Dolphin Magic

So I decided to splurge a few weeks ago and get five new Oracle Decks and I am so excited to share their wisdom and words with you!

This week's message comes from the Animal Dreaming Oracle Card deck and I absolutely love it. The cards are beautifully illustrated Australian animals and the messages are so powerful and in-depth.

The card that I pulled for this week is Dolphin who is breath.

Dolphin's message takes us back to the womb, to the healing waters that gave us life and gave us birth. Dolphin wants you to close your eyes and imagine yourself enclosed in warm waters.

Wrap yourself up in the safety and security. Let the water heal you. This is especially important if you had a bad childhood. Imagine yourself being rebirthed. Taking your breath for the first time. Dolphin is great to call upon for the birthing of creative products as well.

Even though Dolphin lives in the water it is essential for it to breathe. Breathing techniques can reduce stress and anxiety, enhance passion and sexuality, and allow for healing the body, mind, and spirit. Learning to control your breath, whether it be in meditation, or in other situations can have a profound effect on us. For example if you're really stressed out let yourself expel your breath in a big whooosh, just like the dolphin does as it rises out of the water. Let the stress and anxiety leave your body.

When dolphin shows up in your life you should ask yourself what is being given life in your creative womb? Are you getting enough fresh air and breathing deeply? 

Breathe new life into your life and into your ventures.

p.s. I love you alot.

p.p.s. I'd love to hear what creative dreams you are manifesting right now.

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Everyone Deserves the Chance to Fly

Good morning Wishcasters!

Just a little side note, this is my 200th blog post and I am so excited to share this milestone with you. I never thought I'd have the dedication to post so regularly but I have and it's been a beautiful experience. Here's to 200 more! This week's Wishcasting Wednesday prompt is:

What heights do you wish to reach?

Upon reading it, for a good hour, I had no idea what I wanted to write about. I am not an ambitious person. I've tried to be, but it's just not there and I don't feel the need to make myself into something that I'm not. I've been at my "day job" for almost eight years now and every year my managers ask me to consider getting into management. They've pleaded, promised, and pushed and always I just say no. I'm happy doing what I do and doing what I do well. That's enough for me.

I don't need to rise above. I need to do what I do and be happy doing it and I am.

Even with Blessing Manifesting, I look to the top of the mountain with no desire to climb it. I'll happily wander the paths below, sharing with those that want to be shared with. That is where my bliss lies. So I had difficulty answering this so I googled "quotes about height" but I didn't find anything that inspired me until I saw a link for the song "Defying Gravity" (I love this version best) and my reaction was "I know that song! I love that song." and I realized that it fit perfectly for this.

The story Wicked is the Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba's point of view. You discover that she's not Wicked, her path was just different. She didn't want to conform to the Wizard's ideals of government. She wanted to do her own thing. What felt right to her. Popularity didn't matter to her, she just had to follow her heart.

Elphaba: So if you care to find me

Look to the Western sky!

As someone told me lately

Everyone deserves the chance to fly

And if I'm flying solo

At least I'm flying free

To those who ground me

Take a message back from me!

The heights I wish to reach are of my own making.

While I am not ambitious, I do strive to always do better. My heights and my success are set by me and no one else. So, even though the heights I want to reach may not be the top of a great, mighty, mountain, as long as I follow my heart and Great Spirit, I know that I'll be exactly where I need to be.

What heights are you wishing to reach?

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Meditation Worksheet + Challenge

Hey my darling!

Guess what! Guess what! On June 3rd we're having our first ever meditation challenge! I am so excited. Meditation is so awesome, and so are you! Awesome! It's been a good day, hopefully you're having a good day too. We all deserve good days.

To help out with this challenge here's a worksheet just for you to print out so that you can keep track of your meditations. How you meditate, how you feel afterward, what thoughts came to you. I am so excited for this! 

So what is this challenge? It's super easy, and super doable. If you have 10 minutes a day, you can do it. What we're going to do is every day, for seven days straight, we're going to meditate. It can be once a day or twice a day, that's totally up to you. It can be fore five minutes, fifteen minutes, an hour... whatever you have time for is great. I'm a huge fan of Guided Meditations, but if you want to sit in silence, or play music, pray, it's ALL good

Hopefully you'll join us! I am so very much looking forward to it! You can check out all of the details right here!

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Lemon Essential Oil

Today we're going to chat about lemon essential oils and its place in magical house cleaning. Lemon is a great scent to use to clean because not only is it a natural disinfectant but it's also bright and energizing.

Something that I love to do when I am cleaning is to add a few drops of essential oil to a bucket of hot water and then use it to wipe down my walls. It gets dust and grime off, leaves your space shining (sometimes you wouldn't believe the difference it makes) and it smells pretty.

Something that I love doing while I clean is to sing happy, inspiring songs. When you fill your space with happy words I think it lingers. It adds to the atmosphere, it sets things aglow even if you're the only one that notices or sees it.

Lemon essential oil has so many house hold uses. For an air freshener you can fill a spray bottle with water, a few drops of oil, shake and then spray it everywhere. To make a natural cleaner you can add 1/4c of vinegar to a bucket of water and then you can add 5-10 drops of oil. You can use this on your floors, counters, dishes, windows, or anything else that needs a good scrubbing.

Lemon also has other uses. Holistically its scent is said to help lighten bad moods and depression. Because it is so uplifting it is also used to create a happy and cheerful atmosphere. It is also used to aid in concentration. Adding a few drops to a diffuser when you're working might be able to help you focus.

If you can't get your hands on essential oils you can also look into buying lemon scented candles or air fresheners that use essential oils. I go through stages where I get really attatched to a certain oil at different parts of the year. Lemon reminds me of that transitioning from Spring to Summer so I really enjoy it around this time of the year.

What's your favorite essential oil? Have you ever used them to clean with?

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Emotional Self Care

Emotions are a lot like being in water. When your emotions are overwhelming sometimes you feel like you are so helpless to do anything. You drown in the despair, the anger, the sadness, it pulls you under and you lose sight of the sun.

