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A Tribute in 400 Words

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 26 Conversations

 

Today is my dad’s birthday and that displaces any spotlight, coaching tip or wise words I could offer. Instead, I’m sharing my dad, hopefully in such a way that you get what an extraordinary man he is and he gets how very much he is loved.

I love how my dad can look at something and instantly know how to fix it, improve it, or build it better.

I love how much he looked like a Hollywood heart-throb in his army photo!

I love how even though he was a strict dad, he’s a big softy as a grandpa.

I love how he has always put our family first. Always and all ways.

I love how he shares stories from his past. Truth be told, he was a mischievous rascal!

I love the twinkle in his eyes.

I love his green thumb, his abundant garden, and most of all his home-grown tomatoes.

I love how he fixes something every single time he comes to visit.

I love that he grew up street smart and didn’t let other kinds of smart stop him from living life fully.

I love how he fell in love with a brown-eyed beauty and swept her off her feet.

I love that his dream of a better life fueled his immigration to Canada.

I love his accent and the richness of his voice, still tinged with his native tongue.

I love that he mixes up sayings and metaphors, and I still know what he’s talking about.

I love how he reads the newspaper from cover to cover, from a desire to understand his community and the world around him.

I love how he enjoys his retirement, using it as time to do more of what he loves.

I love that he always remembered his roots.

I love the energy in his voice when he speaks to his brothers on the phone and I imagine them all as kids looking out for each other.

I love that he makes time for his grandkids, how he teaches them, plays with them and lets them melt his heart.

I love how he loves my mom. 50 years of love.

I love that he taught me about integrity and doing the right thing.

I love his sense of humour and his great big chuckle.

I love that I’m like him in so many ways.

I couldn’t have asked for a better man to raise me and send me out into the world.

Happy Birthday Dad.

Know that you are loved and appreciated, probably more than you can ever really know.

 

Please take a moment and join me in wishing my dad, Manuel Amorim, a very happy birthday with a comment below.

 

 

Mea Culpa, Mea Corpus

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 9 Conversations

 

Mea culpa.

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve cared for you, cherished you the way you so deserve.

Mea corpus.

My body, strong, resilient, reliable. . .oh how I’ve neglected you.

It’s time for a heart to heart. To make amends.

 

Do you know you’re beautiful exactly the way you are?

No? That saddens me and yet I’m not surprised. It’s not something I’ve often said to you, is it.

Mea culpa mea corpus.

For I should have made sure you knew. I didn’t.

Instead, I focused on my mind, showering it with love and attention. You, got very little, and still you thrived, glowing with health for most of my life.

Have I thanked you?

No? That saddens me too for I pride myself on being mindful, appreciating the good in my life.

And you have been so very good.

Mea culpa.

I know you’re tired, and a bit worn out but I have finally heard your whisper. I am so grateful you have not given up.

The time has come and I’ve promised to give you my full attention.

My heart and devotion.

I have a lot to make up for, but I’m willing.

Mea culpa my beautiful body.

It’s time for a new beginning.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou

Over to you: 

  • Write a letter to your body.
  • Ask forgiveness for however it’s gone to date.
  • Then create and promise a new future.

 

This is an exercise from the 66 Day Self-Care Challenge. Take part in the challenge by commenting and using the #66days hashtag and connecting with me and C.A. Kobu on Twitter. Download the workbook  and leave a comment below. 

 

 

Choosing for the Longterm

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 7 Conversations

Two years ago today I chose a new life.

I went from Me to We.  

wedding photo of Mark and SandiI chose to spend my life with one person.

About a month before our wedding we met with a marriage commissioner who shared the wisdom gained from 10 years of marrying people.

She said agreeing to marry is a choice, the first of many. For marriage to work it takes more than love.

It takes choosing every day.

Every.  Single.  Day.

Choosing when you don’t feel like it or don’t want to.

Choosing through all the emotions and moods and resistance.

Resistance?

Yes, because resistance comes up any time you choose to do something that threatens the status quo, threatens the safety and security of your life.

Relationships do just that don’t they?

But they also do so much more.

They open you up in ways unexpected. Like the time Mark wrote me a love note every day for a month. Each note, cracked me open just a little bit more.

They challenge your old stories. Like the story I’d created that lived as the truth for many, many years. That story kept me single and safe.

They grow you up. After years of being single and doing whatever I wanted when I wanted, it took something for me to consider another person and their needs. There are still days I don’t want to.

And then I choose.

I choose to do the work it takes to honour our commitment.

I choose to be responsible about my feelings.

I choose to to keep choosing.

Two years ago today I chose Mark Faviell.

Creative. Intelligent. Unconditional.

When I think of what I love most about him, these three words come to mind.

I chose him.

And he chose me. We have a pact.

730 days of choosing.

