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Nature Whispers, Remember Who You Are
On a planet that is so diverse with every kind of natural wonder we could dream of, isn’t it incredible how nature doesn’t have a divide and conquer approach with hidden agendas or malevolent motives?
Rather, things coexist and intermingle as an unspoken state of harmony in simple and mutual understanding that gives and receives in flow of one’s natural essence.
Nature knows the integral web that each thread has value in.
You might say, “Well, that’s nature.”
An interesting remark considering some may believe there’s no, or little, consciousness in nature like humans experience and yet nature sure does things miraculously, in balance, and left to her own devices, knows how to regenerate and thrive.
If we think in any way that we have more awareness or consciousness than nature, it bears asking why we are so out of balance and in fight against ourselves?
We are part of nature so why not say, “Well, that could be humans too?”
Instead, there is often a divisive and conquering drive that desires power over most anything, including the power to go against our very nature.
When I look out on any landscape I see my, and our, potential that we’ve forgotten – to live as masterful works of art like nature does, weaving our colors together as one.
Days come and go, but unconditional love is eternal.
Feeling the ways in which we can learn to expand or limit our experience.
The heart is the bridge.
Nature & the Nature of You
You might notice one of the themes that consistently shows up in my blog posts is that of Nature in one form or another. Whether that’s all the time I spend immersed in outdoor adventures daily, the garden journey I’ve been nurturing, cultivating the simpler ways and more Nature-based living all around, the animals I encounter and their messages, animal communication in general, or of course the journeys with my dearest companion and wisest guide, Astrid, who happens to reside in a rabbit’s body this life – Nature is at the heart of it all.
This theme has also included what I feel is one of the most vital missing pieces, which is that of embodying and knowing your own natural essence and nurturing a return to that basic nature that includes and does not negate or condemn the human body. I’ve spoken often about how increasing time not only spent in Nature, but getting to love and understand the miracle of your body’s awareness and how key it is to reclaim all of your parts (shadow projections, as well) will support becoming a more fully conscious, empowered and integrated human being, not to mention provide so many benefits to your well being all around.
It’s basically, and at the base level, about remembering the nature of who you are. 🌿
The farther we stray from natural awareness and being, the further we lose our humanity.
Nature has been sharing awareness with us for ages, but she speaks in a language only your heart will hear and your instincts will understand.
When your heart is closed or you weigh heavily in mind and thought alone, it will be difficult to ever hear.
Over-thinking can lead to fear and anxiety.
Trusting in your heart and instincts can lead you to harmonious alignment.
You can choose whatever direction you prefer to go in, but the question is, are you really choosing with conscious awareness?
I chose this photo, taken by KC when she was visiting, to go along with the theme of this post because it reflects the essence of what I’m expressing here with me so deeply immersed in Nature and being the nature of me that you almost can’t distinguish where each begins and ends.
This was taken the day I found my faery crown and wore it for the rest of the hike. It becomes part of the tree behind me and all of the branches seem to be reaching into and from my crown, while my foot nearly looks webbed and shifting beneath the water it merges with. I’m feeling right at home in this perfect little nymph haven of the lake and more at home than ever in my body, at this current space and time, by embracing all of the elements within.
But this didn’t happen overnight and the journey still continues. It came with consistent devotion to making that conscious shift. It came with an understanding that the best things I would ever learn, need, or receive would come from listening to and dedicating time for the elements that had long gone neglected. It came from tipping the scales to regain what I lost and spending the majority of my time in Nature, moving my body, being with my body and learning to navigate more by her instincts and what was being reflected to me in the environment – in essence, aligning with natural harmony.
It’s about reclaiming parts we’ve forgotten, letting the ancient knowledge within our DNA whisper louder, and not being afraid to stand our ground like the trees do, despite the weather and terrain – legs rooted to the navel of Earth’s wisdom while crown and hands open to our vast Cosmic origins.
This continues to be my journey, but it has made all the difference and I believe is what will continue to make a bigger difference in terms of the dynamics playing out.
It’s where I remain devoted both in personal integration and in shared relationship to Nature all around me.
And I’m grateful for my garden that is part of this journey of integrated embodiment and conscious awareness. It continues to evolve, much as I do and I am grateful for the growing relationship and understanding I get to nurture through that.
This includes the intimate knowing of every plant and flower and every creature great and small.
They are me and I am them.
Here are some looks at current garden reflections.
As you can see the wildflowers continue to bloom in radiant succession.
Depending on the angle and lighting it all takes on a whole new perspective and mini world, which I LOVE!
And then there’s the new field of beauties on the rise.
I’m in love with the little carpet of mini wildflowers on the side yard that I seeded this year.
Look at how they’re reaching happily for the Sun and by Autumn’s end will be quite something, with next year matching my garden. Yay!
This new area, I only just started to work with, has truly captured my heart.
Listening to and working with the wild that was already there and adding in some more magick in between is really beginning to explode with joy and become what I had hoped – a faery wonderland!
I love the blend of raw and imagined merging together.
Look at that glow, lighting up the flower faeries, as they share their joy and life essence. I love captures like these that reflect the experience I have when I’m out in the garden alone. There is so much enchantment here!
And I love the surprises that bloom everywhere in between.
I’ll save garden yummies and plant nanny updates for another post, but everything’s doing really well and Astrid continues to enjoy delicious harvests, while I enjoy adding to my dried collection of delicacies for the faery kitchen.
And here are a few of the forest friends I get to play with daily.
This chubby chipmunk is much larger than any other around here and he took it upon himself to make a delicacy out of my incredible hybrid lilies, taking down a couple of the stalks on his own to eat the petals. This was my huge plant that had grown over 56 inches – likely was at 58 when I removed the tops of the last stalks he bent, to enjoy the flowers he left behind, indoors. This hybrid kind is obviously not toxic, as he’s totally fine and I still see him around long after he’s eaten quite a few lily petals.
Dave actually came down to my office and we watched together as he climbed up the stalks like a tree and sat there enjoying his meal while other little ones were running and flying about.
He said, “wow, it’s like a nature show down here.” I said, “yes, everyday there’s something new happening and much to-do about everything.” The perfect mirror and world for Astrid and me.
The other joy has been seeing Strawberry around so much, nearly every day now. She looks really healthy, despite not having all of her fur anymore. Her face and eyes reflect so much wisdom when I see and talk to her and they speak to quite the being who resides inside. She is one of the elders here and I cherish her presence so much. It’s no surprise she found her way to me and inside Wonderland with Astrid and me when I took care of her.
I noticed that she had been trying to remove these towels we had under some things on the deck for protection from scratching it, tearing holes little by little in them, but making slow progress at removing any part of them.
I realized she wanted to have the towels for her nest – likely to stay warm at night and the upcoming Autumn and Winter seasons. So, I decided to put out a small little white towel where she was pulling at the others. The next morning it was gone. I recently put out two more small pink ones for her and she did in fact come back for one of them. I believe she’ll be returning for the other soon and that all makes me happy. I envision her cuddled up in them for a long Winter’s nap.
You may recall that I took care of her and got her cleaned up and nurtured when she needed it (after getting stuck in the epoxy in our garage) and now I’m helping to care for her again, out in the wild.
It was human-made things that damaged her fur in the first place and so it will be by human hands that help and a human heart that listens to her needs. In this way I feel we are sharing a conscious, symbiotic relationship now. We are connected for life.
I then also bring that beautiful, wild, and sacred Nature essence inside, surrounding myself with reminders of the cycles of life, the divine connection that is shared with all, the wisdom within everything, and the sacredness of all things and parts of who I am.
You may recall the nest mobile I started creating a few years ago. Well, it’s certainly grown!
I have many a bird, wasp, and bee hive nest (parts and wholes) adorning this tree of life indoors that I’ve created from all the beautiful little homes of amazing sacred geometry and architectural genius I found on the ground and brought home to cherish.
And most recently, we finally put up the powerful staff I made for the Autumn Equinox day retreat gathering a few years back that Laura and I hosted here, which includes some of the most potent Nature adornments I’ve found over the years.
It reminds me of one I used to have from many lives and Moons ago.
The birthing of this creation was quite the undertaking, as I strung everything together with great intention, piece-by-piece. My huge way of honoring the sacredness within all of life and reclaiming these wild, raw, primitive and ancient parts of my and Earth’s lineage.
