AWSDA’s Blog

Greetings From South Carolina!!  Two more months before the Conference.  I thought I would send along some important information to make your travel to and stay in Greenville an easy and pleasant one.

Upon your arrival at GSP Airport, please call the hotel at 864-232-4747 for a complimentary shuttle to the Greenville Hilton Hotel.  Once there, check in, unpack and explore the luxurious hotel accommodations.  Pre-registration will be held Friday between 4-6PM.  Friday evening, you may explore Greenville and/or have dinner in one of the finest eateries. 

Below are a list of Things To Do and Places To Eat.
For more information on any of the following please visit www.greenvillecvb.com

• Things to Do  (*denotes free events!!)
  • Sports (tickets range from 5$ - $8)
  • CharlestonDogs vs Greenville Drive @ Flour Stadium @ 7PM Aug 2-5 www.greenvilledrive.com
  • BMW Performance Center www.bmwusa.com/bmwexperience/performancecenter.
  • Hiking ~ Paris Mountain State Park
  • Upstate Shakespeare Festival *
  • As You Like it @ Carolina First Amphitheater Falls Park 7PM Aug 2-5
  • Concerts *
  • Reedy River Night time Concert Series Peace Center Amphitheater 7PM Aug 6th (city of Greenville Special Events 864-467-3132)
  • County Bank Main Street Jazz Main St Hyatt Regency 5:30 PM August 1st (www.mainstevents.com)
  • Art 
  • First Fridays ~ Aug 1 @ 6 PM (www.firstfridaysonline.com) *
  • Heritage Green (County Museum of Arts, Upcountry History Museum, Gallery at Hertiage Green, Bob Jones University Museum, Peace Center)
  • Parks * (www.greatergreenville.com/city_services/parks.asp)
  • Falls Park and the Reedy River Falls
  • Cleveland Park
  • McPherson Park
  • Zoo (tickets $6)
  • Greenville Zoo (www.greenvillezoo.com)
  • Historic
  • West End Historic District
  • War Museum
  • Farmer’s Market *
  • Main Street @ East Court Street (www.saturdaymarketlive.com)
  • Churches and masses will be listed in the Hotel guide
  • Shopping
  • Haywood Mall (with in walking distance)
  • WalMart (Complimentary shuttle)
  • Many Quaint Down Town shops on a tree lined Main Street
  • Night Life
  • Chiefs Wings and Fire Water
  • Blu Martini
  • Barley’s
  • Blue Ridge Brewing Company
  • City Tavern
  • Connolly’s Irish Pub
  • Corner Pocket Tavern
  • Dixie’s Tavern
  • The Gathering Spot
  • High Cotton Club
  • Latitude
  • Liberty Tap Room and Grill
  • Wild Wings
• Eateries
  • Places to Eat
  • Bertolo’s Pizza (the best pizza in town!)
  • Bistro at West End
  • Bistro Europa
  • Blu Martini
  • Cantinaflas
  • Handi Indian Cuisine
  • The Hot Dog King
  • Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches
  • Larkin’s on the River
  • Mellow Mushroom (Gift Certificates for door prizes!! Thanks Clare)
  • Marble Slab Creamery (the best ice cream in town!!)
  • Orient on Main
  • Oysters on the West End
  • Pomegranate on Main
  • Ristorante Bergamo
  • Saffrons at Sunset
  • Sassafras Southern Bistro
  • Smoke on the Water
  • Soby’s
  • Sophisticated Palate
  • Sticky Fingers (Bag Stuffer)
  • Sushi Murasaki
  • Trattoria Giorgio
  • Wild Wings
• These are just a few restaurants to visit while in Greenville.  The hotel also has 2 restaurants inside. 
• The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle with in 3 miles. 

  I am pleased to announce that the Conference planning is progressing smoothly and steadily!  Cool bag stuffer’s and Door Prizes are being collected, gym bags and t-shirts are being printed, and Participants and Vendor’s are being sought. 

