happy labor day weekend all ...

enjoy your Labor Day - and remember not to labor

 

I guess this was before some genius invented beach towels

Changes to Etsy Feedback or sellers are seeing stars

I have never been a fan of feedback.

(mostly because it scares the hell out of me)

Like thousands/millions of other people who sell on Etsy - I make stuff. I take pictures of it. I sell it. I ship it. Most of the time I do this really, really well. And sometimes I screw up.

There are a whole lot of "I's" in this process so this whole thing has always felt way too personal to me to be healthy - like I am walking through life naked and hoping someone will offer me an umbrella or some sunblock or a nice hand knit sweater and at the very least not throw darts or rotten tomatoes at me.

A connected economy is a feedback economy. Our businesses rise (or fall) by the connections we make. With a gazillion bits of information clamoring for our potential customer's attention word of mouth marketing is the only thing that works.

I get it.

Really.

It still scares the hell out of me.

Before two days ago I hadn't looked at my Etsy feedback in over a year because I like to sleep at night and because I am afraid of darts and rotten tomatoes and because my big girl pants have been at the cleaners ... yes, for a year - my cleaners are very slow. I don't give them bad feedback about this either.

Etsy changed from a kind of pass/fail system to a 5 star system.

A few other things changed, too.

1. Buyers don't get feedback anymore which sounds like a good idea because why does a buyer need feedback. When I leave the grocery store there isn't some guy standing there with a pad and paper rating my performance as a customer. Sellers have used this buyer feedback thing as a way to thank buyers, but sellers have likely thanked them two or three times by this point so it's not really needed for that..

There are sellers on Etsy who make time consuming and sometimes expensive custom items for buyers and kind of like to see who they are dealing with before they get started. They would like to know if the buyer has a history of being unhappy with things they have ordered, so maybe they can avoid the pitfalls of dealing with someone who might be unhappy with them, too.

I get this. It's the same reason I hadn't checked my feedback in a year.

It isn't the way life works though.

Life supports us putting in the energy first - great jobs require unpaid internships, great skills require 10,000 hours of practice, great rewards require sweat. Sellers of time consuming custom work will have to figure out a way to make this work for them.

Maybe someone could offer a place they could privately list problem situations, I don't know. I think few problem situations were ever avoided with buyer feedback though.

2. The stars have little labels that because Etsy is the place for hip, read things like "not a fan" and offer suggestions to customers of what they should write about (customers are required to write at least 5 words now) - suggestions like "what did you like about it?", "what did you dislike?"

Ouch.

(maybe a little disrespectful for handmade Etsy? whatcha think? some of us are still making the things we sell on Etsy with our own two hands and the handmade experience is an imperfect experience, which is the wabi sabi beauty of it - we aren't all resellers Etsy)

3. Sellers overall rankings (1-5 stars) are calculated from the last 12 months of feedback received but listed next to the total of all feedback ever received and so are a little misleading. Maybe a lot misleading.

This seller who posted in the forums yesterday should have a 4.75 overall star rating, but because she has only had 1 buyer in the last 12 months who left feedback (most buyers don't leave any) and that buyer was not happy, she has a 1 star rating which is going to be very slow to improve.

My gut tells me that Etsy will revise this 12 month thing, and if they don't, I think we should all contact this seller and ask her to sell us something cheap which we will all rave about until we pull her rating up to the 4.75 she deserves. I am serious.

4. Buyers can revise their feedback for up to 60 days. They used to have much longer to leave feedback and this replaces kiss and make-up which drove sellers crazy.  It has some potential pitfalls because buyers could revise their star ranking down if something breaks, shrinks or falls apart. I think most likely these buyers would go back to the seller and talk to them before revising their feedback. It's still a little nerve-wracking

There are other changes, but my brain hurts from thinking about them

We'll have to see how this all pans out, maybe some things will be revised over the next couple weeks.

The one good thing that came out of this for me is that with buyer feedback disappearing some purchase feedback I had missed leaving popped into view for me to give out.

I noticed when I left feedback something called Shop Note showed up under my comment area - it looked like the Message to Buyers info, but I couldn't be certain.

We need to figure where this Shop Note gets entered. Before my buyers leave feedback I want them to see something like this:

I love stars. Falling stars and shooting stars and movie stars - since Miss Rehak's first grade class when I went home every day with little gold stars stuck to my forehead (well, maybe not EVERY day) - I just LOVE them. You have been a 5 star customer and I hope I have given you a 5 star experience. Thank you for buying handmade and recycled!

or maybe something like this:

HOLD ON there buddy. If you were about to give me any rating other than the 5 STAR rating we both know I deserve let me just tell you this - I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE. I've seen your Facebook profile and I know where you work. I know you are a little too fond of (I'll pop some custom info related to their purchase in here) OCTOPUSES. Let's just leave it at that.

the reason people love jane's product is not because of how awesome it is, it's because of how awesome it makes THEM

Jane ni Dhulchaointigh is the adorable founder of Sugru. She gave this talk at 99U talk at this year’s conference.

Talk about a woman stepping into her responsibility ... you will love her.

the problem with looking too far ahead ....

she sells seashells metal cuff

I want to know what's going to happen.

(even though I know that thoughts are things and currents of infinite possibility run deep through my bones)

I want to know that everyone is going to have a happy ending and that things are going to all work out.

(even though I know that nothing real can be threatened and nothing unreal exists)

I want to know if what I am doing is going to work before I do it.

(even though ... well, because I'm kind of lazy)

I want a guarantee and yes, I want it signed in permanent ink and notarized.

The problem with this way of going through life is when I look too far ahead:

1. I miss all the stuff I don't do now because it looks like it might be a bad idea later

(if I skipped everything in life that looked like a loser, I surely would have missed the sidesteps that took me to the winners)

2. I miss the cracks in the sidewalk that are right at my feet awaiting my tiniest misstep

(and I am clumsy enough with feet firmly planted on the ground - you know that twitchy/jerky thing that happens sometimes just before we fall asleep - well, I have been known to do that wide awake)

3. I miss the excitement of life surprising me

(since I cannot count on hubs to do this - we both forgot our anniversary last week)

The problem is even knowing these things with an absolute certainty:

I still want to know what's going to happen.

and so she posted this ....