It is quite the power piece and the way we hung it makes it easy to remove and replace when ever I want to use it in sacred ritual.
I’ve wanted to put it up, but we just never got around to it. Then, it naturally aligned for it going up on the potent New Moon in Cancer we had on the 9th of July.
I didn’t plan it, but it was perfect and it activated a lot of things once it was finally in place anchoring energies.
And I also bring Nature’s wisdom and gifts through channeled creations I’m inspired to make and sometimes offer over the years.
Most recently it was the Cosmic Curiosity Chests that called to me. As you might recall my sharing, they “invite you to engage parts of yourself more consciously and consistently, to explore, be curious about, or open a dialogue or connection with parts of yourself through the invitation of each spirit energy they embody. In this way they activate an initiation of sorts into a Cosmic dance for you to merge into your human experience so that the two become One. The magickal then is integrated into your daily life as a natural ritual, rather than being separate. This is one of those ways to live the magick.”
This also reminds you not to forget any of your parts, and so I included gifts from Mother Terra herself within each ritual bundle to reflect the nature of you.
It’s been an honor to see each of them off to their cocreators. More than half have journeyed to their heart homes and I look forward to seeing where the last 5 – Cosmic Woodland Faery, Earth Guardian, Blossom, Mermaid, and Dream Weaver – will fly off to.
You know I enjoy wrapping and shipping them off, just as much as I do creating them.
I have some upcoming new sacred Nature creations I’m going to be working on for our home in the coming weeks, too – something I’ve also long been wanting to create – and there’s potential I may open up to creating custom orders if they speak to you too.
It is so important to me that Nature is a daily part of the experience, as I truly believe that if we desire answers, we’ll receive them in conscious communion with Her as a mirror to know ourselves, and we’ll gain greater clarity for the pivotally crucial choices life is presenting to us right now.
Happy August to everyone! May this be a month for gentle transformations that bring even greater conscious awareness.
Here are some beautiful August fields from yesterday’s hike down to the lake.
Everything was so lovely and full of life – a perfect reflection for Lughnasadh celebrations.
Even the one remaining duckling from the mallard couple we see at the pond had grown, and we were happy this little one had made it.
I did bury a tiny bird I found along our hike and discovered some lizard skin in my planters that had been shed.
Nature demonstrates with grace, how life goes on and the wheels continue to turn.
My #1 Wellness Tip & Other Non-Negotiables for Well Being
We hear a lot about self care and well being these days being top priority, especially for those of you not used to providing yourself a healthy dose of it in your life. This includes sensitives, empaths, healers of any kind, out-pourers of energy, care-givers, anyone in service positions within any field, and simply any of you who self-sacrifice, overwork and overdrive yourself, don’t feel deserving, and don’t make the time for it.
When we are in a state of well being, we are more productive, have greater inspiration and motivation, create and connect from the heart, and are able to give more to others and anything we desire to assist.
However, if we don’t make wellness a priority, it simply won’t be our consistent experience and now more than ever that isn’t something I’m willing to compromise. How about you?
I found it helpful to create non-negotiables in my life that help me to pinpoint the really key and important things I feel are most valuable to me and make the most difference for me, and then make sure to focus on those. I find that much more supportive and productive, rather than deeming everything high priority and running myself ragged or discouraging myself into an all or nothing state of being that usually turns me off of doing anything because I think it’s impossible to do ALL of those things. You know that feeling I’m sure.
You can create non-negotiables in any area of your life to help you to know what is a focal must for yourself and what things aren’t really that crucial. In this way you can be more open to compromise or finding some kind of middle ground with the rest and come to see what things really make the difference for you – not every single little thing.
So, while I’m talking about things that are non-negotiable for your well being right now, you could make a list of these to help you with the relationships, friendships, business partnerships, job, home, goals, etc. that you want to draw into your life.
I personally saw the benefit in that when I started making my non-negotiable list for a relationship, which made me realize what really isn’t that important and let me focus my time and energy on what was. Having differences is healthy and creates space for evolution. Sameness on all levels can equate to stagnation and boredom. So knowing what is fundamental for you and what really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, is super eye-opening and life-changing. It also invites more exercise of your heart when you open to understanding other viewpoints, being more compassionate and unconditional, and not being attached to every little thing as if it’s life or death. You discover the true nectar of life that enriches and weaves a bond of connection that has longevity.
But back to wellness, as with things in the world right now, being at your optimal and knowing what boosts your energy levels, keeps your aura high-vibed, and strengthens your immune system are vital.
I shared this just under one minute video on Instagram a couple of weeks ago, but uploaded to my YouTube Channel to be able to link it in this post. It cuts off at the end, but you get the idea I think. It’s a little live action “me” snippet doing my chosen activity for the day for body, heart, mind, and soul vitality. I love how at 15 seconds, when I emphasize “essence to beam through,” the light beams across my face in an upside down arc or rainbow. Gotta love those energy alignments. 😉
Here’s My #1 Wellness Tip:
As you can see, this is me being me, doing my favorite thing for well being – hiking. Spring is here in the mountains and that means tons of forest bathing, vigorous exercise for this faery every single day. I love all outdoor activities all year round (hiking, biking, kayaking, snow shoeing, skiing), but hiking is my favorite.
Moving your body in nature is not only amazing on every level for you and incredible for your immune system, but it’s free! Soon the wildflowers will be blooming and their scent will add more amazingness to the pine air my lungs are breathing in.
Hiking or outdoor activity/exercise didn’t use to be a priority in the earlier part of my life, but I experienced first-hand the huge difference it made for me on all levels and came to understand how moving the body is so essential to our well being. When you couple that with doing it outdoors, then you amplify the effects. Energy wants to move and so if you’re someone who sits most of the day or doesn’t get a good blood-pumping into all parts of your body, with deep breathing, and maybe even a little sweat, then you likely may experience challenges on one or other areas of life. Stagnation, blocks, anger, resentment, stifled emotions, mental clarity, good sleep, digestion, etc. can all benefit from some kind of movement. Even a simple walk or doing stretches outdoors could make a big difference.
And remember that trees are hugely beneficial to you – pine trees especially, but all trees are magnificent supporters of wellness. So even just being out forest bathing for 20 minutes can produce positive changes in the body. Spending time among trees and breathing in their phytoncides helps improve the immune system.
Whatever you enjoy doing that either gets you outside and/or moving is super beneficial. Be it a walk, gardening, yoga, meditation, physical therapy, dancing, sitting at the park, painting, writing, enjoying a picnic or meals on your balcony or in your backyard, building something, breathwork, walking your animal companions, camping, more vigorous outdoor activities, you name it. The addition of physical movement, exercise or therapy of some sort aids things like heart health and lowering blood pressure, muscle strength and balance, increase life span, improve brain function, mental clarity, and sleep, weight management, helps with joint stiffness/pain, and reduces feelings of depression, anxiety, and stored up emotions in general.
Everyone is different and will resonate with different amounts of exercise, types of exercise, activities, etc., but for me daily outdoor exercise is a non-negotiable.
I also learned that particularly for me I need much more of this than perhaps others do because of the astrological make-up I was born with that needs a supercharged outlet for physical activity, movement, and expression in a certain way or else I’ll see the effects manifest as a result of repressing that energy. I didn’t even have to know my astrological chart to figure this out because I felt the difference when doing or not doing it, but the chart made sense of it and highlights it’s part of my make-up. You might know this for yourself, too, or you could take a quick look at your own astrological map for life.
I also know that I put out a lot of energy into all that I do or send into the world – some of you are likely nodding to that as well in resonance for yourself – so I need that supercharge that nature immersion and physical activity provides me to replenish, refresh, revitalize, and realign myself – overall helping me to reflect my truest and strongest radiance or soul emanation.
This is why I do a lot of outdoor things to include the exercise activities, but also gardening, yard work, sun bathing, or simply enjoying the beach, a picnic, or sitting on our deck reading.
So what are some of my other non-negotiables for well being?
