Happy Easter ...

Whether Easter is a religious occasion in your family or a time to welcome spring, share a delicious meal together and of course indulging in chocolate bunnies or eggs, I hope you are enjoying the warm and longer light filled days that accompany this change of season. 

Thought the above pieces would be great to wear to any meal or gathering you may attend with family and friends this week-end. You can see full outfit details at my Polyvore board.

Wishing you a beautiful Week-end!

Connect with High Heeled Life ...

sharing this post with : Friday's Fancies

Winter days to Spring days ...

Welcome dear friends and new readers, to tea with me.

Here at the High Heeled Life country home we are most eager to say good-bye to winter and hello to spring!  And though the calender says that spring has arrived ~ looking outside the ground remains covered in blanket of snow. And even with the gorgeous sunshine, it is still quite crisp and cold when stepping out. Hmmm... this contrast between the bright sunshine and feeling warmth, and that of coldness when you actually step outside, reminded me that when we are going through challenges in life our outer appearance may be quite different from what we are feeling inside.

Welcome Spring in Paris!

Looking outside my window it looks more like the start of winter than spring. Large fluffy snow flakes are coming down in a thick blanket and it is -2 degrees Celsius ... Which has sent me day dreaming of our spring trip to Paris in 2010.

Welcome Spring in Paris! by  High Heeled Life 
Click the above link to view details of wardrobe items.

It's a bit difficult to make out the umbrella handle in the collage above ... so here is a close up.  We all know that what makes one stand out in the crowd is unexpected detail. And I think the skull handle on this Pasotti umbrella does just that - with any of the outfits in the collage, what do you think?

Pasotti umbrellas are handmade in Italy with the same attention to detail and creative flare as they were in 1956, when Ernesta Pasotti was designing and hand making them herself.  

I have dreamed of owning a Pasotti for many years and was quite pleased to have been surprised with the Pasotti Purple Dahlia last year. I love the double canopy which conceals the frame work of the umbrella with a large dahlia on the inside. Opening the umbrella on rainy days ~ makes me smile ... instead of just opening a plain utilitarian boring umbrella. To learn more about these wonderful umbrella's click here Pasotti , once you see the craftsmanship and hold one - I will be surprised if you too will not be dreaming of having one (if you don't already have one).

Yes, it may be a splurge ... but remember nothing beats the longevity of quality handcrafted. And a High Heeled Life is all about quality - not quantity.

sharing this post with : Friday's Fancies

Key to Happiness ...

During the past 6 plus years my life has been filled with all things "recovering from my accident". For the most part things have progressed along well and as expected. But the one thing that always seemed to be tugging at me was how to get my life back to the way it was pre-accident. You see I have been associating who I was, what I had, and my career to having been fulfilled and happy. While the reality was - my happiness was not do to these external things, but because of the love I was able to express through these things. You see at that point in my life I had self-acceptance. Self-acceptance equates to self-love and that results in happiness.

What I have been working on this past year is accepting the who I am now, what I have now and realizing that in life there are many other paths than a corporate career. Each step I take in creating a life and me using the foundation of who I am at this moment the closer I am getting to feeling fulfilled and feeling that happiness I thought would be forever gone.

Self-acceptance is the key to happiness as with self-acceptance we are able to feel love for our self. Being able to accept and to love yourself frees you to be able to truly care and love others. Being able to love brings happiness.

"Great Celia, so how do we get to self-acceptance?" I hear you saying. For me it's taken a long time to learn to turn off the little voice (ego) that chatters away saying that I have failed, that I'm no longer the fashionista or outgoing person I was, just to mention a couple of the self-rejecting messages that have been holding me hostage. Whenever I sense ego is starting down a self-rejecting dialogue I try to remember all the fabulous things that have happened since my accident. Mr. G coming into my life, our furbabies, our beautiful homes we are able to share with our friends and family, my strength to keep moving forward and ability to use what has happened to inspire others create their own new life! the list goes on.
Here are some steps I have used to towards my own self-acceptance:

1) changing my thoughts from negative to positive (this does not happen over night - I'm still working hard on this one). i.e. If only I looked like I did pre-accident people would like me more (this is negative) INSTEAD , when this thought tries to come through - I quickly push it away and tell myself how far I have come from looking malnourished after my accident and how healthy I look now (positive - I'm healthy).

2) enjoying the wonderful things and people in my life at this moment ~ (I often flip through my Gratitude Journal and am reminded of all the wonderful things and people I'm thankful for).

3) positive affirmations POST-IT notes ~ on the bathroom mirror to remind me each morning ~ That I am the best "ME" there could ever be; I'm blessed to have another day; today is my day!

What are you doing to be in a state of Happiness?

