Okay, so… Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me… Happy Birthday to me!

This past weekend, I celebrated my 54th birthday, and it felt FABULOUS! As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become much more comfortable celebrating me and allowing myself to be showered with love, affection and adoration from the people around me. Celebrating who you are IS the Rebel Belle’s first step in Discovering Freedom and Bold Self-Expression, you know. And, these days I’m much better at poking fun at myself and having a boatload of fun.

Last summer, I hosted my first The Rebel Belle Rocks the Weekend party and workshop. A blast was had by all. I tailored the workshop from Suzanne Falter-Barns’ How Much Joy workshop, a fabulous piece of work.

Well, this year for my birthday, I decided to keep the fun going and see just HOW much joy and fun we really could stand. Being that I’m into bold self-expression and all, I asked my guests to create and wear a hat that expressed the essence of who they were.

I’d like to share a few of the pictures with you. Are these hats creative or what? This is truly southern bold self-expression at its finest!

Behaviors tend to be transmitted from generation to generation. Facing and processing through patterns is the best way to stop the behaviors from being passed on to your children. What you don’t deal with will be passed on; what you are willing to face, sort out and heal will no longer infect family dynamics. The pattern stops with you!

This is a quote from one of my favorite books, Why is This Happening to Me… Again?!, a book written by the fabulous Dr. Michael Ryce. The title of this particular chapter is “Inherited Patterns.”

I am fascinated by family patterns and issues, and the fact that they are passed from generation to generation. And, I totally agree that whatever I heal and take responsibility for will also heal generations before and after me. Amazing thought, isn’t it? I love this type of work. It rocks!

I am blessed and fortunate to have a brother and sisters who openly and willingly communicate about family patterns, how they show up and how we can actively participate in healing and forgiving these patterns.

In fact, January 19-21 of next year, I am hosting a Family Constellation workshop that will focus on trans-generational and ancestral healing. It will be facilitated by John Payne, author of The Healing of Individuals Families & Nations and The Language of the Soul and the founder of The South African Institute for Family Constellations. John has 7 years of experience in the field of systemic work and has facilitated over 250 workshops on 5 continents.

If you aren’t familiar with Family Constellation work, I encourage you to purchase either of John’s books I mentioned. They are a great beginning.

Take a look at this family portrait… could this family benefit from healing? (I do hope you are sharing in my humor!)

What an amazing piece of work this “How Much Joy” workshop is! The Rebel Belle Rocks the Weekend was born from Suzanne Falter-Barnes’ “How Much Joy Can You Stand?” workshop. Suzanne licenses joy facilitators all over the world, and I am “joyful” about being one of them. What I love about this workshop is the “freedom” I have to make it my own.

Comments from workshop participants:

I peeled back more layers and I got it! It was wonderful being cheered on by all my “sisters.”
“Joy Belle”

I left feeling a stirring deep inside and am ready to let Dixie Belle take her Rebel Stand.
“Dixie Belle”

I was energized, enlightened and productive along with a whole lot of fun!
“Jazzy Belle”

I was ready for whatever Tuck had up her sleeve. There was flow, stretching, fun and I got my purpose!
“Annie Belle”

Would you like to know where and how all this joy got started? Suzanne’s workshops were spawned from her original self-help book, How Much Joy Can You Stand?, and today, that book has touched more than 100,000 people.

Experience the gift and joy of bold self expression!

I see you, I see you there, magnificent light sparkling everywhere…
There’s nothing to fear, no reason to hide
Bring out your gifts from deep inside
The journey begins anew each day
Hearts desires lighten up the way
In joy we dance and in passion we sing
We celebrate light in everything
We’ve come to remember
We’ve come to express
To know ourselves and to be our best
You know how, you know the plan
Yes you are and yes you can
Stand up, stand up, stand up right now, today’s the day and you know how…

This song was just one of the gifts shared at our The Rebel Belle Rocks the Weekend workshop. My friend penny (also known as the “freedom belle”) wrote and sang it as her creativity gift.

What an amazing group of women!! I am awed and inspired by their courage, creativity and willingness to dream their dreams and share their talents with the world.

I wish you could meet them… oh my gosh… you can! Check out the “belles” photo we took! The ladies are, from left to right: penny the Freedom Belle, Velma Jean the Jazzy Belle, Gin the Queen Belle, Dixie the Dixie Lee Belle, Maggie the Playful Dancing Belle, Emily the Joy Belle, Tuck the Rebel Belle (that’s me!), Ann the Annie Belle, and Jen (Belle name TBA).

I recently launched my new business, The Rebel Belle – A Southern Voice for Bold Self Expression with a weekend workshop. The workshop was called The Rebel Belle Rocks the Weekend… and we rocked!

The focus of the workshop was stimulating the creative juices around life purpose and living our dreams… and, exploring what holds us back from boldly sharing that creative expression of who we are to the world – full out and on our terms!

At the workshop, I asked the question, “What is Bold Self Expression?”

Some of the responses:

Freedom. Being myself. Being liberated. Powerful. Confident. Loving myself. Living large and out loud. Being heard. Trusting my intuition. Speaking up for myself. Daring to be different. Honoring my gifts. Living on purpose.

Then I asked, “What keeps you from boldly expressing yourself?”

Some answers were:

Not believing in myself. The possibility of failure. If I succeed, then what? They’ll think I’m wacko. I won’t be understood. The voice of inferiority in my head. They’ll ask, “Who are you, really?”

How about you? Got boldness? Got self expression? I’d love to hear your thoughts on these questions:

• What does Bold Self Expression mean to you?
• And, what holds you back from Boldly Expressing yourself to the world – full out and on your terms?