You already know my #1 and here are the rest of them in no particular order:
- Spending time with my husband and lots of time physically and emotionally connecting with Astrid, my rabbit soul companion, and the kitty babies, Sweet Pea & Boojum
- “Me” time
- Eating nourishing, creative, and fun vegan meals and drinks (no alcohol, drugs, or mind-altering substances of any kind)
- Daily intermittent fasting – I’ve been doing this now for nearly a year and a half and intend to continue indefinitely
- Getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night
- Listening to, trusting, and backing up my intuition
- Dealing with emotions when they come up
- “Whatever time” to do something I find fun on any level, luxuriating, or simply relaxing
- Creating peace in any situation and keeping an open heart and mind
- Practicing daily gratitude
- Doing what I love, but also seeing the gift in what ever I do
These are MY non-negotiables, but aren’t necessarily what you might deem a priority for well being. I have found these to be key to feeling balanced and maintaining my energy and vitality, as well as keeping my well full for giving.
Would you like to reclaim and reflect your soul radiance?
If so, then what can you commit to as non-negotiables for your well being that make the biggest difference for how you feel and show up in life?
Once you’ve identified what they are, then make it a priority to be accountable for them. No one else is going to do that for you. Work one step each day toward believing you are worth it and then start implementing a routine that can become your new norm for wellness. Your body and soul will thank you.
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Nurturing Well-Rounded Experiences
The ever-wise Astrid joins us today for a share about wellness derived from a balance of varied experiences we invite into the dance of life with us. It’s also about how living from the source of love in your heart, opens doorways to accessing your multi-dimensionality. The result – greater feelings of wholeness and well-being.
It feels like we’re constantly receiving the same theme messages over and over, but the truth is there aren’t any really new messages or ideas – there’s simply different perspectives they come through or evoke and different, perhaps more aligned timing they speak to us.
Because of these, the present landscape feels seeded with greater potential for openings, as a vast majority of the collective continues to slow down and is faced with more contrasting experiences.
Briefly, I’m happy to report that Astrid continues doing extremely well, her toe injury from losing her full nail has been non-existent since we arrived to our location of the last nearly three weeks, and she increasingly exhibits a deepening of joyful exuberance and loving connection that have added both comic relief and socialization sweetness.
While being displaced from her normal routines and realm on this trip, as well as having more confined spaces at times, could very well have made Astrid retreat into herself, permanently revert to triggered patterns from her past, or even worse – weighed on her physical well-being – quite the opposite has taken place. I’ve already written about how she’s been opening up even more and working through core fears, but today we thought to share some sweet photos and fun little stories to accompany her transformation because after all, a picture speaks a thousand words.
The reason she feels it important to share this, is because rabbits can be an extreme example for the same things we go through because of their sensitivities.
Rather than pull back, feel depressed, or become ill, Astrid has welcomed more layers of living to be part of her experience no matter the circumstances. She exercises, plays, has conscious introspection time, rests, eats and hydrates regularly, communicates, and engages connection by choice. All of which help her to maintain wellness and support an increased level of personal evolution for her soul in rabbit body.
She’s especially become fond of yoga, stretching, and meditation time with dad during the wee hours of the morning or in the evenings by the fire while watching a movie.
When ever dad gets the yoga mat out, Astrid makes a beeline to him and plops herself down right next to him, runs around or lays on the mat on her own, stretches, or engages Boojum to invite him to play on the mat with her.
In the mornings she sits quietly with dad during meditation or gives and invites loving connection to show that she’s creating space for this healing practice and supporting him with something she enjoys too.
This is all especially endearing to see, as she used to only engage with me and now she’s truly opened to the whole family.
Then there’s super Astrid exercise time to express her exuberant joy of life and being in body. This consists of her leaping, twisting, and hopping in place (called binkies), or racing around like a flash of lightning until she’s fully released the wave of energy spontaneously moving through her. One morning she demonstrated her amazing strength and agility running laps in and out of tight corners, then raced from one end of the room and did a flying leap over the 1 1/2 foot high, 3 foot long ottoman, ending with zooming right under our female cat’s body between her back and front legs, as she was mid-walking. She had me in stitches!
And of course the multitude of ways she shows her desire to connect, communicate, engage, and love from a vulnerable space that include anything from jumping on the bed with a good morning nudge to laying next to us while we are working, relaxing, napping, or reading, or running over and nosing us with desire for snuggles and kisses.
She also engages the cats by sometimes touching noses with Boojum, or hopping at them and stopping a few inches in front of them, then hopping or circling away in hopes they’ll follow her lead. Sweet Pea and Astrid are often found a couple of feet away under a bed or table sharing space silently. The females seem to engage on an intellectual level and when Boojum’s introduced it, it’s usually only about fun. 😉
There’s times she chews her wood, pine cone and cardboard, times she takes down her cardboard house and moves it elsewhere, jumps into or onto things, sits on a chair demonstrating her bigness, times she lays with and licks her amethyst or stuffed friends, times she sits tall and still like a Buddha bunny, and times for the new hard flop into a tranced-out deep sleep. The hard flopping is different for her, but oh so good to see. When a bunny flops on her/his side it’s a sign of complete and utter vulnerable comfort and trusting surrender to feeling safe and loved. It took her a while to do this from when I first took her home and then she only softly would, but now there’s the full-on free-fall flop.
The more she engages on a variety of levels, the more possible avenues of joy she creates and the more she derives comfort in all the parts of herself and what being in body has gifted her opportunity to experience in this life. And the more she nurtures a more well-rounded approach, the greater her well-being.
I’ve found the same true for myself and people I know through friendships or work – the more we open to the variety of ways our souls have ability to express themselves because of being human, the more we create wellness by providing open channels for energy to do what it wants most to do – flow through. And even if we have a restriction in one way, as limitlessly creative beings we can find other ways to channel energy.
For instance, Astrid can’t speak like we do, but she has found many ways to express how she feels through other kinds of sounds like grunts, thumps, teeth chattering (their way of purring), or through bodily movements like giving a quick shake to her head and ears with excitement, leaping in the air, racing around with joy, nosing you to ask for something or exchange a love message, following you and laying close to share connection, sharing a rare lick to demonstrate affection, tugging at your pant leg or sock to get your attention, or jumping on the bed to welcome the morning.
But as we know, balancing our lives remains an important aspect to wellness. If we are too out-weighed in one thing of any kind, we can create underlying blocks that express as feelings of resentment, anger, blame, sadness, frustration, boredom, etc. without realizing that we are limiting our experience of life by limiting how we choose to focus all of our energy. This can also start to create tightness in our bodies or other kinds of physical discomforts or challenges simply as a reminder to move our energy in a variety of ways. And movement doesn’t just speak to physical movement, but also creating outlets to channel the different parts of ourselves and energies so they don’t become stagnant.
Astrid could easily create literal “blocks” or blockages in her sensitive digestive system if she doesn’t keep moving energy and sampling the possibilities that opening her heart to more can provide.
Rabbits demonstrate the natural energetic flow that is so vital in the way that they must always have their systems moving in order to thrive, or how they need to move in order to help push through blocks.
If she lets fear, for instance, take over energetically….she can literally become debilitated. If she doesn’t eat or exercise properly…she can experience physical shut down.
So, she’s chosen to surrender to life no matter her circumstances, and with my loving support and encouragement, continues to experience a wider range of possibilities that more authentically reflect her multi-dimensionality.
Our hearts are incredible portals to amazing things. They are the source of more than we have yet to understand and by living from these amazing portals they provide us access to a myriad of experiences that would otherwise be limited.
Astrid’s multi-dimensional experiences used to be only limited to her inner world where she traveled both as a means of escaping the pain of her circumstances before her and the only option she had given those confined circumstances.
But once love found a way to open her heart through our connection, she realized that she no longer had to protect it nor keep her parts separate…she could channel and integrate her ethereal experiences through the enjoyment of actually being in a body now also capable of sensual enjoyments only the physical can provide. And whether that be opening to the feelings she didn’t think were possible to experience, engaging in ways she was afraid to trust before, or allowing herself to surrender into the body she always preferred hovering outside of more than being in it, she discovered that multi-dimensionality meant being able to have well-rounded experiences on every plane of existence.
I’m convinced that Astrid wouldn’t have made it much longer if we hadn’t met. As strong as she was, eventually the separate life she lived, in not being able to express her soul fully through her body, would have created a full detachment at some point. She was a butterfly living inside a glass container. Now she’s able to stretch those wings and access more layers of experience.
And this is what she wants to express to each of us.
We all have potentials of expressions beyond however we feel limited in the moment. By the nature of our being multi-dimensional, we have a multitude of ways to bring through our energy and the more we surrender to possibilities, the more possibilities we create. The more we open our hearts, the more the doorways of multi-dimensionality find an access point to weave through greater experiences of fulfillment.