You don't have to drown. Sometimes it's enough to just be still, to float on the waves, to calm yourself so you aren't pulled under. Other times you have to gather yourself and start swimming to shore.

Emotional Self Care is knowing when to float and when to swim. When you get to know yourself well enough a lot of the time you're able to deal with your emotions a lot better. The number #1 rule to emotional Self Care, the one that you have to pinky-promise not to forget, is this:

Do not ignore your emotions.

This doesn't mean you have to stop what you are doing. This doesn't mean you have to break down. It means that you take a moment to acknowledge that yes, you are hurt/sad/lonely/depressed. Then you go from there.

When you practice Emotional Self Care, you learn what you need when you need it.

Like a mother recognizing her baby's cry, you'll recognize your own triggers. You'll realize what you need to do to cope to allow yourself to feel better when you start feeling certain things. I want you to feel better when you start feeling things, I don't want you to stop feeling altogether. We need to be sad/depressed/angry. Having those emotions means that our minds and bodies are working. It means we're human.

What you need to stop is escalation.

How many times have you been in a slightly bad mood and completely ignored it? You feel it progressing, getting worse, getting angrier, and before you know it, you just explode and your whole day is ruined. Or perhaps you wake up feeling sad and you push yourself too much that day and by the end you're berating yourself, feeling worthless, or questioning why you even exist.

If you would've taken the time to journal or talk to a friend, you could cut the escalation off before it starts. If you had decided that a hot bath, and a nap, was what you needed, you could've felt better. If you'd worked up to courage to ask someone for a hug, just so you didn't feel so alone, you might have realized you aren't.

What you do for your emotional self care is different for everyone. Going for a jog might help me work through my anger but it might do nothing for you. That's cool. What you need to do is make a list of activities you can do when you feel angry, jealous, or when you feel depression coming on. Separate the activities by how much time they require. Maybe you wake up on a work-day and don't have time to take a long walk, call a friend, or write three pages in your journal. Sometimes taking a deep breath, holding a crystal, or having a quick, hot, shower, is all you can do to stay afloat.

Come up with a plan for what works for you. Always, always, be gentle and compassionate with yourself. Being angry or resentful towards yourself just makes things worse. Feelings are not the enemies.

Journaling Prompts: Do you have a plan when you start feeling strong emotions? What do (or can) you do to make yourself feel better?

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Sacred Journey and Mary Magdalene

Hello my loved Sweeties,

It's time for another stop on our Journeys, a check-in with one another. A place of hugs, gentle soothing whispers, songs of triumphs and you-can-do-its.

“It's funny how, in this journey of life, even though we may begin at different times and places, our paths cross with others so that we may share our love, compassion, observations, and hope. This is a design of God that I appreciate and cherish.”― Steve Maraboli

So let's have a chat about where we are right now.

Here's what's going on with me. For as long as I can remember I've been interested in woman's spirituality, paganism, and Wicca. I wasn't raised in a very religious household but I did go to a Christian church for a few years when I was very young. When I started studying other paths I found myself forming a dislike for the Christian beliefs. It's never been something that I gave very much thought to, or something that I read a lot about. Until lately. I've been very interested in the story of Mary Magdalene.

My interest in her kind of popped up out of nowhere and now I am very interested in her story and her place in history. I think part of it stems from how I identify with how she transformed. She was seen as a sort of fallen woman and upon embracing her spirituality and her devotion to it, she became something more. Good stuff.

I've also been reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant which again goes back to biblical references even though it's fiction. It is the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and her story from a woman's point of view. I'm only past the first 100 pages, and so far the story centers around Jacob's four wives, and Dinah and their lives as well as their time spent in the Red Tent. The Red Tent is where women were sent during menstruation every month, as well as where they birthed their children, and shared their secrets.

It's really empowering from a female perspective and it has really deepened my need for sisterhood.

What else is going on with me? I've talked a lot about the friendship that I let go of last year. I am going to end up seeing her next week. Her husband is my best friend, as well as my co-worker, and very bestest computer game partner. He and I have been friends for almost five years now. Anyway, I invited him and his kids to go see the Avengers with me. I told him that if he felt called to invite her as well I would be okay with it. I didn't want to cause a jealousy issue or make anyone feel left out. He did end up extending the invitation to her and now I think I regret it.

It is not that I have any ill-will towards her, quite the opposite. It has been a year since our friendship ended and I secretly wish that things could be okay. That this would lead to a re-kindling of our friendship. That things might really be better. The truth is, I believe that those feelings are one-sided. I do not believe she would want a friendship with me and I'm okay with that. I just know that I have tender feelings and I do not want them to be hurt.

I have mentioned I have trouble letting go, right?

Ultimately I know that it'll be okay and I'll have a fine time. If I do end up feeling fragile afterwards, that's okay too. I know what to do to take care of me. I know just the salves and balms to rub lovingly on those sore spots. I just needed to get it out a bit.

So this week I ask you, what struggles are you having? What are you loving, enjoying, reading? What are you proud of? If you have a blog, post the link to your favorite post of the week. If you like to photograph, let us see the picture! I love to spend just a few moments with you, sharing in your life and in your journey.

Much love to you sweet soul.

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Beauty and the Beast

Right now my newest deck of Oracle Cards, Wild Wisdom of the Faery Oracle is singing to me. I opened the cards excitedly hoping I would feel that wonderful feeling, the one that I can't explain, the one that whispers "These cards were meant to be held by you." Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. There are several decks that I just don't connect with. When it does happen, I know that these cards hold truth and wisdom for me. That there is a connection, and that the readings that I do with them will be beautiful and true.

As I was looking through the cards, admiring the beautiful artwork, this card jumped out at me more than the others.

Beauty and the Beast. Unconditional love.

