I feel Grateful!!
The weekend is winding down. I have connected with friends and family, eaten many wonderful feasts, utilized my mind, body, spirit in various ways. I have become re-charged for a new month beginning tomorrow, and I am excited about December and all that it will bring.
I am looking forward to starting my EMOTIONAL FREEDOM for the HOLIDAYS series of tele-calls on Tuesday, (learn more at: http://is.gd/9cwa) and I feel excited that I will share with some wonderful people on these calls, where we will co-mingle our energies to create the right tone to inspire our little call community and then let that heightened energy vibration spread through us to everyone we meet during the Holiday Season!! WOW – the power of collective intentionality!! I am grateful for such wonder, and I am grateful to YOU, my reader, for sharing your interest by reading this Alchemist Anne blog. Have a wonderful last month of 2008!!
EMOTIONAL FREEDOM for the Holidays!!
I am thankful for a very nice Thanksgiving with many friends, in a beautiful location, good food, the love of my wonderful partner, Martin, and a warm and cozy home to return to after eating a feast with others. My hope is that if you are reading this, you also had a wonderful day on Thursday, with all of its blessings.
There are many people who probably did not experience the joy that we did because they are being held captive by their emotions. This is just the beginning of the major Holiday Season celebrated here in the USA. There is so much focus on the commercialism, the events themselves, expectations of family gatherings, that often individuals completely lose themselves and also lose connection with the spiritual or inner significance of why the holidays exist in the first place.
I used to be in an emotional place where I reacted like a robot when the Holidays arrived. I felt and reacted to all of the stresses. I was tense, frustrated, impatient, sensitive, and not very much fun to be around – even in this festive time of year. When my life changed dramatically and I experienced the “dark night of the soul” I spent a very changing Holiday Season all alone. I had just separated from a marriage, a person I thought was the “love of my life”, I left my dream home, my community, my job and clients. Everything was different. I was in a new city, new rental house, all alone with no friends nearby, and the cable man had not even come to hook up my TV yet. I was forced into a silent Christmas of introspection.
During that Holiday Season I released all old traditions, all expectations, I got to know myself better and catered to what I wanted. I visited with friends via telephone, joining parties by calling in when they occurred elsewhere – with a drink (of my choice) in my hand, sitting in the comfort of my own home with my pets, eating (what I wanted and when I wanted). I had no Christmas tree that year – instead, I bought myself a pretty bouquet of flowers. I was just too “out of myself” to decorate or get into my Christmas decoration boxes – I had moving boxes still to unpack since I was starting a new job after the first of the year.
Since that time I have made it a point to keep the Holidays FUN and I feel at peace around this time of year now because I have gone through the steps to see the priorities and know how I can most enjoy them. Many people would like to find EMOTIONAL FREEDOM for the Holidays like I did, so I am offering a series of five weekly one-hour calls during December to provide self-coaching energy management techniques that work. We will apply wholistic modalities such as emotional freedom technique, among others. If you would like to know more about these calls please go to: http://is.gd/9cwa . You may also register there. In the meantime, I am glad you joined me here at Alchemist Anne!!
We Attract What We Perceive as Real
Recently I attended a local chamber of commerce business after hours event. I listened to a conversation of several people about the economic situation in the US now. One person was going on and on about how it is like a depression. Another reported that the media is calling it a recession. A third person said that the problems now are all because of the media reporting so much negativity that everybody started believing it and stopped spending money.
To each of these people their perception was reality. I enjoyed observing the different degrees of “buy-in” to the negativity that each of these three individuals reflected.
It didn’t surprise me that the most negative advocate of “gloom and doom” was a woman who had briefly been a coaching client of mine. She stopped coming when the coaching brought her to a point where she had to make some changes in her life and in her perception of being a victim. It also didn’t surprise me that the person who was most optimistic and blamed the media for economic problems, said she had stopped watching the negativity on television. She also reported that she had changed jobs recently in a proactive way, and was very happy with her new company. She was NOT a victim, and seemed much happier and more grounded than the first woman.
Unfortunately our society supports the concept of victimhood, so most people perceive themselves as being subject to the conditions around them. Others of us see how we actually create our own surroundings by attracting what we focus on. We contradict what the media and society are trying to get us to believe. We take back and claim our personal power, and so we attract a more positive and powerful reality around ourselves.
Aha – you just can’t avoid the Law of Attraction… any more than you can avoid gravity on this planet!!
It’s a Rainy Day in Georgia!!
Awakening to rain this morning felt so good and relaxing. After several seasons of drought, each time it rains I can feel the earth and all its plants and critters giving a huge sigh of relief. We’ve only had about 5-6 rainy days since spring, so this is welcome! Outside it is cold, wet, rather dreary looking – and still feels good.
This is the second year in a row that our spring has dried up. When people depend on the springs for their drinking and house water supply, this gets very serious. Numerous springs and wells in our area went dry this summer… and we are hoping our spring comes back after this nice rain… like it did last fall.
