The Eye of the Storm

Last night I had a moment. These moments happen from time to time, usually every few months when the buildup of the world’s news stacks on my heart and brain until I just cannot withstand it anymore. I don’t really know what true depression feels like, but in these moments I can taste what I assume it could feel like. Helplessness. And then I feel rage, true rage with the blood boiling and all. And then sadness that we live in a world so full of hatred, and killings, and racism, and selfishness. I lose faith in mankind, which is out of character for me. Part of me wants to completely stop watching / listening to the news or even looking at people’s comments about such on Facebook. I’m sure it would make me feel better. But then, if I’m not paying attention, if I am not participating, then am I turning my back to people who are suffering and if I were in their place would I want the world to turn their back on me? Or ignoring movements and decisions and votes that could potential directly affect me too? When in doubt, cry.

Yes, it was that kind of moment. They happen about twice a year. The kind that calls for chocolate caramel fudge ice cream and an episode of The Cosmos to put things into perspective again.

So I found it very interesting that at yoga tonight, my teacher opened the class talking about this great storm that is blowing our way (San Francisco schools are actually closing tomorrow, yep California). She then spoke about how the world and all the catastrophes (human, environmental, etc) are like the big storm. It’s overwhelming and powerful and we just have to ride it and respect it. Then she read this quote:

“PEACE. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of all of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

She alluded again to the storm, and reminded us that in the middle of every storm is an eye. If we, as individuals, can find inner peace inside of that eye, inside of our storm, inside of our crazy Earthly horrors, then we are making progress. It doesn’t mean turning a blind eye. It just means that inner peace is the true struggle, and perhaps if more people in the world fought for that sort of peace, their own peace, maybe some of the fighting and seriously ugly side of human nature could stop.

So that is what I am going to try. To find the eye somewhere in this uncontrollable storm, and find calmness in my heart there. Hopefully that will somehow in the bigger scope of things and our cosmos, make a difference. At the very least, I think it will help me stay away from the ice cream aisle.

The Fortunate Fool

Scribbled in various old journals of mine are the words I am Fortune’s fool. Not original, I admit, but my journals have the tendency to be melodramatic and what could be more melodramatic than a reference to Romeo’s romantic anguish? I have felt like a fool repeatedly in love, and until now, was not particularly happy about it. But I have experienced a synchronistic turn of events now having me think otherwise.

When I got my wisdom teeth pulled this summer, my wonderfully creative friend gifted me her newly printed zine called Snippet and a little black notebook to keep me entertained during the recovery. The theme of this first issue was “Journey”. A few pages into the zine I encountered a photocopy of the tarot card of The Fool, which I had never seen before. I was then prompted to locate and analyze the various symbols on the card and how that all relates to journeys.

There is clearly the man walking towards a steep cliff, with his head held high and eyes closed, just one step away from falling off the edge. His posture shows no sign of fear or concern, and he does not pay attention to the dog next to him apparently trying to warn him of the potential danger ahead. The Fool carries a white rose in one hand, which I perceived as beauty and innocence, a ruck sack as he is clearly on an adventure, and the sun shines down on him from behind, illuminating his journey. It’s a bright, sunny day despite the looming threat of danger unknown to him.

I have since looked up the symbolism of this card, and it is more or less on par with this interpretation. But what I learned was that The Fool is an unnumbered card, or sometimes represented as a 0, either at the beginning of the Major Arcana or at the end. The number 0 being of unlimited potential. Anything could happen for the Fool, but only something can happen if he takes a step. He creates his own destiny. The Fool represents new beginnings and invites us to take a leap of faith and to trust in the Universe. He encourages us to believe in ourself and follow our heart, no matter how crazy or ‘foolish’ the impulse may seem.

All my life I thought being a fool was a bad thing. But now I was beginning to like The Fool.

At the moment of reading this zine, I was having a strong impulse pushing me towards San Francisco for both professional and personal reasons. I wrote in my journal mostly about how I wanted to be like The Fool on this new journey, this big move to San Francisco and everything it involved. I chose to trust in the Universe and focus on the beauty at hand.

I arrived and instantly headed out to the Burning Man festival, all full of excitement about my new life. There was a pending matter of the heart to attend to with someone out there, and I was looking forward to embracing that. Without going into much detail, I can just say that I didn’t see the precipice ahead, despite the fact there had been a dog beside me barking its warning for some time. Eyes closed, big smile on my face, white rose in hand, I took a leisurely step and suddenly there was no ground beneath my feet. I felt myself free falling off a cliff. I smacked the ground and it hurt. And, ironically, it happened while watching this beautiful sculpture called Embrace burn to the ground.

