpg","datePublished":"2013-07-01T12:46:08+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-01T12:46:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/946229_10201332204125269_788321865_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/946229_10201332204125269_788321865_n.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/the-elements.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Elements"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/","name":"The Bliss Blog","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Edie Weinstein","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386","name":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","caption":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW"},"description":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a colorfully creative journalist, inspiring transformational speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, editor, radio host, BLISS coach, event producer, Cosmic Concierge, the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and co-author of Embraced By the Divine: The Emerging Woman\u2019s Gateway to Power, Passion and Purpose. She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. 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