With many more to come.

Happy Anniversary to us.

 

 

Hollyhocks and Time Travel

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 18 Conversations

Memories. . .

They come out of nowhere and take you by surprise don’t they?

One did just that as I came across a wild garden at the side of a building. So many pretty flowers I thought.

hollyhocks against a wall

These ones caught my eye; made my breath catch in my throat. They reminded me of my grandmother you see. My Nonna, the woman I was named after.

Santina. A name I wanted so badly to anglicize as a child. Now as an adult I keep it close to my heart and pull it out for special occasions.

Memories of…

  • the way she rocked me to sleep
  • the smell of bread baking in her kitchen
  • how she told me she loved me the day I moved away
  • how my heart broke when she no longer remembered me

Memories.

They sneak up and catch you off guard.

These ones – Hollyhocks – took me back to my childhood. I never knew what they were called, just that they grew at the side of Nonna’s house.

Today they wound their way around my heart.

 

 

Starbursts, Sirens and Siriously Shining

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 63 Conversations

 

Fear doesn’t stop you. YOU stop you.

 

I’ve wanted to write this post since my father-in-law’s sudden death, but the wanting was tinged with fear.

Fear that you would be put off, not get my point or worse, ignore me all together.

I’ve been headed in this direction for some time, but I’ve allowed fear to slow my steps.

Then death jolted me out of my comfort zone.

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now.” – Joan Baez

So it’s time to call bullshit…

You live like there’s someday.

You live like you have all the time in the world to pursue your dreams and follow your passions.

Plenty of time to shine… later.

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That’s How the Light Gets In

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 12 Conversations

 

“And I listen and I think. Time doesn’t seem to pass here; it just is.” – Bilbo Baggins

Rivendell retreat centre sign, Bowen Island, BC

Silence called to me from a special place. A place, that like its name, conjures up images of forest and faeries.

Like Bilbo, it is at Rivendell I find myself most able to think, to hear the thoughts and ideas bubbling up as though from a wellspring deep inside.

The sacred space, the silence, allow me to turn off the busyness of my life. My heart expands and I breathe deeply.

New thoughts emerge effortlessly as old thoughts play themselves out. It is easy to be at Rivendell; it offers itself up, a gift to unwrap slowly. An opportunity to treasure each moment, each thought that arises.

  • What is it that I am truly offering?
  • What is authentically, gloriously mine?

These are the questions I hear as I walk the labyrinth.

centre of the Rivendell labyrinth, Bowen Island, BC

I remember a line from a Leonard Cohen song,

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

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Dear Georgia (or why I came to Santa Fe)

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 8 Conversations

 

Before I discovered coaching, photography was my passion and before that, painting.

One of the painters that inspired me (not only with her art but also in how she lived her life) was Georgia O’Keefe. Today as I wandered the streets of Santa Fe I couldn’t help but think of her and the land that captured her heart.

sunflowers in Santa Fe

“I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty.” – Georgia O’Keefe

adobe buildings in Santa Fe

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.” – Georgia O’Keefe

sculptures Santa Fe

“To create one’s own world in any of the arts takes courage.” – Georgia O’Keefe

Santa Fe has long been on my list of places to visit and it feels wonderful to finally be here. I am soaking up the sun, the colours and of course, the spirit.

What place is calling to you, and why?

 

How to Grow Yourself Up in 5 (not-so-easy) Lessons

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 44 Conversations

 

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – e.e. cummings

Almost 11 years ago I found myself sitting on a plane en route to Amsterdam, wondering “How did I get here?”  It was a surreal moment, and it all began with a question (by now, surely you know that I’m all about asking questions!).

I was at a weekend workshop (an amazing program called Wisdom Unlimited), confronted by life and my inability to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up! I was doing an exercise, beating around the bush, not quite answering when the person I was working with blurted out in frustration, “Sandi, what the hell do you want? Just say it!”

In that moment I responded without thinking, “I want to be a photographer and travel, and get paid for that.”

I said it quickly, mumbling under my breath, but I said the words out loud for the very first time. A new dream, spoken into existence.

Fast forward six months, and there I was on the plane heading to the Netherlands to apprentice with a professional photographer in his studio.

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Burning Down the House

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 24 Conversations

 

Late last night the fire alarm went off in our building, startling me out of my not-quite-asleep state. We’ve had numerous false alarms in the three years we’ve lived here, which usually end up being a quick hello with the neighbours.

Last night was different.

It was like an episode of Rescue Me, only I didn’t see Dennis Leary anywhere.

Mark and I got up, moving rather slowly, thinking it was probably just another false alarm. Then we saw the flames on the rooftop on the other side of the building and the adrenalin kicked in.

In my pajamas, I grabbed my wallet and iPhone as someone pounded on our door to leave. My heart started racing.

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