I was, again, Fortune’s Fool. And there were ashes to prove it.

Later that afternoon I embarked on a different journey with my friends through a massive dust storm, in the hopes to reclaim my Burning Man experience and heal my fresh wound at the caring side of my lovely friends. The dust cloud was fairly dense, allowing just a few feet of visibility at times. There is something very beautiful and surreal about walking aimlessly through a dust storm. It’s quiet and calm and I am left with my thoughts. As I walked slowly through the whiteout, my mind returned to the events of the morning and the heartbreak. I kept thinking how foolish it was to open my heart and allow this pain to happen.

Due to the lack of visibility we walked towards the setting sun that would eventually lead us back to our camp. The sun felt good on my skin, and I closed my eyes to soak it in. Since I couldn’t really see anything anyway, I kept my eyes closed and continued walking towards the sun. I thought about the Fool walking with his eyes closed, and I decided to embrace my new beginning. I broke off a bit from my friends and decided it was time for a self-love pep talk. Gripping the shoulder straps of my Camelback in each fist, I created a shield of armor over my chest and repeated to myself over and over again that I was strong. I envisioned my wolf-woman self, bringing me back to that centered, confident place where I sometimes find myself. My chin was up, eyes still closed, a smile finally breaking on my lips. I was a Warrior Woman, completely invincible.

And then, bang! I got side-swiped by a bicyclist. The girl he was doubling flew (safely) off the handlebars and both were quickly at my side, very apologetic. And I just stood there and laughed. I told them that I was walking with my eyes closed, so it was my fault. I told them about my Warrior Woman pep-talk and my invincibility, and we all had a good laugh. He brought out a bottle of tequila, and I took a swig. They told me a cute story about how they had just met thirty minutes before, and sent me along my way.

The Fool is not so invincible, as it turns out. That cliff edge is a real thing.

The next day my friends and I rode our bikes out to explore the artwork and came across an installation involving a bunch of old, differently colored doors attached to create a circle.

The Wheel of Fortune

We parked our bikes and I walked right up to it, opened one of the doors and stepped through. The inside of this space gave me the impression of an old brothel, and as I turned around in the circle I realized that behind each door was a tarot card. I looked back at the door that I had walked through. And, no surprise, I had unknowingly selected The Fool, who this time was depicted as a masked woman in a beautiful black and white image spanning the entire door frame.

I remember unhappily muttering, “of course…,” and a woman inside the installation laughed at (or with?) me. I teared up a bit, just wanting to go home and crawl into my clean bed where I could close my eyes and stop walking and be safe.

Days later I was back home and reflecting on my week out in the desert. Suddenly all the different moments of synchronicity came together and I thought, perhaps there was something behind this Fool thing. I did more research into the card, and decided that I am not Fortune’s fool, but rather I am fortunately the Fool. I walk blindly and trustingly through my life and always have. And, for the most part, that has worked out for me and I have lived such beautiful and amazing experiences as a result. I would much rather trust people, and myself, than to live my life full of fear and doubt. I am the number zero. I am unlimited potential.

I was so afraid that this recent experience would make me question my judgement or lose my faith. But I am realizing that the Universe is indeed looking after me. I fell and it hurt. But it was the landing of a huge leap forward that I needed to take. The sun comes up each day and I have the ability to begin a new journey. Had I not trusted in my heart and followed an impulse, I would not be here in San Francisco finally moving forward in my career path and reconnecting with my family, old friends and new.

I am not invincible, especially when I allow myself to be vulnerable and exposed (or when I walk through crowded, whited-out intersections with my eyes closed apparently!). But I will not be afraid to close my eyes, trust, and walk steadily ahead. It may be foolish, but I love being a fool.

Thankful

Someone pass the turkey bone! I have some thanks to give today =)

I am thankful,
to be alive, but by that I mean not just breathing and waking up each day. I mean really really, like really, alive.

I am thankful,
to be in a position right now to make changes in my life, because I want to and not because I have to.

I am thankful,
that my parents are healthy and have raised me with so much love and the “la la gene.”