Grounding and Balancing Your Chakras

According to traditional writings there are 88,000 Chakras in the human body. The majority are small insignificant to us, at this time. 40 of them are in the hands, feet, fingertips, and shoulders and have significant function. Most are along acupuncture meridians and are used as the entry point for the acupuncture needle. The most significant are the 7 Major Chakras located along the central line of the body, from the base of the spine to the top of the head.

Each of the Chakras is energy vibrating at a certain frequency, in a logical and orderly sequence of seven vibrations. As we move up the scale , the elements become more and more subtle, moving through the five physical elements of earth, fire, air, and ether, to the spiritual elements of the inner sound and light.  

google image 

Chakras are energy centers within our body that we cannot see with our physical eyes. They present themselves as swirling vortexes of energy that regulate the flow of energy throughout our bodies. Our Chakras may be either open or closed, depending on our mental and spiritual condition at any given time. 

An imbalance in our Chakras may be a result of childhood experiences, pain, guilt, traumatic events or changing values.To avoid the negative effects that result from imbalanced Chakras, it is important to balance them using any of the methods available. Meditation is the most common method used for aligning Chakras. Other methods include reiki, music (sounds that resonate at the proper frequencies) to return our Chakras to optimal function.

This is a guided meditation by Debra Berndt which I discovered on YouTube and 

have listened to to help me in grounding and balancing my own Chakras.

Enjoy.

Happiness and Blessings on Angel's Wings,

Quieten Your Ego...

When you are first faced with a traumatic life detour that turns your whole world upside, you think if I can just figure out where to go from here everything will be OK. You work hard to rebuild your life and yourself ... each step of the way you grow stronger and more determined to create a life and you that will once again come into balance.

Then just as you are beginning to see some light at the end of the darkest road you have ever traveled.  Your wings eager to spread and to take flight. Suddenly an invisible cord has latched on to you, making you question all that you have worked so hard for, all that you are blossoming into.

The ego is one of the our biggest challenges in life.  The ego can whisper the meanest things or the most discouraging things into our thoughts. Leaving us feeling awful about our self and wondering why it’s challenging to have exciting, passionate, healthy relationships (starting with our self).
How to Quieten Your Ego..
Find a quiet spot to sit. When the weather is warm I like going to sit by our stream and take nature in. In the colder months I like to sit in front of the garden doors looking out.  I start with Purposeful Breathing:

~Gently inhaling and exhaling through the nose

~Keep your head neck and trunk completely straight

~Practice slow purposeful breathing with a goal of inhaling for 6 seconds and exhaling for 6 seconds (I started with 2 seconds of inhaling and exhaling ... work your way up to it).

~Practice breath awareness for 10 minutes/three times. 

Once I've completed my breathing I set my timer for 10-15 minutes and just let my mind relax. Sometimes things will pop into my thoughts - I acknowledge the thought and then release it - going back to my breathing.

Soon you will be able to easily shoo away the ego when it tries to whisper negative things into your thoughts.

Deepak Chopra explains the ego brilliantly in this video clip...

How do you keep your Ego Quiet?

Are You Putting on a Pretty Face?

When we are faced with traumatic events in our life ... we desperately grasp to keep things from changing anymore than they already have. This often results in us accepting how others treat us, less than we would have in otherwise "normal circumstances". And it's not until you start gaining strength that you realize in your weakened state through your journey of healing, you may have made excuses for the less than admirable actions and behavior of those around you ~ who were suppose to be your support system.

 They may have made it seem to the outside world like they were your rock; but only you know how often you were left alone; how many nights you cried yourself to sleep, and the frustration of not being able to do things yourself - only to have to wait for another to do it or to get so frustrated that you used every minuscule amount of energy you could harness to do it yourself. But having them there at all -made you feel like you weren't totally alone.

You become good at putting on the "everything is great" face. There may be times when caring souls around you question things. Perhaps out of embarrassment, feeling of hopeless ~ or fear of criticizing a loved one,  you put on a smile and say "everything is fine".

This often involves a loved one, whose intentions are good, but they are not professionals nor super heroes. I can recall when Mr. G. decided that HE would be better at taking care of me than anyone else. For fear of disappointing him or making him feel unwanted, I agreed. I will share with you it was not the smartest decision I have ever made - looking back I will chalk it up to my brain injury (yes, I can smile about it -sort of -now). But, seriously if you find yourself in need of help with your day to day activities as much as loved ones really are coming from a good place (and one of love) you are only asking for trouble and headaches by not bringing in the proper care-providers. Trust me when I say any money saved is not worth it!

One of the biggest factors that happens is the line between spouse (or any other relationship you have with a person) become blurred. And over time you see them as "trying to be the boss of you or controlling your every move" while they see you as fragile and unable to make ANY decision about anything; even as you gain strength and are better able to care for yourself.

