Joy Express

Oh, my!  It’s another month of DECLUTTERING! 

I always look at this card, from the Soul Coaching Oracle Card Deck by Denise Linn, and think ‘what does that really mean?’  And, when I read the guide book, I realise that it’s pretty simple ~ declutter my environment and my body.  

Hmm. 

Today is my 1 year anniversary of attending Personal Training.  It has been one of the most life-changing commitments I have ever made and I am Very Grateful to Sharon, from Jigsaw Fitness, for being such a patient, understanding and knowledgeable Trainer.   The person I was, in June 2009, is not the person I am now, although I can remember ‘her’ quite clearly.  I was unwell, feeling disempowered, very unfit and pretty unhealthy.   

I am now much fitter, physically, and in significantly better health ~ mentally.  The reason I went to Sharon in the first place was for Mental Health.  I had had some really debilitating experiences with the thoughts getting completely out of control in my head; finding myself unable to get out of bed and unable to turn off those thoughts which were traveling at such speed and volume that I had to call David home from work to look after me.  Looking back on that time,  it was one of the more terrifying experiences I have had.  After some recuperation time with Mum, acupuncture and philosophy from a lovely guy who mum knows, some rest and good eating, I was Much Improved.  And much more aware of how I needed to manage my thoughts. 

My 44th year ended on a busy note.  I booked in for an assessment with Sharon – spent half the time tryng not to cry , made a commitment to attend personal training twice a week (expecting to not be successful at that commitment), went to Alice Springs with Lovely Beverly - which was Healing and Life Changing, and greeted my 45th Birthday with a sense of Purpose and Excitement. 

It was a rocky 6 months and the beginning of 2010 was pretty intense, too.  However, all these experiences have allowed me some Great Learning.  This year, I have really stuck at Personal Training and I have found exercises Sharon got me to do last year seem much more manageable this year.  Even more importantly, I can recognise when my thoughts are heading down that path of chaos!  I spend much less time lurching from thought to crisis to thought.  I am significantly more aware and more mindful of managing an ‘even-temperedness’.   

So, in writing this, I can get a sense of what June is going to be all about.  It will be a continuation of  Learning How to Be More Mindful.  And, maybe, as Sharon suggested, yesterday, Healthy Eating might just become a priority.

Life is full of …

Stamping ~ creating projects for Stampin’ Kids; making birthday cards for the many gorgeous people who share a birthday in June; planning Christmas Cards for my Christmas Stamping Workshop.

Working … I’m getting into a routine with working one day a week at Essence of Isis ~ Oh!  Suzie has changed her name!  She is now “Susanah Isis” (I didn’t know that at the time of writing!). And, readings and Angel events, locally.  Suzie is holding an OPEN DAY on June 5 so if you are in town, come along and say Hi!  I will be doing Free Mini Angel Readings.

Kids … Daniel is in Perth, Josh has exams coming up, Kels is planning and replanning her birthday.

Travel … making plans to squeeze in a short ‘vacation’ in July ~ hopefully ~ and booking flights & hotel for the I Can Do It weekend in Sydney in August.

Grey’s Anatomy … I indulged in Series 1 and 2 when out buying gifts for Kels and I LOVE it!

Food … attempting to honour my body’s needs and eat healthy grounding food … we’ve eaten wonderfully, this week, but it sure is time consuming!

Cold weather; wet days; washing, washing, washing; changing routines; keeping in touch with friends and family … everyday JOYs.

… is how I am feeling, this morning.  Groan.  Not the most wonderful way of starting a Thursday but honest.  I seem to have lost my ‘writing mojo’ or at least it’s been turned off at this time of the day because I haven’t felt inspired for a while, now.  And, if nothing is happening that’s inspiring during the day, then there’s no stimulation to write in the morning.  Which is most frustrating.

