happy summer solstice - the new world is all right here waiting for us

melissa nucera - sanctuary locket

Tomorrow we celebrate the Summer Solstice - first day of summer; the longest day of the year.

This is our fifth Summer Solstice with Pluto in Capricorn so our challenge continues to be finding confidence and holding our center throughout all the chaos

(in our personal life this will show up in various ways and in varying strengths - the stars show a time of intense feelings and an “urgency to discover”)

Though these days we are living in are unstable

(this birthing a new world is hard work, but we were born for this - we can do it)

thanks to crazy squares and T-squares that are keeping every one of us on planet Earth on our toes  and showing up in our individual lives and in society (which is just a reflection back to us of our individual stuff) as restlessness, revolution and false safety net breakdown - there is actually nothing to fear.

Our real safety net is still here.

The Course in Miracles teaches "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God."

(one of my favorite teachings - if you can lose it, it isn't real)

Together we continue our journey to the sanctuary we began to seek around 7 or 8 years ago. If we look at what is emerging in our life and we make decisions and adjustments (however tiny because baby steps are totally allowed) to reorient toward that, toward the new, we will be ok. Acceptance is always the place of peace. Resisting change is painful.

Let go of obsolete, stagnant, or stuck emotional responses

most of the time we let go of things mentally or physically, but it is the emotional heart-centered connection we need to release the most.

The themes of compassion, more water (stay dry), stuff coming up to be looked at

(no more secrets - we see this in our own lives and our systems, which just reflect ourselves back to us - the entire NSA scandal is a perfect example- their actions cannot be hidden but also our own actions; ie conversations, etc they are listening to cannot be hidden - there really are no boogie men, no real enemies),

the rising female energy -

we could think - how can you say female power is rising when all around us I see examples of female energy being repressed.

What we are actually seeing now is what is hidden coming up to be looked at so we can deal with it.

This isn't really about female power, this is about female responsibility - we just have to step into that energy. It is right here waiting for us.

When you say to a woman - step into your female power - she might think, "whoa, wait a minute I'm not sure this power thing is for me", but say to a woman - it is time to step into your female responsibility and she gets it.

And because we are all connected every little baby step anyone takes, moves everyone else along, too. This isn't all about women, men have female power also.

We cannot stand on someone else's back without standing on shaky ground. It may appear to make us taller, but it's all illusion. If we look at the shadow (and shadows can no longer be hidden), we can see the struggle underneath.

Our precious Mother Earth is female energy in living form - the more we nurture ourselves and each other, the more she is cared for, too. The repression of female energy is the repression of Mother Earth - it's all the same stuff. It is not a coincidence that this is all coming up for us to deal with at the same time - our stewardship of this planet and how girls and women are cared for here.

The celebration of the summer solstice was stolen from us a long time ago (although stolen is the wrong word here because it sounds like the power is with someone outside of us and it truly isn't) - this year let's say a little prayer for our planet and for our sister energy that is being healed.

We can use tomorrow as a little touchstone to let go of our fear (stepping into our power when we have so long been in the shadow), let go of our narrow views and interpretations and remain focused on the bright, blinding, rising sun that is on the way. Tomorrow will be the most light filled day of the year - how we choose to use our light is up to us!

How to Get Your Work into Holiday Gift Guides - TeamEcoetsy Blog Post

If you grew up in a family (like I did) where you were told not to "toot your own horn".

 (this was one of my grandmother's favorites and I still don't understand it, are we supposed to grab someone else's horn and toot that - that just sounds rude ... and well, unsanitary actually)

She also loved to say that "cream rises to the top" and "people will notice your good work, you don't have to tell them about it, Cathy".

And this is totally true and this is also totally not true (aint' life tricky). When it comes to publicity for our maker business it is best to err on the side of 'not true' and let people know we are out here.

If you want to open up a magazine in November and see that amazing something you have created staring out at the world from the pages of a GIFT GUIDE now is the time you have to take the action to make that happen.

First know your intention

First look at how holiday gift guides fit into the overall intention you have with your business. If you don't want to be bombarded with orders over the holidays - and it is totally OK to say this - it is your business; you get to set the rules.

If you are not set up with the time, supplies, inventory etc for an increased holiday rush, then this is not something you have to do. Cross this post off your list - whew, one less thing to think about.

cut and paste inspiration

Otherwise we will be like that kid who half-raises her hand in school hoping the teacher won't call on her. That's not the kind of energy we want to send out. The half-hand-raise will not work.

This doesn't mean we have to be totally ready - we will never be totally ready for anything. It's a good idea to look at how increased holiday sales would work for you though.

You want your positive energy behind any action you take!

