Give yourself the gift of adventure, and join me for a creative retreat this November at the magical Camp Waldemar on the shores of the Guadeloupe River in the Texas Hill Country.

This five-day art and whole living camp is for women of all ages and all skill levels—total beginners are welcome (and that was definitely me when I first went to Lucky Star three years ago!).

I’ve written before about how amazing and joy-filled this experience is (see my previous post here). You’ll enjoy a wide variety of classes taught by incredibly fun, friendly instructors; unbelievably delicious meals (that you don’t have to prepare or clean up after!); connecting with other women; sharing and laughing; nightly campfires and singalongs; yoga; horseback riding; massages; and more!

I’ll be teaching a class on creating a daily ritual that supports personal transformation by providing space to connect with yourself, discover what you truly want, and visualize how to achieve it. Come play with practices that will refresh and restore you, bring you greater peace and joy, connect you with your inner wisdom, and help you steer your life with purpose!

There are a ton of other cool classes as well, including:

· Zen Embroidery

· Fun with Alcohol Inks

· Abstract Painting

· Mindful Mandalas

· Chalkboard Lettering

· Floral Wreaths That Wow

· Intro to Jewelry Making

· Branding + Market Merchandising Mastermind

· Art Journaling

· Leather Clutch

· Oil Pastel Batik

· Wild Wordings

· Goddess Gardens

· Girl Guitar

· Glee Club

· Live Your Legacy

· PMC Pendants

This year’s camp is held from November 6-10. You arrive on Wednesday afternoon in time to get settled, have a delicious dinner, and enjoy music around the campfire. There are class sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning as well as Thursday and Friday afternoon, so you can take up to five different classes (unless you opt for one of the all-day classes). You have free time between the afternoon class and dinner on Thursday and Friday—plus all of Saturday afternoon—to socialize, hang out by the river, get a massage, go horseback riding, or continue with one of your art projects. Other extras include early morning or late afternoon outdoor yoga classes and tomahawk throwing! On Saturday after dinner is the Show + Tell and Market, where you can display things you made plus browse among beautiful crafts for sale, and then the final campfire. On Sunday you have one last breakfast feast, then check out and head home, revitalized and happy!

For more info and to register just visit www.luckystarartcamp.com! I hope to see you there!

So like everyone else in the country, I bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket—and like everyone else except one person, I didn’t win. It was really exciting to imagine what I would have done with all that money, and I was disappointed not to win.

I had to remind myself that while more money would be fun, I don’t need it in order to be happy. (In fact, most lottery winners end up less happy than they were before they won!) As the poem below illustrates so beautifully, what is truly important and valuable in life are the “little things,” which are actually not so little: love, companionship, and the comforts of home.

We can have all the money or fame in the world, but if we’re alone, it doesn’t matter. And as long as we’re safe, we don’t need a large or fancy house to be happy. The tiniest things can bring us joy—a hot cup of tea or coffee in a favorite mug, a lovingly tended plant, a cherished heirloom from a grandparent. We tend to take them for granted. So in praise of those “little things,” here is this wonderful poem.

The Joy of Little Things

--Robert William Service

It's good the great green earth to roam,
Where sights of awe the soul inspire;
But oh, it's best, the coming home,
The crackle of one's own hearth-fire!
You've hob-nobbed with the solemn Past;
You've seen the pageantry of kings;
Yet oh, how sweet to gain at last
The peace and rest of Little Things!

Perhaps you're counted with the Great;
You strain and strive with mighty men;
Your hand is on the helm of State;
Colossus-like you stride . . . and then
There comes a pause, a shining hour,
A dog that leaps, a hand that clings:
O Titan, turn from pomp and power;
Give all your heart to Little Things.

Go couch you childwise in the grass,
Believing it's some jungle strange,
Where mighty monsters peer and pass,
Where beetles roam and spiders range.
'Mid gloom and gleam of leaf and blade,
What dragons rasp their painted wings!
O magic world of shine and shade!
O beauty land of Little Things!

I sometimes wonder, after all,
Amid this tangled web of fate,
If what is great may not be small,
And what is small may not be great.
So wondering I go my way,
Yet in my heart contentment sings . . .
O may I ever see, I pray,
God's grace and love in Little Things.

So give to me, I only beg,
A little roof to call my own,
A little cider in the keg,
A little meat upon the bone;
A little garden by the sea,
A little boat that dips and swings . . .
Take wealth, take fame, but leave to me,
O Lord of Life, just Little Things.