what all this groundwork means for our business ... the part I which is really part V

nan lawson's latest locket - you are deeply loved
There are the obvious ways all this grounding helps us as a maker with a maker business -

we can build a much stronger structure on solid ground than shifting sand after all.

But there are some less conspicuous ways grounding ourselves as human beings (as we become the human-doings this 3rd dimensional world still requires us to be) makes this whole thing run smoother.

1. Grounding Creates Focus

When we take care of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual spaces we are not running around trying to figure out what we should be doing - we are not running around trying to figure out what our business should be doing either.

The people who get what they want, take the time to figure out what they want first.

The process of grounding ourselves creates the space for us to get clear on what we want.

This is how we do it. We practice grounding actions. It is virtually impossible to ground ourselves and end up with splintered thinking. This doesn't guarantee a "happily ever after" for every decision we make - expansion requires conflict after all - it does guarantee a "happily in the moment"which is the space of real happiness anyway.

This "not knowing what we want" thing is an epidemic. One reason I think is an overall societal lack of contrast (a really big reason we have to allow our kids to fail; to not have too much - getting what we don't want creates the space for us to figure out what we do want) plus the unending choices. It's a first world problem - no one going to bed hungry tonight has any problem knowing what they want.

Without a clear focus for our maker business - an intention for why we do what we do and what we want from this experience of creating and growing a business (and by growing I don't mean getting bigger and bigger and unsustainable - I mean expanding and changing and living - think tended garden, not overgrown yard filled with weeds here) - without this clarity we will not be able to make the clear decisions we need to make as a business owner.

If we are asked to fill an order that would require an entire weekend of work, a weekend we had family plans for, we will make a different decision depending on whether our focus with our business is paying our electric bill or being able to work at home to spend more time with our children.

And we have to allow this stuff to evolve - our focus and intention for our business will change. Sometimes the space of time when things are changing can make even grounded people feel very out of balance - that is perfectly OK. It's like the space when we shift from one foot to another, that shifting space (which is actually a great metaphor for the times we are living in, too) is the very space that allows us to expand. 

2. Grounding Creates a State of Allowing

Negative emotions always mean that we are thinking a thought that has us in a state of resistance. Positive emotions always mean that we are thinking a thought that has us in a state of allowing.

Grounding which is really all about self-love (knowing the way we handle what appear to be the unimportant things in life is the exact energy that creates the important things) creates a space for the positive emotions to expand.

A state of allowing doesn't mean we get played by life like a knight on a chess board. People are always saying things like "well, I guess the universe wants me to do this or that" as if we have nothing to do with it. We are the universe. There is only one of us here.

Allowing isn't a state of inaction. It's the opposite of that. It's a state of inspired action and deliberate focus. Forget the "life is a school" metaphor (although there will certainly be lessons). We are here for experiences.

Life is a playground.
If we are not playing our part -
there is no momentum -
 we are not giving the universe any energy to play with.

It's like we are holding the ball
and waiting for life to throw it back to us.

Allowing isn't a stagnant energy - it's a very forward moving energy.

People sometimes say that whatever happens is meant to happen. And while it's true that we can definitely know what should be happening by what is happening - there is no way to make a mistake here after all - sometimes, though, this way of thinking is used as an excuse to back away from being the creators of our own lives; to step away from our responsibility.

When things are going wrong this way of thinking can be a comfort to us and can help us to release resistance (a good thing) - turning a negative thought or situation over to the universe is exactly what we should do with it,

but if we live our lives in a place where this way of thinking makes us feel powerless - we are forgetting that we are extensions of this very universe.

No one else is deciding what we get and what we don't get. It might appear that someone has to choose us (or our work), but this is only because we have set it up this way - we can choose ourselves. The only reason we are here is God/Life/The Universe (pick your comfort zone) knew the universe would benefit and expand by us being here which leads us to ....

3. Grounding Creates the Space for Us to Be Ourselves 

Authenticity is a powerful word; living authentically is a powerful place to live.

(how do we live there? ground ourselves emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually and take action from THERE - it's a space that feels like home - and even if we have not had a wonderful homelife in this lifetime, trust me that we have magical roots and are familiar with this energy - we will know this space when we feel it)

Younger people who know more about the things that change can feel the truth of it and older people who know more about the things that do not change can feel the truth of it, too.  It's taking root and it's changing everything.
 
I went to a Chamber of Commerce meeting back in my banking days and actually maybe it wasn't a Chamber meeting but a Women in Business meeting because it was all women and the Chamber meetings were mostly men.

