BLOG | be-the-star-you-are

May 6
4 min

Bark, Neigh, Meow, May Flowers, Book Gardens

Filled with amazing stories, step-by-step exercises, and thought-provoking discussions, Lynn McKenzie’s book, Bark, Neigh, Meow shows how animal companions help you transform your life and fulfill your purpose. You'll find greater passion, elevate your spirit, deepen your connection to the unseen realm, and much more. This heartwarming collection of Lynn's personal and client stories, reveals the power of animals to become your partners, teachers, guides, healers, and catalys

Cynthia Brian

Mar 17
5 min

Top of the Morning!

“May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks May your heart be as light as a song. May each day bring you bright Happy hours that stay with you all the year long.” Irish blessing. My first introduction to the Emerald Isles arrived when I was seven. First grade was the beginning of my education since pre-school and kindergarten did not exist in our neck of the woods. A new school had been constructed with young teachers dressed from head to toe in black with white collars wh

Cynthia Brian

Mar 3
4 min

Looking Out!

“The heart is like a garden. What seeds will you plant there?” Buddha The first vista I witness every morning as I traipse downstairs in my pink fluffy slippers to grab a cup of java invigorates my day. Outside my stairwell window, a tall crimson camellia tree sways in the breeze flanked by a shimmering evergreen flowering pear. Rounding the corner, I look to my right. Through the hand-made stained-glass arch, winter and spring co-mingle. The bright cerise flowers of the peac

Cynthia Brian

Feb 17
4 min

Let the Sun Shine In!

https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1426/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Let-the-sun-shine-in.html Digging Deep with Cynthia Brian, the Goddess Gardener By Cynthia Brian “When the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns with Mars Then peace will guide the planets And love will steer the stars. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” Lyrics to Age of Aquarius by The 5th Dimension Astrologers don’t agree that it is the dawning of the Ag

Cynthia Brian

Feb 9
5 min

Prune, Plan, Peruse

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” ~ George Moore Like most of us who have been sheltering at home for the past eleven months, traveling to foreign lands has not been part of my normal activities. At first, I was immensely disappointed to cancel my 2020 exotic trips, especially the one that would have reunited me with my European pen pal with whom I’ve been corresponding regularly since I was nine years old. That’s a long ti

Cynthia Brian

Jan 21
4 min

Renewal by Nature

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” – Mahatma Gandhi I popped the crunchy pods of my just-picked sugar snap peas into my mouth as I uttered a prayer of gratitude for the food I grow to nourish my family and the gardens I cultivate to nourish my soul. The past few weeks have brought the fragility of life into focus amidst the mounting death toll from the pandemic and the anxiety aroused by the political rampages. We need to return to our

Cynthia Brian

Jan 6
4 min

2021 Garden Trends

Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian Garden Trends for 2021 By Cynthia Brian “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right!” Oprah Winfrey HELLOOOOOOO 2021! We have been holding our collective breaths for the past ten months desperately anticipating a new beginning with a new year. Are you feeling a renewed enthusiasm for living? Are you ready to dig in? Every year the Garden Media Group releases information on what trends are formulating for th

Cynthia Brian

Dec 24, 2020
4 min

Home (and Garden) for the Holidays!

By Cynthia Brian “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all year!” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol One sentiment was universal this season in the holiday cards and emails…hope for a safe, healthy, prosperous future. 2020 has been a year of enormous challenges, chaos, and crisis amid a frightening pandemic that rendered many people feeling hopeless and helpless. Even with shelter-in-place mandates and Zooming taking the place of “being there”, resilience wil

Cynthia Brian

Dec 9, 2020
5 min

Tiny sprouts!

By Cynthia Brian “The lesson I have thoroughly learnt, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives. I rejoice when I see anyone, and especially children, inquiring about flowers, and wanting gardens of their own, and carefully working in them. For love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies, but always grows and grows to an enduring and ever-increasing source of happiness.” Gertrude Jekyll Watching the wide-eyed w

Cynthia Brian

Nov 25, 2020
4 min

Fall Fireworks

Fall Fireworks By Cynthia Brian “Let the beauty we love be what we do.” ~Rumi Sitting on my balcony, watching the ginger orb of the sun shoot sparkles and glitter throughout the dusky sky, I am besotted with the fireworks of fall foliage on the horizon. The colors and intensities change daily as I attempt to capture the essence of their beauty in my camera lens. A red-branched Japanese maple is glimmering gold one day. Four days later it is pumpkin spice orange. My liquid amb

Cynthia Brian

Nov 11, 2020
5 min

As the Leaves Turn

Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian As the Leaves Turn By Cynthia Brian “A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.” Ralph Waldo Emerson It’s only five in the evening and the darkness of night has arrived. I’ve been out in the garden prepping the soil as the sun sets and the moon rises. Normally by this time of the year, I would have had all my spring bulbs and perennials planted and my lawn re-seeded. But we have had no rain and the daytime temper