1. Create a media list

To read the rest of my post visit the Team Ecoetsy Blog HERE   

(post includes my HOT SALES TIP OF THE MONTH)

the groundwork - part II our mental body (and yes, my mental body totally looks like Pink's physical body - you will just have to take my word for this though)

New locket by Yael Frankel and Polarity

Mental balance takes practice.

Getting out of balance mentally affects all the other areas of our lives, too (the physical, emotional and spiritual) - just as getting back into balance mentally can help these other areas - often a lot. This is great news because it gives us many more tools in our toolbox to work with.

(Speaking of tools I forgot to mention that hubs drilled into his finger last week with his drill press; the drill press I had switched his drill bit out of and my drill bit into hours before and neglected to switch back, so the length was not what he was used to - ouch - when he called me from the shop I thought he was having a heart attack he sounded so ragged. Luckily it seems ok although we are watching it. I really need a teeny, tiny ray gun for this stuff ... and a flying car, I need that, too)

Our physical body needs sleep and hydration and nourishment and sweating and exercise; our mental body needs the same things.

When we sleep our mental body gets to play, this is totally necessary since we spend so many of our daytime hours mentally stressed - a daily vaca for it is a must.

For hydration and nourishment think about what we are putting in.

Are we around negative people? Watching negative, violent television?

(For years my mother loved Stephen King and horror novels, all those V.C. Andrews kids in attics - she was voracious. Later on when she got sick she couldn't read this stuff anymore - she moved on to romances. When she died we donated 600 paperback romances to our local library. We even made a little gold plaque with her name that they glued to one of the shelves. I was sad to see recently that it was gone, but I guess since romances are so hot right now, they have plenty of new ones to fill the shelves.)

Too much news? The news stations search the world for stuff guaranteed to freak us out - remember stuff like this has always been going on - we just didn't know about it.

Take a break from it.

Many artists are very empathic (think opposite of psychopathic, although an opposite isn't really an opposite - we may be closer to a hedgefund manager than we think we are) - artists tend to absorb the moods and emotions of others more easily than most people. This does not make us special (anymore than a psychopath's ability to be so overwhelmed by other people that nothing gets absorbed is). It is not a good thing if we can't turn it off. We need to be able to set boundaries and until we can do this, some stuff should just be avoided.

So we need to be putting good stuff in - poetry, books, positive information and affirmations, stuff that interests us, stuff that makes our heart sing.

We need to think about what we are thinking about.

Sweating and exercise for our mind is about what we are mentally putting out.

Mental activity is the seeds of all creation. Keep a journal of your ideas - make it a point to come up with 5 new ideas every single day. Do something creative everyday - in a perfect world creating is all we would be doing. Make your time on this planet count

Read books that challenge you. Always be learning something new. Do puzzles. Reason things through. Take pictures. Write something (I set my counter and write at least 1500 words a day. Yes, I'm sorry, I know you wish I'd set that counter at 500. I can't help it - I'm in training).

Build mastery. This may seem like a physical thing, and it can be, but physical mastery involves alot of muscle memory - it's our focused mind that does the work first.

Mastery creates freedom. When you master your craft, you can make a life with it anywhere. When one road winds down to briars and sticker bushes you can merge into a new one. When you master making a business, when one road ends, you can just build yourself another business.

And maybe because while our body is sleeping our mind is playing (a medical doctor might disagree with this, I don't know, I am not a doctor obviously, although I do wash my hands a lot so I am kind of a doctor - it just feels true to me) - our mind needs stillness through meditation. Practiced meditation, walks in nature, long baths, practiced focus on the task at hand - quiet and solitude.

next up- part III, our emotional body

the groundwork - part I (we probably need more sleep)

gorgeous NEW carrie gault polarity locket

Maybe this isn't part 1 but since I never got this series off the ground (ack- I can't resist) - we'll start here.

There is a basic premise in many spiritual teachings and in A Course in Miracles

that everyone is connected and not only is everyone connected but everything is connected.

We are all made of the same stuff.

And your stuff affects my stuff and my stuff affects your neighbor's stuff and your neighbor's stuff affects the Amazon rain forests.

Because we are all made of the same stuff.

Now, you do not have to believe this in exactly the way I do or the way anyone else does, but let's pretend for a minute this is an absolute fact.

What would it mean in your life if everything was connected? What would it mean for your business?

What would it mean if your physical, emotional, spiritual and mental selves are not only eco-systems within themselves but they make up the larger eco-system called you which makes up the larger eco-system called us.

Our businesses are part of this everything, too.

Sometimes we think we need more balance in our lives. And most of us do. But life balance has never really been about work vs home life - it has always been about balancing the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental spaces.

Getting out of balance in one areas affects all the other areas. This is easy to see with physical stuff so let's start here - we need to get enough sleep.

