Dear Friends,

Thanksgiving
This week I heard three people in a row express that the most profound holiday of the year for them is Thanksgiving. A truly American tradition! How beautiful, in these times of growing uneasiness about what’s happening in the world, that the celebration of ‘Giving Thanks’ is still a vibrant tradition. In fact, our awareness seems to increase. Not having grown up with this particular tradition, it feels that the awareness and the depth of the real meaning behind Thanksgiving are increasing. Where it sometimes seems like the essence of Christmas is harder to capture because it has become so commercialized, the simplicity, warmth and family-feel that surrounds Thanksgiving seems to stand out more.

From a metaphysical/spiritual perspective ‘Giving Thanks’ is one of the most meaningful rituals in our lives. If we want to create healing or change in our lives, from what better position can we start than to imagine the result in its full perfection? When we come from a place of gratitude, taking a goal into our hearts and feeling our power, our beauty and our connection with the Divine inside and outside of us, we begin to birth whatever it is that we want to attain or achieve.

Can we ever give enough thanks?
The skeptical among us who question celebrating that one single holiday may say: “You don’t give thanks only on Thanksgiving.” Very true. If we would give thanks all the time to everything that comes on our paths, even in circumstances where we do not initially see the gifts that a certain situation or person brings to us, the world would be different. There are times when we do not feel gratitude immediately, times when we have to work at it. If we make it our intent, however, always to focus on the gifts that are there, hidden or obvious, in everything that we meet on our journey, we will get more and more quickly to a place of continual gratitude.

Why then would we celebrate Thanksgiving, if we are in a place of gratitude all the time? Perhaps because most of us are not quite there yet. Perhaps we can benefit just from the joy of the celebration, seeing it as an invocation to an increased focus on gratitude, allowing the feeling to sink deeper and deeper.

Wonderful fall
Our Sedona fall has been wonderful, as usual. The bright weather has given us all the beauty and color that nature can present. During this most ideal weather of the year we had the largest group we have ever had for a week-long retreat: fifty four. It all worked beautifully. The people had a great experience and we now know we can handle a group of that size and meet all its needs. The facilitator was here for the third time and has already made a reservation for next year. That fills us with joy, satisfaction, and gratitude and it is how we intend to grow more and more.

Angel Valley expanding
If there is one continuous theme in our work it is ‘expansion’. We realize we created this expansion initially, just by embarking on the Angel Valley adventure. We chose to expand on so many levels, all the time. We are continuing to do so in the physical, by making the land more and more beautiful, by improving our facilities, by completing legal requirements, and by focusing on becoming more professional. We are in the process of reviewing and re-structuring every aspect of Angel Valley through a five-person management team.

On an inner level we each need to keep pace with the expansion or things would fall apart. We have created Angel Valley on our path for our own growth and expansion. Every inner aspect is reflected outside. Every outer aspect gives us something to reflect. There are times when we wonder what we put into motion. Returning to the knowingness, however, that everything that happens is for our highest good, which brings us back to what life is really about: experiencing and expressing.

Winter months
During the winter months we intend to continue this process. There are open spaces on our calendar. A good time to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, so that by spring, when everybody wants to come to Sedona, we will be ready. Of course, during the winter we will continue having our guests, who are nice and cozy in the guest houses. We hope this winter won’t bring the flooding it brought last year. If we do have a lot of rain and snow melt, we ask that it be spread out over time. Although we are better prepared against flooding and it could have been much worse last year, we prefer to avoid it happening again.

All of us at Angel Valley wish you a Blessed and Joyful Thanksgiving.

Michael and Amayra Hamilton and the Angel Valley Staff