Cynthia Brian

Oct 30, 2020
4 min

Halloween, Nature's Way

“Listen to them–the children of the night. What music they make!” Bram Stoker During this season, life is about the kids. This is a time of magic, wonder, and things that go bump in the night. Halloween has always been a favorite holiday for most children in the United States but this year, Halloween, the way it has been celebrated for decades, is canceled. No random trick or treating, no gatherings, no haunted parties. Since school has been online, kids yearn to get together

Cynthia Brian

Oct 14, 2020
5 min

Sheltering with Mother Nature

Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian “Too blessed to be stressed!” Bumper sticker By Cynthia Brian Are you feeling more in touch with Mother Earth as we near the beginning of eight months of stay-at-home mandates because of Covid-19? Or are you feeling antsy, stressed, and out-of-sorts? Retreating to our landscapes was initially a salve to the pain of the corona virus, social unrest, and political nastiness as we encountered improved air quality, quieter skies, a

Cynthia Brian

Oct 1, 2020
5 min

Risky Business

Pres Pass: https://blog.voiceamerica.com/2020/09/30/risky-business/ Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener Cynthia Brian By Cynthia Brian “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from a cornfield.” Dwight D. Eisenhower When you bite into a crunchy apple, eat a bunch of juicy grapes, or slather butter on roasted sweet corn, unless you’ve grown these crops in your personal garden, do you ever wonder about the life of the farmer who provides

Hannah’s War, Smoke Taint & Spaghetti Sauce, Flu & Safely Re-Beginning

Cynthia Brian

Oct 1, 2020
4 min

Hannah’s War, Smoke Taint & Spaghetti Sauce, Flu & Safely Re-Beginning

SAG/AFTRA member Cynthia Brian continues Wednesdays with Writers and Performers on StarStyle® giving authors, actors, artists, and entertainers who have had their live performances and events canceled due to Covid-19 a platform to shine. Meet global shining stars sharing their brilliance from home right here on StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!® Join our party LIVE 4pm PT Wednesdays .http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2206/be-the-star-you-are #HomestageSAF, #CynthiaBrian, #StarSt

Dreaming the Marsh, Travel Insurance during Covid-19, Planting for Fall

Cynthia Brian

Sep 18, 2020
4 min

Dreaming the Marsh, Travel Insurance during Covid-19, Planting for Fall

https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/125489/dreaming-the-marsh-travel-insurance-during-covid-19-planting-for-fall SAG/AFTRA member Cynthia Brian continues Wednesdays with Writers and Performers on StarStyle® giving authors, actors, artists, and entertainers who have had their live performances and events canceled due to Covid-19 a platform to shine. Find out how brilliant our world talent is right here on StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!® Dreaming the Marsh is an environmental

Cynthia Brian

Jul 25, 2020
4 min

Sweet, Savory Summer

https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1411/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Sweet-savory-summer.html Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian Sweet, Savory Summer By Cynthia Brian “Steep thyself in a bowl of summer.” --Virgil Summer! Just saying the word puts a smile on my face. Since I was a little girl, the months of July and August were times of great joy, working as a laborer picking or cutting apricots, peaches, and pears in neighbors’ orc

Cynthia Brian

Jul 8, 2020
5 min

Guardians of the Garden Galaxy

By Cynthia Brian “Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.” William Shakespeare The gray turtle dove darted from the mulberry tree to the wooden nest box and back again. Thinking there must be eggs, I grabbed my camera and discovered a baby dove nestled in a hollowed nest with the mother bird proudly standing guard. The sounds of gentle cooing surrounded this bucolic scene. I felt blessed that these birds chose my garden to settle. If you want a healthy, glorious summer g

Cynthia Brian

Jun 26, 2020
5 min

Plant Pivots

Planet Pivots By Cynthia Brian “I should like to enjoy this summer flower by flower as if it were to be the last one for me.” Andre Gide Summertime and the living is easy! Or is it? This year will be a year like no other highlighted by the frightening health pandemic and sorrowful civil unrest. As the economy slowly re-opens, people are clamoring to shop, dine, socialize, get haircuts, and have their teeth cleaned. The line of masked individuals waiting outside reopened store

Cynthia Brian

Jun 11, 2020
5 min

Victory Garden 3.0

Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian Victory Gardens 3.0 By Cynthia Brian "In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time." Robert Collier, Writer and Publisher In March 2017, a month before the United States entered World War I, Americans across our lands were asked to plant produce to help feed the Allies fighting in Europe. It wasn’t only farmers who were solicited to

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Communicate, Collaborate, Innovate

Bark, Neigh, Meow, May Flowers, Book Gardens

Top of the Morning!

Looking Out!

Let the Sun Shine In!

Prune, Plan, Peruse

Renewal by Nature

2021 Garden Trends

Home (and Garden) for the Holidays!

Tiny sprouts!

Fall Fireworks

As the Leaves Turn

Halloween, Nature's Way

Sheltering with Mother Nature

Risky Business

Hannah’s War, Smoke Taint & Spaghetti Sauce, Flu & Safely Re-Beginning

Dreaming the Marsh, Travel Insurance during Covid-19, Planting for Fall

Sweet, Savory Summer

Guardians of the Garden Galaxy

Plant Pivots

Victory Garden 3.0