I have a new series ready to go about lining up with what we want while we make stuff and save the world and all that jazz ... but it feels too heavy for a Friday in the summer.

The waning weeks of summer I should add ... sniffle.

So I'm just going to post this (for you, for me, for Olive) ... you're welcome.

happy hump day from the universe ...

You could always send a golden thought balloon Cat, to the most rocking possible version of your future self

to thank you for reaching back with inspiration, hunches, instincts, and impulses to help you bridge all gaps, connect all dots, and leap tall buildings ...

Happy Hump Day,
The Universe

once in a blue moon ... a second full moon in Aquarius

laura peyton print

Although my memory of a blue moon (from classes years ago) isn't the definition being used by most astrologers today - we will just go with today's astrologers and call tonight's 2nd full moon in Aquarius a Blue Moon.

Every 2 or 3 years we have a 2nd full moon in the same Astrology sign which creates a little bookend for the first one - you may be putting to bed a project started between the new moon of July 8th and the full moon of July 22.

(of course most projects are put to bed about as easily as 3 year olds)

When the full moon is in Aquarius the sun is in Leo - so the more we love and value ourselves (Leo) - the more we have to offer the world (Aquarius). We also have all the polarizing themes that go along with that.

It only looks like there are 12 astrological signs - there are really only 6 polarities (or 326 if you are looking here) . Every sign's opposite isn't really it's opposite. They are more like the 2 sides of a coin; they may appear different, but they are still the same coin.

Ultimately (after that hero's journey stuff we all came for) with the Leo/Aquarius polarity we learn that the group is dependent on the individual, and the individual is dependent on the group.

As always during full moons stuff will bump up against our stuck emotional points - in an effort to help us release them -

going through life with sharp edges is not very practical after all. 

Although it may feel like a sumo wrestler has settled onto our solar plexus at times - there is the energy for some real creative stuff to be happening now.

Anyhoo, even if the skies are cloudy tonight, get out and walk in it for a while - it's a wonderful time (although there's never a bad time) to practice gratitude.

Carving out a Niche Without Paper Cuts .....

'cause girls don't wanna grow up either

We don’t have to worry about the millions of people out there who will not like or want or need our makings,

we just have to focus on reaching the people who will love us.

Popular doesn’t mean what it used to mean.

Everyone can be popular now. Yes, everyone. The cool kids may still be sitting at the best table, but guess what – we don’t have to look at them anymore.

(with their perfect skin and their perfect clothes and their perfectly straight teeth - wait, actually I have perfectly straight teeth, don't hate me)

We have our own table. We have always had our own table. But now thanks to this amazing thing called the internet there are a whole lot more people sitting with us and we only have to see each other.

The days of everyone seeing the same TV shows on a Friday night are gone; now everyone sees different things – the things we want to see. 

(yes, the world is like Facebook now)

Those different things are niches.

(pronounced neeshe rhymes with quiche or like geese with a lisp, although here in New Jersey most people rhyme it with fish or itch)

Your niche is what separates you from the pack. It is also what helps the right people find you.

Forget the internet and Etsy for a minute and think of it like this – you are a chiropractor in a small town. If you focus exclusively on golf injuries you will probably be out of business, your small town will not support this type of specializing – you probably need to be more general.

But let’s say you move your practice to the big city – suddenly your general practice is getting lost in the shuffle. There are gazillions of clients for you now, but they can’t find you because there are gazillions of other chiropractors, too – suddenly a golf injury specialty becomes a good thing. In the big city you need a niche.

As cuddly and down home local as it looks, Etsy is the big city folks, yes, we need a niche. But there are some tricks to this niche thing.

Pop over to the  TEAM ECOETSY BLOG for my niche tricks.

(and then say that five times fast and come sit at my table and check out my teeth)

a note from the universe and a magical weekend wish for you ....

Remember, Cat , you're always granted lots of leeway, wiggle room, and tolerance when engaging life's magic.

You pretty much just need to have a dream and show up, then wands start waving all over the place.

Have a magical weekend everyone .....
the Universe

so, in between the new and the full moon what's a maker to do ....

I think that I post about new moons and full moons and then skip all the time in between which is when all the action happens.

So, let's talk about that.

unicorns tell me they enjoy waxing gibbon moons best

We had a new moon 9 days ago - the new moon is the time when the moon is hidden.

In the night sky - when the moon is hidden - think THINK.

This is the beginning part which only feels like the beginning part if we are paying attention.

This is the time when we set intentions, we rest, we dream, we gather together our thoughts and our peeps and our resources. This is the tilling the soil part.

This is the part we skip at our own peril - because when we skip this part the stuff we manifest isn't always the stuff we really want. And actually even when I don't skip this step I sometimes manifest stuff I don't really want; ie the stuff that will make me happy.

But this is a planet of contrast and sometimes we have to manifest what we don't want to figure out what we do want - that's how this stuff works.

After the new moon the moon starts waxing.

(the kind of waxing that does not involve anything hot and painful ... usually)

In the night sky - the moon starts to form a D. When the moon forms a D - think DO.

Our energy will be rising - this is the time to get to work; the action is on accumulating.

The waxing moon moves through its crescent, half-moon and gibbons stages over the next two weeks. To work with this energy, we just have to work. We plant the seeds, we water the seeds, we weed the garden.

We build toward the full moon which is not an ending time - it is a peak energy time. This is the point where we give it our all - this is the point the waxing moon is building us toward.

If we have to work all night on our project - this is the time we will have the energy to do just that.

In the night sky- when you see the full moon - think PEAK.

After the full moon the moon starts waning.

Our energy will be receding. This is the time to start wrapping things up and letting go of things. This is the best time to declutter - this is still an action time but the action is on releasing. This is the time to transition from the peak energy of the full moon to the low energy of the new moon.

In the night sky - the moon starts to form a C. When the moon forms a C - think CLEAR.
 
The waning moon moves through its own crescent, half-moon and gibbons phases over the next two weeks until we reach the new moon again.

