Dear Fellow Travellers,

Heart and Soul offers me an exciting opportunity to share my writings. For thirteen years I enjoyed verbal expression through Toastmasters’ clubs in the Vernon area. Although I have been writing long letters since I was young, I’ve never gone public with my ponderings. I welcome you to join me in this column. In my heart it belongs to all of us who partake.

Two years ago I moved to the Penticton area from Vernon. Since I often speak of noticing the flip side of a coin, I joke that I had to move from the north end of the Okanagan Lake to the south end to fully understand its wonders. With a daughter, son-in-law and soon to be grandchild in Kelowna (middle of the lake) I enjoy traveling this great valley. Skaha Lake, on the other end of town holds many childhood camping memories. I can’t think of a better place to have my writings blossom.

We are here on this earth to learn and… well isn’t that one of the wonderful controversies of life? Why are we here? I don’t claim to have all the answers. I simply offer myself as a vessel of expression; and I trust that both my wisdom and that of those whispering in my heart, will aid me in what I write. Life calls to me to wake up and hear. There is so very much to observe.

Some mornings when I wake up and stumble to my computer, I find my vision still blurry from sleep. I try to read emails and they swim before my eyes as if some little pixie has been messing with my fonts. Then as my mind and physical eyes clear, I begin to view things clearly. I find that is true in daily life. The more we are willing to wake up, the clearer our inner vision sees life around us.

In this column I will explore the areas where heart and soul issues affect me. As you write to me, your thoughts and feelings will become part of my ponderings. That is how the column becomes ours and not just mine. Although right now your faces are unseen by me, I feel hearts and souls waiting to connect.

My life path has carried me through many human experiences… but mostly it has been a journey of understanding the messages my emotions have brought. Some friends find me too analytical and justify the comment because I’m a Virgo. I simply reply, “Truth beckons to me and my way to ‘her’ is through the peeling of the layers.” As I explore me I find I begin to understand you better. The journey is so worth the human emotional struggles. As joy blooms in my heart, I smile and whisper, “Well done.”

There are many technical ways of presenting material. Knowledge abounds in thousands of books. Although books and people do influence my writings, I tend to look within as I begin to write. Until I can turn knowledge into my own personal understanding, I find it difficult to regurgitate information. Author, Eckhart Tolle, often mentions that words are but sign posts to the real issue. Please take my words as sign posts to your own wisdom. May they fan the flame that burns deep within you and help clear the way for a stronger flow from your soul to your heart. May that flame ignite the person, you, who shares a place on this earth.

Welcome to this leg of my journey; may we become reacquainted along this path as we travel it together.

From the heart,

Nancee