It reminded me of my favorite Disney Princess, Belle. I just loved her, she liked to read books, and I thought that she was the prettiest. What made me love her the most was that she fell in love with the Beast. She could see past appearances. It was the same reason that I loved Esmeralda and Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I identified with the Beast and with Quasimodo, I always thought there was something wrong with me, something unlovable, and that to truly be loved by someone, they would have to see past all of my faults and all of the ugly things about me.

The thing about unconditional love, is that we have to give it first to ourselves.

We all have "ugly" sides, faults, mistakes, those parts of us that we hide from everyone else so that we can look perfect on the outside, or at least a little bit sane. You know what you really really REALLY need to know about that? Love yourself anyway. You're not perfect, you're never going to be perfect, so don't bother holding out on the love for something that's not going to happen. You unconditionally love your children, your partner, your family... unconditionally love you.

Right now you are worth loving.

So very much worth loving.

True Story.

Journaling Prompts: Do you love yourself unconditionally? What steps can you take to start loving yourself right now?

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Wishes and Why I Hate Walking Away

I'd love for you to join the Tribe of Wishcasters! Every Wednesday we flock to our blogs, we answer a question, and then we all visit each other and leave a comment like "As you wish for yourself, so I wish for you as well." It's a great way to connect, to share, to find GREAT new blogs, and to bring our wishes one step closer to manifesting. So join in! Today we are asked:

What do you wish to walk away from?

Oh question how you make my brain hurt. I ran through a mental list of things that this could apply to. What first popped into my head was judgement of others, but then I realized, I'm pretty sure that I've allowed myself to work through a lot of those feelings. My next thought was my childhood, but there's still lots to dig into, to work through, great big chunks of wisdom to be found. Then I realized what I need to walk away from. Something I've struggled with. I wish to walk away from the guilt of walking away. It all comes down to this.

"You don't just walk away from people. You don't just throw people away." - Grey's Anatomy

That's how I've been conditioned to feel. I've been walked away from many times in my life, for no discernible reason. My biological father chose not to be a part of my life. My grandfather disappeared from my life after my grandmother died when I was eleven. Growing up, I had no close family which led me to rely very heavily on my mother. When she got into a relationship that eventually led her to get remarried, I felt like she no longer needed me. She no longer put me first, and to my teenage-self this just felt like one more person who walked away.

I don't do well with walking away, not from people.

To me, letting someone share with you, in a deep way, and then deciding not to have them in your life is the worst thing that you can do to another human being. Forget mental and verbal abuse, forget constant fighting, forget the fact that being around them makes you miserable. You just don't leave.

This was showcased best by my first relationship. He was married and spouted that whole I-am-leaving-as-soon-as-I-can with a dash of I-need-to-think-about-my-kid. The relationship tore me down mentally, spiritually, and physically. I was constantly lied to, he never spent time with me, there were so many broken promises, I gave him over a thousand dollars to "help" him move out which I later found out he spent on his wife's debt. To top it off he ended up having an affair with someone else. That was the breaking point and I broke up with him. Do you know what I did after that? I tried to get back together with him, because you don't leave people and you don't let them leave you.

Colossal epic failure.

Funny ending to that story, he walked away from me. I learned buckets of wisdom from that situation. It showcased my lack of self-esteem and self-worth. It showed me where all of the cracks in my soul and heart were. It let me know that I had absolutely no love for myself and it ultimately set me on my current path. Yet I still couldn't get over my hang up on letting go of people.

I'm getting better. Last year I walked away from a friendship that did nothing but hurt me and drag me down and her down. I still struggle with the guilt of walking away. I still agonize that I should have stuck with it, I regret that decision some days, and other days I pat myself on the back and say "That was growth, keep growing."

So what this long drawn out tale is meant to say, is that

I wish to walk away from the guilt of walking away.

Sweet wishings to all of you beautiful souls.

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Free Evening Inventory Worksheet

Mornin' my Loves!

Today's freebie is all about taking stock of your day. Your Evening Inventory Worksheet. The things that you have accomplished, the things that you need to let go of. You can't carry your troubles with you into your sleep. that doesn't make for sweet dreams.

One of the things I really want to accomplish with my business (it still feels so weird to say that!) is to help you be kinder, sweeter, and gentler with yourself. If I can accomplish that for just a few people, then I feel like I'm doing a good job.

There's nothing better than that.

Speaking of "Inventory" don't forget to check out this week's most awesome posts. Gettin' Your Dance On, Top 5 Favorite Guided Meditations, Sacred Journey, and Love You All the Days.

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Top 5 Favorite Guided Meditations

Here at Blessing Manifesting I love talking about meditation because it's had a huge impact on my life. You can read about Meditation with Loran's Heart and The Cliff. I love all types of meditation, I've meditated while dancing, while using prayer beads, while chanting, while sitting quietly, while listening to music, laying quiet and still in a yoga classroom. All great ways to bliss-out and find your center.

Guided meditations are my favorite.

A guided meditation is a recording or mp3 that you listen to with your eyes closed and allow your imagination and your mind to be transported somewhere else. I have a pretty big arsenal. At one point I had over 60 mp3s but I've pruned it down a little. All but one of my Top 5 are completely free so I hope you enjoy them!

Meditation Oasis
Go here. If you go anywhere, here is what you want to go. 45 meditations for free, covering about anything you can think of. Pregnancy meditations, meditations for children, build your intuition, strengthen your compassion, there are so many! Gratitude, Letting Go, and Simply Being are my three absolute favorite ones. Oooo, maybe we need to have a meditation challenge where we listen to one of these meditations each day for a week or two. Let me know in the comments if that sounds like something you all want to do!

Goddess Workshop by Suzanne Corbie
This one you have to pay for but if you are into Goddess Spirituality it is so worth it, and I don't say this lightly. The Meditation to Connect with the Mother Goddess is my all time favorite off of the CD. (You can buy just this track on amazon and itunes for .99) You literally imagine yourself becoming Mother Earth. Your breath becomes the winds and the breezes, the waters from the rivers, seas, and oceans, flow through your body, you feel yourself sprouting branches. This meditation really makes me feel connected to the Earth. I adore it.

