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Influence.

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There’s this thing making the rounds on social media lately. The Top 15 Movies or TV Series That Have Made an Impact on You Challenge. I am simply not able to let it go. So … here’s my list and the reasoning behind it:

Dances with Wolves – makes me so very humble and truly present
Star Wars – gives me unexpected joy
Out of Africa – resonates with my heart
Beauty and the Beast – perfect in every way, plus I know all the songs by heart
JFK – who was assassinated on my birthday
Cinema Paradiso – the essence of movie magic
Being There – my kind of humor
Murphy’s Romance – the law of attraction
Picket Fences – three words: David E. Kelley (and the funniest fart scene I’ve ever seen on screen)
Northern Exposure – hooked from the first promo, for the first time
CBS Sunday Morning – Charles Kuralt is the reason I work in media
That Girl – young girlish goodness
“The Joy of Painting” with Bob Ross – my introduction to meditation
Food Network – Barefoot Contessa/Tyler’s Ultimate/Michael Chiarello’s Easy Entertaining in particular – brings me out of a burnout stupor
Rocky & Bullwinkle (especially Fractured Fairytales) – understanding that a brilliant mind can be crazy, too

Here are a few extras (Only 15? Come on!):
The Shawshank Redemption – definition of hope … and the discovery of Zihuatanejo
The Way We Were – opening scenes shot at Union College in Schenectady, NY
Sophie’s Choice – the power of a single, unflinching camera angle
The Flying Nun – I look so much like Sally Field as a young girl, folks call me “Gidget.” And they are spot on, only I relate to The Flying Nun a little more -what, with me wanting to be a nun at the time
Lonesome Dove – I am a cowboy in another life
Xena: Warrior Princess – laughter all day, every day, whistling while I work

These, I keep coming back to … for now!

  • Janet Muniz is an award-winning professional writer known for informative articles, inspiring blog posts and engaging video content. Currently a Creative Content Strategist with EverEffect | Internet Marketing Agency & Consulting Firm, her personal blog is devoted to filling the well with poetry, pictures and originality.
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Pretty Blooms

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Glade Spring Spa at Suncadia Resort – Cle Elum, WA

Janet Muniz is an award-winning professional writer known for informative articles, inspiring blog posts and engaging video content. Currently a Creative Content Strategist with EverEffect | Internet Marketing Agency & Consulting Firm, her personal blog is devoted to filling the well with poetry, pictures and originality.

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Fuchsia Festival 2014

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Friends of Lake Wilderness Arboretum gathered in the gardens for the third annual Fuchsia Festival, an evening of celebration in honor of the hardy Fuchsia. Guests mingled among the beautiful displays, enjoying food and refreshments -and of course, fuchsia blooms. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect and a fun time is had by all – as is the tradition, all in support of Lake Wilderness Arboretum.

  • Janet Muniz is an award-winning professional writer known for informative articles, inspiring blog posts and engaging video content. Currently a Creative Content Strategist with EverEffect | Internet Marketing Agency & Consulting Firm, her personal blog is devoted to filling the well with poetry, pictures and originality.
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Spring Plant Sale 2014

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As part of my desire to give back to the community, I volunteer at Lake Wilderness Arboretum in Maple Valley, WA, writing marketing and communications pieces and documenting Arboretum events and the gardens with photography. Here’s a gallery of images from the annual Spring Plant Sale 2014.

  • Janet Muniz is an award-winning professional writer known for informative articles, inspiring blog posts and engaging video content. Currently a Creative Content Strategist with EverEffect | Internet Marketing Agency & Consulting Firm, her personal blog is devoted to filling the well with poetry, pictures and originality.
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Hellebore Tea 2014

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An always sold-out fundraiser event, the Hellebore Tea brings together many of the area’s garden clubs and Lake Wilderness Arboretum Foundation supporters for an afternoon of entertainment and socializing, when the beautiful hellebores are in full bloom. The Tea features food, drink and live music at Lake Wilderness Lodge, overlooking beautiful Lake Wilderness in Maple Valley, WA. The Arboretum raises funds through ticket sales, a silent auction and donations.

  • Janet Muniz is an award-winning professional writer known for informative articles, inspiring blog posts and engaging video content. Currently a Creative Content Strategist with EverEffect | Internet Marketing Agency & Consulting Firm, her personal blog is devoted to filling the well with poetry, pictures and originality.
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Make A Difference Day 2013

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The nation’s largest day of community service, Make a Difference Day is also a tradition in the City of Maple Valley. Community members come together and work hard to help tackle some big projects around the Arboretum and others – all in one day. Everyone is welcome to volunteer, from toddlers to seniors and everyone in-between. Over the past several years, the Rotary Club of Maple Valley and the City of Maple Valley have partnered to bring volunteers and projects together.

  • Janet Muniz is an award-winning professional writer known for informative articles, inspiring blog posts and engaging video content. Her personal blog, The Shape of Trees, is devoted to filling the well with poetry, pictures and originality.
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Fall Plant Sale 2013

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  • Janet Muniz is an award-winning professional writer known for informative articles, inspiring blog posts and engaging video content. Her personal blog, The Shape of Trees, is devoted to filling the well with poetry, pictures and originality.

Best in show.

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The winning piece at an art festival in Glens Falls, New York gives insight into the person wearing it.

Try on the prize!
Your skin is the color of rose stone,
the jewel maker whispers.
You’ll ignite beauty from within.

Hands flow open like wings,
as pink beads sink into soft ripples, yaaam hummm
Anahata to Vishuddha,
until the blue luster shines,
081113_ShapeOfTrees_RoseQuartzNecklacecaged in silver, touching the skin
giving permission to be.

Truth sparks the flow …
to make it so.

  • Janet Muniz is an award-winning professional writer known for informative articles, inspiring blog posts and engaging video content. Her personal blog, The Shape of Trees, is devoted to filling the well with poetry, pictures and originality.
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Fuchsia Festival 2013

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Invited friends of the Lake Wilderness Arboretum Foundation in Maple Valley, WA gather in the gardens for this fundraiser that celebrates the voluptuous fuchsia, and features a barbecue dinner set among the Arboretum’s fuchsia plants in full bloom.

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Drive home.

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Wherever you go, there you are.

On the drive home,
if I sit very still and close my eyes

The air smells warm and dry,
dry as the Santa Ana winds.
Bougainvillea, Eucalyptus, Jacaranda, Palo Verde-
They all wrap their fragrance around me,
sweetening the sky that grows bright with starlight in the desert night.

The car rumbles straight away, past exit signs, shopping malls and city glow
Until we move up,
up and out where the gentle curves, marked with sage and century plants,
sway along for the ride,
the road winding and wonderful,
no other traveling, except the coyote or a cow.

At the top,
the live oak stands quietly with arms outstretched as if to say, Almost there.
Leaning into every curve, rocking back and forth,
landing smoothly, one with place and present.

Finally, I’m home-
unlocking the door to my mind,
windows arching open to see my soul,
Saltillo and sand below my bare feet, cactus flower at my side.
Relaxing, ready for my heart to soar like a hawk …

Front Yard, April 2004 (6)until I open my eyes, miles away.

  • Janet Muniz is an award-winning professional writer known for informative articles, inspiring blog posts and engaging video content. Her personal blog, The Shape of Trees, is devoted to filling the well with poetry, pictures and originality.