There is a blessing in the drought – just like in the economic situation in the US right now. Both are extreme examples of something that has been mis-used, taken for granted, and wasted. Personal water management and conservation have been huge points of interest in our area in these two extreme drought years. People are finally consciously realizing how valuable this natural resource is, and most are making life-style and habit changes to save water. Local governments have set up water rationing systems and conservation classes have sprung up everywhere. It is understood now that water is in high demand, so many people are willing to make the personal changes so that they can do their part.
What would happen if such an awareness with guidelines, classes, support were created about our economy? Could a negative situation be turned into a learning experience where people could learn what to do to conserve money and still get what they want? Would this help turn the present picture around so that the US is again economically stable and individuals of all classes are able to live comfortable lives without money worries? Just thinking…
If you are a proponent of conscious living, then you may be interested in: www.consciouslivingezine.com .
My Creative Day
Today I promised myself that I would focus on my art and do only things that were creative. Well, in this mind mode I ended up creating in all different areas.
Tonight and tomorrow I’m signed up for a fiber and paper painting workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. Although I visit the FS at least once per week or more, and I participate as MC for Fall Festivals, flautist in the Morris Dance band, regular contra dance gypsy, and past Garland dancer, this will be my first official class at the school. In preparation for the class I dedicated today to getting my art materials out of storage and getting in the mood to paint and create.
I started my day out checking e-mails, then I took a walk for inspiration. On the walk I re-designed my website… something that takes lots of creative energy and that I’d been working on for awhile. With the fresh inspiration of a crisp autumn day – complete with brisk wind to keep me flowing, I created the grid that my new site designer will be able to use as she creates a new logo and new over-all look for the site. I’m excited and ready to clarify the Ariela Group of Wholistic Services so that I can attract just the people who will really benefit from my special “alchemy”. My old site is a cumbersome 150+ page maze, so this new site will be so much easier to navigate!! 
)
Then, with all kinds of creativity oozing out of my pores, I took photographs of my most recent mandala paintings with my new digital camera. Wow – so much fun!! ) And, finally I got to my art and textile art supplies and ended up finding all kinds of treasures that I had forgotten about. Watch out world – the creative juices are flowing – and Alchemist Annie is having FUNNNNNNNNN!!! )
Shifting My Perspective from Victimhood to Real Estate Sales
Years ago I found myself in a situation like so many are in today. I was at a major turning point in my life where I needed to sell a very big house. It was on the market for two full years and, as I had needed to move on with my life, it was empty, even though I still paid for mortgage, utilities, yard care. Thousands of dollars were flowing out of my pocketbook each month, and then 9-11 occurred.
During much of the time when I was waiting for the house to sell people would ask me how I was doing and I’d retell the sad and frustrating story of how I was a victim of an unethical buyer and greedy realtor, etc. etc. I was stuck in the story and rather than ridding myself of the bad energy involved, I was drowning in my own victimhood. People stopped asking because they were tired of hearing my story.
Finally I woke up and realized that I could create something different and that I did not need to be a victim. I ended a contract with my realtor and asked for advice from a real estate coach. Within one week I personally auctioned my 7200 square foot home and easily sold it for more than a realtor had told me I would get two years before… and this was the weekend before Thanksgiving – right after 9-11 when the market was so terrible.
The steps that I took included the following:
- I decided I was no longer going to be a victim of circumstances.
- Since my story was negative, full of victimhood, and perpetuated the negative cycle in my life, I let it go and stopped telling it.
- Even though the outward shift of circumstances had not yet happened, I talked as though my house were sold already, and I imagined the feelings of being free of the huge debt load and all the responsibility of managing an empty house out-of-state.
- I sought support of somebody with a different perspective: a real estate coach friend.
- I took immediate action and flipped my house in one week.
So, I know the power of shifting how we think so that we hold positive thoughts and feelings. This is just one example of so many that have occurred in my own life as well as in the lives of people I have coached. [And, as an extra benefit, the energy therapy and self-coaching tools that I learned then I used again in 2008 when I bought and easily sold an investment house – even in the “terrible” 2008 real estate slump.]
Sometimes we need a little nudge to wake up to our ability to shift our attitude. It can take the form of traumatic change, hardship, or conscious decision. If you would like to shift your spirits right now, take a few minutes to focus on what is going right in your life. Focus your attention on being grateful rather than dwelling on what is going wrong. You will feel the difference in your own energy, and if you do this daily you will soon start to see shifts in your life!
Energy Shift through Fire
Late this afternoon I gave myself permission to work outside. My intention was to do more than to complete a task. I consciously used fire to purge some old energetics. This is something I do regularly, and it gives me peace of mind. Today I not only burned old papers that I was purging from my office, but I also set fire to a huge pile of brush that had been accumulating all summer. Burning papers and brush is not very profound. I utilized the energy of the fire to let go of certain thoughts, concerns, doubts in my mind. I released some psychological blockages and just allowed whatever energy wanted to be released in this way to do so. Sometimes I will actually write something on a piece of paper to burn and release. Today I did it all intentionally, and it felt good!! And, it was a beautiful day and evening. As the fire died down I could see Venus and Jupiter in the western sky following a beautiful sunset over the mountains. I am so blessed!!
