Category: Uncategorized

Welcome!

SuzetteUncategorized

Welcome to Mind the Body Soul!  I have a passion for personal and spiritual growth and am a lover of all things creative.  My passions include music, writing & editing, cooking & healthy eating, painting, jewelry design, real estate and architecture … the list goes on.  I am a true believer in the book Refuse to Choose.  God has blessed me in so many ways, and my purpose is to share everything I learn in an effort to make a difference for others.

“There is no more powerful motivation than to feel we’re being used in the creation of a world where love has healed all wounds.”  Marianne Williamson Continue reading “Welcome!” →

Jambalaya

SuzetteCajun Seasoning Recipes

Jambalaya 2Aidells Cajun Sausage, sliced thin

1/2 large onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 garlic clove, grated

 

Saute above in 2 tablespoons of Wildtree garlic grapeseed oil until vegetables are tender.  Then add:

15 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes

6 oz can tomato paste

8 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

Juice of 2 limes

1/2 teaspoon Wildtree Cajun Seasoning

2 teaspoons Wildtree Jamaican Jerk Blend

Salt to taste

Simmer about 15 minutes.  Serve over rice, top with cheese (I like goat cheese!) and enjoy!

Jambalaya 3

 

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April 28: The Intuitive Sense

SuzettePersonal Growth

pinkpalmtreesIntuition is a spiritual faculty, and does not explain, but simply points the way.  Florence Scovel Shinn

Sarah refers to intuition as “the subliminal sense Spirit endowed us with to maneuver safely through the maze that is real life.”  We have all experienced the positive results of listening to our intuition, as well as the negative results that come when we ignore it.

When I decided to move to Florida from upstate New York in 2005, I knew, deep down in my gut, that it was a move I was supposed to be making.  Intellectually, it made no sense.  I had a great job.  I had just bought the house I was in and renovated it barely a year before.  I was a single mother.  I had no idea how I would find the energy or wherewithal to do everything it would take to sell my home, find a job a three-hour flight away, find a new home, and have all of the pieces of the puzzle work in such a way that I could make it all happen.  I couldn’t imagine how it would all come together, I just knew deep down in my spirit that I had to do it.  I forged forward in a total leap of faith, and the entire process went off without a hitch.  My house sold the day I flew to Florida for job interviews.  I had a job offer before returning to New York at the end of that weekend.  My new employer was willing to wait three months for me to start so that my son could finish the school year.  I somehow found the energy and strength to pack up the house, find a new house, and get everything moved 1300 miles away. During that period, I heard a sermon at church that couldn’t have rung more true:  When you listen to where you are being led, and you follow, you will find yourself in the zone. Continue reading “April 28: The Intuitive Sense” →

June 10: “A Nook of Your Own”

SuzetteCreativity / Art / Design

“In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us.”  Virginia Woolf

Sara tells us that in 1928, Virginia Woolf taught that women, in order to create, need privacy, peace, and personal incomes.  Sara’s Studio modifiedchapter today has so many aha tidbits for me.

Five years ago, my husband blessed me with the opportunity to quit my office job and stay at home full time to create – to write, to play and record music, to paint.  There was just one problem:  I never seemed able to take full advantage of it.  It seemed no sooner was I home full time, then I was plagued with one health issue after another, and I never found my way to making my dreams a reality.  Eventually I went back to work.

Since that time, Danny has created an art studio for me.  A bedroom in our home was transformed into a place of my own where I could create art and jewelry, paint, write … anything my heart desires.  With my own space and a door to shut out the world, I have finally found my ability to focus and be creative as I had once dreamed of doing. Continue reading “June 10: “A Nook of Your Own”” →

What a Wonderful World It Would Be …

SuzetteCreativity / Art / Design

ep431-own-sss-steven-pressfield-3-320x180I pulled up an old Super Soul Sunday episode last night.  It was Oprah interviewing Steven Pressfield.  A prolific writer, he was exactly who I was needing to hear from as I work at getting myself in my studio to write on a more regular basis.

Steven talked about what keeps us from doing whatever it is we are meant to do – whether you are a writer, an artist, or an entrepreneur, it doesn’t matter.  When there is something that you know that you know you were put on this earth to do, why don’t you do it? Why are there so many miserable people out there, working in jobs that they know they don’t belong in?  Steven calls it Resistance.  I call it the enemy.  The closer we get to being in the zone of where God put us here to be, the harder the enemy works to keep us from it. Continue reading “What a Wonderful World It Would Be …” →

Rediscovering One of My Past Loves

SuzetteCreativity / Art / Design

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Tonight’s dinner was so delicious, I feel guilty for eating it alone.  When I first embarked on my quest to eat healthier a year ago, I thought I would never enjoy eating again.  Thank goodness for Wildtree.  With the help of Wildtree, I have learned that you don’t have to eat unseasoned, boring food in order to put all natural ingredients into your body.  Through the journey with these products, I have also rediscovered my love of cooking and creating new recipes.

