Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights of your life to choose love and light.
We are officially in
summer in the Northern Hemisphere and that is the inspiration behind our
suggested July post theme, Summer Fun. And
if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps our post will warm you and
you’ll come away with ideas for your December Summer Fun.
On top of the idea of Summer Fun, I layer my dislike of heat and humidity. It
is a bit more than dislike…I am physically sick and have spent time in an
emergency room due to my body’s inability to deal with it. However, despite
that, I have had wondrous summers!
As a child, my family
spent a week each summer at The Oregon Coast. That started when I was eight years old. It is still one of my
favorite places in the world. I have seen lovely beaches in Australia, Croatia, and Slovenia as well as along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Ocean.
For me, the main attraction
of The Oregon
Coast is the wave action. Waves crashing on rocks, spray glittering in the
sun, the pounding vibration as they collapse touches my soul.
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| Photo by Wollertz Easier to find this on DepositPhoto than search through 50 photo albums looking for one I took |
Another Summer Fun activity
that lasted for over forty years is attending the William Glasser Institute’s
annual conference. The USA’s member of this group has changed its name to The
Glasser Institute for Choice Theory – US. I’m missing the International
conference this year in Chicago but am already planning on attending the 2025
conference slated to be in Los Angeles, CA.
Because of this
organization, I’ve been to areas of the United States I would never have seen
as well as several countries.
Outside the USA?
Canada (both Montreal and Vancouver),
Australia’s east coast (Sidney, Carnes, Great Barrier
Reef, Butterfly Sanctuary),
Ireland (and had
adventures galore outside the conference),
Croatia and
Slovenia (during the Balkan War no less as well as after it).
I took my granddaughters
with me to the Edinburgh, Scotland conference. We spent time before the
conference in London and toured Stonehenge, Glastonbury and Avebury as
well as Canterbury,
Leeds Castle and Dover.
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| Stonehenge |
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| Black Swans at Leeds Castle |
I found Dover to be a very emotional experience. My Uncle
Jim served in the WWII as a bombardier. You know, the guy who sits in the
plastic nose of the bomber, exposed to the attacks of the enemy planes in order
to better site the dropping of the bombs. What I will say is that he, like so
many others, came home changed. He talked to me at one point about that experience.
Being there on the beach at Dover, seeing the
chalk white cliffs and remembering his words of relief when they came into view
on the way home shook me. I’ll never forget seeing what he saw and remembering
his words as I did so.
On a brighter note, after
the Edinburgh Conference we took a
tour to Loch
Ness and another one to see The Highlands.
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Some of my very best and
lifelong friends I met in the early days of my involvement in the work of Dr.
Glasser. (I started my formal training in August 1978.). Some good friends I
met a few years later. What is special about this organization is that we have
a shared framework for seeing the world around us and a process to find answers
to issues or problems over which we do have some control.
In this last half of
2024, my focus will continue to be on regaining my health, connecting with
family and friends and if all goes as planned (when does it ever), I’ll finish
my half-finished non-fiction Yes, You Can Create The
Life You Love. It’s based
on a seminar I created in the 1980’s, “Love, Worth, Fun, Freedom: How To Get
More”.
You can find my books at your favorite e-book
vendor as well as through my website www.JudithAshley.net and Windtree Press. Print books are
available at Jan’s Paperbacks in Beaverton,
OR
and Arte Soleil in Portland, OR. Get the
addresses from my website. And be sure to ask your library if you’d prefer to
read my books through that resource.
Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s
Circle series at JudithAshley.net
Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.
You can also find Judith
on FB!
© 2024 Judith Ashley
12 comments:
Lovely pictures, Judith. You really have traveled! I also rank the ocean as my number one place to visit. Soaking up the vibes off the ocean is so soothing.
Thank you so much for sharing. There is a story in the making here - White Cliffs of Dover.
I totally agree about the power of the ocean and what it does for one's soul - watching the waves roll in on a hot and easy day, as I stroll the beach. I spent many summers at the shore in Delaware, near the Maryland border. Now I live near the rocky coast of Maine, and the ocean has a different vibe. In both places the ocean is a powerful and beautiful force, when it doesn't overrun the land during a tropical storm or hurricane.
Lovely post, Judith!
Barb, you and I share that joy in spending time at the coast. It is soothing and revitalizing and inspiring. I can feel my body start to relax before I see the waves because I can smell the salty air.
Marcia, there is a story there in the White Cliffs of Dover that I don't think I'll ever be able to write. However, Genre-ista Eleri Grace captures what my uncle talked about in her Clubmobile Novel, "The Courage To Be Counted". I still feel honored that my uncle trusted me enough to talk to me about his feelings. He didn't talk to his own children so I've passed on what he said to me to his oldest daughter.
Deb, one of the reasons Maine's been on my list of places to see is because of the pictures of the rocky coastline. I've seen the Gulf of Mexico and I might go back if someone paid me but it would never be my choice because what brings me the most joy is captured in Wollertz's photograph. The thundering of the water on the rocks resonates deep within me.
A friend of mine lives in Delaware and when I visited him in the 1980's he took me to The Jersey Shore to see The Barnegat Lighthouse and also down to spend the day along the Chesapeake Bay. That was fun and since I love lighthouses (used to collect them), climbing the Barnegat Light was an adventure (I'm terrified of heights) but well work finding enough gumption to do it.
Great post, Judith. I also love the crashing of waves on the shore. And your story about Dover touched me.
Judith,
Great blog post! I love the ocean too. I've spent many hours, days, weeks even at the seashore. Most recently we stayed at Ft. Bragg, CA for a week. The coastline there reminded my of OR's coastline. Massive rock formations, cliffs and crashing waves! So beautiful, treacherous and soul fulfilling.
Lynn, Thanks for commenting. One of the biggest challenges for our veterans of WWII and Korea as well as earlier wars, was the stigma of "character disorder" and possible hospitalization in a psych ward. So talking about the horrors, the fears, the challenges was suppressed. Both of my uncles who served in combat in WWII had problems with alcohol. As I've learned more about the flyers in WWII I'm not surprised.
Our own Eleri Grace's "Courage to be Counted" is an excellent novel that accurately portrays the flyboys as well as provides an inspiring snapshot into the lives of the women who served in the Red Cross Clubmobiles.
Diana, thanks for stopping by. I know that living where I do (1+ hours from the Oregon Coast; 1+ hours from Mt. Hood and about 30 minutes from Multnomah Falls and the Columbia River Gorge) is important to me. Not that I get anywhere as much as I'd like...it's comforting to me to know they are so close.
Judith - when I lived in DC, as a teen, my parents bought a beach condo on the Atlantic in Bethany Beach, Delaware. It was heaven, even in the winter, because the beaches were empty, and one could walk for miles without seeing other people or houses. Heaven!
The last time I was there, was on my birthday weekend, when I turned 50, a few days after 9-11. We had reservations, so went anyway - a break from planes flying low overhead in D.C. and being buzzed constantly by helicopters - I lived only a few miles from the Pentagon. The beach was deserted - except for the low-flying fighter planes from the nearby base, that practically skimmed the water as they patrolled. It was eerie, but a relief to leave the city behind, if only for two days. Then it was back to commuting right by the gaping hole in the side of the Pentagon - a stark reminder of the terror.
Deb, I can't imagine the horror of being so close to events on 9-11, not just as they were happening but for months if not years afterwards while the Pentagon was repaired. I can picture walking along the beach with the fighter planes skimming the water...while being at the beach was not as much of a haven as it had been, in some ways I think seeing the fighter planes on patrol would have been calming after the terror of 9-11.
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