5 lessons I'm taking from 2013 ...

Top 5 lessons I learned in 2013

or the last 5 lessons I learned in 2013

(my short term memory is as holey as swiss cheese these days I blame GMOs which is not as crazy as it sounds read this)

or maybe I should say relearned since life is a spiral and we sometimes run into the same stuff again and again in different spaces and forms.

I know I have run into this one before.

I realize this is all a little heavy for December  reading, and this first lesson is a little dense ... maybe if you are reading this you could play some holiday music in the background to stay festive, so I don't kill your Santa buzz.

Anyhoo, a little vague (sorry) background info - a situation was brought to my attention about something someone was doing.

I had to decide whether to ignore the situation or push against it (ie take some kind of real world action).

I decided (after much back and forth with myself - my usual crazy person routine) that ignoring the situation was the higher action. Inaction was stating to myself that this was a situation I did not have to worry about - I trusted life to take care of me and what this person was doing could not threaten me. I was safe. I decided the decision to not take action would bring me more peace.

I ignored the situation. I did a little spell to release it. I withdrew my attention (mostly).

A few months later the situation winded its way back at me in a bigger way.

(This sometimes happens with things we ignore - this is not because ignoring - ie withdrawing our attention from something is intrinsically a bad thing - it is always best to focus on what we do want and not what we don't want. I think maybe it happens when there is something else the situation is showing us like maybe the inaction we thought was from higher ground was actually based in fear)

This time I thought - "well, I got no peace within myself by ignoring this situation so I will stand up for myself and push back".

So I pushed.

I told myself I didn't care about what results came from the push that I just needed to take action to stand up for myself.

(I had a memory from 7th grade. I was sitting in front of a new group of girls about a month after I moved to a new town, again - we moved every year, and this group was giggling and making fun of me and I turned around and said something back to one of the girls, which made me feel better for about 5 seconds, and they then proceeded to amp up the torture and make my life totally miserable for the rest of the year. This memory made me think that this time I needed to stand up for myself and see that my world wouldn't fall apart)

But, as soon as I pushed (and this was the kind of push without a delete key) I knew I had made a mistake.

I was pushing from a place of weakness - my push was stating to myself that I had something to fear from what this person I was pushing against was doing. I wasn't trusting life to take care of me even though I know that what is real can not be threatened and anything that can be threatened isn't real.

(the central and first Course of Miracles lesson)

I know that any belief I have will create the outcome of any action I take and I was acting against myself even though the push made logical sense.

(and I realize I am not telling you exactly what I am talking about here, but  you will have to trust me that most people, especially creative makers probably would have pushed).

I knew immediately that whatever the result of the push was (this part was outside my control anyway) - I wouldn't get peace from pushing.

The lessons (yes, there are lessons inside of lessons with this stuff - life is messy and I am not a paper towel kind of girl) I take from this experience of being faced with deciding between two actions and having neither action be the right action is:

#5. The action taken from a decision isn't what the decision is really about. 

Life doesn't present us with a good choice and a bad choice - that would make this entire game called life on planet Earth pretty boring since we would have the whole thing figured out by age 7. Life presents us with choices that prepare the field and allow us to move into different spaces. Neither space is perfect because then the game would be over.

So either choice could have brought me what I wanted, which for me these days is mostly peace, or neither choice could have brought me peace because it is me and not the choice that is bringing the peace.

Einstein said, "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." 

I was trying to solve a problem by looking at the problem. It's like the problem and the solution are two sides of the same coin. We can't have a problem unless a solution exists otherwise there would be no pattern the problem could be formulated from (no matter how many trains run over a coin it still has two sides) but we can't see the (solution) head of a coin by looking at the tail (the problem). 

(unless we are doing one of those squinty eye things looking at the side of the coin, but who wants to go through life with her faced all squished up like that)

The problem was never what this other person was doing, the problem was always how I was feeling. Maybe the problem hadn't resurfaced because I had chosen incorrectly the first time (when I had chosen to let it go) but simply to allow me to choose again and work out, within me, what making the opposite choice would feel like.