Tonight’s recipe was inspired by some recent online classes I have enjoyed.  I want to not only offer my Wildtree customers a catalog of healthy products; I want to offer them knowledge and fresh ideas for their families.  Apple balsamic salmon over a rich tomato sauce, paired with zucchini Carpaccio and gluten free gnocchi, is what was on the menu tonight. Continue reading “Rediscovering One of My Past Loves” →

April 18: “The Face in the Looking Glass”

SuzetteBeauty

Helpful-Hints-165x200-Play-Experiment-Have-Fun“One of the ways that we can begin to love our faces is to enhance them with makeup.” Sarah Ban Breathnach

Sarah has captured so beautifully in today’s reading how I feel about makeup. Like Sarah, I have had different phases in my life when I questioned the authenticity of plying myself with “war paint,” but I finally came to the same conclusions that she did:

“I began to become aware of the fact that looking your best, working with what you have, and bringing out your natural beauty with makeup was not as superficial a goal as I had originally thought. Makeup was simply a tool to help me look my best. When I looked my best, I felt better. When I felt better, I had more energy and accomplished more and was more outgoing.”

Everything Sarah says here rings true for me. It is why I love being a Mary Kay beauty consultant. Giving women makeovers, taking before and after photos, and seeing their faces light up at the transformation is so rewarding for me. Likewise, teaching teenage girls the proper way to wear makeup so that they don’t hide their true beauty is equally as rewarding. There is something so gratifying in helping people to feel good about themselves, whether it is the application of makeup or helping them to earn some beautiful free jewelry. It all makes them smile, and making people smile is who I am.

Shalom!

April 12: “Learning to Love and Honor Your Body”

SuzetteBeauty

beauty-1“The body is a sacred garment. It’s your first and last garment, it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honor.” Martha Graham

We women have such a love hate relationship with our bodies, don’t we? We envy the best features of another while discounting our own positive attributes. We wish we had Sally’s eyes or Megan’s legs, and we fail to appreciate and be grateful for our own unique qualities.

We all have them. Each and every one of us has been blessed with gifts that make us who we are. If you look critically at some who you find especially attractive, you may be surprised to realize that there really isn’t anything particularly outstanding about them compared to someone else – what makes them appear so spectacular is the fact that they feel spectacular, from the inside out. Continue reading “April 12: “Learning to Love and Honor Your Body”” →

March 24: “The Secret Saboteur: When You’re Feeling Blue”

SuzetteTransforming 2014 and Beyond

plateau“Listening to your heart is not simple. Finding out who you are is not simple. It takes a lot of hard work and courage to get to know who you are and what you want.” Sue Bender

Ah, this chapter resonates with me today. I have been finding it so difficult lately. Difficult to be still and go within. Difficult to be quiet enough to read or write. Difficult to get in my studio and be creative. Difficult to be me!

“Personal growth also comes in spasms: three steps forward, two steps back, and then a long plateau, when it seems as though nothing is happening.” Sarah Ban Breathnach

I have been a step beneath a plateau! Not only has nothing been happening with my spiritual growth these last few weeks, but I lost the foothold I had gained in this inner journey we have been on. I let go of the lessons I’d learned. I can attribute the setback partially to how busy I have been with my business and having difficulty finding balance, but I think there is more to it than that.

“When you’re about to step into a new level of your destiny, don’t be surprised if you hit a setback. That’s a sure sign you’re about to give birth to what God has placed in your heart … The enemy would leave you alone if you weren’t a major threat. He wouldn’t bother you if you didn’t have something amazing in your future.” Joel Osteen

Indeed, the closer we get to our purpose, the harder the enemy will work to keep us from it. When we are on the brink of reaching our highest potential, he works harder to hold us back.

“It’s important to realize that this dormant period always seems to precede a growth spurt.” SBB

The great thing about staying the course and never giving up is that you will prevail. There is nothing and no one who can stand in the way of God’s plan for you except for you. If you keep your eye on the prize and remain steadfast in your faith even through the plateaus that will inevitably show up, you will reach your highest potential, which is God’s plan for you.

I am ready to shed this dormant period and step up to the next riser. How about you?