Anyhoo, the topic of Oprah Winfrey was brought up and women were talking about Oprah's accomplishments (which are many) and her skills (which are many) and the gist of the conversation was how we could all be Oprah if we worked hard enough - look at her beginnings, everyone said, "if she can do it, we can do it".

There are some problems with this way of thinking about other people. Someone else having done something actually doesn't mean we can do it - we are all here for different things.

(and I'm not meaning that some people get the BMWs and some people get the Chevys - because our soul work has nothing to do with what we get and everything to do with what we are here to give)

We can be inspired by other people and some people are certainly here to be catalysts for others in exactly that way, but our real job is just to be us, comparing ourselves to other people doesn't work.

And you don't have to resonate with this, but maybe you do, Oprah didn't really start out as a poor girl in Georgia - she is an infinite being (just like the rest of us). We don't have the lifetimes and experiences she has had - we don't have the soul contracts, we aren't Oprah.

(As an armchair astrologer I have an obsession with north and south nodes and Oprah's north node is in Capricorn which means she chose a career focus for this lifetime - this puts Cancer in her south node which is the symbol of the mother - this is her been there, done that energy. She was no doubt a mother in many lifetimes. Choosing not to be one in this lifetime and taking the gifts she has accumulated with this mother energy and applying it to career - focusing on positive Capricorn stuff and releasing negative Cancer stuff allows her to get the gifts of both signs)

If we are trying to be someone else or doing something in the way someone else has done it - we don't create the space for what is authentically ours to emerge.

Imagine before we came to this planet we were shown a chart of the history of planet Earth.

(picture a beautiful vintage scroll being unwound in front of us)

The space on the left showed a world with alot of problems, the kind of problems that seemed insurmountable to the people living in that world. 

Next we were shown the space on the right of the chart - a beautiful, joyful utopia and we were told this space is the planet's future

then an area right in the middle of both these places lit up - a transition period - and we were told

"this, this space, this is where you come in." 

Next up the part II that is really part VI - OK, so I'm not Oprah - where do I come in.


Also Saturn has moved direct so if you know which house this is in your chart or if any area of your life has been at a standstill since February, it will start moving forward now - putting the focus squarely on us!

happy 4th of july and a new moon on monday

olive is ready to rumble when the fireworks rumble
Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Olive is ready for the noisy fireworks this year with her new thunder shirt - which is supposed to support her in feeling secure. Has anyone tried this?

This is one of Olive's least favorite days of the year

(surpassed only by the days she is forced to eat actual dog food)

maybe this will be her first 4th not spent shivering and salivating under the bed. Fingers crossed.

There is a Cancer New Moon on Monday!

We are overflowing with Cancer energy right now - I hope someone is tracking pregnancy statistics.

Many of us will be 'crabby' - which will probably last about two and a half days unless you have some specific and stressful Cancerian aspects in your chart. It is a good time to not take things personally - since things are fluid and Cancers have that soft belly - making everyone just a little bit more sensitive.

Anyone who has gone into their 'shell' now, should probably be left alone there.

Better to entice them out when the time is right than try to shake them out or start banging on their shell to wake them up. Hard shell coupled with soft belly makes this a perfect time for any chronic back problems to act up or hidden ones to emerge so maybe hit the pool, water is our friend, instead of the gym if possible.

Our intuition will be very strong now. Lots of home and nostalgia stuff will probably be coming up for everyone. Deep inside, Cancer is a very powerful sign, they have the ability to stand up for what they think is right and they have lots of perseverance. They can do great on their own provided they don't let their emotions get the better of them and provided they have the stability they need. This is the kind of the energy we have available right now so ways you can find to work with this in your own life will benefit you.

The new moon is a great time for affirmations (the beginning time when things are still hidden - think seeds in the ground) - some Cancerian (I don't know why spellcheck keeps trying to correct this word - it looks so pretty) affirmations I am setting (to give you an idea of what you do with this energy):

1. I easily attract, recognize and purchase the right happy home for my family (home)
2. I easily handle my finances in ways that create a stable base I can count on (stability)
3. I easily and joyously learn from all the significant events in my life (growth)
4. I am aware of early childhood experiences in a way that frees me from unwholesome patterns (childhood)
5. I easily am vulnerable in ways that evoke positive acceptance and support from others (vulnerability, intimacy)
6. All nonconstructive, overemotional responses are lifted from me (pretty please)
7. I easily find myself defining goals for myself that empower me (decisiveness)
8. I easily take action leading to successfully restoring my gut health (stomach health)
9. I attract right information that leads to the healing of my digestive system (stomach health)
10. I win the lottery (what the hell)

Also a good time for any affirmations having to do with mothers, food, clinginess, breast health - any Cancer stuff.