Anyhoo - I will try for some lighter lessons in the days ahead, this is December after all. But I did call 2013 my Year of Deciding (or was that 2012?) so this one is a biggie for me again. 

chphotographics

next lesson next week - have an amazing weekend everyone! xo

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New Moon in Sagittarius - expanding horizons (also if you read my blog and are a Sagittarius, you must post a comment because I am convinced I don't know any)

sagittarius polarity locket - aiming for the stars

We have a new moon tonight in Sagittarius!

Sagittarius is a fun-loving sign that rules travel, freedom, adventure, legal stuff, higher education, good luck, faith, religion, prayer, optimism, problem solving, truth seekers - it also rules things like carelessness, taking shortcuts, making assumptions, throwing pink paint on problems and hoping they will go away and physically our hips, liver, sciatica and upper legs/thighs.

It's a perfect time to be working with the energy of the positive stuff that Sagittarius rules and working to release the negative stuff.

So, for example, this is a great time to plan our vacation or set affirmations to travel on a regular basis next year.

Affirmations set now (especially stuff that will conclude by the Sagittarius full moon in June) for any of Sagittarius's "stuff" will have universal support. We are literally creating the affirmation within the energy that is needed to manifest it.

Coincidentally, I would like to say I planned it, but it just worked out this way - we'll just call it divine planning, my patent application for my new aromatherapy line was filed today (legal stuff is within Sagittarius's realm).

Some affirmations I am writing tonight are:

1. I easily take action on what my intuitive knowing tells me is the right path for me
2. I have more positive adventures in my life. I easily view life as a positive adventure (oops my pencil tip just broke on that one)
3. My patent application filed today is approved
4. I find the solution to ____ in a clear and straightforward way. I take right action on this.
5. I take action that leads to successfully detoxing my liver and maintaining excellent liver health

As always, write yours down - I used to use strips on paper and bowls of rice, so I could jiggle them around now and then - but this month I am feeling the urge to burn them and just know they are done. You don't have to make stuff happen with this, you just have to see what comes up and then take the action that feels right on that.

Trust the process. We have cast our spell.

People always say that affirmations "only work if you take action". And this is true, but not in the way most people think.

The affirmation is action.

It sets the energy in motion. Words are not just words. If done properly, in the right frame of mind, it lines us up energetically with the thing we are seeking. The new moon is a time of darkness but there is lots of hidden action in the dark.

(yes, even that kind, all creation starts in the dark after all)

Look at what kind of experiences have been coming your way lately. How have you called them into your life?

There is often a wave of resistance that arrives when we begin stepping into our power. This resistance can manifest as physical health problems, relationships that mirror our shadows, self-sabotaging "mistakes" or when it seems like “fate” intervenes and creates road blocks or sends us  back to “feeling and playing small” - back to square one.

This "upper limit" thing, set by familial programming and energy patterns (although I believe we came on to this planet vibrating at exactly the frequency that drew us to our family) that is so common when we are in the process of shifting our self-definitions and expanding our influence and responsibility. Something gets in the way, often something that appears to be outside our control - this is all illusion of course, but how do we work through this? How do we move outside our energy patterns?

A thing we can do right now and it sounds like a small thing but there are no small things - is to set a few affirmations within the energy of this new moon - it will just take you a few minutes. Do it tonight or tomorrow ... the more specific you can get the more specific results will show up. xo all

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ends Monday at midnight!

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 ~Have a Happy Hanukkah and Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone - SHOP HANDMADE!~

greening turkey day plus we've got a green comet, folks

I read last summer that Americans throw away 20% of their weekly groceries.

That's a lot of food (and resources) being wasted.

We could change the world just by fixing this one thing.

Thanksgiving is our big 'stuff our faces' holiday and the 'stuff our faces' season is upon us so planning for those leftovers and planning our meals for ways that cut down on food wastage (is this a word - spellcheck is ok with it, but it just looks wrong) is a priority.

Some tips would be:

1. If we are cooking this year - give people food to take home. It's nice to have all those leftovers, but we know we will be totally sick of eating this same meal by Saturday, so maybe just let it go. I know it will be hard to wrap up those pie slices and mashed potatoes, but unless we know for sure it will be eaten by our family, be generous with this.

2. Puree leftover veggies and freeze in ice cube trays for juicing/blending later. I bought an expensive juicer last Christmas, but cannot bear to toss out all the leftover ground veggies - how can this be healthy when I am losing most of the vegetable/fruit in my juicer blades? I have gone back to my old blender which worked just fine in the first place when slushed down with ice cubes and now we are drinking everything again. 

