Had a date with David, yesterday, and we indulged in a wonderful afternoon of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” movie.  Then, home to dinner with all 3 kids ~ what a JOY! ~ and then an hour or so of “Braveheart” which I’ve been watching over the last few days.

When I think about which scenes have become ‘snapshot’ images in my memory, from those movies, I recognise the collage of ‘snapshots’ from my week’s experiences and I can feel the profound nature of all those moments.  The key moments in “Braveheart” are obvious: the Freedom word as William Wallace is being tortured; rallying the troops for the first battle (when he has that most amazing blue face); and the passion Mel Gibson captures … In the ‘Marigold Hotel’ I especially loved the final scene of the two couples on motorbikes ~ vibrant and free; and the sense of closeness I had with David as we were transported to another world during the movie.

Other snapshots are clear in my memory, from this week …

~ the fox walking past my window in the darkness of the morning, while I was blogging

~ the first pansy flower opening in my new seedling bed

~ the comfort of my car’s seats

~ the sumptuous scent of my beeswax candle

~ the happy energy David has been experiencing

~ the empty expressions on people’s faces when they are wandering in shopping centres

~ personalities: how Daniel ‘fills’ a room with his presence

~ the ease with which I am editing my book and accessing past lifetimes

~ the dismay I experienced when I had a sudden thought that maybe I was ‘making it all up’ when I accessed those lifetimes so easily

~ the amount of time one card took to make and how it felt like a wonderful journey

~ the feeling of Inspiration and having my sense of wonder and JOY expressing themselves so clearly, again.

The observation I’d like to make about these “moments” is how they colour and create my reality.  Having the time to notice is such a gift ~ often I am too busy to really be aware of the Everyday Moments of JOY.  But, also how important it is to Experience life.  I feel that I am very knowledgeable about a lot of things.  And then I think about taking ‘what I do’ on the road and sharing it with others around the world.  It makes me realise that I am a very small person in a very large population and I feel like “Evelyn” in “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”.  She has her first ever ‘job’ and moves overseas after 40 years of marriage and her husband’s death.  She embraces the new experiences and opportunities life presents to her, and she begins to ‘soar’.  “Life is about what you bring to it.” ~ Evelyn, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”.

I want to soar, too.

By 7.30am, yesterday, I had blogged, checked emails and Facebook; made a birthday card, written on the card, and organised for Kels to post it on the way to the bus; made Kels’ lunch and created my breakfast; put washing on and fixed the blinds.

I spent my stamping time listening to a clairvoyant reading from 1999 ~ a bit of a time warp!  I was listening to my 18 month old daughter chatting/coughing/crying while Lee and I were talking ~ that was really weird!  And, I had an incredible insight into my life at 36.

The most astounding thing about the whole morning was the awareness that the things I was challenged with then are the same things I am challenged with now.  I still put the kids and David first.  I still do too much.  I still have issues about money.  Daniel still behaves in a similar fashion … I still don’t really understand Josh … I’m still attempting to “write my book” (I gave myself 5 years to do it!).

I think the only thing which has changed is I am more peaceful within myself.

It was a little difficult to switch back into current reality because ‘time-surfing’ is what I do and I really love it.  My life was so much more tumultuous when the kids were little.  My life is much smoother now.  I enJOY the kids a lot!  David and I still don’t have as much time together as we would like and I feel that there is a time warp happening here.  That seems to have been a common theme in our marriage, since the beginning.

Looking through a window in time to my younger self I find myself asking, “does change really happen?”

I guess I can see how I have ‘changed’ in the last 12 years: physically – definitely, but fundamental change has been much slower and probably happens because the kids have grown up moreso than me doing things differently.

I am really, really passionate about Past Lives.  This quest for understanding has coloured and influenced almost my entire life.

I love immersing myself in the past; earlier in this lifetime and in previous incarnations.  I love what I learn – even the ‘bad’ bits.  I understand so much more about who I am and how I became that way.

