WebsandWings

Welcome 2006

There are many changes afoot in the new year. Our last Labyrinth walk at Colgate Rochester Divinity School will be held on January 9th. In February our monthly labyrinth walks will be moving to a new home at the Unitarian Church on Winton Road. Check for more details soon on the InnerQuest blog, www.websandwings.blogs.com/innerquest. Also on the InnerQuest blog is informationabout the Flower of Life workshop being held in Spencerport the weekend of January 20th.

I am doing less computing and more on the creative side, as I am getting several books ready for publication and promotion in the next few months. I am spending the weeks remaining of winter to hole up and get things done and ready for a blowout spring. The first book out of the gate will be Understanding E-Body Language.

I am finishing up programming jobs and will focus mainly on QuickBooks and miscellaneous consulting.

Toastmasters officers training and club visits will keep me very busy the next couple of months, culminating in the spring contests and the race to get clubs to distinguished status by the end of the year. Visit www.websandwings.blogs.com/area16 for information on what's going on in the area.

Catching up

I'm just now catching up with my blogging after a couple of really intense months full of workshops and other events and projects.  Check the InnerQuest blog for updates on Artwalk in September and my adventures at the Labyrinth Society Gathering in October.  Check the Webworld blog for updates about the new version of QuickBooks that just came out.  Look at the Area 16 blog for Toastmasters contest, training, and conference information.

I'm giving a workshop at the District 65 Fall Conference November 19th - "New Clubs: Why do we need them? And how can we start them?"  I will also be speaking at a benefit for Diane Paradise at Xerox on December 3rd: "Putting the E in E-mail" - a speech to help promote the new book coming out.

Between now and the end of the year, however, it will be hibernation time, with most of my efforts going into finishing off computer programming and publishing projects. One of the projects will be the completion of an e-book on writing books, intended to be a help for people who want to write but are having trouble either starting or finishing their projects. This PDF will be available for free download from my www.productivitypublications.com website. Watch this space for notification that it will be available.

I am gradually cutting back on the computer work as the publishing and creative side picks up. Right now I am only supporting QuickBooks and Microsoft Access programming - and I am not going to be taking on any large programming jobs. I will do shorter ones and support existing programs.

New Logo

The new logo for Webs and Wings is making its online debut today in the header of the blog, along with a slightly brighter color scheme. I used the logo for the first time in my literature for the NY Spa and Resort Expo.

The Vesica Triangle that is the main part of the logo is a construct of sacred geometry - part of the intersection of three circles. The dragonfly is a symbol of transformation. The dragonfly is seen emerging from the geometric structure, as though breaking free of all constraints and limitations.

As I was looking for more mandala material at the fabric store, I found some cream dragonflies on a dark blue background, so I am going to make dragonfly pillows rather than mandala pillows for the labyrinth walks once the mandala fabric is gone.

The double spiral/butterfly logo I designed ended up as the logo for InnerQuest, my joint venture with Hallie Sawyers, taking labyrinths to spas and hospitals. We both found this particular logo irresistable. The double spiral is the start of a meander labyrinth. The butterfly is another symbol for transformation. The InnerQuest blog will be undergoing more facelifts as Hallie comes aboard as a guest author.

Reorganization

There are changes afoot! What is happening is that Whipple Software and Consulting is going to “go away” at the end of the year. Those functions are going to be taken up by my new business, Webs and Wings, which will be an umbrella for my many activities, including the computer work,  creative works, and the workshops. Then Productivity Publications will be just for the publishing end of my business.

I had tried to fit workshops under PP, but that just didn’t fit comfortably somehow, and some of my other activities didn’t fit under software and consulting. “Webs and Wings” is more general, and “webs” has an internet connotation. It will be a close “partner” of Productivity Publications. In essence, what I am doing is renaming Whipple Software and then moving some functions from Productivity Publication to the new entity.

My blog use will be expanding. I am going to put up a private blog for people who have taken my New Perspectives Workshop. Eventually that workshop will be offered as an e-course through my Productivity Publications website.

Another blog will be for the computer/business/marketing end of my business to expand what I am doing with current clients.

Another blog will focus on my labyrinth and energy work. This original blog will tie everything together and be my window on the world. Links for the new sites will be appearing here soon. Be on the lookout!

Making the most of every day

"I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress... It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitude is right, there's no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me." Charles Swindoll

When my attitude is right, setbacks and disappointments are merely the scenic route to my eventual success and joy.

And now for something completely different

The only constant is change, so it is best to revel in it.

I had the opportunity to create an artistic 7-circuit concentric labyrinth for the Rochester Artwalk Festival in September, with the help of friends Marilyn Belle-Isle and Dale Heffer. It was an amazing experience.

Also in September I launched a new transformational workshop, New Perspectives. This one was promoted by Mary Carol Schaedel of Sunshine Connection.

After presenting at the Labyrinth Society Gathering in Maple Lake, MN, and being inspired by the many workshops I attended there, I decided to start a new project, constructing a canvas labyrinth for use in my transformational workshops. This would also be an artistic labyrinth - in the shape of a butterfly. My collaborative partner, Hallie Sawyers, suggested that we go in together and use chakra colors. It is going to be a joint project and hopefully be a LOT of fun. When I go to the Integrated Energy Therapy Master Instructor Retreat in Parsippany, NJ next week I am going to work on preliminary sketches.

I am also in the process of designing new workshops and finishing up the many books I have in the works. Check out the coming events, workshops available and books available or coming soon.

On the computer side, there are a few programming projects going on. I also will be uploading a number of free white papers to the Productivity Publications website soon.

So keep looking here to find out what is new and exciting and how you can be involved.