Right now we are in a waxing gibbons moon - a big fat D up there. We should be doing.

The more we work with the moon - the more we will find we have the energy to do what we need to do, things will run more smoothly for us with less complications and roadblocks.

It's always better to manage our energy than our time. xo all

fieldguided moon prints

why you may be creating a job and not a business and why that may be ok actually ...

grow something - polarity locket

Before I worked in a bank I did taxes.

I had just been through my first tax season with very demanding clients and an office manager from hell, my daughter was two years old and I really wanted something ... ok I'll just say it ... I wanted something easier.

I applied to a bank for a bank teller job - I could have regular hours and unless I was counting money in my sleep I would not be taking any work home with me.

At the time the bank had a management trainee program where candidates started as bank tellers and progressed to branch managers in a couple years.

The person who interviewed me, seeing my tax background, thought I might be a good fit for this program. I just wanted to be a bank teller.

So, (while the interviewer asked me again if I didn't want a couple days to think about it), I politely declined the management trainee program and became a bank teller.

I loved it.

I loved everything about it. I loved my co-workers. I loved my manager. I loved my customers (mostly). I loved the hours and the holidays (we had A LOT of them).

But maybe most of all I loved leaving that branch and never thinking about it again until I pulled into the parking lot the next morning.

I didn't want a career. I wanted a job.

Now that job lasted about a year before I found out that I was actually more cut out for a career than a job (I  became a manager around the same time the management trainees did, but I think I had a lot more fun getting there). When I think about my 10 year banking career, that very first year holds a lot of great memories for me.

There is nothing wrong with just having a job. Sometimes it's a better place for us. It works until it doesn't.

When I started my first business, people were always giving me the advice - "make sure you are not just creating yourself a job." The 3 letter word would come out of people's mouths all puckery and sour and ... small.

I am not a good advice-taker. So, of course paid no attention.

So, I created a business, but what I really did was build a job for myself.

At that time my mother was very ill and had moved in with us; my uncle who was like a second father to us had just died. My daughter, a latchkey pre-teen, was running amok -

(she denies this and to this day declares me totally nuts for thinking she ever gave us a moment's trouble - "you were lucky to raise me", she says and we were actually, but the truth is she was still running amok .. and her south node Aquarius was clashing with my south node Capricorn BIG TIME)

a business would have been a totally unsustainable thing for me to be building.

I built myself a job.

I had mall carts during the holidays and the mother's day/father's day season and during much of the rest of the year I forgot I even had a business.

Now, another decade or so down the road, I really am building a business. But it's because my life supports it now, not because there is a one way fits all way to do this thing.

You can totally build a job. You can totally build a business.

(and you will most likely need to do both these things at some point because the kind of jobs that other people are building are going other places or disappearing entirely - Kodak had 60,000 employees in its hay-day, Instagram has 13 - annoyingly, it took me a long time to pull up this information because all anyone writes about is how much money a company loses. not so much about how many people lose their jobs)

You can totally do what works best for you and you can totally change that thing you are doing when it isn't working anymore.

We don't need to be doing it as big or as small as anybody else is doing it. We really don't.

why not? print by conilab

anything we know that is googleable isn't worth anything

I was informed last night by a very clever teenager, who may or may not be walking around with a black eye this morning, that anything I know that he can google he knows, too.

And also that inspirational blog posts are really written for the writer and not the reader.

hmmm ....

There is a problem with his way of looking at things, mostly in a "he don't know what he don't know" kind of way, but the truth in it irritated the hell out of me.

Not the inspirational blog post stuff, I already know that.

There being no value in retaining information is a little troubling though - not so much for me, this is actually excellent news for me, since I have lost all ability to retain any information at all, but troubling for us.

Maybe.

The real value of information has always been the way we put it together and make it work - we still need to reframe it. I don't think Google can do this yet. I don't think.

I accidentally banged into this kid with my elbow when he was leaving. At least I hope it was an accident. Smart people make me nervous. Smart alecks made me accident prone. This can make me dangerous.

Also my elbows are extremely pointy - like scary pointy - hubs calls my arms double jointed because they bend backwards at a slightly strange angle and have these pointy elbows like a reptile. I'm not really sure what double jointed means or if there even is such a thing. But wait a minute that would be googleable - so I guess I do know ...

have fun! seriously print by the amazing coni in barcelona

Have some serious fun this weekend - I will be deep into my project - yes, project managers work weekends - I guess we don't know what we don't know either.

my day so far .... a short rant without any actual ranting .....

I have been working with cork all day which is kind of like working with paper.

It leaves my hands dry and flaky and with that awful sensitivity like I just soaked in a tub for 2 hours, but without my Nook and the wine and ... well the soak in a hot tub that makes those puckered fingers all worth it.

While I have been working I am watching one of the Kill Bills - the good one where Uma punches her way out of that coffin, claws her way out of the ground and kicks a one-eyed Darryl Hannah's ass.

This is kind of how I have been feeling lately - sometimes like I am covered in dirt and sometimes like I have just clawed my way out and am ready to take on the world

(I wouldn't take on Darryl Hannah though - she gets arrested every couple years for some eco-'terrorism' plus she was that squeaky voiced mermaid, so I kind of like her).

I am working on a new ... well, I'll just call it a 'project' for now

because 1. I like to think of my work as top secret, like industry spies have infiltrated New Jersey and I may need some Wonka-type maneuvering to outwit them

and 2. I get to call myself a project manager.

I have been doing this for the last couple weeks and I really like the sound of it. I even got to write it on a patient information form for a new doctor, then I got to be particularly vague when she asked me about the type of projects I manage. I may have left her with the impression there is some kind of secret government agency involved ... which might be true, who knows, Olive has been acting a little suspicious lately.

Also today I had a couple people from our local historical society stop by and ask to include our old house on an old house tour - but it turns out our old house isn't old enough .. it just looks old enough. This is probably not a good thing.

You might think I'd be fun to talk to, but I'm not. I think the people from the historical society thought I would be fun to talk to - probably because I was smiling very big when I opened the door (yes, gums and everything I'm not sure why). They quickly realized I am not so good at unstructured conversation, but I am always friendly to historical (I think because I confuse them with hysterical) people.