But, listening to a snapshot of my life just 12 years ago I wonder what I have learned and how I have become a ‘better’ me.  Today, I question whether change really happens?  Have I changed because I have actively worked at it or has it occurred because time has passed?

Food for thought.

Our ‘week’s’ theme is SIMPLICITY and, as always, I wondered what that was going to mean for me … I’ve chosen to focus on paying attention to my mind chatter.  The amount of ‘self-reproach’ and ‘negative chatter’ that goes on when I am mentally commenting on the happenings in my world, is astounding!

I noticed a theme happening and it involves a beautiful, vibrant mix of “guilt” and “putting others first”.  My first thought may be for myself but being a mum means that pretty much everyone else’s needs or ‘suspected needs’ comes ahead of mine.  When I explored that a little further, I found that there is a lot of guilt attached to a lot of my thinking.

Hmm.  Interesting.

So, this week, I am attempting to have a little “Simplicity” in my thoughts … it’s working - a bit.

Being an at home mum and forging a path in my own business of Intuitive Readings and Workshops, I have to be well organised and self-motivated.  My ‘own’ time is often impacted upon by the needs and happenings of 2 children still at home; life after school hours is often fully focused on ‘hanging out’ with Kels and talking, watching favourite shows on tv, and cooking.  Early mornings, traditionally ‘my’ time, are now often diluted with both a husband and a son eating breakfast, doing chores, preparing for the day.  Life is constantly changing.

It seems that just as I ‘get inspired’ by something like a new project, life becomes ‘all consuming’ and involves a change of awareness that is like living in a higher, faster gear.  I am super busy, super motivated, and all the little ‘extras’ just slot into the spare moments of time I have available.  It’s an awesome way to live … but not sustainable for any length of time.

Following on from that period of intense achieving is often a crash.  Over the years I have ‘crashed’ less and definitely with less intensity.  I have managed to balance the energies a little better so I don’t fly from extreme high to extreme low.  Of course, sometimes I ‘forget’ and fly so high that the fall is greater than usual and harder to recover from.

Then, I find myself where I am at now.

I have time and more energy to ‘do’ things but not much in the way of motivation and inspiration.

I find myself existing from workshop to family arrangement to moments of motivation with friends.  A lot of the things which have inspired me in the past, inspire me almost ‘not at all’, now.  Activities I relied on to re-motivate myself are looking a little dull.  The external source of inspiration seems to be lacking, or occuring kind of randomly.

So, I go back to basics.  What have I always loved to do that I haven’t indulged for a while?  How can I use that tendril of inspiration to motivate me to catch up on things that haven’t made it to the top of the priority list?

And, from there I ask myself, “What have I Always Loved to do that I haven’t had time to do, in the past?”

That’s where I am at now.

This week, I had 2 Vision Boards to create, for the last 2 months, to represent the monthly themes of my Soul Coaching (R) Oracle Card Medicine Wheel One Year Journey … I just didn’t have time or energy to create them, before.  My motivation was the upcoming Vision Board workshop I am facilitating.  I’ve had success with one of the boards: JOY ~ I ‘went back to basics’: sharing JOY, using colour, being creative, and I have a Vision Board I love.  It does help me feel Inspired.  I have not done my second one, GRACE, because I honestly can’t work out what to share or how to create it!  I can ‘see’ the learnings of the month and understand the messages from this oracle card …

What has helped me, through doing the Vision Board process, is the awareness that next month (my final month for this Medicine Wheel Journey) the theme is INSPIRATION.  Oh, YAY!  I feel quietly optimistic about the coming few weeks.  I feel that I will ‘find me’ again.  I will be able to focus on what Inspires me, and I will feel ‘alive’.

Going back to basics is the process which helps me ‘get inspired’, again.

What a JOY!

I love our Mastermind Monday sessions.

I am learning about being in the ‘student’ position rather than always being in the ‘teacher’ role and I am loving the experience of sharing the morning with such gorgeous women.