Astrid, as a rabbit, may have needed someone to hold that space for her, but we as humans have greater possibilities that can come through other (any encounter, partnership, companion, friend, family member, loved one, teacher, or mentor) in the same way, or through ourselves holding that space for our inner child and essence.
But like Astrid, the more ways you move energy through you by opening to and engaging a variety of experiences, the greater balance and well being you will create because this mirrors your multi-dimensional essence, which is part of what we’re activating more of collectively. The smaller we play and the more limited place we play from, the more we separate rather than unite who we really are.
We each have layers to who we are. And these layers brought forth invite more to the table, individually and collectively.
Like Astrid is the loving, the playful, the wise, and the amazing – so too are you the loving, the playful, the wise, and the amazing you.
Magnificence Is…
Magnificence is you alive in this moment.
Are there challenging things going on right now?
Sure.
Yet, even amidst the twists and turns, the simple truth of your soul expressed in body is a miracle.
And that includes the myriad of experiences that are made possible because of being human at this moment.
Not only the experiences that are deemed good or pleasurable.
But every one of them, simply because they are even possible to be experienced, felt, and navigated with every part of your being.
Just a short message I wanted to share with all of you miraculous beings.
We’re heading out again Saturday, for a week, and so I wanted to send you this little note, as inspiration came through.
I likely won’t be blogging until we return, which means the next post will be a fun Full Blue Moon Halloween/Samhain share. Hehe!
Today happens to be the 12 year anniversary of Dave and I first kayaking out on Lake Tahoe all those many Moons ago. And our week away has many celebrations woven into it, to include that, his birthday, and more.
I’ve, of course, been a busy faery bee in order to be able to get away. Yet, as my last Soulful Time Out shared, “Sometimes we think we couldn’t possibly create the space and time for what we need, but that’s exactly when we need it the most.”
I’m in a balancing zone right now between heavy load and soulful softness and am grateful to be navigating things with greater ease than the old me.
Quick updates on the new classes and free event, before I head out:
The Intuition & Reiki ~ Empowered Intuitive Development February 2021 class is now full. If you were wanting to join, or feel a draw to this, you can contact me. Depending on amount of extra interest, I might open a second class later in Spring.
Both the Crystal Healing & Reiki ~ Deepening through Integrative Healing Sessions class and the Free Event – Intuitive Sound Healing Immersion ~ Awaken the New & Ignite Your Ancient Voice have three openings left.
Link to all the info can be found here: 2021 Classes & Upcoming Events
Holding you all in heart and wrapping lots of love around each of your souls.
I am grateful for every one of you.
I am grateful for this life, despite and because of all the mysterious ways energy expresses itself beyond my full ego comprehension.
And I am grateful that every day is a new opportunity to feel and stretch to even greater depths, express myself in new ways, find and see even more beauty than the day before, share greater kindness in soul-reaching ways, and experience the full gamut of what being human is all about.
Your Body is Your Perfect Vehicle in Life ~ Plus an Inside Experience of My Own
I believe that everything we need to know is right within us – our bodies are the perfect best friend we never thought we would ever have, but divinely designed in reflection of exactly what we need. Whether our bodies operate in the way our egos desire or not, they are a miracle.
Cultivating body wisdom is an intuitive guide to understanding ourselves. Just like you can look at sky maps of the stars, planets and constellations, we can also consider our body a map of the interrelationship of the universe within and how everything is connected.
The body helps us to ground the creative life force energy that we are, into form, and provides the channel to convert energy into actions.
Everyone has a very different journey and trajectory in terms of how they will convert energy into action. However this has manifested is still in divine perfection regardless of how we judge it with our egos. This can be more challenging to embrace, if in fact we have some type of disability or limitation with the body or we dislike it in some way because we judge it against others.
Yet, it is always enough. It is always worthy. And it is more than adequate because it is a manifestation of creation with divine design in mind.
I feel that an illness, challenge, disease, etc. are ways of experiencing – not a punishment, but an act of experience. Everything can be viewed in terms of energy wanting to be experienced and there are unlimited creative ways for this to manifest as. There is no right or wrong about it.
Form is temporary, like in nature, and eventually will pass away. It goes through cycles that transform it and it only disappoints us if we hold tight to desiring it to be or look another way.
Experience lives on in infinite ways and creates eternally.
The body is our vehicle in life for what we came on Earth to do and the heart, spirit and mind work in unison as the driver.
Like every vehicle, our bodies need regular maintenance, care, nourishing fuel and good treatment (inside and out).
This is especially important at this time in human evolution where everything in the world is heightened in the most extreme ways, which takes a toll on our bodies, drains the emotions, strains the mind, and can temporarily put a damper on spirit when all of the other parts are processing and integrating all of it.
Even though spirit understands a grander alignment, the other parts of us are needing to catch up and doing all that we can to supply our bodies, emotions and minds with nurturing things, will help us stay strong and in flow with the experience spirit has set up for us.
This is why finding ways to create peace, time outs, doing something enjoyable or luxuriating in some way, and refocusing yourself at the center of your heart become vital. And there isn’t just one way to do this, since we all have different lives, likes, passions, and ways of experiencing things.
For me, I’ve found some of the greatest ways to restore vitality have to do with clearing my mind (getting things on paper and creating manageable daily schedules), creating a time-out-of-time space for myself (even if just for minutes), immersing in the natural world (the surrounding wild nature, my garden, soaking in the sun’s rays, spending time with Astrid and the kitty babies, making flower arrangements for the home), doing small relaxing or pleasurable things like tea time, daily home spa nights while watching a movie or series, letting go, having gratitude, laughing and being silly, establishing days off, and saying “no.”
These have all helped me create greater balance too, but the biggest thing I’ve found helpful for my body has been physical exercise that allows me to enjoy the outdoors and peace and quiet at the same time. This combined with a lifestyle daily intermittent fasting and even more sleep than I already usually get, help to physically integrate the fast changes we’re going through as humans right now.
Even if we can’t do physical exercise, just being outdoors or bringing nature indoors to you can have a profound effect.
For me personally, I’ve seen a huge difference in how my body performs and how some physical imbalances have all harmonized through finding the right fit of activity that integrates who I am and the energies I came to experience.
I mentioned in a recent post about a sudden accelerated level of endurance and speed in my hiking and biking activities.
But I’ve experienced many other physical shifts too. My years of mild, sporadic hypoglycemia has completely subsided, my EIB (exercise-induced bronchoconstriction), which for me is non-asthma related, has disappeared, peri-menopausal hormonal shifts have balanced out on their own so that I no longer take any herbal supplements to support (I actually don’t take any vitamins other than B12 or extra doses of Vitamin C in intervals), my adrenal glands experience consistent happiness, without trying my body dropped extra grounding weight it no longer deemed necessary to keep me integrated, and there’s a more consistent level of energy in me.
Getting outdoors and moving the body in what ever way we’re able, really does the mind heart and spirit good as well. Or at least moving creative energy through you in some way, relative to you, can help free up the blocks. The goal being, not to let energy sit stagnant. And the key being, use your creativity to be creative in finding ways that are perfect to your experience.
I wasn’t always this active, and it’s ironic that as I’ve gotten older, my physical activities have grown exponentially. It’s never too late to start caring for your body and taking on new activities. Our bodies are our vehicles in life and to the extent we are able to go that extra mile for it, it will for us too.
I’ve found that my experience requires me to both be creative AND to be physical. That’s just how my energy is set up – it’s in my astrological chart. And my body actually needs more than most people, otherwise the energy will turn on me and rage from the inside out in various forms.
At 47 1/2 I feel the healthiest, most balanced, and in the best shape of my life (so far) and do the most things physically than I’ve ever done. It didn’t happen overnight, and I didn’t even know how it would happen, but with committed effort to make inner changes in my life, open my heart deeper, and release the internalized anxiety and acidic kind of stress build-up I once used to feel – things have continued to transform and come together with more synergy. (Having Astrid in my life, just might help too). Rather than having compartmentalized experiences, I’m learning to merge life as one stream of experience.
It’s interesting because I was in complete embrace and peace with all the different things I used to experience, feeling relief I understood why and knowing how I could make adjustments to still do what I wanted to the extent that worked for me.