The Cliff by Meditation Australia
I could go on and on forever about my love for this meditation. If brought me closer to the God Shiva and sparked my passion for learning about Hinduism and Eastern Religions. You can read my blog post about my love for it. Signing up for Meditation Australia is free and so are the wonderful meditations. The Cliff starts out with imagining yourself standing on the edge of a cliff, looking out over the ocean as the sun begins to rise. You step forward, until just one foot is balancing on the cliff and then you lean forward and fall. It is beautiful.

Meditations by Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is actually a non-for-profit health insurance company but their website has some seriously great meditations. There are meditations to help those coping with cancer, fibromyalgia, and menopause, there are also meditations for anger, forgiveness, stress, and grief. They are all awesome and free. My favorite one is for easing grief, you can use it for broken friendships and relationships as well.

My Thought Coach by Stin Hansen
I love my Thought Coach, some of them require you buying a subscription but there are a lot of other free meditations for your listening pleasure. The Evening Inventory Meditation is really great if you feel yourself being loaded down with the day's stress at the end of the day.

So there you go my lovies, some great meditations to improve your life and to help you be all shiny and radiant.

So what do you say? Would you like me to create a Blessing Manifesting Meditation Challenge?

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Gettin' Your Dance On

Today I wanted to talk about dancing, one of my favorite ways to add movement into my life. If you look at physical self care, it's not just about massages and getting pampered (although that's totally part of it) but taking care of your body it a lot of different aspects, including exercise.

However, I like to think of it as intentional movement.

I love to jog, early in the mornings, while listening to zen-ny music. It makes me happy, but what I also like to do to get my body moving in a delicious way, is dancing. Today you have a Self Care Challenge. Make some time today to dance. There's about a gazillion ways you can do it. Put on some Beyoncé and butcher her moves, she won't ever know, promise. Find a Zumba Class, I've never done it but I hear it's fun. Vacuum or wash dishes and move while you do, it makes it go a whole lot faster and it can make you zen out and forget the fact that you're... ya know... cleaning.

A website that I absolutely love, and totally reflects how I feel about dancing is Spirit Moves Dance. 

I am a huge fan of Meg and I love who she is and what she does. She's just one of those people that shines out of the internet and you just adore them right off. She has a blog and I love reading her words, she's a pretty wise lady, and she's funny, and I love teh funny peoples!

In addition to being a self-described dancing ninja, she's a very accomplished dancer and teacher. If that's not enough reason to go and adore her, she just started doing free Dancing Telecircles, which are online dance parties that you can attend by signing up. (Doooo eeet!!!) There's also her Facebook Page if you want to stay up-to-date on things. You should also get thee to her youtube channel for some super inspiring videos of dance!

Find a way to daaaaance until your heart's content. In the living room, in the dark, with your friends, online, or with perfect strangers! And that sounds kinda dirty but I promise it's not!

Do you like to dance? What's your favorite way to move your body? How do you feel when you dance?

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Sacred Journey: May 18th

Good morning my blossoms.

Last week I realized that this is my heart-work. Blessing Manifesting is not just a place for me to talk about my life. It is a place for us to share with each other. You and me. Our tribe, our family. When you get down to it, we're all in this together.

Today I create this sacred space, where you can share with me. Share with me what you are working on, physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. 

Share with me the things that you are in love with. Share with me the things you're figuring out, wishing for, and hope to be. I would love that. You can also share anonymously. You do have to put in your email address but I can't see it so no one will ever know. You can read last week's here.

Gentle sharing, with no judgement. Just lots of hugs and hand holding.

I also want to share more personal thoughts with you here, each Friday. I'm not perfect, I know this, and I'm sure you know this too, but I want you to witness those things, my wisdom and my flaws. My thoughts and imperfections. I don't want to just reflect on lessons of the past, but wisdom I am learning at this moment.

Something that I've been mulling over sharing is about my biological father. I've mentioned it a few times in posts but never spoken out right about it because it's something that is still incredibly close to my heart and I feel shame about talking about it because I never felt comfortable enough to talk about it.

I'm biracial. My mother is white and my father is black. By the time I was born my mother had already married someone else who was also white. I then had two siblings who were white. At some point when I was six or seven, my mother told me that my father wasn't my biological father. I don't remember her telling me, but I always knew that I didn't fit in. People would ask me why I was a different color. I remember telling other children on the playground that I had got very sunburned one summer and I had a permanent tan. I always felt ashamed by the fact that I was different. I felt ashamed that I had never even met my biological father.

People would always ask me if I was adopted or if I was a step child, and this reinforced my feeling that I didn't fit in.

If other people could see that I didn't fit in, then plainly I didn't.

My Mom and Dad got divorced and at one point I found out that he wasn't paying child support for me, even though his name was on my birth certificate. I began to feel so guilty for any money that my struggling single mom spent on me. 

I have always struggled with feeling like I wasn't supposed to be me and that I was an inconvenience being who I was. I discovered later in life that my Dad didn't know that I wasn't his child until a few years after I was born. Was that a factor in their divorce? I don't know. I always felt like my grandparents on his side resented me. And why shouldn't they? My mother had "trapped" their son into marriage. I felt like his whole family hated me.

I also wondered about my bio-dad. Why he never wanted visitation with me. I resented him as well. My mother had got pregnant with me when she was 19 and I found out my bio-dad had been 40 at the time. So much older, that worried me. Had he taken advantage of her? Hurt her? I still don't know. I've worked up the courage a handful of times to ask my mom about him, but those are always the hardest conversations that I've ever had. She always says a few nice things about him. That I was meant to happen.

Two years ago I wrote my bio-dad a letter for the last time. I told myself that if he didn't respond then I would let it go forever. Six months later I got a Christmas Card and a photograph of him. 

I had waited 25 years to see his face and when I finally did, something clicked inside of me and I knew that the journey was over.