Anyhoo, that's about all I've got - Uma is about to kill Bill, so I have to get up and turn off the telly, I much prefer happily ever afters .... and how was your day? xo all

another note from the universe ...

No more "supposed tos", ok Cat?

You're not supposed to - work harder, sleep less, sell more, talk slower, run faster, look younger, try harder, do more, stay longer, leave earlier, cook, clean, negotiate, settle, start, stop, move, win, shake, rattle or roll

(well, maybe you are supposed to shake, rattle and roll)

Other people made all that up.

I love you the way you are.

The Universe :)

New Moon in Leo .... Uranus in Aries - time for some passionate making makers!

lions and tigers oh my - my bracelet with cuddly rigor mortis

I am not quite done with the project I am working on (more on this later) but wanted to pop back in for today's new moon.

Today's new moon is in the fiery sign of Leo.

Today was also my mother's birthday. My mother was a Leo. All - "I am the solar queen of the universe. Let me perform."; married to another fire sign, an Aries, you can only imagine the romance and craziness and creativity and damage that could produce! Damn we miss them!

We can't see a new moon, but we can definitely feel it and it affects the energies here. This new moon is an excellent time to set intentions for stuff connected to the lionhearted, wonderful sign of Leo.

Stuff like romance - intense romance - let's just say passion, creativity, loyalty, generosity, playfulness, recognition, leadership, follow through, stamina, pride, health areas ruled by Leo - heart, energy, inflammations

What are we passionate about? What is our heart desiring now?

So, for example some intentions I am setting today:

1. I easily express my creativity for its own sake
2. I will create a clear path to journey upon to fulfill my heart's desire
3. I easily take the right actions with my business that cause me to be recognized in a positive way
4. I easily complete the tasks I set before myself
5. I easily take action that result in perfect heart and energy health

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.

We have some interesting stuff coming along next month - so, right now is a great time to breathe.

Breathe in light (there is lots of it right now) and exhale compassion and gratitude.

Next month is the end of this cosmic nine month birth cycle we have been in since the winter solstice. We are being asked to maintain our center and stay calm no matter what occurs in the world around us. Things will probably start happening quicker next month or maybe all at once in order to awaken as many people on this planet as possible in a cosmic push to our tipping point.

Awakening usually occurs when something is revealed that was not known before that rocks the foundation people base their lives on ... it might be something big because anyone who is still asleep after these last few years probably needs a big shove - the rest of us will feel it, too, though .... we just stay centered, know that we create our reality, all is as it should be ..... go within, go outdoors, stay grounded. And for now - let's enjoy our days and our nights and this wonderful, lion-hug of a moon by doing whatever it is we are doing right now with passion!

what else is possible .....

kristen tercek locket - this cat is ready to roar

I am taking a blog break this week -

to do some new things and they will take all my focus.

(me and multi-tasking go together pretty much like peanut butter and mayo - yup, that good)

I usually choose to look inward - my mantra from the Course has always been - "look around less, imagine more" and this has worked for me - but it seems some things on the outside need my attention.

(and my courage - I am channeling Kristen's tiger this week).

 Of course, I'll be checking in with myself (maybe you will be, too):

“What else is possible?”
“What’s right about this that I’m not seeing?”
“What can I learn about myself from this?"
"How do I feel when I take this step?"

 

when we think we want something and we don't really want it ....

cuddly rigor mortis locket (my new lunch buddy)

Ever since India Arie said on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday a few weeks ago,

"If you think you want it and you don't really want it, it makes you weaker."

it has been gnawing at me.

She was talking about a certain level of success, about the kind of "showing up" that is necessary to have that and about the spaces in us that sabotage the other spaces.

(well, I don't really know if that is what she was saying, what with my lack of focus and total disappearance of short-term memory situation, but that was what I was hearing)

I have always known there is a little resistant part of me that wants to stay put, that doesn't want to stand out, that thinks this blog is a little too know-it-ally now - a space in me that was much more comfortable when I was just whining on Wednesdays, that gets a little tense when a big thinker tells me how much more I could be doing.

The space that pretends we don't know what we want or that what we have is what we want because really wanting what we want would be pretty freakin' painful (and yes, I'll say it, embarrassing) if we didn't get it.

Especially since we live in a world where we can see other people getting it - am I the only person with Facebook friends who are always doing the most amazing things - was everybody else always doing all this awesomeness while I sat on my porch watching ants - I think I might have been happier not knowing this ...  

Or the space that pretends we do want it, because what are we a slacker, shouldn't we want that!

I've held this space for decades. I've nurtured it.

I've never thought about it the way she said it though - I think it was the word weaker that stopped me in my tracks.

I had an Etsy shop owner a few months ago ask me for some selling advice and she told me immediately she wanted to net $50,000 a year selling her jewelry which was priced at about $30 a piece. A quick estimate told me (assuming her raw goods and expense costs were about 30%, which I just totally made up) she would need to sell about 2500 pcs of jewelry a year retail or about double that number wholesale to make $50,000.

She was currently selling about 10 pcs a week.

Going from 10 pcs a week to 50 - 100 pcs a week would be a pretty big change for her - I asked her how much time she thought that would take (for me, and you may need more time than this you don't have Olive after all, I calculate 3 hours of total work for every 1 hour of production), if she could even source her raw materials for these kind of numbers, is she had the funds to support that kind of growth (it actually does cost money to make money), 

how she would double her retail sales and maybe pick up 3 wholesale orders a week?

People might think - "well, I'd still like to have such problems" when actually these are exactly the kind of problems that put a lot of good businesses out of business.

(whether we go out of business because of too few customers or too many, we are still out of business) 

They are also the kind of problems that some space in us sees even before we do and says "I'm not sure I want that."

I'm sure she thought I was being negative and we never spoke again. I was trying to get her positive (the definition of positive that means certain) with her intention and looking at what this would actually mean - to see what kind of stuff this brought up in her - because it was exactly the stuff that came up that would create her roadblocks.