(both my Chinese acupuncturist and a medical intuitive I used to know told me that sleep is our most important activity - it is not a non-activity - our body is literally rebuilding itself while we are sleeping, our emotional self gets to rest, our mental self gets to play and our spiritual self gets to stretch, it is hugely beneficial, especially those last couple hours)

If we are having trouble falling asleep - this means we are having trouble stopping. What are the other spaces in our life where we need to STOP and we just keep going? Because everything is connected changing that behavior will help our sleep. This works in reverse, too.

If we have trouble staying asleep - this means we are wanting to start something else before the thing we are doing is finished. Start finishing other things before moving on to something else. And I say things, but things are not always things - that thing you may need to finish could be the words you need to voice or that feeling you need to just feel until it lets go of you.

Tips to better sleep -

1. Don't eat after 6 or 7pm - we know Oprah has been saying this for years. Forget the diet part of it. Your body has alot of rebuilding to do while you are sleeping, you can't have it all bogged down digesting dinner. Also this doesn't mean you eat at 7 and then lay in bed until 10 reading your Kindle.

We need a couple hours of activity after eating before we lie down. If we are going to bed with our Kindle at 7 (this is my ideal night btw) - we need to stop eating by 5.

(when I was a kid I was in the hospital for a long time after I was burned, when I came home my family started a tradition of always having a 'special' - a treat at night - like I had at the hospital for those months - this has been a hard habit for me to break since I see this snack as a 'special' - I used to drive home from work every night thinking about the snack I was going to have that night - ugh)

2. Get up early
3. No caffeine after 3pm - for me it's no caffeine after my morning tea, this stuff varies
4. No big mental stimulation for the last couple hours before you go to sleep, no computer, no news, read a real book with a book light and the lights off, no computer or Kindle lights - there are lots of studies about how artificial light affects our melatonin - the book light isn't perfect, but it's probably the least amount if you are a night reader like me
5. Eat a smaller dinner
6. Meditate (not too late in the day)
7. There is a drink called Calm that helps me - it is a calcium, magnesium powder and has lots of excellent reviews from online users

Meditation really helps us discipline our mind because for me - and I was a terrible sleeper for most of my life - it is really about letting my thoughts drift away and clearing my mind again and again until I fall asleep. George falls asleep instantly - for me it takes discipline.

My acupuncturist can fall asleep within seconds and takes 15 minute naps every day. I used to think naps made me more tired - but I was usually napping from exhaustion because I hadn't slept the night before. Energy naps are one of my intentions.

dreamy melissa nucera polarity locket

I fell asleep during acupuncture for the first time yesterday- it is hugely more beneficial if you can sleep through it - I woke up with alot of creative juices flowing and much more focus and motivation. I had also slept well the night before

(and spent an hour sitting on my front porch watching ants - I cannot recommend this enough - they are so awesome - I hope to hell the big ones are not eating my house though)

- it's not one thing that will make us sleep better. It's a process. It's work. We need more sleep - if this is a problem for you, you have to figure this out.

Also hubs snores, but not when he lies on his left side so I take no prisoners when he tries to sleep on his back or right side. For years he would do this for a while and snore away and because I knew I wouldn't fall asleep right away anyway I didn't say anything. But now we know he needs to not snore for better sleep and I need to still my mind, emotions and body with quiet.

We need to exercise until we sweat - sweat releases toxins from the body. These toxins affect our mental, spiritual and emotional places, too. We need to use our muscles, remember this isn't just about our physical self - everything is connected. We won't be able to carry the weight of the stress in our lives if we let our muscles go all to hell.

We need to stay hydrated (thanks for the tip DancingMooney) - I don't know if the 8 glasses a day thing is really necessary, but I did get rid of my late day headaches by adding 3 extra throughout the day.

We need to eat right. And I know they change the rules on this all the time. It doesn't matter. Forget their rules. We know what we need to eat. If we don't - there is a miracle called muscle testing - forget allergy testing -  you can do this by yourself or find someone trained to do it. It works. Google it- there are different methods - find one that works for you. When you think about it - of course it works - everything is connected. It's no more a miracle than us being here in the first place - wait - that actually is a miracle!

Gut health is important - our gut is a HUGE part of our eco-system.

(and I love saying gut health, when I say this to people who haven't heard these words used together before, it stops them in their tracks - I think some part of them knows this is important stuff, and, of course, it sounds just too gross not to be interesting)

Google this stuff - there is lots of great info out there about making our bodies more alkaline, reducing inflammation, what vitamin C and D and probiotics can do, eliminating certain foods like sugar. We can change our life with this stuff.

next up - how this physical groundwork relates to our business part II