Creating peace around things is a perfect companion for the potential of change to happen naturally.
The energy around these three Eclipses seemed to also provide a doorway to activate more of this, and while I immersed in things like greater outdoor activities, an elevated surge of energy was able to course through my body. Astrid actually also has been experiencing a surge of energy in recent days. 🙂
It was surprising, for me, because although I have been doing a lot of natural exercise, things went to a whole new level I didn’t realize it would.
It feels like the years of trying to figure out how to harness the productive energies of my Mars placement in the first house is finally coming to fruition – organically.
So again, as I said, we each have different energy experiences we came in to have and for me this really is supporting the balance for my body.
That said, it still is vital to do self-care in your own way and some sort of body integration or physical activity to move energy is really supportive for everything we’re all going through.
So much old stuff, trauma, pain, wounds, beliefs, etc. are being loosened to the surface. So many very distinctly contrasting energies are circulating. And this can get trapped inside of us if we aren’t in some way able to move it through the body and “shake it off”.
Time-outs are increasingly important even if just five minutes of full shut down from everything to unplug and feel the power of silence.
~
I took a long three-day weekend off over 4th of July since Dave had Friday off of work and we decided to find our own bit of peace even amidst a busy weekend. Although this 4th of July wasn’t as crowded as past years, we still like to do our own thing. Fireworks were also banned this year so it was overall much more quiet.
We decided to fill each day with tons of nature and exercise for well being. That included ways to get out and away from everyone or to just be passing through while in motion.
This involved a long 12-mile hike on Friday, a more moderate 11-mile bike ride on Saturday, and ended with our longest-to-date bike ride on Sunday of 37 1/4 miles. The last time I attempted a 33 mile bike ride, the last half was very uncomfortable with my butt and back feeling sore and energy slowing. This time I didn’t experience any of that. In fact, not from any of the activities we did back-to-back did I have pains or soreness from and I even went above and beyond from day one, as you’ll see.
We definitely got some great physical strengthening in, soaked up immune system building pine air, and enjoyed good sleep from all the high vibes.
I want to circle back to the 12 mile hike, which was a retracing of our steps from nearly three years ago. That was the last time we did this hike to Star Lake and you may remember that story and what unfolded from my share in September of 2017, Made of Stardust.
We’ve been talking about returning and this time we decided to do it as an out and back trip rather than a shuttle adventure, like we did then with the group we were with. It was 13 miles the way we did it last time, but by doing it this way, it cut one mile off. Doing it this way also involved much more climbing than the previous time, with a cumulative elevation gain of over 2400 feet over the course of the mileage. The highest point you arrive at is 9600 feet with Star Lake sitting just over 9000 feet.
My intention with this hike, besides wanting to return to this beautiful lake I love the name of, was to integrate and harmonize 2017’s adventure that ended with me having a broken foot. Although that was perfectly in alignment with my writing goals at the time, I felt facing the trail again as the person I am today would be a powerful activation, as well as a way to overcome any trepidation that past experiences can potentially create.
And it was.
Not only is the mountain charged with such powerful energy around this spot, but I found some interesting things show up in a couple of photos, like the odd rainbow energy just above this snow patch in the trees to the right of the middle rock.
And the light creating some kind of gateway anchoring each side of this creek.
Before I went I was getting from Astrid that there were more raw quartz in mind for us that were up there to retrieve. She was right, as I found 3 that spoke to me and received blessing on using for our Earth-grid here.
I deliberately took the same backpack I had last time, which isn’t the greatest in terms of carrying things (material and without a waist strap to shift weight to your waste instead of your shoulders), but very light and roomy.
Not only did I carry these wonderful crystalline beings for half of the 12 miles on my own, but I’m happy to report no injury and my newfound strength and endurance had me capable of completing our hike in great time. I also never once had my EIB coughing that always would happen when I was doing strenuous uphill climbing and even with the added 27.4 pounds on my shoulders (yes we weighed them), I was able to do the elevation climbing without falling behind Dave. He remarked later that this is the exact weight of his mountain bike and how crazy that sounds to have basically carried his bike 6 miles. I had to agree.
I had to swing the backpack up my back so that I could carry most of the weight in my arms by holding the straps, but it worked.
I was amazed at the physical changes, as these are things I would not have imagined me doing, especially given my EIB.
But I’m happy that I did things the way I did so that I was able to actually experience the profoundness of how much things have transformed. It’s not something I need to repeat, yet it demonstrated what is possible.
I think I’m actually turning into the mountain goat I’m meant to be – I say that due to all my Capricorn energy.
And I believe I’ve found my way to move all of that deeper energy, emotion, and stored trauma up and out – my way of “shaking it off”.
That day also happened to be the day before 4th of July, which is the 9 year anniversary of my grandpa’s transition – he died at 96. I had a very special relationship and connection with him, despite his living in the south of France where my mom and her family are from. We would spend special time together on his long visits (sometimes a year) and we had a special bond. He is the one who helped cultivate my artistic gifts, as he would sit with me on his lap drawing for hours when I was a little girl and so I am grateful for his nurturing the artist in me and for seeing the value in that. He never wanted me to stop creating.
Creativity is connected with the importance of moving energy through the body in various forms. Our creative life force wants to be experienced and if we shut it down we can experience blocks and challenges. So, in fact, my grandpa was nurturing the importance of this from the start.
And being at Star Lake was also a perfect place for reflection on things to include my grandpa in the stars now as my guide. Perhaps he even showed up in a dance of starlight in the lake.
It’s especially meaningful that I wear his wedding band as my own, knowing he is with me even more along this new journey. Everything he stood for I carry forth through my own embodiment, in my own unique way.
He loved to draw, spend time in the garden, loved animals, loved to laugh, and had his own strong connection to his beliefs. Although more religiously based than my organic spirituality, he was giving, full of gratitude, and loved his family.
I know he is happy and proud seeing me as I am today and would have tears of joy for this union, knowing I wear what was so meaningful to him – a way to honor his bond of love with my grandma and the cycles of life meant to continue and expand further.
In many ways, during uncertain times, I feel I am rewriting my story and as I do, it is rewriting a lineage of stories.
As we each do this, we collectively ignite something different for the future.
And as we each do this, let us not forget our bodies – physical and emotional bodies – while we progress forward with our minds. All of these parts create divine union of our spirit in motion of experience.
In order to meet the new reality we envision, integrating all that good stuff through our miracle vehicles I believe will help get us there.
No matter where you find yourself in the experience of your body, there is a perfect path only you can carve that is vital to all of us. Loving our bodies as they are right now, allows us to really embrace how energy wants to move through it.
Have More Fun
There’s plenty of time to be serious and let’s face it, most of the time that’s just what people are doing – planning, worrying, stressing, analyzing, keeping their nose to the grind, moving from one task to the other, having no time to smell the roses. And while there’s balance to be had in life, the main thing we lose focus of and have an imbalance of is work in place of play – how to experience life more lightly, have more fun, feel more vitality, surrender some of that load you’re carrying, and bring back that innocence into each part of your life.
I speak a lot about enjoying life more and having more fun, as it truly can be a game-changer. I know it can be hard sometimes when life seems to have thrown a lot at you that feels heavy on the heart, but the way out isn’t in digging deeper into that heaviness, but rather, finding ways to see through the eyes of your inner child, which will help lighten things. Laughing at ourselves and life, being silly, doing something spontaneous because it tickles your heart, infusing a child-like perspective of wonder and belief in all things possible, and reaching in to bring forth that tender, caring heart that simply loves.
So, while I am a child at heart big time, I still constantly nurture that child to merge even more of that innocence into my life and find myself more childlike now than even when I was a child. That’s not to say I’m not serious when the time calls for it, but I never let go of my inner child in the process. I choose to have her walk hand-in-hand in all that I do, think about, feel into, and take action on. I also engage her and ask her what she feels, so as not to neglect the wisdom and value she has to impart.
There’s been more than enough times when I didn’t really know how to love her, as she so needed, and I’ve committed to having her never experience that again. By inviting her into every experience, I get to experience greater wholeness and fulfillment that has the ability to bring harmony and healing to every forgotten corner of my heart.