She was very certain she didn't want to hire any employees or do any outdoor shows and immediately looking at her numbers and looking at what she made - she wasn't putting a made-in-China pendant on a made-in-China chain like at least half the jewelry makers on Etsy are now - my immediate reaction was that it would be a lot of work and I wondered if some part of her was realizing this and blocking the process.

Some space in her that really didn't want to step into that life; some space that found it easier to say "this just isn't working" than to make the changes so that it can work or really look at whether or not she even wanted it to.

If we think we want something - maybe because we think we should want it - or maybe because part of us really does want it but other spaces in us are holding resistance to it, and we don't really want it (making and selling 2500-5000 pieces of anything a year all by ourselves is a whole lot of work, folks), it weakens us.

It's this polarity (and not the amazing locket - warning shameless plug ahead - have you seen this) that creates the self-sabotage or the unhappiness; the negative emotions from the resistance not what we actually do. Of course, the actions come from the emotions so it all goes full circle, but even a circle probably has a space where we can just jump in (or jump off) - think of that spinning ride at the playground.

I am still not sure where I am going with this thinking. I know we can tell what it is we are really wanting by the way it makes us feel - 

the problem is that so many things that could be really good things, can bring up fear in us. It seems like things can initially feel bad (as in scary, mostly) so we don't think we can always trust our feelings to go with what feels good. 

We have seen the bad stuff work out and the good stuff go all to hell.

We think we should feel the fear and do it anyway. But then life becomes one challenge after another and I'm not so sure things should be that hard. Maybe changing the emotion from fear to excitement (joy would be even better) before taking action helps eliminate the resistance that creates the sabotage; it will be a lot easier to change the emotion than to rewrite our personal history.

I have to keep thinking about this. Or I have to stop thinking about this. I think I have to stop thinking about this - whatever it is I am intended to get out of it will show up in an easier way for me to grasp.

(hopefully covered in something kind of grippy, I have dropped 2 test tubes in the last 24 hours). 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone - it's summer, so relax and let's enjoy it - actually don't even read this post - it is way too much to think about in late July ...

but you knew that ..... a note from the Universe

Dreams come true, Cat , that's what they do.

For the slow approach:

Resist. Attach. Insist. Deny. Stop. Second guess. Whine. Argue. Defend. Protest. Cry. Struggle. Ask others, when you know the answer yourself.

For the quick approach:

Visualize. Pretend. Prepare. Dodge. Roll. Do not waiver over intentions, but only methods. Show up, even when nothing happens. Give thanks in advance.

But you knew that,
    The Universe

mercury for makers - transitions and crossroads and the lessons of paying attention

the impatient patient locket

Now that Mercury has returned from the underworld things will start to feel like they are picking up steam for us.

When I first started looking at astrology charts, back in my banking days, it wasn't possible for me to know anyone's exact time of birth,

(although I once had a very odd, elderly client and I was strangely drawn to ask him - he must have thought it a very thorough file I was putting together for him - after I asked his date of birth and place, both standard questions, I asked him if he knew the time he was born, he knew almost down to the exact second as I knew he would)

so I didn't pay a lot of attention to the fast moving planets since they change too frequently. Mercury is one of those fast moving, inner planets, though, that was always on my radar.

In a Tarot deck Mercury is the Magician card - an archetype many makers are familiar with even if they have never heard of him.

The Magician is the alchemist - the great conjurer; the maker of something out of nothing - we channel this energy all the time.

The shadow of the magician is manipulation, disorganization, depression, lack of focus and lack of motivation. Personally, I have no ability to manipulate (at least not successfully); the other shadows I am familiar with.

"Working with Mercury means that we must cultivate the art of recognizing significant communications, knowing what is truth and what is falsehood or else the lessons of the crossroads - the point where doors open or close, where persons have to make decisions that may forever affect their lives - will be lost." - Robert Faris Thompson

Maybe that sounds a bit more dire than it needs to be, but truly we do not need hindsight to have 20/20 vision.

Seen close to the sun at dusk or before dawn - Mercury is the mysterious messenger of the Gods who presides over all times of transitions; all crossroads.

I can't see everyone's chart to check where his royal elusiveness was hanging out when you were born, although if you email me I can tell you -

but I will say that Mercury in a fire sign receives and transmits insight through fire - think get your fire started inspiration here, in an earth sign (like mine) it is about building something physical with those ideas, in an air sign ideas are used to connect people or to make things beautiful and in a water sign Mercury is about introspection.

There is no particularly challenging placements for artists - although some are better than others for tangible manifestations. It's all good though, as they say. The speed Mercury was moving when we drew that first breath has an impact, too (deep, solid thinker vs fast, quick wit).

Mercury represents communication. He is associated with the lungs (my acupuncturist tells me that ailments to the lungs are unexpressed grief), the wind, birds, the hands (by creating with our hands we can heal grief), he reminds us to be cool-headed (meaning clear and responsible as opposed to hot-headed meaning thick and irresponsible).

One ritual for getting in touch with Mercury's cool thinking at a juncture is to pour cool water at the crossroads - you can do this at the bathroom sink - set something on the left side of the sink representing the one path and something on the top of the sink near the faucets representing the other path, cross the things and place them in their opposite places (left to right and top to bottom) - pour cool water at the point where the paths have intersected and speak the intention to get clear on your decision.

(know that this ritual means that you have taken action, see what happens and how you feel about it)

Mercury always reminds us that we are leading a magical life - that thoughts are things, that what we turn our attention to expands. Mercury reminds us that it is important to intend what we say. We are reminded to think about how our thoughts make us feel.

Does the thought we are thinking make us stronger or make us weaker?

Next post - how thinking we want something and not really wanting it makes us weaker (yes, back to that one)

Part IV - Profit like a Prophet - Reclaiming our Authority with Saturn Energy

 

The shadow of working with this energy is the temptation to become too authoritarian.

(we are the authors of our own story but we are not here to write anyone else's - Saturn abhors ghost-writers)

Rigidity (in our thinking and bodies), insecurity, tyranny, taking ourselves too seriously are probably signs that we have moved into the shadow and need a reboot

(and some serious cutting-loose time).