I am thankful,
that all three of my sisters are happy and doing well, and in the company of sweet men who love them as much as I do.

I am thankful,
for inheriting my Dad’s passion – for better and for worse – as it’s the driving force behind most of my actions.

I am thankful,
that my friends are incredibly positive, inspiring people who bring so much joy and motivation into my life.

I am thankful,
that I can almost always remember my dreams.

I am thankful,
for my intuition.

I am thankful,
that traveling and living abroad for so many years has opened my mind to other ways of living and thinking.

I am thankful,
for rediscovering yoga, as both my body and mind was needing some flexibility and strength.

I am thankful,
that people feel safe to make themselves vulnerable with me.

I am thankful,
that I have experienced love, deep in the core / cuore – and that I’m fully open to do it again.

I am thankful,
for the epiphany I had in Mexico that changed the course of my life, pushing me towards a profession that allows me the chance to help others and make women feel special and powerful.

I am thankful,
that I believe in the Universe and I believe in myself

THANK YOU to all the amazing people in my life. You above all else make me feel the most thankful, today and everyday.

Joy

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh

After quite an intense month of introspection, hard decisions and transition, I am pleased to say that I feel that intensity slipping away while my more joyful self is dancing her way back up to the surface. The change of late has been really positive, just fairly intense, and I feel like I have been very serious (aka boring) as I do this dedicated and somewhat solitary “self-work.”

Part of the reason I have taken up yoga and meditation again is to allow myself a break from all the mind’s noise and try to center myself a bit. I am pretty crap at meditation, I must admit. I can last about 20 seconds before a thousand thoughts swirl through my head. I try the cloud theory that people keep telling me about, where you focus on an imaginary sky and whenever a thought happens, rather than try to escape it, you see it as a cloud floating by and then return to an empty canvas again. This unfortunately does not work for me. The clouds take shapes and remind me of more thoughts and stories. What does seem to work, however, are mantras. I do not have a great memory for Sanskrit, so I usually make up simple words or phrases in English and just repeat those over and over again, silently to myself. I find I can ignore my thoughts longer doing that.

After writing the post about my gut feelings last week, and subsequent belly and heart issues which led me to go to the doctor to make sure there was not actually something wrong with me, I took a week off of all exercise and yoga. I was afraid of making my oddly palpating heart overwork in an already irregular state. But once I realized that it was probably my nerves making me feel bad, I decided that yoga would probably help and decided to go to class. And I am so glad that I did.

Often at the beginning of class my yoga teacher asks us to make dedications of that day’s practice to someone we know. I sometimes pick family or friends randomly, but last Thursday it was a purposeful decision to dedicate the class to my good friend’s mom who passed away the day before. Her name was Joy. I have such fond and silly memories of her growing up, she was such a sweet and generous woman.

Inspired by the dedication to her during that class, I naturally and somewhat organically began chanting her name in my mind throughout the class. As the breathing was long and slow and calm, so was her named stretched and emphasized. Jooooooooooy. Jooooooooooy.

By the time class was over, all I felt was pure, genuine joy.

Later in the evening I was blasting music and dancing around my house cleaning, in my underwear. Which is usually what I do when I am feeling pretty good. I was hungry, and made a big meal – no belly ache or heart burn. And when it was time to go to bed, I found that my irregular breathing and heartbeats were steady, and well, just back to normal. And I slept through the night like a baby.

The following day at work I could not stop giggling, and in the evening I went out with some girlfriends for dinner. After making some inappropriate remarks, Natascha rejoiced and sang out, “Yes! Regan is back!” Following dinner, after getting denied entrance to a concert for lack of proper identification, the idea to funky chicken dance bomb some posh clubs came to mind, and we spent the rest of the night trying to make very serious people laugh along with us.

Days later, I am still feeling back to my normal self. Full of joy. Pure silliness. I really think that the dedication to my friend’s mom made some radical change inside of me. Perhaps it resonated, as I too lost a parent too early to cancer. And when this happened, at least for me, I really learned the fragility of life, the beauty of actually being alive. It is certainly a cause for joy and I want to make the most of it. I think there was also something about spending an hour and a half chanting the name “Joy” over and over again that seeped into my bones and shook me.

I enjoy my moments of reflection, and I think it is important to have these quieter moments from time to time. But when my body’s response tells me it is time to lighten up, then I need to. The past few days I have felt great, I am completely back to my silly, giggly self. It is all about balance, finding that healthy space between taking yourself seriously and at the same time realizing that life is just too precious to not live in silly fits of joy.