AFFIRMATION TIPS: get into a happy frame of mind - always make affirmations from a positive place - write your affirmations down by hand, speak them out loud - I always write my affirmations on strips of paper and put them into a bowl of rice so I can mix them around every now and then with my fingers if things get stagnant - then release your attention from them knowing that your intention is known. Know these things are already yours. xo



the groundwork - part IV our emotional (energy in motion) body and practical ways to ground it


mini cork collection
To bottom line it with our emotional groundwork (and bottom line it to me is 1500 words- sorry) - it's about 1. awareness 

(notice when we are feeling an emotion, notice the patterns of behavior we have that get in the way of us just being us),

2. expression - to let go of the behavior, we let out the excess energy holding it in

(writing, talking, yelling, crying, laughing - you can sweat, run and dance this stuff out, too - but if you feel neck tension or problems with anything in that area - jaw, thyroid, etc - getting out the words we are holding onto can be very helpful)

3. forgiveness -  some of this stuff is very old and it takes a radical approach to letting go and forgiving to move on

(There is a method called the Hoffman Process that works with integrating the four parts of ourself - physical, emotional, mental, spiritual - and maybe integrating isn't the right word here, I remember it from many years ago. It is very childhood focused and many of us would say we don't have any issues from childhood affecting our behavior today -

that we don't remember anyway, that we have forgiven, they all did their best, we have moved on - 

and for our mental selves this can be totally true. But for our physical selves which literally formed around this stuff and for our emotional selves which recreates this drama over and over in new ways until it is released - it isn't always so easy to let go. Being an armchair astrologer I see a lot of past life issues in this stuff, but the healing is always done in the present moment and although the mental part of us gets us to the awareness space, it won't get us much further.)

4.  moving on - this is replacing the old behavior with a new behavior

Hubs used to get really crazy in traffic when we were younger. I could never understand the big emotional response he would get when someone followed closer than he would like or pulled in front of him.

(obviously there are times when this could be a big deal, but he would make a way bigger deal out of little - non emergency - happenings of this than was called for)

Being cut off (other spaces where we have been cut off, where someone has shut us up, where someone appears to be have gotten "ahead of us"),

being followed too closely (other spaces in our lives where people are on our back, where people have been nipping on our heels, breathing down our necks, where we have not been fast enough) -

the themes driving activates are pretty universal - we've all been there.

When we feel an emotion that is out of proportion to what is happening we know it is activating something else - something our physical or emotional self is holding.

Now, the idea isn't to stuff it - that's how the emotional moves into the body in the first place - the idea is to release it. Releasing stored emotions is holy work. It's how we move into the connection with others and with our spiritual self.

If we can see the anger we are releasing as a fire spreading through us, burning up years of old undergrowth in the forest, clearing a path for the new or if we can see our tears of sadness as flooding our body the way a flood of water can clear a dirty sink or if we can see our fear as shaking loose dead branches from a tree or spent buds from our flower gardens to allow more room for new growth - if we think of images like these while expelling our emotions it helps, too.

We can also take on other people's energy. Sometimes when hubs would get mad at another driver I could literally feel the tension in my body.

(this is a very, very rare thing these days, the driving stuff I mean, but I still pick up all kinds of things from his emotions and his body - a couple weeks ago he drilled into his left thumb - the next day I started having shooting pains in my left thumb when I reached for things, tendonitis is the diagnosis - and yes, I had been working more, driving a truck with sticky doors and windows and carrying a heavier handbag than usual on my left shoulder - and also, yes, I think his injury allowed an injured space in my body to come up for healing through my left thumb - I didn't actually say this to my doctor though)

The people we live and work with can definitely affect our energy. The real reason couples should never go to bed angry is that we are sleeping with the other person's energy! When their energy is angry, sad or fearful - we will have to be very grounded to stay balanced.

So, to ground ourselves emotionally some good tips would be : be aware of when our reaction doesn't equal the situation, express what we are feeling, forgive ourselves and others (not just mentally) and replace one behavior with another.

Abraham Hicks' work is all about using our emotions to get us into the space where we line up energetically with good stuff - with the stuff we are wanting - if you resonate with that, definitely google it. I've mostly been focusing on negative emotions here but the real key is to practice a higher emotion (joy, peace) and move out of the lower energies . The more often we can operate at a higher level, the more we feel comfortable being there, the more our vibration lines up with positive emotions without us having to work so hard.

Emotional grounding is work though and just like physical and mental work makes those areas stronger emotional work strengthens us, too - all the parts work together.

part IV what does all this gounding mean for our business