Iron deficiencies (Saturn rules iron) often equal irony deficiencies. I would recommend spinach and Steve Carrell.

(I want to see his new movie this weekend - no cutting-loose in this one though)

James Hillman, who studied with Carl Jung, pointed out that silver (the Moon, creativity) and lead (Saturn, depression) are always found together in nature. He implied that depression is crucial to creativity. I'm not sure this is true, but depression can be a challenge for creatives. Loss of focus and inaction contribute.

Positive thinking is a great tool for working with Saturn's challenges.

The positive thinking that actually works though is the "positive" that means certain -

not the word "positive" that means "good". 

Being certain things are getting better and being certain our world is falling apart are both the kind of thinking that creates just that. 

It's the certainty that is powerful, not the goodness or badness of something we are thinking about. Life just demands expansion - it's up to us how that expansion happens.

We need to be thinking about what we are thinking about. We need to be paying attention to our emotions. We need to be taking action that feels good.

Saturn is about our responsibilities - all the things we signed up to do here - the relationships, the challenges, the work, the projects.

He makes a complete orbit of the zodiac every 28-30 years (called our Saturn return, he returns to his place in the skies at the time we were born and basically proceeds to take our inventory - hard work, self-questioning, nowhere to hide - think of it as Saturn hitting all your houses at once). 

Now that Saturn is direct again - take a look at the house this affects in your chart - you can probably look this up online or email me and I'll tell you. This is the house where you will not be allowed to procrastinate or be indecisive right now (and thru 2014) - this is the space that you will have much universal support when you step into your authority!

Next week, Mercury finally moves direct again and since Mercury is all about our voice in the world, communication and magic - we will take a look at how we can make her work with our businesses and lives, too.

Have a great weekend all! The heat is making all of us in Jersey mad-hatter hysterical.

And typing the word hysterical reminds me that the word hysteria comes from the word uterus - because hysteria was thought to originate in the uterus - I know. 

I think men could not imagine that being a woman living in a world defined by men could make someone appear mad - that going bat-shirt crazy at midlife was actually a totally healthy reaction to an unhealthy situation.

Now that we are all living in an undefined world and men are crashing about mad as hatters, too - maybe it's time for a new word.

Of course who knows how much hysterical was actually in the hysteria anyway.

Once, many years back I called hubs at work because I found a drowned squirrel in the pool. Now, I had already fished her out and done a proper burial with my daughter and her little friends in the backyard, but I think I just wanted to talk to a grown up about it.

Anyhoo, we were talking on the phone and someone at his job needed his attention and he said to this person, "Hold on a minute. My wife's on the phone and she's hysterical". And I said, "Huh, I'm not hysterical." and he said "Well, you sound pretty upset."

To this day he insists I called him sounding hysterical. Of course, I just called all the people of NJ hysterical (not just the ones in possession of a uterus) ... I think we might be though - it is pretty freakin' hot .... xo all

Part III - Profit like a Prophet - Reclaiming our Authority thru Systems

refuse to sink - nan lawson locket

Saturn energy supports us when we deliberately choose our focus.

Regardless of what we say is important to us, the truth of what we care about is what we spend our time on.

How are we spending our minutes, hours, days?

There is no right or wrong with this and if we are happy we should keep on keeping on, but if things are not going as well, this is one of the first things I always look at. 

When we don't consciously choose our focus our time gets stolen by Saturn's shadow called distraction - this is especially true when we have an online business.

When we set up systems for our business we work with this energy best and step into our authority.

Systems to value our time (Saturn was known to the ancient Greeks as Chronos or Time), secure our foundation, establish structure, take responsibility for the work we put out into the world, use self-discipline and create boundaries are the kind of systems Saturn can help us with. Saturn says everyone needs a job!

Setting aside specific chunks of time for specific tasks can be a great organizer for maker business owners.

We never had a job where we could do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted to and we haven't created one either.

We need structure to our days. We don't need the inflexible kind of structure that breaks because it can't bend, but we don't want to be bending so often that we break anyway.

Figure out what we need to do and schedule our week. My slowest days are at the end of the week, so I schedule non-essential business stuff for Thursdays and Fridays. I balance my books every month. I inventory my supplies every month.

I have a calendar with chunks of hours and I work with it as much as possible. Two hours for such and such - if it's not complete and I am out of time. I stop anyway. I schedule in another hour somewhere - that way I'm not thinking about such and such; that thing I have to do.

I'm not stressing because it is hanging over me and unfinished.

It's over for me until that time period on my calendar when I take it back out. When I started valuing my own time in this way, stuff hitting me out of the blue becomes much more rare. Saturn still throws me a curve ball- that's his job, but I am at least twice as likely to catch it now.

I am not perfect with this; I don't try to be. I get off-balance all the time and have to drag myself back to center.

When Saturn isn't honored he shows up as inertia, fear, depression - if we are off rhythm and out of balance, Saturn tells us to get back in touch with our rhythms - we can do deep breathing as a way to find our center.

Saturn also represents the father and the truth is that many of us were not honored and approved of by our fathers. Saturn invites us to let go of the yearning for this. Just let it go. We don't have to go through life passing this paternal torch to others in some misguided attempt to get an authority figure to validate us.

It's very powerful to ask ourselves "To whom did I give away my power to feel good about myself?" and then affirm "I take my power back." Breathe that power back in ... deeply.

Remember when doing exercises like this that you have the energy of generations of magic makers behind your intention. This is not something to take lightly. Once you take that power back - you own it. Blaming someone else for something that isn't working in your life will no longer work for you.

The Chinese art of Chi Gong shows us the coordinates of Saturn. Imagine a vertical line from the base of our spine to the crown of our head then imagine a horizontal line from the small of our back straight to just below our belly button.

This is the place of our true center, Saturn's energy rests here - it is a place where fear does not exist.

Many years ago I had uterine surgery in this area that left me with scar tissue and numbness and a couple years later I had another surgery that removed the scar tissue. Looking back on it I could see that during this time I had lost my center emotionally and spiritually and so my physical body lost its center, too.