So, the reason I’m tired is I have a new life happening.  David is back at work; Josh is back at work; Daniel is working all the hours he can and is currently away on a road trip for work; and Kels is ‘flexing’ her muscles in an ‘I want to be more independent’ way.  All of these things are WONDERFUL ~ even Kels’ stuff because it’s a sign that my “baby” is growing up and really ready to finish primary school.  Woo Hoo!  [imagine me doing the happy dance, here]

My life is absolutely fantastic!  I am doing all those things which I’ve longed for and dreamt about for quite a few years, now.  In the last week, I have started at a new venue ~ Essence of Isis, in Thomastown ~ doing Angel Readings, and it’s just wonderful!  Lovely Suzie, the owner of Essence of Isis is a gorgeous woman whom I met while doing Rachelle Charman’s Crystal Awakening Intensive Workshop, last year.  We shared some really heavy healing sessions, then met up again at the Advanced Workshop in April.  She is just gorgeous, passionate about Crystals (hence opening a Crystal Shop), and a fellow Gemini.  It’s great fun to be working with her, once a week.   I have also been doing readings at home and indulging in Angel Lunches & Oracle Card Reading Practise Sessions. 

Stamping is fabulous, too, and my business is building there, as well.  I was never intending to stay a demonstrator as long as I have (more than 2 years) but I just LOVE Stampin’ Up! product and projects and people!!  So, I decided to build on that, as well. 

Combine all that with the happenings in the family and for the first time ever I am working all the hours I can doing all the roles and wearing all the hats that come with it.  I can’t decide if being busy is what makes me tired, or if it’s surfing Angel Space for significantly more hours, or it’s keeping up with all the family happenings, or the colder weather, or that I am missing David, terribly.  All I do know is that I feel tired and battered and I’d really rather not be feeling that way!

Today, I am indulging in a couple of hours at the hairdresser (gosh, the grey hairs have even made their presence felt more obviously!!) and my 3rd session of Personal Training  for the week ~ Thank God, for Sharon!!  She is keeping me grounded and healthy and well and balanced with all my Angel Space surfing and I am So Grateful! 

We will even get to have Family Dinner ~ YAY!  Well, minus one.

And, as I get to the end of this post my coffee has kicked in and I am feeling a little better.  It’s ok to be feeling a bit ‘tired and battered’ when I look back over all I have achieved, this week (did I mention I’ve also managed to fit in “cleaning” the house?  Not high on my priority list but had become essential.  LOL) and I will feel better as the day goes on.  I’m off to squeeze in a little stamping before breakfast.

Thanks for ‘listening’. 

After being Inspired to Declutter, last week, we had a Family Decluttering Session, over the weekend.  Not that all the kids were overly inspired to participate but they did help us with clearing out the tops of their wardrobes. 

David and I decided to choose just a couple of areas which could be cleaned out ~ I am notorious for getting inspired by a project and going all out with it.  David’s wisdom (and previous experience) tempered that for me and we only worked on a selection of areas.  We had to do all the tops of the wardrobes because we needed all the space to put things back.  We have almost no storage area in our house as we are built on a concrete slab and have cathedral ceilings.

A few hours later, toys and games and junk were strewn across the loungeroom floor.  I called a family meeting and everyone was instructed to vote Yes or No about keeping different things in the piles.  Mostly we cleaned out old board games and jigsaws.  The kids were fantastic remembering their ’special’ keepsakes which had all been stashed into one or two boxes together and therefore beyond my memory of which thing belonged to whom.

After time off for lunch, David, Kels and I popped out to buy 6 large plastic tubs with lids and came home to pack up the ’goodies’ we had decided to keep.  Now they are sitting neatly in the tops of the wardrobes, safe and tidy.  We have 2 large garbage bags of rubbish to throw out and a few tubs of keepsakes for the kids to take with them when they start their ‘independent’ lives.  All in all, a job well done.

But, most importantly, the energy in those areas is Clean and Crisp and Energised.  It’s just like putting the crystals outside for a Full Moon Energy Bath … they come back in sparkling with health and wellbeing.  Now our ‘dark’ corners of the house are experiencing the same thing.  And, WE are feeling better, too!