3. Google recipes for whatever you have left when preparing the meal - we can bake chips with the brussel sprout outer leaves by baking with olive oil and sea salt and save the lemons and limes to grate later, etc.

4. There are some good holiday tips on Jules Clancy's blog here

5. Well, that's all I've got - remember waste less doesn't mean eat more - we just need to plan ahead and think about everything we are tossing out, "is there another way I can use this?".

OK- now on to the green lady comet.

It is kismet to me that on Thanksgiving we have a comet named Ison (discovered in September 2012) having a close encounter with the sun - check out the NASA info here. We have the Moon conjunct Ceres which is the Empress (earth mother) archetype and this wonderful comet Ison (Isis?) dropping magic dust (some astrologers believe comets emit brand new energy into our world when they pass by) to spread like fertilizer and wake us up to what we are eating maybe? It feels like everything is all about food and nurturing issues now - being mindful of what we are consuming (appropriate for the holiday shopping season, too).

As we create a more mindful world with less consumption and less waste, our bodies cannot survive in this new paradigm with our old habits and are literally demanding we become more mindful eaters - that we consume higher energy food (and probably less food than we used to), clean water, etc - truly I think everyone who isn't currently dealing with this stuff soon will be.

Every meal is an opportunity to nurture ourselves or self medicate. It's our choice.

This Thanksgiving we can stuff our bodies and emotions (yes, family stuff can be stressful, but only if that is what we focus on) or we can choose to eat mindfully and respectfully with grace and gratitude.

I am cooking for a very small group (my family is teeny tiny) and we have the beautiful baby Sully now, so much to be thankful for, but whatever your personal circumstances find the space to be thankful for what you do have - the energy of millions of people expressing gratitude is a very powerful thing to connect with. xo all

another favorite note from the universe ...

You see, Cat , even prayers that lack conviction, confidence and end in question marks like, "can I? may I? will I?" are answered with a happy face and a, "Sure! You bet! No question!"

However if you want action instead of answers .... prayers of declaration and exclamation especially those that end in "So be it! Hallelujah! And so it is!" conjure up the magic ....

It's just the way the system was set-up.

(hope everyone is having a nice week and is conjuring up some full moon magic, finishing up the last of my wholesale orders here and getting ready for a trunk show this weekend at a friend's shop in Phillie, but should be back on here soon with my year end countdown xo all)

Full Moon in Taurus on Sunday - a time to be all in

raceytay full moon polarity locket

Sunday's full moon in Taurus brings us full circle from the new moon in Taurus we had the end of last April.

Taurus is about comfort - material goods, finances, physical pleasures, beauty.

Taurus is a fixed Earth sign that does the work - step by step with patience and persistence (their reputation for stubbornness grows from this) - yes, at the end of the day they want to pamper themselves with the good stuff,

but they are willing to work for it and they are great practical manifesters (when they control their tempers - don't get a Taurus mad - they are the bulls with the horns after all).

Taurus also rules the throat so anyone with any muscular neck issues might be wise to wear a scarf now to keep the chill from causing tightness - I usually wear a light scarf even when working in my studio. I love the scarves Noelle makes here.

Sooo, we have this moon that launched last April reaching its fullness in a sign that relates to our values and security. We also have 3 planets that were retrograde until last week now moving direct. And we are currently in Taurus's mirror polarity energy of Scorpio (death- what we have to release to create the space for something new).

How does this all fit together? Well, different astrologers interpret this in different ways and we each have individual charts (a picture of the universe at the moment we were born and the very moment in time we are literally created from) that are triggered in different places. For example this full moon is 25 degrees Taurus so if our birth chart has any hard aspects to that, this moon will be more challenging.

For most this full moon will be about finances, values, commitments, time, contracts - what we are willing to be/do/spend/risk - how fully are we aligned with our core values? what are we committed to? what are we passionate about? how much beauty are we living with, how much do we need? how fully are we participating in this game called Life on Planet Earth? are we all in?

When I was a banker and closed on a business loan I would sometimes say to the business owner -''we are going to spend a lot of money and we are going to make a lot of money.”

This is a time to not hold back.