It was too late for me to forge a bond, to get back 25 years of not knowing him. He's almost 70 years old now. I know that I might not be able to change my mind in ten years, or twenty years, and I feel at peace with that decision.

I still struggle with how I felt growing up, and there's still a lot of things that I haven't dealt with. However, it has made me into the person I am today and I know that I will find those paths to healing when I need to find them. One step at a time. 

Today I ask you to walk with me for a little bit, to tell me about what's on your mind and in your heart.

If you want to walk with me in silence, that's okay too. I know you are here with me, and I am there with you too. A word, a sentence, your life story, it's all okay, and it is all welcomed here, you can also post completely anonymously in the comments.

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Love You All The Days

Today's Oracle Card comes from Louise L. Hay's Wisdom Cards which I just completely love. If you need some great affirmations, a dose of daily self love and acceptance, then get thee out and buy these. Today's message is this:

I love being me.

So I want you to think about this? Do you honestly and truly love yourself right here in this moment? 

I hope with all of my heart that the answer is yes.

For many, many, years my answer to that was a resounding "no". Last year I was looking through my journals, I have many, many, journals, but this one was one of my first. I believe I was thirteen or fourteen. I was also very sad. I talked about how I felt like no one loved me and no one was going to love me. I waxed poetic about a crush that I had who didn't know I existed. How I was fat an unattractive. I talked about how I wanted to be a fashion designer so that I would finally be beautiful.

My heart ached for that person. Knowing that she would feel that way still almost a decade later. Knowing that in the end she would spend over a third of her life feeling that way. I just wanted to squeeze her tight and tell her:

You don't have to feel that way.

And if you are feeling that way, right now, I am here to tell you what no one ever told me. You don't have to hate yourself. You don't have to hate your body. It is possible to find just a spark of love for yourself and to turn that into something more. Something amazing.

How have your feelings for yourself evolved throughout the years? What are the things that you most love about yourself? How can you improve your relationship with yourself?

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The Potential of a Seed

I'd love for you to join the Tribe of Wishcasters! Every Wednesday we flock to our blogs, we answer a question, and then we all visit each other and leave a comment like "As you wish for yourself, so I wish for you as well." It's a great way to connect, to share, to find GREAT new blogs, and to bring our wishes one step closer to manifesting. So join in! Today we are asked:

How do you wish to grow?

I really have no idea! Oftentimes I don't start writing this blog until I know what I am going to write, today's different because I want an answer for myself. I want it to flow out of me and what better way to do that than to put the fingers to the keyboard and let the words out?

I wish to grow into my inner wise woman.

There, that's it. I think what got me stuck was the word "grow". It invokes the thought of slowness, of a process, of watering, soil, and sunlight. Something that isn't easy, yet happens beautifully when it is time.

Growing isn't an easy process, especially for me because I resist change so strongly. However, to be that person that I see in my mind... the changes, the pain, the uncomfortable-ness of transformation, the straining against the old, the tentative embracing of the new... it's all worth it to be that person that I know I am.

A seed knows what it has the potential to become the moment it is planted into the earth. Whether or not it actually becomes that depends on the work that is put into it. The rain, the sunlight, the room for the roots to dig deep into the ground.

That's how you grow.

That's how I wish to grow.

I will put in the work. I will prune my branches of what I don't need. I will let go of the things that are inhibiting my growth so that my roots have room to dig deep. I will water myself with love and compassion and I will allow myself to soak up the things that nourish me.

How do you wish to grow?

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Freebie Facebook Covers For Yooooou!

Happy Tuesday Blossoms!
Today I am sharing with you some covers for the Facebook Timeline! At first I didn't like the timeline, (and I still really don't) but you might as well go with the River of Change and make the best out of it right?

So let's make the best out of it with a few facebook covers to spruce things up and bring a smile to your face! You can find them on the Freebies Page!

P.S. You are beautiful. I know I say this a lot, all of the time, and it's because I need you to know it, because it's so true.

P.S.S. Have a super freakin' day!

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How to Pick a Crystal

I've noticed that I tend to just jump into topics without giving you some background, so every now and again we're going to get back to the basics! I used to wonder how in the world you were supposed to pick out crystals. I'd hear stories of being drawn to stones, of feeling their energy and knowing they were right for you.

Honestly, the first few times I was around crystals I felt a big ol' nothing. 

I remember I was out shopping with a friend a long time ago and she handed me a crystal and knowingly said, “Do you feel that?”

I didn't feel anything and I felt so awkward that I just wasn't getting it, that I just nodded without saying anything because I didn't want to look silly. After all, I was in to all this New Age stuff, following your intuition and whatnot, I shouldn't have to be taught how to feel something like that.

I began to question if maybe I wasn't very intuitive and receptive after all, maybe crystals just weren't for me.

The truth is, I was trying too hard.

You can't make yourself feel it, even if you think you should be able to feel it because you're awesome like that. If you don't feel anything at first don't stress about. The key is allowing yourself to be receptive. Keep an open mind, don't force it, and you'll “feel” it eventually.

So how do you pick a crystal?

The easiest way is just to choose crystals that you feel drawn to. Like you feel you ought to have. I've been in shops with no intention of buying crystals that day and I see one and it makes me feel like I ought to take it home with me. If you turn to walk away and feel like it needs to come with you and you're going to regret it if you don't get it right now, then that's a stone for you. 

A lot of people swear by using your “receptive” hand. Your receptive hand is the one that you do not write with. In energy healing, the (usually) left hand is used to receive energy and the (usually) right hand is used to give energy. I tend to feel it equally with either hand. 

To experiment with this you can hover your hand over one crystal, or a group of crystals, to see if you feel drawn to one. You might feel a warmth or a tingling, a buzzing, a pull, or just a feeling that you can't explain. 

Just like people, you might not mesh with every crystal you meet but when you find one that resonates with you, don't let it go.

You aren't going to like every stone you come in contact with. For example I do not like working with Tiger's Eye or Moonstone. I don't know why, but these two just rub me the wrong way and give me the heebiejeebies. Tiger's Eye, for example, is really good for protection. So if that's something I feel like I need then I will look at other stones instead, like agate and black tourmaline. 