Thank you, Joy. For the generosity you shared with all of us during your life. And for reminding me to keep the joy alive.

Gut Feelings

Lately I’ve been speaking a lot about change, following signs, coincidences and things of this nature. To add to that, you could say that I’m a person that follows her instincts, or gut feelings. In general I would say that my instincts are pretty in tune. I’ve made mistakes and bad choices in my life, no doubt, but in making those choices I also knew it was probably a bad idea from the get go, and went ahead with it anyhow. Meaning, against my instincts. And, voila! That is how lessons are learned!

When I honestly listen to and follow my gut feelings, even when what they are telling me is a little bit scary, life tends to sort itself out in a very positive way and I become a better person as a result. So when my gut was telling me last month to take a big risk – to quit the job that has given me so much security over the past three years, and head back to the USA for a while – I listened. I gave notice at work, and suddenly realized that it was time to come up with a game plan. Luckily I have an incredibly understanding and patient boss (friend first) who did not seem to flinch at the news and sweetly replied that he was surprised I had stayed so long. We’ve had a great run, but both he and I know that my heart’s hopeful work is in birth and I was not going to stay in sales forever. As I began to tell my friends in Barcelona of this new plan, to my surprise, no one really seemed all that surprised! It was as if everyone had seen this coming and I was the last to find out.

October was a big month. I would like to give credit to the stars and planets, as astrology was saying that October was going to throw everyone, all signs, into a spiral and if changes were happening, that they would happen fast. Virgos not excluded! So much has happened in this past month. I’ve made a choice to quit my job and to take the harder path of following my dream to work in birth. I’ve made the choice to leave my easy Barcelona life for a while to head back to a place that until now has been challenging for me – home. I’ve made a choice to fully accept that love is stronger than attachment, and have worked really hard to let go in order for someone else to grow.

Not surprisingly, with all these major changes taking place my gut has been doing more than just prompting my instinctual intelligence. As most people, my digestive system is closely connected to my emotions and stress levels. The gut is sometimes called “the little brain”, as it’s the largest area of nerves outside of the brain and is hyper-sensitive. There is a reason we get butterflies in our stomachs when excited or nervous. For me, my gut is both intelligent AND extremely, perhaps overly sensitive to my emotional state. We have a love / hate relationship, me and my gut. Love for being so smart and guiding me along the way, and hate for slowing me down when I want to move fast.

For the past month my digestion has been all out of whack, and this week it has culminated to a point of being quite painful. I have tried over the counter products, and probiotic, doing yoga and exercising, eating healthily, etc. And my reward has only been heart burn, which I have never had before.

While seeking out some natural remedies for my belly ache with a midwife friend of mine yesterday, she got straight to the point –

“Regan, your body is talking to you. Go lightly and gentle. Don’t think of what you can take, but what you can change.” – Oh no, more change!?

“What do you think you are holding on to? Whatever it is, let it go.”

I went on to tell her about all my recent developments, all the ups and downs of this past month. Her response came to me like if Maya Angelou had appeared before me as a midwife –

“Worried you only just dreamed you could fly? Breathe and take flight. Trust Regan in true. Breathe and open, this is birth. Your birth.”

Okay, I can understand birth analogies at this point! So what am I holding on to? What is upsetting my gut? I guess it is hard to let go of the stability and the easy life that I have finally achieved in Barcelona. It is my friends and family in my home here across the pond that I will miss so much. It is fear of being able to take on the complicated path towards midwifery, and even if I want to go that route in the first place. It is fear of moving a bit into unknown territory.

Overall I am happy and super excited about this adventure to come, but I guess it is okay to admit that I am a bit scared too. This is scary! My gut is acting up to remind me to slow down, to feel all these different emotions swirling around, to accept them, nurture them, and once that is all said and done – I really just need to trust in myself. I can totally do this!

My gut feelings are wise all around the board. I should listen to them in moments of love, but especially listen to them in moments of hate when they are trying to settle me down. So for now, I am listening. Just breathe and open. Trust and …

Meaningful Coincidences

“In shamanic cultures, synchronicities are considered to be teachings as well as signs indicating where one should focus one’s attention.  Such correspondences demonstrate the usually hidden links between the individual psyche and the larger world.”  – Daniel Pinchbeck, from 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl

meaningful coincidences can help guide us

If I have just one gift, it is that I am usually quite aware of the meaningful coincidences in my life.  Not only do I recognize them, but I internalize, digest, analyze, and piece them together to form some greater message.  Without trying to sound too New Age or religious (I’m neither), I believe that synchronicity is a message from the Universe, created specifically for each of us to help guide us on our life’s journey.