It’s no mystery why I find myself surrounded by an armada of chipmunks and squirrels where we live, who all seem to congregate outside my office door – mirroring the inner child I have cultivated and even the childhood dream office of Wonderland I’ve created. And of course I have the magickal little bunnies and Astrid, who all reflect such purity, innocence, and playful harmony. Astrid also reflects my inner child and our interactions also help expand my interactions within for myself, and vice versa. We definitely assist each other in embodying greater wholeness.
I recently had opportunity to support a sweet soul in a distant, international Reiki Healing Attunement that also brought up this key theme of inner child love and embracing more innocence, play, and fun. So much so that a powerful display took place right before me while I was in the middle of the session.
Two giant squirrels – one of which was huge and bigger than any squirrel I’ve ever seen – both came running over to the sliding glass door in front of where I was working the session. They came up to the door, peered in on hind legs with paws and nose to the glass and were tapping to get in and get my attention. They would then run to my potted flowers and climb up them and play and then circle back and come tapping and peering in on me again at the door. This happened several times, until they knew I understood and then off they swirled their huge bushy tails and disappeared back under the fence from which they came.
I had never had such a strong reflection of animal spirit guides during a session, other than my own bunny loves doing things and receiving visions of guides for the person I was working on. But this time they decided to manifest in the flesh and I know if that door had been open, they’d have been right up on me.
The huge display they played out in front of me, I not only took away as meaningful for this particular client, but also as important to impart to the collective.
I didn’t get photos, of course, as I was deep in a session, but here is one (below) of the chipmunk friends that constantly visits, peering in just as the squirrels did.
I also have a couple of quite large mice friends that visit as well, along with lizards and birds.
It’s definitely forest play land around here big time and I giggle daily at the beautiful mirror, which warms my heart that my inner child feels safe, loved, encouraged, and cherished.
Chipmunks have been known to show up as lucky signs that grant heart wishes, symbolize abundance, reflect an explorative and adventurous heart, and mirror that free spirited outlook on life – all similar to squirrels.
And while they both reflect that perfect balance of work and play, they always get what they need done with that light approach. This demonstrates that work can be accomplished without pressure and enjoyed by dedicating yourself to nurturing more fun in your life and living in more balance with nature. A cozy, comfortable, and joyful life is possible, just as these playful creatures show us.
Inner child work has always been a powerful seed “key” to creating change. And when done with unconditionally loving courage, can be the impetus for empowering yourself in unlimited ways.
We all have a child within that is in need of our loving acceptance. No matter how strong and self-reliant you think you are, there is a time for tender vulnerability in everyone’s journey that is needed to cultivate a garden that your child-like heart can creatively and expansively blossom in. This will provide astounding results in your current experience and with all that you intend.
As adults we carry with us false beliefs from the past that as children we learned to believe. A lot of that includes the things that we were taught were “wrong” with us and so the greatest rejection living with us today is of ourselves with these beliefs.
Listening to and softening our inner dialogue to embrace the perfection of all that we are, is a needed part of our daily practice. It is important to know ourselves to be whole and forgive ourselves, as well as revel in the quirky beauty that our inner child has to share.
Loving your inner child will support healing the darkest experiences by shining light on the beauty that was always there. This opens doorways that the Universe will support you with when you are willing to partner with it.
Harnessing that Cancer/Capricorn Balance – New Moon & New Phase in Motion
With the Solar Eclipse New Moon in Cancer and yesterday’s magickal Friday the 13th, I was feeling another influx and opening of opportunities present itself. Cancer really has us paying attention to our emotional and psychic sensitivities around matters of home, heart, nurturing, creativity, compassion, and feminine energy, but also learning to keep that all in Capricorn check so that we aren’t giving our energy and power away, we learn highest use of boundaries, true responsibility, and courage and fortitude to support healthy vulnerability that can be evolutionary for self and humanity and help you to take action that leads to manifestation of dreams, goals, and intents for the highest good. We’re definitely working on creating new foundations in all areas of life and the New Moon encourages birthing new things over and over with each cycle. There’s always a window of opportunity and it’s never too late to make changes – it starts with choice. New Moons are great for planting seeds of the new, and when you commit to something during the window of its energy you really help to fuel and solidify maximization of that energy.
I found myself the last couple of days really multi-tasking and honing in on more closures, new beginnings, and clearing my plate as well. I really felt that multi-dimensionality kick in, as my mind was expanding and at times exploding with all the levels of complexity it was journeying into simultaneously. I definitely felt like I was getting a brain workout in a good way, as I traveled different paths of thinking, focusing, perspectives, and potentials.
I also was working with that courage and vulnerability I spoke of, as my book journey ignited phase 3.
This all synchronously finalized yesterday on Friday the 13th and in the New Moon energy, or rather, it all ignited, as I officially committed and signed the client agreement with my editor. Things went into motion last weekend, but she was away on vacation and everything aligned us when she got back for it to fall as such.
So, this is an evolutionary igniting of taking my new step of responsibility and committed action with my heart project, as well as fully investing myself to see things through – definitely that balance of Cancer and Capricorn energies in acknowledging both my vulnerabilities and strengths, and supporting a balanced and well-thought out plan of responsible and serious action.
I also spent a good portion of the last couple of days doing bookkeeping on Quicken – this is all VERY new for me this year – for Dave and I and our shared work together, which was a big project and hones in on my Cancer/Capricorn balances with its focus. Another expansive venture for me that exercises my brain and capitalizes on my strengths, while also developing my weaknesses. Whew!
And synchronously, the last of my two massage tables was sold yesterday to the perfect person. They both went to perfect people, actually. This closing out my Reiki teaching journey and the in-person sessions I once used to offer.
Synchronously, also, Dave sold his guitar on the same day. He had two, and decided only to keep one.
We both had really nice people come to get them who were both so aligned and we both ended up talking to for a while. Dave’s went to a wonderful family of a man and his really sweet 14 year old and wife, and mine to a really lovely soul I would never have met if not for this. She and I had a lot in common. We both had tattoos all over us, she does massage and other body work, we both are writing a book, she also just got an editor (and actually had offered to refer them to me, but I’d just signed with mine), and we said we should hang out some time. Gotta love alignment!
So phase 3 is in full swing and while it is going through its extensive editing review, I’ll be focusing on other aspects to prepare for more phases to come.
In the meantime I will also enjoy a little different creative focus with the Magick Crystal Wand commission and my own staff this week. I have 2 more Mystery Magick Crystal Wand commissions remaining. I only plan to work on these over the next couple of weeks, so please try to get in any orders, as after that I’ll not have a window anymore.
Some people who haven’t seen my wands were curious, so here is a link to the first batch I channeled. I went on to create several more custom ones after that, but they are in individual posts and were much more complex, larger pieces that are not part of this offering. You can search my blog if interested in seeing more. This link is just for an idea, but each is unique to the wood and the inspiration I feel come through when working with it:
And here is the link where you can order one of the two remaining wands-to-be:
Crystals, Mystery Wands, Reiki Healing Attunement Zappers & Workshops
In this same post I was offering other things, but the only remaining is the last two wand commissions I mentioned.
All of the crystals have found new lovely guardians – thank you so much! – I will be packaging them up safely this weekend (which takes time) and shipping off either Monday or Tuesday depending on my time window Monday between two engagements.
The workshops still have space, but the Fall Equinox is getting close to filling. There may end up only being 2 spots remaining soon.
Reminder these are my last workshops I’m teaching and the first and only co-teaching with sweet, magickal Laura.
I plan to bake a cake this weekend – one I’ve been feeling the last week or two, which will be a vanilla lavender cake (perhaps with another twist too, but we’ll see what comes to me). I’ll be using my fresh lavender from the garden for this, which is what inspired me. I’m so loving the smell of fresh lavender and cinnamon basil blossoms right now in my kitchen that I made a sweet little arrangement of in a tiny vase.
I have some new flowers and succulents to plant too.
Will be getting outside as well for sun and exercise.
There was a lot of hard work going on the last couple of days, so its time to kick in some serious play. 🙂
All to continue experiencing greater balance and inner harmony and peace.
So, yes, it’s important to nurture ourselves with those Cancerian things – for me the creative infusion of some fun projects to shift focus, making a nurturing cake that I love so much, giving back to Mother Earth with some Nature time and tending to her blossom and plant children around the home and home garden, and nurturing others with some Reiki Healing Attunements, as I’ve already put into motion one for myself and Dave.