I recommend going out to a shop and buying one or two stones that call to you. Research them and see what they are meant to bring into your life. If you feel drawn to rose quartz maybe you need to start working on your self-love or your relationships. Crystals are wonderful for helping us to discover what needs to be balanced within us.

Journaling Prompts: Have you ever tried feeling the energy of a crystal? Are there some crystals that you are attracted to more than others? Why do you think that is?

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Taking Care of the Inside

Every Sunday we talk about self love, what it is and the ways we can practice it. A few weeks ago we talked about physical self love and today we're going to talk about psychological self love. Which is about loving what's going on inside of you.

We all need something different.

But one thing that I am convinced that we all need is time with ourselves. It's muchos importante to get to know ourselves and get to know what makes us happy.

Five years ago after my first and last relationship, I had absolutely no idea what I really liked or what I wanted. I knew that I spent a lot of time depressed, what sad music I liked, and that World of Warcraft filled up the in between time.

I had put so much of myself into a relationship that when I got out of it I realized that I had completely and utterly lost my sense of self. I think a lot of relationships are like that, at least the first one or two.

You need to take time to spend time with yourself, for yourself. Check in with what you are thinking and feeling. There are plenty of ways to do this and a lot of them are not going to take very long, it's worth it to make the time anyway. 

If you have a very busy day try waking up twenty or thirty minutes earlier than you have to just to fit in some "you" time.

Do something that you want to do, that makes you feel happy and joyful. Take an extra long bath, or sit outside and watch the sun rise. 

Lay in bed and have sweet, sweet, daydreams.

You can also write in your journal, read something silly, make time for self-reflection. Notice where your journey is taking you. Say "no" to demands on your time that drain you. Treat yourself right, end the self-hate and the criticism.

Journaling Prompts: What's your favorite way to get in touch with yourself? What are the things that you like to do just for you?

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Sacred Path + Notes of Love

Good morning my darlings.

So I've been thinkthinkthinking about our direction, mine and yours, and our path together, and then a beautiful idea came to me.

A sharing of our paths. 

Joining, intertwining, walking side-by-side, hand-in-hand. I share with you and I cherish those moments, but what lights me up, what really makes it all worth it, are the moments when you share with me too.

Today I create this sacred space, where you can share with me. Share with me what you are working on, physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. Share with me the things that you are in love with. Share with me the things you're figuring out, wishing for, and hope to be. I would love that.

Gentle sharing, with no judgement. Just lots of hugs and hand holding.

I also want to share more personal thoughts with you here, each Friday. I'm not perfect, I know this, and I'm sure you know this too, but I want you to witness those things, my wisdom and my flaws. My thoughts and imperfections. I don't want to just reflect on lessons of the past, but wisdom I am learning at this moment.

Right now I feel this urge to get to a point I'm not ready to be at. I want to get from Point A, which is realization, to Point C which is the final goal, and bypass point B - doing all of the work. Sometimes it's like a spiral and you get to Point C only to realize you have to start all over. I guess life is like that.

There's someone at my job that I really dislike. Everything about them bothers me and I find myself getting annoyed when one of my friends wants to spend time with this person. I'm trying to dig into the intricacies of why, so that I can deal with those feelings. There's something I read, that when you see traits in others that you dislike it is a reflection of what you dislike about yourself. Maybe there are hints of truth to that.

I think in the quiet, still, dark, corners inside of me I fear being replaced. Which calls my own feelings of self-worth into question. I should never fear that, because I am "me" and me is amazing and irreplaceable... so if that's not it... then I must not have trust in my relationships... Which brings more questions...

Explore all options and you'll find a moment of clarity, an answer, at some point. :)

I was reading this post this morning and I especially loved this one part. It gave me that little twitch inside that said "Think on this more."

The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. 

I don't know if I believe attachment and love cannot coexist and I don't think I can ever come from a place of pure detachment (can any of us?). I can blame it on my fiery, passionate, all-in, Leo nature, or I can just acknowledge that I know myself well enough to know how impossible that feels to me.

Loosening my grasp, letting go some, feeling things shift and widen, maybe that I can do.

I am in love with this song called Yet by Switchfoot. It's funny because it strangely enough makes me think of Blessing Manifesting and the passion that I have for the work that I do. "If it doesn't break your heart it isn't love. If it doesn't break your heart it's not enough. It's when you're breaking down with your insides coming out, that's when you find out what your heart is made of." It makes me think about how I feel when I pour out words here. So many times I have sat here with tears falling as a type, that's just how I am. So many times I've read my work months later and be moved to tears because those words came out of me and are mine. It breaks my heart sometimes, but in a good way, that I have done what I do and I have been what I am.

Today I ask you to walk with me for a little bit, to tell me about what's on your mind and in your heart. 

If you want to walk with me in silence, that's okay too. I know you are here with me, and I am there with you too. A word, a sentence, your life story, it's all okay, and it is all welcomed here, you can also post completely anonymously in the comments.

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Honesty

Today's card is Honesty. Look at that face, can you imagine that he would be anything but honest with you? The thing about Honesty is that he sees you just the way you are and he loves you anyway.

Honesty. Compassion. Tact. Self-deceit. 

Honesty is about being honest with yourself and others, pretty self-explanatory, eh? You need to be completely honest and leave no room for confusion or misunderstandings. Everything that you say and write needs to be clear right now. There is such a thing as harsh honesty, it is clear, yet it is also hurtful. That's not the kind of honesty that Honesty likes, even though he knows we must use it sometimes.

Honesty likes honesty that has compassion and tact. Brutal honesty usually isn't true honesty at all, but slanted towards the worse and towards negativity. Just think of what it means.

Brutal: Savagely violent. Punishingly hard.

Why would you ever want to be brutally anything? When you are honest with yourself be kind and be gentle, it will make your path easier. When being honest with others do the same, make their path just a little bit easier. It's a fine line, true honesty, but as long as you are loving in your honesty you'll find a way to walk it.