And what do I mean by meaningful coincidence?  It’s those uncanny moments where random acts, feelings, words, visions, people and dreams collide and intertwine in very direct and strange ways.  Those moments where a sudden connection of memory happens, experienced or in the making, and the hair on your arms stands straight up while surrendering to the magically inexplicable.

I’m sure everyone has experienced a coincidence before.  They do not need to be so profound, it can be as simple as this classic example:  You are thinking of someone you haven’t seen in 10 years, and suddenly you get an email or phone call from them out of the blue.  Taken alone, individually, these coincidences may not seem like a big deal or you may not even notice they happened. But when many occur simultaneously, and even start to cross over, it’s hard not to ponder the meaning of them.

I am not always experiencing these meaningful coincidences.  There can be fairly long lapses of time where there are no signs, when I am simply living my life and doing what feels right.  But there are other moments when, out of the blue, these coincidences start happening all. of. the. time.  To the point where it can sometimes feel a bit eerie, and sometimes I feel like magic is happening.  It is usually in these moments when I pull away from large groups and find myself eager to be in nature, or to spend some time alone in a more reclusive state of mind.  I can’t seem to pull away from books, generally non-fiction, feeling like my mind is starved for knowledge.  Generally those around me, who see me as an uber-social person, begin to worry as I pull away from the social circle and opt to just hang out one on one with people, or not at all.  But they have nothing to worry about.  I am fine, and generally in these moments I am more than fine, since I am working to set a path that makes my heart feel right, and that is exciting.

I am beginning to wonder now if these moments are random or if they are timed precisely for moments of transformation.  In my experience they come when I am not acting or living according to my heart or “purpose” and it comes as a wake up call.  The last time this happened to me was about three years ago, while in Mexico.  I was quite lost before I went on that trip, and so many powerful breakthroughs and epiphanies occurred during my time there, which shifted my path in a very direct and intentional way.  I thought it was just Mexico’s magic seeping in, but now here I am in Barcelona and it’s happening again.  So maybe the magic is inside of me.  I’m fairly certain that in my case meaningful coincidences are not random.  So I listen, and I choose to be aware.  And the more I become aware, the more dear synchronicity shows its face and whispers to me, and even seems to offer more blatant signs actually pointing me in the direction where I should be going.

Change is scary and sometimes unsettling.  But for me, my greater fear is to ignore the signs so generously provided, and perhaps not live up to my potential.  I’d rather just give it a shot, take a risk, and feel comforted that the Universe has not failed me yet.  As long as I listen and follow my heart, and the increasing amount of synchronicity in my life, I’m sure it is all going to work out as it must.

Back with a Vengeance

There is something about writing that is very therapeutic.  It is a way to take that jumble of messy thoughts swirling about up there and to place them into some order (the Virgo in me prefers organized chaos).  I’ve kept journals my whole life, and go through long periods of dedicated writing followed by long hiatuses where I don’t write at all.  As I read through these old journals and posts, I realize there is a pattern.  I tend to write when I’m needing to work things out, when my heart is hurting, when I want to manifest something, or when I suddenly find myself in a moment of change.

To take it a step further, I choose to put these thoughts in a public space for anyone to read because I feel like this will somehow manifest what I’m trying to figure out, that somehow by ‘putting it out there’ and making myself exposed and more vulnerable that the answers will then find their way to me.  So far, it has worked pretty well =)

It has been a long time since I’ve written in this blog.  A few years back I went through a fairly big life transition, be it the Saturn Returns phenomenon around age 30, or just the early-life crisis of an illegal, broke, single immigrant trying to find her way.  During this period, I felt such a strong urge to write, whether it was in a journal, in this blog, or writing poetry for the Prostibulo Poetico.