This term (’cause we all have kids at school we tend to work around school holidays), there is more focus on what I am doing with my journey ~ well, maybe that’s just my perspective because I normally focus on others ~ and I am being supported and guided beautifully.  My intention, for this next few weeks was to “learn”.  The others wanted to continue to “move forward” and to “find clarity”.  It’s really interesting that those supposedly random thoughts, before Easter, have been guiding lights for our path, since.  Without realising it we were spot on with our desires for future sessions.

We meet at a coffee shop, local to the other girls, each Monday morning at 10am.  The ritual involves chatting and catching up with life, ordering coffee, chatting with our lovely waitress (rapidly becoming a friend!) and settling into sharing what we achieved during the week.  What began as a commitment to building our fledgling businesses has become more about understanding what it is we really want from life and how to go about getting it.

Due to intense, high-flying energies, last term, we are in a period of renewal and we’re almost quiet by comparison, this term.  That’s been great, too, as we can reassess where things are at.  We have been enJOYing the opportunity to put significant ‘chores’ on our To Do Lists which haven’t had a chance to really get a look in before this.

Yesterday, I shared my maps – all the past lifetimes I have information for, so far, are now written onto location maps.  This created quite a bit of interest and I found myself giving impromptu past life readings!  We also use oracle cards, each session – one card at the beginning for ‘where we are at’; one for what we are focusing on in the session; then one before we leave, for the week ahead.  Really, really interesting was the fact that 2 of us got the same card at the beginning and the end of the session!  Thinking upon that message, I can see why it’s come up for me …

I am “committed” to writing and exploring my past lives.  YAY!

What a wonderful “Make Every Day Count” week, I had!

I really did have the busiest week, becoming moreso as the days progressed.  I always forget how much energy is involved with keeping up with daily oracle card messages and people’s posts on the Forum.   I ‘talk’ more on the Forum and less everywhere else!

I am happy to have achieved So Much, during the week, especially a couple of ‘big’ projects that were on the list.  I sent out all my Thank You emails to the amazing and generous people who supported me with my homework for the Soul Coaching (R) Oracle Card Reader certification process.  That took most of a day and was incredibly satisfying.  It was a real experience with Gratitude.  And, the absolute gift, in return, were the comments of congratulations and support I received from those same people.  How blessed am I?

My second ‘project’ for the week was to put all the past lifetimes I’ve accessed so far onto maps … that is now done and my geographical knowledge is so much better as a result!  I have a much healthier understanding of the countries of Africa and South America, in particular.    I am looking foward to showing the Mastermind Monday Ladies my maps, today.

As week’s go, I was really satisfied with the outcome of last week.  And, that was a delight in itself as I can’t recall feeling that way in a long time.

After ‘magical’ messages each day on the Gentle Warriors Forum, lots of inspiration and sharing was taking place and, again, there was a lot of soul searching and revelations experienced.  It’s such a wonderful process made so much more incredible by the honest and regular sharing by the people involved.  I am humbled by your support ~ thank you.

Another thing on my To Do List, last week, was to have a Past Life Reading with my dearest friend, Lee.  I decided that it really was time to have a look for a lifetime where I was successful ~ in honouring my ‘skills’ and messages ~ rather than being persecuted for my beliefs (there were a LOT of those lifetimes!).  Lee was, as always, AMAZING!  He took my hands, closed his eyes, and had an immediate impression of me as an Oracle in 12th century France.  I was revered and celebrated for my gifts of ‘seeing’.

Awesome.

We went on to talk about where to go from here with my past life exploration.  I have some fabulous direction, now, which has helped me to feel grounded and like there’s a ‘plan’ for the next few weeks.  I trust that it will become a story to share; maybe even a book.

My weekend was one of contrast:  a FABULOUS Saturday spent preparing food for dinner guests ~ lots of curry!  David, Kels and I made a curry each and I made a cheesecake for dessert.  What I enJOYed most of all with the process was creating my Rogan Josh paste from raw ingredients.  “Jamie” gave us the option of making the curry with a store-bought paste or creating our own.  I, of course, made my own because it’s FUN and it’s another way to Be Creative.  Mm-mmm.  It was MAGNIFICENT!!  (Which is really, really cool as I don’t really eat the curries we made!)  I LOVE taking fresh ingredients, chopping them up and then processing them so they become something so different and so inspiring!