I would love to hear from HHL readers who have either been the loved one wanting to be helpful or from the person who agreed to let a loved one fill the many roles of care-provider. How did it work out for you? What tips can you share with other readers about similar situations?

Have you become a loved one's primary care-provider? 

Or have you had a loved step into the role of primary care-provider for you? 

(this could be spouse with spouse; child to parent; sibling to sibling etc.)

Blessings,

Is there Life After Trauma, Brain Injury?

Yes... there is LIFE after Trauma and Brain Injury! I'm living proof.
Though the journey to creating a new you and life that fit together may be bumping at times, I know with determination, patience, and a positive attitude - anything is possible.

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I'm 

possible’!”Audrey Hepburn

Physical injuries can be seen and taken care of. Broken bones heal, but a closed head injury is an unseen injury and there are no drugs or techniques that can cure a brain injury, prevention is the only cure.

When the brain is injured, it can affect the core of the person, ~ personality, memory, information processing,emotional and behavioral controls.

Family members, friends, co-workers and employers are often unable to understand or sympathize, as the person living with a brain injury may often look physically fine and may even appear healthy and "normal" during casual interaction. This false outward appearance causes a disconnected (as the brain injury cannot be seen, like a physical injury can) between the person with the brain injury and those who are suppose to be their care and support system.

This disconnect can expand into debilitating and frustrating obstacles for the person with a brain injury. Impacting their quality of life, affecting relationships, career, financial stability and most importantly their self-esteem.

Whether you or a loved one is living with a brain injury, I hope that you will find my posts about Life After Trauma & Brain Injury? helpful, motivating, funny at times and inspiring. Most of all I hope that you will realize YOU are NOT ALONE! Nor are you crazy, it's a brain injury not insanity (though it may feel like at times..).

Remember, I have and continue to walk the same path you are Creating Me and a Life, after all my careful life plans, dreams were brought to an immediate halt, by a driver who didn't see me crossing a street.

Are you, a friend or loved facing life after brain injury or traumatic event in life? 

Email me any questions you may have about my journey to picking up the pieces and creating a new life where I'm at Peace & Thriving.  Hello@HighHeeledLife.com

   Here's to new beginnings,

My Story

In preparation for the new blog reveal this post is a reminder of why this blog was started.

We all have a story this is mine. I was busy with a corporate career and making plans for a well heeled lifestyle; then Life Happened...

My Life in Transition ~ CREATING ME AND A LIFE THAT FITS!

I'm learning to THRIVE after falling off my High Heeled Life as a pedestrian struck by a car, while crossing the street. My adventure into blogging started in 2010 as part of my speech therapy, to help rebuild my focusing; writing; communication and processing skills.

What I'm learning along the way is:  I'm no longer the person I was before my accident and my life no longer fits.

High Heeled Life, originally titled Falling off a High Heeled Life ~ described exactly how I felt post-accident.  Blogging not only helped me with speech therapy it became an outlet to share my journey. The person I see in the mirror no longer resembles me. The life I now live is quite different from the lifestyle I had prior to October 28, 2006.

  

In sharing my story and journey of trying to pick up the pieces of my life, I started connecting with women all over the world, who were either facing (had faced) life altering situations or had a loved one who was. Though the "event" which changed our life as we had once to known may be different, the one consistent denominator ~ we now all face is a "Life in Transition".

I'm often asked "What is your secret to maintaining a positive out-look on life, despite all that you have gone through and lost?  What keeps you going?" This made me think, is there a secret?  My days are filled with therapies to keep my body, mind and spirit moving instead of corporate meetings; and I now live in a sleepy countryside instead of an always awaken city.

Well, I don't have a secret. What I have come to realize is a High Heeled Life is not measured by one's situation, income or geographic location. Therefore I can still live a High Heeled Life - It's just going to look a little different (ok some days it looks a whole lot different).

A High Heeled Life is not about excess, it's about being selective and realizing excess does not increase our quality of life.  Our quality of life comes from achieving balance and peace within our self (mind, body and spirit). Once we have peace and balance we are able to create and live the life we choose.

I look forward to sharing with readers of High Heeled Life, my journey into discovering the benefits of tea as part of my daily routine; building a wardrobe that fits my new "smart casual" dressing style; ballet flats, wedge shoes, riding boots and wellies can be as fashionable as high heels; country living has its luster; therapeutic value of gardening and handwriting letters; healthy eating and fitness; and many other discoveries about Life in Transition.  I hope to inspire you ~no matter the reason you may find your own life in transition ~ to create a YOU and Life that fit!

Thank you for visiting my little corner of Blogland and reading High Heeled Life. Here's to creating and living a High Heeled Life!

Founder & Editor of High Heeled Life

For those who may be new to High Heeled Life, I have included the detour which has taken my life into a "Life in Transition".