Women who have pregnancies, miscarriages, abortions, hysterectomies, etc - usually need to work to get back to center.

Next Post Part IV -Profit like a Prophet - Reclaiming our Authority

Part III - Profit like a Prophet - Reclaiming our Authority thru Ritual

the elephant never forgets ring

I am not particularly interested in who says something as much as I am in,

"does this message mirror my feelings".

My mother was very trusting of authority - if a doctor said to her, "do this" - she did it and it very often worked for her, but it was always her belief as much as the doctor's wisdom that created the healing.

She trusted politicians to run the world, the church to teach us about God, the schools to teach us everything else and the police to protect us.

What she saw as safety, I eyed with distrust and one hand on the doorknob.

We were both looking at what was true to us, but because none of this stuff was actual truth, we could only see what we were looking for.

When we read advice for our business we have to be thinking about this.

For example many business coaches advise makers to 'get their work out there - don't wait until everything is 100% ready' - a just do it philosophy right out of the old Nike ads. Now, this is really great advice for perfectionists and procrastinators. And many makers are perfectionists and need to hear this. But other makers need to put many, many hours into their skill set and get clear with their intention and focus before launching anything. There is no one shoe fits everyone with any of this stuff.

(I do a lot of study with north nodes in astrology charts and for every chart that shows someone needing to release that Virgo perfectionism there is someone else who really needs to embrace just that)

None of this stuff is actually truth - it is only what is true for us.

My friend had a job she really, really wanted to quit. She tried an Etsy shop for a year, but it wasn't taking off and it began to feel as heavy to her as her oppressive job. She decided to close the shop. She was just too scattered.

(many makers have these half-assed, empty for months and even years, Etsy shops cluttering up their life - spaces they have moved on from - if this is you, unless you have some really good reason for keeping it open and "maybe I will get back to this some day" probably doesn't count with this, you might want to close it - save the pics first - no one is going to clean up these loose ends for us, we have to do it ourselves - and if you are the kind of person who leaves cabinet doors open after you have grabbed a glass, left checking accounts open with $2.00 in them - which then proceeded to rack up service charges - you especially need to close that empty shop)

When she closed it, she did a release ritual I told her about and she said for the first time ever - she felt like she left something cleanly.

She celebrated the stuff it had brought into her life and released any need to look back at her shop with any unfinished emotions. It didn't become something in her past she had failed at (which it never was, but the subconscious is a tricky thing) or something she is going to get back to when she has more time (she may one day open another shop - who knows - but if she does, it will be opened with the enthusiastic energy of new creation it deserves).

She set her intention for her life to improve in very specific ways. She didn't worry about how any of this is going to happen - the "how's" are life's job, not ours - she just sets her intention, meditates to clear her mind, eats cleaner to clear her body, looks at emotions that come up to see where she is over-reacting, acts on things that make her feel good and ... well, I will report back - this is a process after all.

Our beliefs really do create our reality (what is true for us) but even most people who believe this think in terms of the big things, but the little things create the big things. We leave these little doors ajar here and there as we go through life ... just in case we need them, little escape hatches whose very presence (picture little open doors into the space you are now occupying) tells ourselves that we need an escape hatch - they suck the oxygen from the current moment and take up space.

There are centuries worth of unbinding and cord cutting rituals and the very simple paper release I talked about it in the last post that I always recommend (which she did on a full moon - she said she felt totally crazy and had to resist the urge to start howling - a very good sign I told her. I only wish she had actually howled).

Now cord cutting and unbinding (some tribes will imbue a cord with the symbolism of some restraint you wish to release, tie it loosely around your waist - I did this once with one of hub's neckties - raise your arms and let the cord drop to the ground) are not like "don't burn your bridges" - this isn't about releasing anything good; the good stuff is the stuff we get to keep.

Next Up Part IV- Profit like a Prophet - Reclaiming our Authority thru Ritual

Part II - Reclaiming our Authority; Rituals for Abundance - Profit like a Prophet

galactic abundance - polarity locket

I think my plants have started talking back to me.

(not in a bratty, teenager kind of way  - they are much too polite for that)

But, lately after I tell them how beautiful and strong and amazing they are for hanging with me during this hot and humid July - I am hearing little whispers of gratitude.

George Washington Carver talked to plants - he would ask them "what are you for little guy?" and they would whisper back - probably something like "I am a peanut and I taste great with jelly".

I've been telling my hanging baskets all about George in the morning while I eat my poached egg on gluten-free toast on the front porch.

(gluten free bread btw if you haven't tried it, tastes pretty much like any dense bread, except it costs twice as much and needs to be refrigerated)

This morning I slipped up and started talking to them about Luther Burbank (another famous botanist - there is a reason for all this plant reading I've been doing lately which I will report on in a couple weeks). Luther talked to plants, too. He grew plants that were edible without their spines simply by saying to them "you are perfectly safe here, you do not need your spine" - then he would grow these incredible spineless fruits - how amazing is that!

(of course, he would then proceed to eat them which is maybe the reason so many plants have stopped listening to us)

We all have rituals and our rituals are very powerful. Even the most simple tasks, actually most especially and maybe only the most simple tasks, when done mindfully, invoke the power of ritual.

We can sweep our floor or we can sweep out the past along with our dust bunnies.

Rituals are the way God/the Gods/the Universe, our Higher Self (choose your comfort zone) know we are asking for help. Life is a collaboration.

I don't know what Webster or Wikipedia would offer up, but for our purposes we will define ritual as any act imbued with invisible intention. 

In Astrology, Saturn is the part of us that sets our intention - he gives us the power to focus and define our boundaries, our terms and our purpose. With intention and ritual we begin to grow the form in which that intention will be realized from inside out, rather than having it externally imposed.

Either we step into our responsibility and become the author of our own lives or we give our authority away - there is no in between place. Fear is a symptom of loss of authority - we can find the places in our life where we have not honored Saturn by the things we are afraid of.

And when we give our authority away, we should be afraid.

Saturn moved into Scorpio last fall for a two and a half year visit, then went retrograde a couple months later and just turned direct again last week. So, this is a great time to work with this energy (there is never really a bad time, but some times are better than others). Next Monday we have a full moon, which is an excellent time to set release intentions and to practice release rituals.