To balance out the intensity of the busy Saturday, I spent the whole of Sunday in my pyjamas and watched movies.  I don’t recall the last time I spent the whole day in pjs!

Today is the beginning of a new week.  I was a little ‘lost’, yesterday, and my motivation was ‘hidden’.  Today, I have woken and rediscovered my purpose ~ preparing for some events later in the week, setting some goals, and doing something creative.  Always helps.  So does rockin’ music – my ‘wake up’ song, today, was The Choirboys!

And, this week’s Oracle Card Message is …

I am Grateful for …

~ the warm weather which has allowed me to get all the holiday washing dry

~ zucchini and feta fritters at Green Sage Cafe - YUM!

~ wonderful company for lunch … coffee … brunch … more coffee …

~ the feeling of ‘travelling’ when I stepped into the Asian Supermarket to buy Yum Cha goodies for Josh

~ being able to open my purse and always find money there

~ the ease and comfort of my beautiful car, “Lilly”

~ the motivation of dear friends to get back to doing what I truly love

~ time with Kels to cook a creative dinner, sit on the floor while eating and watching our favourite ‘hot boys’ (Hawaii Five-O)

~ the Nursery!  Walking around the plants and flowering seedlings is such balm for my Soul!

~ each and every traveller on the Motivational Magic Daily Oracle Card Journey, past and present, who are so willing to share openly and honestly.  Thank You!

~ the opportunity to create my own greeting cards and the gift of others enJOYing my work

~ all the people who communicate with me via email and so patiently wait for me to reply (it’s a really busy time when we are ‘journeying’!) – Thank You!

~ the opportunities flooding my awareness …

Thank You!

Yesterday was a big day!  I think there is so much going on this week that I am almost ‘flying’ to keep up.    I’m quite pleased that I have a couple of ‘free’ days coming up.

Mastermind Monday was fabulous!  We spent some time catching up and sharing about our happenings – well, actually I think I monopolised that part of the conversation! LOL.  What I love about meeting the girls on a weekly basis is the connection we feel to each other and how our approaches to life are so similar.   Usually, Amalia and I are really alike and Kate is the opposite.  Yesterday, we switched roles and it was Kate and I who were experiencing similar stuff – a lot of frustration – and Amalia was more peaceful.

This term, we are in more of a philosophical mindset.  We worked Really Hard, last term, so there’s a bit of ‘slowing down’ happening but it’s also about taking the time to do those things which slipped under the radar when we were so busy.

I find that quite frustrating because when I’m not feeling the Inspiration and the JOY excitement it’s a bit like not being really alive.  However, I am happy to have the opportunity to get through those less inspiring but equally important tasks – mostly.

When I slow down, I notice the ‘signs’ more … those ones I usually try and ignore!  No more brushing under the rug!  The girls have agreed to make me accountable for my actions.   I don’t usually struggle with accountability but there are a few things on my path that I know I need to do but have a lot of fear about doing them, so have procrastinated.   The fact is, though, that I am not really happy while I’m procrastinating and it’s making me frustrated which in turn makes me angry, and then it starts impacting on my physical health.   Groan.

So, the girls have agreed to keep me focused, over the next 10 or so weeks.

Baby steps.

Assuming I know what those steps are.

This week, my goals (for our Mastermind Monday session) include finishing off my Soul Coaching Oracle Card Reader commitments – pretty straight forward; just needs time allocated specifically for the process – and to start addressing my past life baggage.  Hmm.  As I wrote that I found my top lip curled up in ‘dislike’.  LOL.

I know what the ‘big picture’ looks like, for my future.  But, redressing the balance of some of my past life baggage appears to be essential to attaining that ‘big picture’.  And, I’ve been putting it off.  For ages.  I LOVE past life stuff.  But, I don’t enJOY the ‘drudgery’ kind of tasks (lack of inspiration and JOY!!).  That’s the excuse I’ve been using so as not to start recording, properly, the past lifetimes I’ve already explored.