The Instructor Line up is now online at www.awsda.org.  Be sure to look at the courses offered so that you will be able to customize and maximize your Conference experience.  Additionally, in the upcoming Fisted Rose, I wrote an article with tips to make your travel to and your stay in Greenville a pleasant one.  There are a few things that I forgot to mention.  They are as follows:

• The temperature in August is 86 - 100+ degrees during the day and 68 - 76 degrees at night with high humidity at about 70% most days.
• The threat of an afternoon thunder shower is likely about 3PM - 6PM.
• Many restaurants will allow shorts, t-shirts and flip flops.  Be sure to bring a sweater/ sweatshirt since every thing is air conditioned.
• The hotel has a swimming pool so don’t forget to bring your bathing suit.

I am available for specific questions via email at deanna@safewomensafekids.com or by phone at 864-304-8190.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Conference.  If you haven’t already signed up, now is the perfect time!  There is already waiting list for the new Women’s Self Defense Instructor’s Course so make sure you get in line!  Make sure you don’t miss this Conference.  I would not want you to miss the fun, friends, or the excellent learning opportunities available at this Conference!

Respectfully,
~ Deanna
2008 Conference Coordinator

We are having the Conference!! You can go the AWSDA website and check out the line up of classes and instructors. In addition you can see the schedule. Go here for a full listing and all the facts. Don’t forget to book your hotel room as soon as possible too!

As is every year, we expect this to be a fantastic conference, lots of information and goodies to take home.

See you all there!!

Sheila Haddad

Some believe that if there is a meaning in life, there must also be meaning in suffering, sorrow, pain, grief, and fatigue are also a part of life.  Our tendency may be to push our pains away, to sublimate or ignore them, and to let our sorrows drown.  The problem is that our sorrows are excellent swimmers and they will continue to resurface unless we acknowledge and deal with them.

"Where the is sorrow, there is holy ground," as Oscar Wilde once said.

Looked at more deeply, however, there is actually no suffering to be had.

In the book The Joy of Burnout by Dina Glouberman,

When you see hopeless, give up hope.
When you are humiliated, let go of pride and choose humility.
When you are disillusioned, de-illusion.
When you are holding on to what to you know, let go and surrender to what is about to become.

In fact, there is nothing to hold on to, nothing to resist or control– and nothing we really cam control.

Trying to run your life in a rigid and inflexible way will inevitably lead to fatigue because we are putting our energy into an ultimately futile pursuit.

Pseudo warriors look for control of persons, places, and things.  True warriors strive for balance, so that they are one with "things" rather than opposing those "things."

Remember what is important:  Who we really are, how the world really works, and our true purpose in life, instead of battling to maintain who we think we are and how our lives "should" be.

There is a story that Chuang Tzu and his friend were walking by a riverbank.  "The fish are really enjoying themselves in the water!" said Chuang Tzu.  "You are not a fish," his friend said.  "How do you know they are enjoying themselves?"  "Ah, but you are not me," said Chuang Tzu.  "How do you know I don’t know the fish are enjoying themselves?!"

The friend is caught in the tricks of the mind, which thinks it has an answer to everything.  The truth, however, is that not much can really be known because there is always another perspective on everything.

There are some who use this "trick of the mind," to confuse those to their way of thinking.

What is it that keeps us tied to the emotional hurts or habits of the past when, physically, there is nothing wrong with us?  The answer is that, there is something within us that endures and carries those "thoughts" forward.  That "something" is the ego.

The ego keeps us attached to long-gone pains, holding us in prisons of the past through our agreement to listen to its continuous chatter of guilt, shame, and blame.  It is a drain on our power, the voice of our self-importance.

The Bodhisattva is like the mightiest of warros, but his enemies are not common foes of flesh and bone.  His fight is with the inner delusions… He is the real hero, calmly facing any hardship in order to bring peace, happiness, and liberation to the world.