I think about the things that I need to be honest with myself about in a gentle way. I want so many things for myself. I want to live up to what success means to me and I do believe I am, yet... I also, honestly, want to be a success in other's eyes as well.

I want so much for myself that often times the thoughts of those things are just little whispers in my mind, so afraid to be spoken out loud, too afraid that saying them would make them manifest when I'm not ready for them. I don't believe in forcing yourself to do anything/be anything. Maybe that's too much of a passive outlook, I prefer to think of it as gentle.

I believe that when we are ready, we are ready, and beautiful things happen. When things happen before we are ready, (even good things that under different circumstances, or at different times in our lives, could be great opportunities), it can be traumatic and painful. You're ready when you are ready, it's like being born, and some people are ready sooner than others.

That is what my honesty tells me.

Journaling Prompt: Is there something that you need to be honest with yourself, or someone else, about? How can you do it in a gentle way?

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An inside look at Blessing Manifesting

Good morning Darlings!

What a month it's been so far! I've moved into my own apartment, there's been lots of unpacking going on, work at my retail job has been nutso, Inventory is coming up which means I only get one day off and have to work six days straight to get things done.

Today is my only day off and I was sitting down to do Blessing Manifesting work and I realized that it was one of the few things I wasn't stressed about this week. My work is sustainable to me, it's happy and joyful and I love it. I then decided to blog about it, because why not? I blog about all of the things I love and I thought that it might be interesting to a few of you blogging and business Goddesses. After all, I write an average of six blog posts a week, I make freebies every week, I post on social media at least three times a day, I do oracle card readings and email coaching sessions, I have a 40 hour a week night job, and somewhere in there I have a life as well. So now I am going to put on my Business Goddess cap and share with you a little (it actually turned into a lot) about what I do.

Social Media
Some people thrive on social media and others see it as a great big chore. It's hard to have an online business and NOT use Facebook and Twitter to get your message out there. I really enjoy both, although I do sometimes hit a wall with my anti-social tendencies, it's hard to just strike up conversations with strangers, even online! It's something I'm working on though because I'm sure I'm missing out on getting to know some really amazing people. If you don't like social media, don't force yourself to be social, a gentle nudge never hurt though. Out of your comfort zone is where the magic happens, right?

To me, the best way to use social media is to engage your followers and fans. If you use it purely to market whatever you're selling you won't get very far. I'm not going to be interested in following someone just to hear "Buy x and buy y." Where's the fun in that? I give my peeps a reason to come to my page every day. Daily quotes, self love tips, affirmations, inspiring pictures. All free, all just for their pleasure, because what's better than brightening someone's day just because you can?

About the quotes, self love tips, and affirmations, want to know how I do it? Up in the picture you will see hootsuite in the background, a great program that lets you schedule updates to Facebook and Twitter. Also in the picture you can see that wordpad is open. In the beginning I would spend an insane amount of time scouring the internet for inspirational quotes every few days. Then I got smart about it. One morning I opened up wordpad and spent about three hours on the internet finding quotes and copying and pasting them into it. I opened up wordpad and spent thirty minutes typing up as many Self Love Tips as I could think of, the same process was used for daily affirmations.

Every Tuesday I log onto hootsuite and input enough updates for the week, sometimes two weeks. It's as simple as opening up my word documents and copying and pasting them into hootsuite. Much easier than tracking down quotes every week and having to hunt through updates for what I posted the week before so I don't repeat myself. I get so excited when I have a week's worth of stuff ready to let out into the world.

How to get fans and followers. 
Currently I have 1,479 followers on Twitter and 2,679 likes on Facebook. So how do I do it? The Facebook answer is easy: Facebook Ads, that is the secret to my success. I've invested a little over $100 in the ads that I've created and customized. It's a great way to get fans. It takes a bit of time to figure out demographics and interests and all that stuff but once you do, you can get tons of fans with little effort.

Twitter is a bit hit and miss. I follow people who sound awesome, who I think might like my message. I pretty much follow cool peeps and cross my fingers that they follow me back! One method I use is searching the tag #selflove and then following those that are using the tag. It gives us something in common right off the bat!

Blogging
Before I started this blog I hadn't written very much in years. As a teen I wrote in journals all of the time, along with lots of fanfiction. In my early twenties I blogged about my boyfriend drama on myspace and continued writing fanfiction. The big, bad, break up happened, I fell into depression and lost my will to write for a few years. Enter blog idea of changing ze freakin' world!!!! I wrote a few posts early on and then they trickled in every once and awhile. In October I went on vacation from my job and in that week I wrote something like 20 blog posts, enough for the upcoming month and I felt so accomplished. Once those ran out I tried to stuff that much writing into my weekend and it failed miserably.

I didn't want to write that much.

I tried writing each post on the day I wanted to post it and that didn't work either. Writing in the mornings after work, I was tired and just wanting to relax, so I ended up rushing through what I wanted to say or not writing at all. So writing on my days off seemed like it had to be the plan to be sustainable.

So that's what I did.

Instead of trying to cram a month's worth of blogs into two days, I decided that a week's worth might be more manageable. Six blogs wouldn't be too difficult to churn out. Honestly it was difficult, to write that much, but I did it. The next week I decided to do it again and it was much easier.

Now it's my process.

Every Tuesday or Wednesday night I sit down and write six blogs. I spend the week stewing in ideas, thinking about them, smiling to myself as I imagine what I will write about. When a great idea comes to me I save it in my phone or write it in my computer's Sticky Notes. When writing time comes I have so much bursting to get out of me that it's like opening a flood gate and the words just pour out. It usually takes me anywhere from three to five hours to write them all, and I'm okay with that. I love that. I usually write it, look it over once or twice, and then use blogger to schedule it to post sometime in the future.

Side note: I also do everything while watching tv on my computer, usually in a small window off to the side. You can see The Voice up above in the picture. I like noise, I like distractions, it helps me work more joyfully and makes everything more fun.