And, key to remember our Capricorn aspects – for me this is implementation of business minded focuses, action-oriented step-by-step, patient processes, courage and confidence in what I am creating, putting into place supportive structures for long-term goals, and persistent focus to see things through for the highest good of all concerned.
All of this helping me to feel most essence aligned and helping to create greater harmony within and without.
Things You Don’t Know About Me ~ Finding Purpose in Being
I mentioned to my Facebook friends who were interested that I would share a bit about my journey around purpose and the way that’s evolved through the various forms of work I’ve explored. Like many of you who feel confused or even tormented by this idea of purpose and life path, or who have been searching endlessly to find that cosmic answer that hits you over the head with clarity, I’ve been right there with you in what seemed like endless cycles of searching. But searching keeps us wanting more, whereas presence and listening will bring us home.
The concept of life purpose is a tricky one, as I do believe we each have something unique and perhaps key to our evolution that we choose to come into form to express and further our creative evolution. However, I feel that this dimension can tweak things in a way that makes us want to finite how that expression could be experienced, since we live in a way that wants definitive answers and ultimate results. Beyond this realm we simply have an essence that propels us and here that turns into a drive.
Perhaps that drive plays into some of why we feel confusion, as we try to squeeze our uniqueness into categories, funnel what could be flowing and amorphous, and then condition one another to do the same once that becomes a collective agreement as to the way things should be done. We buy into what success means and ultimately what that needs to look like. We even buy into what happiness is and disregard what makes US feel good.
The concept of life purpose and all the hype around it is a culprit to this in saying that you have this one absolute mission and you must hone in on that now, although I’m not knocking any of the support out there in wanting to help with this. I think explorations into your feelings, passions, unhealthy patterns, and things that make you tick are very helpful, but to limit all of that into a specific feels counterproductive to creative life force energy that looks for any channel of expression. It simply wants out. Doesn’t care how, but if it doesn’t get out that’s where we create challenges.
There doesn’t feel to be one answer in how you live who you are. How incredibly limiting to a limitless being that would be if you had only one choice and then were made to feel wrong or guilty if you don’t do it right. Where’s the purpose in that? We forget our song when we come into birth, so each little tickle to your heart is a way of remembering.
Purpose feels to be about what moves you and what you do that gives your life meaning, value, and enrichment to yourself and others. It’s about how you spend your time well, what feeds you, and feels important. And this can take varying forms of applying the unique gifts and qualities you have in perhaps one, but likely several varying ways that provide these things. And these can evolve over time along with you. It can be through an actual job/work, in your family and personal life, through volunteer work, passions and side projects, or all of these.
It can be how you do you as well as you can in every waking moment of life and in every encounter, experience, choice, action, expression, and connection you make.
Look at what you’re willing to put in as effort, as everything will take effort of some sort no matter if you love it or not. To say your purpose just happens is false. You have to make the choice and follow through. Although when you align yourself with what naturally feels good, it is easier since you aren’t using energy to balance out things. Yet, every day and moment is a choice and while alignment does create greater flow and opportunities, you still have to take action or do the work. Purpose doesn’t hand things on a silver platter. It’s rising to the occasion of what calls to you.
If painting calls to you, you still have to paint.
If making music calls, you still have to practice your instrument, write the music, and perform.
If it’s writing, well you have to write.
If it’s being a doctor, you’ll still have to get your degree and show up every day at your best.
If it’s being a receptionist, you’ll have to take that job interview and express your personality and social skills with every person you interface with.
If it’s being a mom or dad, you still have to show up and be ready to challenge yourself to love more unconditionally each day.
And guess what? You might do all of these, but you’ll still have to create the time, commit to each expression, and choose to be present with how they all want to channel through you in your own unique way. That’s the beauty of it. You can find your own way of satisfying how you spend your time well – your purpose.
If you look at the things that come naturally to you, that make you smile in your heart, feel good, and are what you loved as a child, let that be your gauge and guiding force without trying to figure out how that needs to look or compare it to what everyone else around you is doing or how they are labeling things, not pressure yourself to hurry up or belittle yourself that you’re so far behind and should be further by now. According to what? That’s an answer you give yourself if you aren’t being present with each moment.
You have to be willing to be more vulnerable and not care what others think, pay attention to the times you get lost in something and lose track of time – which indicates being in the zone, ask yourself what you’re passionate about and how in any way that is part of your life or can be incorporated – not only as a “job” – and then understand that action creates momentum and fuels passion.
That all said, it’s not necessarily that the job you’re doing is wrong, but perhaps it’s an unhealthy work environment, or your approach, judgments, and process of handling it aren’t healthy, you’re out of alignment with your perspective and response to things, your life isn’t balanced so triggers are being created, you aren’t embracing and being grateful for the aspects of the work you do that you shine in and enjoy, you aren’t engaging your passions in some way, which would then make your life more meaningful and fulfilling no matter where you find yourself.
Chances are, what ever work you’re currently doing, you do have a propensity for it and skills, or there are elements to it that you truly do enjoy and shine in. Perhaps it’s the part of you that knows how to motivate a team towards goals, your ability to listen and problem solve, a joy for numbers and details, you’re a great organizer, an awesome leader, have exceptional customer service skills, love interfacing with people, really enjoy the innovative aspects you get to incorporate in idea exploration, you’re incredible with your hands, love building things, are amazing at comforting others, etc.
So, yes, not all of your job might be fun, but those parts are where you excel and get lost. Focus there. And if you need to express other gifts and passions, see how either you can incorporate them or are overlooking them, or can do them in another way in your life. I guarantee when you do these things you will be in the flow and more choices will show up and you’ll know exactly what to choose or do next because you aren’t waiting to have that one thing happen to you. You are engaging your essence now and that creates alignment in any situation you’re in or for new ones to present themselves in form or idea to take action on next. It’s a step-by-step process, but can be fulfilling in each moment if you are being present and creating a balanced way of approaching and expressing your life.
Be mindful if you’re in an unhealthy situation, but weed out everything before saying you’re simply not doing your purpose. There’s likely a lot you’re overlooking because you’e caught up in an idea and also being bombarded by confusing signals you haven’t taken reign of yet. There may be skills you can utilize to make it better or right. You may need to just respect yourself more or stand up to something. You maybe just need to switch companies, rather than the job itself. In some cases you might want to shift gears of how you express that gift and go a completely different direction, but in the meantime, make the most of what you have, as you don’t have to suffer while making that shift. And if you take the actions within your job now, you’ll find how that creates opportunities and openings, not to mention greater peace and fulfillment immediately.
Recently I was triggered to review all the different things I’ve done and explored on my journey of work/life path that a lot of people don’t realize I’ve done, as they only see me now. This is likely the case for many of you and this is what prompted sharing a more revealing insight on my journey, including that spectrum I went through and what I’ve discovered about purpose and alignment for myself, which could be helpful in some way for you.
I thought I would list out everything that I could remember having explored, placing them in categories so that not only would you see what I actually did, but seriously took steps toward and spent time feeling out. All of this was in effort to “find myself” and my “purpose.” I likely at the time appeared to be scattered, fickle, non-committal, foolish, or even crazy. Yet, it’s in the journey of all of this that I’ve been able to finally find peace and see it from a bigger picture perspective I couldn’t see then while caught up in it all.
And while some of these things will seem so opposite or odd in terms of what I do now, I can say with all honesty that any of these things could easily have been continued, if I knew then, what I know now, as each of them DID in fact express some of the gifts and things I enjoyed and excelled in. Some, even, were already tapping into my North Node in Capricorn, which is a focus now for me, as our North Nodes do speak to that infamous “life purpose.” In fact, I was on that path immediately when I was a junior in high school getting accepted already into FIDM with this drive of wanting to get on with life already and out of school because I had a vision of my career. Choices, however, created a detour to unfold each petal for greater understanding of this whole picture playing out.
It was all a journey of learning, but truly the reasons at the heart of why I left these positions or didn’t pursue them was because of my unhealthy approach to the jobs – as in I didn’t have balance in my life and was an extremist at the time so I overworked myself to the point of burn out and didn’t have boundaries resulting in affecting my health and well being. I didn’t know how to speak up for myself, I was afraid to make the wrong decision in terms of choosing the wrong life path (not understanding how a choice simply would lead to more choices just on a different trajectory), I was put off by the processes and commitment I had to make to it, I hadn’t worked through some of my fears and didn’t see these as opportunities at the time like I did later, and the list goes on.