Bigger than that, though, is working through the dozen or more past life experiences I’ve had which have resulted in my persecution; for speaking out of turn … heresy … being stopped from being all that I could be.   These are the stumbling blocks in my way.

So, today is the day.

The buck stops here.

I am going to manage this challenge the same as I have managed all the other challenges in my life, ’til now.

It’s going to be Hard!

[Makes me feel like vomitting, actually.]

But, today is the first day of stepping on the path of being TRULY All that I Can Be.  One day, you will know me.  You’ll have heard of my story (assuming you’re interested in past life stuff) and you will say “I remember her from that blog she used to write …”

I’m feeling vulnerable.

I know I can do this and I know it is absolutely the right path for me.

Wish Me Luck!

I feel a bit ‘cheeky’ sharing today’s oracle card from the Motivational Magic Daily Oracle Card Journey.  But, the ‘magic’ is drifting through my being and I am So Grateful!

After making the commitment to Making Each Day Count, yesterday, we spent a couple of hours browsing the Queen Victoria Markets and indulging in gorgeous fruit and veg – such amazing energy and life force in that section of the market!  I came home pretty tired so did some chores and then had some down time.  By the end of the day I had caught up on a lot of the holiday washing (thank goodness!), spent some quality time with Kels, caught up with a girlfriend with whom I explored the ‘current state of thinking’ we were both experiencing, and hung out with David, Daniel and Kels over a sumptuous roast dinner.

Today, I got up bleary eyed, chose a card, had a Moment of “Wow” excitement (only a ‘little’ Wow ’cause I hadn’t fully embraced my morning coffee at that stage!) because I knew that the message for today meant that it was time for NEW THINGS!  YAY!

The heaviness I’ve been experiencing is feeling more like ‘chocolate mousse’ inside me, rather than ‘solid’ chocolate … I feel a little more inspired by the possibilities available to me.

So, I took another card …

… and the day just seems to be getting better and better!

Wishing You a Magical Day filled with Inspiration!

Happy Monday!

Today’s the first day of the Motivational Magic Daily Oracle Card Journey, for April, and I have decided to focus on Making Every Day Count.  I love having the opportunity to really focus on something specific, during these weeks, because it is a finite time period that is of a manageable length and I can see what I have done, clearly, at the end.

After spending a lot of March ‘doing nothing’ because I was really tired and also because my arm was very sore, I am a little frustrated about how much ‘time’ goes past without my being aware of it.  I may have the opportunity to change some ways of thinking, this week, and see that everything I do is exactly the right thing to be doing, at that point in time.  Hmm.  I might be successful with that re-focus.

On the up side of this week’s commitment, I have a long list of all the things I want to get done over the next 10 weeks (a new school term begins tomorrow so it’s easy for me to work in blocks of a term’s length) and from that list smaller, more manageable To Do Lists are obvious.

Tomorrow, the girls and I are back to our weekly ‘Mastermind Monday’ sessions ~ we started them up in late February to help support and motivate each other with our business building.  After a fortnight off for school holidays I am sure we will be more than ready to get back ‘into the groove’.  I think that’s probably another motivation for my lengthy list of things to do, this term.  Knowing that we are going to meet up, each Monday, is great motivation for Getting Things Done!

Yesterday, Kels, David and I went to the Market, bought organic cauliflower for a “Jamie” recipe (we’ve already created next week’s Menu Plan!), wandered the market with coffee/hot chocolate in hand, indulged in a fabulous beeswax candle, and drove home via the side road stalls selling lemons and limes.  I love driving out in the rural areas!  I took the camera, too, so Kels and I got some photos ready for The JOYful Warrior.

After that, we hung out at home ~ still indulging the ‘holiday’ energy ~ and caught up on some recorded televison programs.  I think I did make the day count but I wonder if I could have appreciated it more?  Oh, well.  That’s part of the ‘re-programming’ of my thinking processes.  I’m sure I’ll be MUCH more appreciative by the end of the week!