In God's Hands~at the scene

Sunday, October 29, 2006 Change of plans

On Saturday evening, Wanda and I and our roommate went to a friend's birthday party near Eglinton Avenue and Brentcliffe Road.

Approaching the apartment lobby, we heard the crunch and tinkling glass of a car accident on the street. Curiosity got the better of Daniel, the cake-bearer, and he headed toward the street for a look. I followed him, reasoning that it would pass the time until our host answered the buzzer.

I saw a woman sprawled in the middle of the street -- clearly one party to the thud and tinkling I had just heard. I abandoned the broccoli dish on the low brick wall and jogged out into traffic, fumbling for my phone and dialing 911. "I need an ambulance at Eglinton and Brentcliffe, a pedestrian has been struck by traffic." I looked at prone body on the wet pavement, hoping to see some sign of life. Two other gents were bent over her, one at her head and one at her feet. I saw them both bend down and I was on the verge of hollering "Don't move her!" as they abandoned the effort.

"Male or female?" "A woman, middle-aged"

"Middle-aged? What does that mean, middle-aged?"

"Thirty to thirty-five, I guess". Do they need census information before they dispatch EMS? She was an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, stylishly dressed; I didn't recognize her. The woman's eyes were wide open, staring straight ahead into the murky night sky, but I didn't see any chest movement indicating breathing. I thought she was gone.

"Is she conscious?"

"I don't know, standby." I waved a hand over the woman's face and shouted to be heard over the traffic. "Miss, are you all right? Can you hear me?" No response.

"I think she's unconscious..." "You think? You don't know?"

"Her eyes are open but she is not responding to visual or audible stimuli," I said, "She is probably in shock." Just then I saw her chest rise and fall, and her mouth twitched. I paused for a millisecond and there it was again. "She is breathing." Some of the onlookers started covering her in blankets and jackets to ward off the cold night air.

"Does she have any injuries?"

There was a small trickle of blood from the woman's mouth. No other external bleeding that I could see. Her jeans were torn at the right hip and the skin had been punctured / lacerated, but it was not bleeding. I informed the operator of the visible trauma.

"How far was she thrown?"

"Fifteen to twenty feet at least," I said, looking at a now completely detached driver-side mirror and estimating the distance to where the woman now lay. "I'm not sure if the car is still at the scene," I said to the operator, "it sounds like he may have left." The two cars bracketing the woman both had intact driver- and passenger-side mirrors.

"My God, I know her!" I looked up. My roommate Rogner was standing beside me. "It's Celia." I looked down again, but still didn't recognize her. I had met Celia once before at Rogner's birthday party several months earlier, but the catatonic woman on the pavement hardly resembled the lively, vivacious Celia. She was not, fortunately, the birthday girl -- but she was definitely supposed to be one of the attendees.

A white-haired policeman consented to Rogner riding along with Celia to the hospital. He and Rogner walked out to the newly-arrived ambulance as the EMS technicians embarked their patient.

Eventually the white-haired police officer returned and gave us the lowdown on Celia's extensive injuries. He told us what trauma center she was headed for. Celia had a lot of broken bones and some serious internal injuries, but the medical professionals didn't seem too pessimistic.

The seriousness of the situation did not really sink in until several hours after the accident when Rogner returned. Peering out the window after dinner, it was apparent that Toronto Police lingered long after EMS and TFS had departed. A big slab-sided forensics truck had joined the cruisers, and witnesses' cars had not budged an inch. In fact Eglinton Avenue East between Leslie and Brentcliffe was closed in both directions.

I saw a couple of policemen scanning the north side of Eglinton with their flashlights, and I let them know we had found Celia's Blackberry.

"You're friends of the young woman that was hit?" said an officer. "Celia? Yes," replied Silmar. "She's in bad shape. It's in God's hands now."

Silmar and I shared an uncomfortable look. This was not welcome news. "Why are you guys giving this scene the white-glove treatment... mobile crime scene lab, surveyor instruments, et cetera?"

"It's standard procedure in fata-- ah, life-threatening accidents," replied the officer.

So there you have it. I don't know if Celia made it. But if you can spare a couple of minutes, a prayer or two probably wouldn't hurt.

Posted by Chris Taylor at 03:33 AM

UPDATE 010139Z NOV 2006: I misunderstood earlier information, Celia has undergone microsurgeries only. They cannot operate (not anything requiring general anesthetic) on her major injuries yet because she is not breathing on her own. Hence the medical professionals look skeptically upon her odds of survival.


Posted by Chris Taylor at 10:20 AM in City of Toronto
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In a blink of an eye, I went from a completely independent, physically fit, career- driven, fashionista, adventurous, social person to someone who was completely dependent on others, pajama wearing, with-drawn home body.

Getting A Little Lift ...

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