Yet ALL of these things I DID enjoy on some level when I allowed myself to just be in that moment of the aspects that I got lost in and made me shine.
Here is the list I came up with.
Jobs I Had:
- Hostess at a Restaurant – twice (First at Olive Garden when I was 16 and later at Il Fornaio becoming a lead hostess)
- Claims Processor & Promoted to Small Claims Medical Examiner – Worker’s Compensation Insurance
- Loss Control Secretary – Overseeing 5 Field Reps in Worker’s Compensation Insurance (Different company than above jobs)
- Makeup Artist – Department store makeup lines
- Receptionist/Secretary/Personal Assistant/Asst. Office Manager – Investment Firm
- Custom Art Business – Paintings/Murals/Logos/Faux Painting/Art & Writing for a start-up Children’s Show (my first entrepreneurial business)
- Modeling/Extra Work – Fashion shows/Promo Modeling/Ads/Videos/Dance Shows – here’s my blog post on that: Discovering My “Harmony Zone” of Health & Vitality
- Photographer’s Assistant – Worked with a school photographer setting up equipment, the space & handling/organizing kids Kindergarten – High School
- Reiki Master Teacher – Offered sessions & training
- Tarot & Animal Readings
- Author – Wrote & self-published a book – working on a second
- Sacred Tattoo Designer
- Artist – Custom and original work
- Crystal Jewelry & Healing Tools Creator
- Retreat Leader
- Workshop Teacher
- Sound Healer
- Procured & Sold Crystals
- Intuitive Guidance Coach
- Currently manage rental properties
Degrees/Training/Certifications I Got:
- AA in Merchandise Marketing
- Medical Billing Certification
- Makeup Artist Certification
- Acting Classes
- Reiki Master Teacher Certification
- Metaphysical Training
Promotions/Job Offers/Opportunities I Rejected After Interviewing For:
- Claims Examiner – Worker’s Compensation Insurance
- Jewelry Designer for a Jewelry Shop
- Flight Attendant School
- Jobs in Women’s Retail Clothing
- Art Teacher through an Art School
Paths I Seriously Considered/Took Steps Toward/Spent Time Exploring & Feeling Into:
- Fashion Designer – was my first passion before I settled on Merchandise Marketing
- Buyer for Department Store/Fashion Coordinator
- Personal Trainer
- Horse Assistant at Ranch
- Custom Meal Service/Catering
- Cleaning Business
- Personal Assistant
- Retreat Center – Almost bought land & started
- Animal Acupuncturist – Specializing in rabbits
Volunteer Work:
- Rabbit Rescue
I’m not sure if I’m missing anything else, but I think this gives you enough of an idea of how varied and extensive my explorations were and how much I was searching for things right under my nose. In some way, I utilize all of these skills and gifts still to this day in my work and personal life. They just have translated differently based on the new choices I’m making and aligning with in each moment.
Again, truly any of these things, if approached with a healthy perspective, could have been more than what they turned out to be. And yet, they still all DID help me to learn about myself and the things I enjoyed and excelled in.
It’s only now that I have learned about and created balance in my life, that I can see it all for what it is and understand how each piece spoke to a part of me and can even be traced to my Astrological placements and the skills I came into this life with that can be utilized in productive or nonproductive ways depending on my perspective.
There is opportunity in every moment to be living your “purpose.” It’s up to you how you choose to express that, but know that in fact there is no one right way.
At the end of the day or the end of your life, the question to ask yourself is, did I live my life well?
Seeding Possibilities & Cultivating Well-Being
Did you know that playing, being silly, laughing, and approaching life with curiosity are incredibly supportive and boosting to your overall well-being, quality of life, creative energy, and your immune system? When you keep that connection to your inner child alive, you experience the benefits of a healthy, low to no stress, and constantly wondrous way of experiencing life, rather than living in continuous fret and fear. Other ways to create better quality of life, experience more balance and harmony, as well as enhanced presence, perception, and intuitive and creative abilities are spending more time in nature, communing with the natural world in any form, as well as being willing to challenge yourself to embrace change more by aligning your vibration with things rather than fighting them.
Spring is a wonderful opportunity to explore where you feel called to plant new seeds in any area of your life and commit to cultivating it. Sometimes if you literally do this, it will stream into your life in ways you can’t imagine.
By literal I mean plant actually seeds or nurture a cherished plant or animal with the intention that it signifies something in your life you also want to blossom. Then watch this trickle out into more enthusiasm and energy pouring into the actual thing you do want to manifest. If you can devote even just a little of your love and attention to something and see the results, you understand how this process can be duplicated in the rest of your life as well. It doesn’t have to be an overnight thing, but you will see the benefits simply by committing to it.
I was a bit overwhelmed, to say the least, when I discovered the nudge to write this new book of mine and that it ended up developing into much more than I originally thought it would be. Yet, with continued commitment and nurturing of the process that presented itself to me, it’s become a wondrous journey of enjoyment, self growth, and creative enhancement that fuels passion in my life and opened up so many new doors of potentials unraveling. All, simply by deciding to nurture that seed within me that was stirring like a Cosmic cauldron of possibility.
And with Spring here, I’m doing the other thing I shared with you, as in literally planting seeds – 72 to be exact – that will have twofold purpose of nurturing Astrid’s needs, but also symbolically representing the plethora of new ideas brewing within me to manifest. I decided to grow organic baby plants for her all by seed this time, since my bulbs I planted in Autumn did so well. Crossing finger, toes, and wings this success rate continues! 😉
I recently saw an exciting discovery of sprouting from the five daffodil bulbs I planted last year when our house was in renovation. I planted them on the Full Moon, in fact, which was an intention for planting my garden of life with hopes of my dreams to blossom. And, they have been and are continuing to. When I planted them, a very healthy earthworm revealed herself in the soil where I dug their rooting ground, and I knew this was a sign that all would be well and supported because of my willingness to plant the seeds and care for them. Then Winter came and went and with Spring thaw they started sprouting.
I later planted several variety of irises – all of these bulbs gifted to me by special Faery, Laura from her garden. Apparently the irises will come later she told me and within a month or so I should see them too! Soon we’ll have lovely blooms and surprise colors lining the entry to our home! And my own garden of dreams will be mirroring this blooming.
And that leads to the baby plants intended for Astrid. I’ve started all the bunny goodness in this mini greenhouse indoors and have a seedling heat mat under it too.
Normally, in California I just directly planted the seeds in my Garden Tower or in the ground, but here with the difference in weather, am needing to begin indoors and then can transplant into my Garden Tower outside my office sliding door that has the perfect Southwest exposure.
I’m growing her two kinds of Romaine, cilantro, dill, sage, oregano, arugula, sweet basil, lemon balm, endive, dandelion, and a variety of wildflowers.
I do everything by faery intuition and am organic in my processes so it’s always a lovely surprise to see what unfolds. Yet, I see the mirroring reflection of the creative projects I am cultivating step-by-step in my life as well.
I love the action of seeding intention in literal ways, as other things percolate and evolve.
And action puts creative energy into motion and exponentially grows the possibilities.
Add in love to cultivate and nurture it and you’ll eventually find yourself smelling the roses in your garden of blossoms that manifest.
And speaking of new doors and closing old ones. Yesterday, I sent out a newsletter announcing it to be my last, as I am feeling led to close my Constant Contact account to focus elsewhere. I also announced that I’ll eventually have a new website and likely new email address, which could look like this blog evolving into new paths of sharing, or a separate website to replace my two others of http://www.taniamarie.com and http://www.spiritualskin.com.
So for now, that means really that this blog site is the best way to keep updated and receive inspiration, especially if you’re not on any social media platforms, where I also share. It’s also the best way to contact me if you don’t have my email, or if in the event my email gets changed, as I foresee.
These won’t happen immediately since it’s still in percolation, although you never know when since I’m someone who once I get the idea to do something and the nudge it needs to be done now, doesn’t linger.
I am constantly guided to fully close the old doors, so that my energy isn’t still lingering around in anything and can fully be propelling me in the forward momentum of the seeds I’ve planted.
Wishing you an expansive Spring of possibilities!
I hope you find nature to be a companion in your life more regularly in any small way possible and I wish you much joy as you follow dream seeding with action and a sprinkle of love to water it into life.
Tania Marie 