The Art of Allowing The Law of Attraction to Work
I love the power of Allowing!
I remember when I was a little girl I’d ride my tricycle around the paths of my fenced-in back yard and imagine that it was my palomino horse Trigger. I’d dress up in my red cowgirl outfit, strap on my six-shooter, and off I’d ride into the sunset… or at least around the bend to the big apple tree. I imagined myself on a large blonde horse, riding gracefully across the fields with the wind blowing my own blonde hair. Several years later when my grandmother bought herself a horse at age 65 my parents decided that we would buy a couple of horses to keep on the family farm so we could ride with Grandma. We ended up buying a Tennessee walking horse who had been a parade horse in a previous life. He was a gorgeous palomino, and of course, his name was Trigger. For several years in high school this wonderful animal and I had fun adventures galloping across the farm fields and hills, parading for the cows and other horses. I marveled at how a little girl’s dream had manifested – even down to the horse’s name!!
Life got more detailed complicated. School, jobs, marriages, entrepreneurial contracts, several moves across the country, clients, schedules, pets, … I bought a house and meanwhile wrote my criteria for a dream house. Two years later a friend told us about a special house – under forclosure – for a price we could afford. WOW! I found the paper where I had written my “wish list” and all of the criteria were there. All I had done was to clarify what I wanted, write down the details, and move on with my life… and the rest came to me.
Next it was time to manifest a new car. I did my research and created a “wish list” using a business management decision-making formula which I was teaching in my Director of Training & Development capacity. The conglomerate corporation for which I worked had six locations in five states. Using my own wish list as an example I trained twenty-four different audiences on the process. Before the series was finished I had found the perfect car that met all of my criteria. I bought it in PA and said I would pick it up the next month when I was there on business and drive it home then. I’ve loved my wonderful car ever since that time, and all I did was to clarify, remind myself what I was manifesting, and let it happen!!
The Law of Attraction is so potent – and Allowing is an integral part of that. If we can all just trust the process and get out of the way, miracles WILL and DO happen!! )
The Power of Pause
WOW – whoever thought of creating weekends was a genius!! I know that the tradition of taking time to PAUSE from the everyday work and busy-ness of life has been handed down through the centuries, and comes from many cultures. In our own culture I believe that we adopted our US concept of weekends from the Jewish tradition… which spawned the Christian tradition.
Rabbi Michael Lerner sums up the practice and its value so nicely in the August, 2008 edition of Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness magazine (pg. 31): ”… we need to develop a practice of taking time for awe and wonder at the grandeur of creation. The Jewish world has done this by honoring the Sabbath. One 25-hour period a week (Friday night at sunset until after the stars come out on Saturday night), religious Jews stop doing anything connected to work, money, or advancement. We disconnect from our computers, televisions, and cell phones, stay out of our cars, resist cleaning the house or catching up with shopping, and devote this time to the celebration of nature, joy, and pleasure. We rest, make love, eat well, meditate, pray, study (but nothing goal-oriented or useful beyond learning for its own sake), and rejoice in all that is good in our lives. It’s a practice that all social change agents would benefit from. It’s best on a Saturday or Sunday, and even better if you can share parts of it with others who have been similarly immersed in the pace and pressure of work and life in a materialist society and who are trying to change that model.”
In our culture some of us continue to race to meet deadlines on weekends. Others plant themselves in front of the TV to watch sports programs. How would our lives be different if we truly PAUSED for at least one day during each week to look around us and enjoy what we have and who we have to live with.
Since Martin and I connected almost five years ago we have made it a point to “PLAY” as much as possible on the weekends. This takes so many forms, and they are all FUN!! Even if we are also getting something done in a goal sense, when we are together, sharing, and connecting as we perform certain tasks makes it seem like play, and even the most mundane task becomes fun again.
I refuse to totally give up my weekends anymore and this practice has paid great dividends to me in my quality of life and in the quality of my relationships with my loved ones. I highly recommend it!!
The Blog Squad
How clever to find a fun working colleague/partner and position the partnership to work passionately within a specific cutting-edge niche market!! An entrepreneur’s dream… or the dream of ANY business for that matter!!
Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman call themselves The Blog Squad, and as their name implies, they specialize in blogs -like this one. I am fortunate to have connected with them via a group coaching program with which I am involved, and am doubly fortunate that they are willing to offer personalized support for individuals who sign up for their newsletters and need a bit of extra help.
As this blog becomes better you can bet that this coach is being coached by some of the best!! For more information you can go to: www.blogsquad.biz and that will give you addresses to many blogs and other social networking sites, e-courses, e-zines, and services. Blogging is just one more way to support YOU, my audience!!
Have a wonderful second day of the Mayan New Year!!… the year of the Goddess!!
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