The bulk of my work is done in... er... bulk. Condensing most of it into Tuesday/Wednesday gives me the ability to not feel rushed during the rest of the week, I can have space to breathe and relax and not feel pressured to do anything. Don't get me wrong, I do some sort of work every single day, but I don't feel forced into doing it, which is the point of having a joyful business.

Journaling Prompts: What's your writing process? How do you make the effort you put into your business sustainable?  

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My Wish for My Home

I'd love for you to join the Tribe of Wishcasters! Every Wednesday we flock to our blogs, we answer a question, and then we all visit each other and leave a comment like "As you wish for yourself, so I wish for you as well." It's a great way to connect, to share, to find GREAT new blogs, and to bring our wishes one step closer to manifesting. So join in! Today we are asked: 

What do you wish for your home?

Talk about perfect timing! As some of you may know, at the beginning of the month I left my apartment of seven years and moved into a brand new apartment. It has been an adventure! I feel unsettled. This doesn't feel like my home and worst of all, it doesn't smell like my home. Due to my love of incense, former-apartment was imbued with its essence, it always smelled wonderful, comforting, and magical. Paint and new carpet smells is not really my cup o' tea. No matter how much incense I burn now it's just not 'sticking'.

I wish for my home to feel like 'home'.

I want it to feel comforting and magical again. I want to get that feeling of happy anticipation and safety when I stand at my door, ready to walk inside. One of my favorite Goddesses has always been Hestia and I really need to reconnect to her, to bring her power into my life. 

I need to stop procrastinating on the unpacking, I need to buy new bookshelves so that the 10 boxes of books I have can be put in their proper place. I need to stop worrying that I am going to be uprooted any time soon. I really, really, need to do the Creating Your Goddess Haven E-Course so that this place suits me in every way.   

Here's to a fabulous journey to make my home happy and sparkly. 

What do you wish for your home?

Happy wishings!

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Rainbow Rays of Awesome You

Happy Tuesday sweetheart! I am so excited to share today's freebie with you! It's all about how awesome you are! 'Cause you really are.

So the point of this worksheet, Rainbow Rays of Awesome You, is for you to come up with six things that you love about yourself.

You write your name in the cloud and on the rainbow rays write a quality that you adoooore about you. I'm sure you can come with them! (You can see mine here!)

You can use this for other things to. Write your kid's name in it and then write down the things you love about them and give it to them as a little gift.

It's all about spreading the love and giving back. It's a beautiful thing.

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Grounding, grounding, deep into the earth.

As you know, the last few weeks have been pretty tough on me, especially in regards to my root chakra. The root chakra governs your feelings of stability and security and with my move, those feelings have been in need of some nourishment.

I felt the intense need to get in touch with my roots.

I mean my ability to feel connected to the earth and planted firmly on top of it. I like to think of myself as a tree that was uprooted. It's hard to find your bearings at first when you're planted somewhere else. It takes a bit of work to feel safe and secure again so that's what I've been working on. One of the easiest ways to help heal those anxieties is to ground yourself.

Grounding, also known as earthing, is the act of connecting yourself back to the earth. 

It is a beautiful practice and is great for helping you feel better if you are anxious, stressed out, filled with nervous energy, or feeling disconnected from the physical.

How do you do it?

There are many ways to ground. Sometimes it's as easy as going outside and letting your bare feet walk upon Mama Earth. You can also incorporate visualization which is my favorite way to ground myself. I like to imagine myself as a tree with my roots traveling deep into the cool, soft, earth.

Grounding allows us to reconnect to the Source. 

The easiest way to do this is to go outside (doing it inside will work too). Imagine you have roots coming out of your feet (if you are standing) or the base of your spine (if you are sitting). Picture your roots reaching deep down into the earth. Let them anchor you to the Source of all life. This is grounding. Empty your body of everything that isn't serving you. Know that you are held by the Earth.

When you've let go of pain, fear, hurt, or anger, imagine a beautiful white/green light flowing up into your roots and then further up into your body. You are filled with earth energy.

Journaling Prompts: What do you do to feel safe when your foundations are rocked? How do you feel when you spend time out in nature?

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Positive Self-Talk and Affirmations

Today we're going to talk about how important self-talk and affirmations are to your self care routine.

The way you talk to, and about, yourself is the most important part of Self Love.

When someone compliments you do you automatically gravitate towards contradicting them? This might indicate that you have a difficult time thinking good things about yourself, which is something you ought to start working on!

Positive self-talk is probably something that you've done before even if you weren't really paying attention. When you walk by the mirror and see you are looking especially darling you might say out loud "I look pretty today!" When you're having a bad day and you tell yourself "I'm going to be okay, everything is going to work out." That's positive self-talk and it's good for your psyche!

Stop telling yourself that you're fat, that you're unattractive, that everything sucks, that you are weak, that nothing is ever going to go your way... There are so many negative things that we tell ourselves and sometimes we don't even realize that we're doing it. It can so easily become a habit and it does nothing but drag you down.

Change that sort of behavior.

Another way to encourage positive self-talk is to start every day by saying an affirmation. I usually do it while I'm in front of the mirror and getting ready for work.

What is an affirmation? An affirmation is a positive saying that you repeat out loud, or to yourself, to change your thinking in a positive way.

Imagine how nice it would be to wake up, look in the mirror, and say, "I am so completely loved and I am going to have a beautiful day."

Starting off your day with such beautiful intention is a great way to start changing your life.

If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter then you know that every day at 7:00am Central Time I post an affirmation for you. You can even say them out loud while you are at your computer. Easy peasy and a great way to start your day!

Journaling Prompts: How is your self talk? Is it positive or negative? What's your favorite affirmation?

From now on, at the end of each post I'll give you some journaling prompts. Feel free to answer them in a notebook, blog about them, or tell me your thoughts in the comment section. If you blog them, feel free to share the link! I'd love to read your thoughts!

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