A really simple release ritual which utilizes the four elements (earth, water, air, fire) is to speak your intention of release, write it down by hand on a piece of paper, burn the paper and release the ashes into moving water (stream, river - once I used a flushing toilet in a bar bathroom; it worked).

The power of our results will directly mirror the power of our intention.

Challenging circumstances always drive us inward - where we get to use our Saturn to author a new chapter. Saturn asks us "how do you want your story to proceed?" - if we don't go inward willingly Saturn reaches up and yanks us down forcefully (which is why he has gotten such a bad rap) - this yanking is often experienced as depression, but it is really a reminder to step into our responsibility for our life; to not live life by default.

We really are on a quest here and ritual connects us to the bigger picture.

Last winter I was very focused on connecting with other people thinking these connections had to come in a certain way - forgetting that we set the intention and let life work out the 'how's'. Life showed me very quickly that crowds and people are no cure for loneliness; that maybe we need to be alone to find out what supports us. Solitude is the cure for loneliness; like cures like. Life was offering me a space for reflection because without reflection we can become as vulnerably off balanced as if we are sleep deprived. Insight must be earned, I guess. It's crazy how often I can know something and then act like I don't know it ...

Next up - Reclaiming our Authority; Rituals for Abundance - Profit like a Prophet Part III (some specific rituals for our business)

whatever we take an interest in, takes an interest in us - reclaiming our authority with ritual and systems part I

jennifer johansson locket - pull up a chair and relax

I had someone write me this week, a very well meaning someone, to ask why my blog has such a mystical bent these days

and it got me thinking that

# 1 - I really liked the sound of that

and # 2 - it is probably good for everyone to have an interest in the invisible (ie the unconscious) right now since everything is getting all mixed together - better a dance than a battle after all!

Astrology isn't a science or a religion or anything like that - it is more of a language.

(so just pretend I am talking about the French language here unless you are French in which case maybe try thinking Dutch)

I don't do predictory (I guess that isn't a word or I have spelled it wrong, whatever the word should be for that, let's just pretend I said that) things with astrology - which has the same root as predicament btw and that certainly doesn't sound good.

Astrology is more about prophecy - patterns, mythology, collaboration - it is totally an invitation to experiment and engage - our real life purpose is always to co-create (with the heavens and with each other) in the most interesting, ingenious and loving ways possible.

That's really all there is to everything - of course there are gazillions of ways to do this which is where the fun comes in.

We work on grounding ourselves - (which yes, is stuff that I totally need to learn which is why I totally write about it) loss of balance is no small thing.

Loss of balance topples dynasties, folks.

Remember that 20/20 episode (Dateline?) years ago where they showed muggers videos of people walking down the street and asked them which people they would choose to mug and the muggers always chose the same people - the ones with the non-rhythmic, uncoordinated manners.

These victims weren't staggering down the street or anything, it is way more subtle than that.

And, there are many ways of getting mugged.

We can be mugged in a conversation, in a relationship, at work - there are as many ways for muggers to take away our authority (authorship of our life) as there are ways for us to allow it .... I think the off-balance thing is where it starts. We probably start tipping around the age of 3 or 4; maybe a sturdy few of us get to puberty.

(I think by the looks of the extremely oversized head I had in my baby pictures I was surely tipping over at birth)

Grounding works. Rituals (mystical) and systems (practical) work, too - so let's talk about that this week.

Next up Part II - Reclaiming our Authority; Rituals for Abundance - Profit like a Prophet .... xo all

what all this groundwork means for our biz part II or part VI or part XLCV (is that anything?) or why what works for one person may not work for someone else

a head full of blooms

So, we set in place some practices to ground ourselves.

(this isn't something we will finish and then move on to something else - these are practices - they need to be practiced)

Putting energy into these things will change other things. If you, like me, are one of those mental people who look at things from a million angles before putting any new practice into place - skip that step.

(trying to see what will happen when we take a certain action doesn't work anyway because our taking the action changes what will happen)

Just set in place some practices to ground yourself emotionally, physically and mentally (the spiritual is always grounded). See what happens.

The last word I have on this grounding stuff is that although the general steps I outlined in this series I think will work for most people - everyone is different. 

(and this everyone is different thing is something we all give lip service to - we all nod our heads and agree that yes, it is our differences that make us stronger - then we encounter someone we do not agree with and get annoyed with them for being ... different)

Everyone. Is. Different. I don't mean this flippantly. Everyone really is here to experience different things. And even when we experience the same things we will experience those things differently.

Some of us need to spend more time alone and some of us need to get our asses out there. Some of us need to climb onto that stage and some of us need to get the hell off that stage and cede space to someone else.

The moment we inhaled our first breath - we took ownership of our life. We signed a contract with that breath. Our astrological chart (the skies at that very moment in time) represents that soul contract. This doesn't mean we do not have free will - we think thoughts, hold beliefs, set intentions and take actions with total free will and, of course, we wrote the chart after all.

So, what might work for YOU?

Well, I did some north/south node charts for some brave readers a few months ago? last summer? when was that?

and promised some Goddess charts, but never delivered.

(I am kind of like the Pizza Hut delivery girl except I often get lost and distracted and sometimes I show up empty handed and smelling of pepperoni and vodka)

The word warrior has been coming up for me all week and so I think it's time to see what my favorite warrior - the brave and wonderful Pallas Athena - has to say by her placement in a few charts if there are any brave volunteers.

If this doesn't sound completely nuts to you either drop me a line in the comments or hit the let's chat link.

(and remember a lot of people thought Copernicus and Galileo were nuts which is a good reason to always keep an open ear to the mad drunk in the corner! of course I am not Copernicus or Galileo, but I have a feeling neither of them would be quite as fond of Athena as I am)

Don't worry about giving me your birthdate (I will forget it 45 seconds after seeing it) or me discovering any secrets about anyone (I am simply not that good at this) - also I should warn you that this will be kind of a summer project so might take a bit .....

xo all - enjoy a wonderful summer weekend no matter what the weather!