I Love preparing for NEW things and NEW events.  I Love creating NEW projects for stamping, like this week’s Pot Luck Stamp-A-Stack cards, and NEW ways to inspire things I am already doing.

My recent stamping projects are very reflective of this process.  I have used up a lot of my stash of cards, in recent times, and noticed that, apart from birthday cards, the category in my stash which was most depleted was the ‘miscellaneous’ selection.  They’re the cards I use to Say Hello … or Thank You … or to Acknowledge a Friend.  The next MOTHER EARTH DREAMING workshop is all about Sacred Space and Norma and I will be sharing tips and processes for Decluttering.  As is the way when I am planning a workshop, the process is one which I seem to have to actually participate in, too.  Very appropriate at the moment because I have heaps of stuff in my Stampin’ Stash which really needs to be used up ~ so there is plenty of space for the NEW product available in the Autumn Winter Mini Catalog arriving in April!

I decided to create a bunch of ‘Pot Luck’ cards.  I call them ‘Pot Luck’ because I thought if I was offering a workshop for this project we would use whatever Designer Series Paper was in my stash, regardless of whether it was old or current product.  I chose a layout I liked, the stamp set which coordinated with the paper and Voila!  8 cards, 4 different sentiments, 2 colour combos.  Instant supply of Friendship Cards!

The Cleansing part of life involves sifting through ’stuff’ – physical and emotional – and working out which things need to be ‘decluttered’, which need to be ‘deleted’ (like all the old posts on Joy Express, or all the scrappy bits of paper and cardstock in my Stampin’ Stash), and which can be ‘recycled’ into something purposeful (like new cards from old product, or new ways of seeing old situations).

I LOVE Decluttering!  I’ve decluttered some ’symbolic’ things, this week; things which represent emotional baggage – Very Empowering!  In fact, at lunch yesterday, I gave Lovely Bernie an Archangel Oracle Cards Deck and suggested the ladies all took a card for themselves as the first part of readings over our meal.  My card was “Take Back Your Power” – Woo Hoo!  A timely reminder!  After a while, clutter builds up, in the craft room especially, and I find myself less able to think clearly.  So, a DECLUTTER is called for and, after a flurry of activity, peace and harmony reign supreme … and clear thoughts present themselves again.

Clear space and cleansed energy is the recipe for NEW ideas.  They formulate like seeds germinating in rich soil … they inspire a journey into new areas.  I really, really enJOYed creating one of the projects from UStamp With Love 2010 that I was inspired by at the time, but hadn’t made ~ a Designer Series Paper Card Holder and Matching Note Cards by Jenn Picard.  The process was new and challenging and thought provoking and a little bit complex but also very simple.  The outcome was FANTASTIC!  And, I think I have Fallen in Love all over again with the Pink Flamingo DSP from Stampin’ Up!

The same energy is going into my Angel Business.  This week, a flyer came from my local printing business and I am formulating new business cards.  I have decided to incorporate Fundraising for Charity into my events, to Give Back to Mother Earth and support the Environment and the Animals.  I have 3 one day workshops planned, with fabulous co-facilitators, to take place during the next 6 months, and meetings have been arranged so we can organise content and processes.  I have a wish list of Events to Attend ~ other people’s workshops which interest me and will allow me to access a whole lot of new information and concepts.  And, I have tentative dates for “Michelle Time”  which involve time out, nurturing & pampering sessions, and TRAVEL!

Cleansing and Clearing are a necessary part of Good Health and WellBeing.  They are a constant process … just when you get comfortable with the harmonious space, the cleansing and clearing process seems to need doing again.  I do think that comes from being a craft indulgent person.  LOL.  So, I put on some Fabulous Music, grab my Feather Duster, and dance through the cleansing/clearing/decluttering process ~ knowing I am actively working on Being JOYful!