It seems that after the year of struggling, soul searching and personal growth my life just fell into place.  I was offered reliable work and income, finally got my residency after 10 years of trying to make that happen, discovered my passion for birth and began my path as a doula, moved into my own flat, and experienced my first mutually loving romantic relationships.  In the past couple of years my life has become comfortable and reliable, not to mention totally awesome and fulfilling and FUN, which is exactly what was needed after a few unstable years of feeling like I was falling with no safety net.  As a result, I weened off writing in a very unintentional way, and this blog went off the radar.

Photo by Catherine Mansart

Perhaps it’s because I work in threes, and because the cyclical nature of life enjoys keeping me on my toes, three years after my past transformation and now at the magical age of thirty-three, I am very aware that a new transformation is beginning.  For a couple of months now the Universe has been throwing me some signs that a) something needs to change, and b) the time is now, or at least soon-ish.  I see the signs.  I get that this process is happening, and I have some idea as to what needs to change, but there are many uncertainties.  That very familiar urge to find some quiet solitude, and to write down and share feelings and realizations as they come along, is back with a vengeance.

The sweet news is that I believe change is good.  And even better, this time around I feel much more positive about this inevitable change, as now I have a stable base below my feet as a starting point.  I can leap more confidently without fear of falling too hard. Overall I am very happy and feeling good about myself and the opportunities ahead.  This time there is no rush or immediate pressure looming over me either, so that allows me a little time to work all this out.  This is all dandy!

Regardless, transformations are never easy and I am having a difficult time right now trying to find out what exactly is happening and how to react to it.  So until I figure it out, and eventually react, I’m guessing my journals will get some more love and attention.  My lovely friends will unfortunately have to endure some of my head rants – sorry guys.  And maybe, if I’m not too lazy, this blog will become more present again and hopefully will work its magic to put me on the right track.

A Dream (Board) Come True

I’m glad I was careful what I wished for.

One year ago I created a ‘Dream Board,’ which is basically a visual representation of all the things that, at the time, I was hoping to achieve as a result of my job.  I was looking for some motivation to keep me going, and when you work in sales, motivation = money.  After years of having fairly unstable, unreliable income and some difficult financial times, I was ready to reevaluate my relationship with money and make it actually a goal to learn to love it.  I first wrote a public apology letter to Money, admitting my faults in our deteriorating relationship. I asked forgiveness. Then I gave thanks. And to follow it all up, I started to follow the advice from a website called Master Manifestor and began my first experiment in manifesting with intention.

I first wrote out a Vision Statement, basically describing in detail what it felt like to have all these things I was hoping to achieve as a result of having more money (from more sales I was hoping to make), and then searched out, cut and pasted images onto a torn piece of cardboard to visually represent what I had written about.  Nothing fancy, but for me, meaningful.

I rigged the board so that is stood side by side with my computer screen in the office, where I would consequently absorb the messages sublimely 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.  Multiply that by the full year of work … these images have had A LOT of hours to creep into my subconscious!  The board has become such a familiar extension to my work screen that I hardly even notice it any more.  And the truth is that work picked up in the 2011-2012 year, despite the economic decline, and I had a great year.

But after a quiet couple of months on the sales front this summer, I recently looked to my Dream Board hoping to rekindle its magic, when I realized something incredible:

Everything on the board had come true.

I’ve manifested exactly what I put on that Board.  It’s a bit creepy really.  Some of the visual items were more specific to making money, like copies of signed contracts and money trees.  But the majority focused on what that money would bring me, like for example plane tickets with my name on them.  In the past 12 months I’ve flown to California, Turkey, Germany, England, Cuba, Sardinia, and Mallorca).  With the intention of eating healthier, I had a picture of organic produce, which unfortunately is not the cheapest food option available. Now I have a box of produce from a local farm delivered to my house twice a month.  I even made a blatantly fake Spanish residency ID card and cut and paste a picture of me and all my details on it, which I not only put on the board but also kept a copy folded up in my wallet.  And this month, after 10 years of waiting and trying, I got my residency here!  I had pictures of doula related images, and I’ve been able to complete a full training course, attend a one week Midwifery seminar in Bad Wildbad, and as a result have been fortunate to accompany three families in the birth and / or postpartum of their new babies.  I printed out a statement of my bank account, blocked out the real amount and typed in a fictitious number slightly exaggerated but the point being I never wanted to hit zero again, or negative for that matter.  And though I never got to maintain that higher number on the Board, I have not hit zero in over a year and that’s saying a lot when you live in Barcelona (or, I should clarify, when you’re ME living in Barcelona).  The list goes on, you get the point.

This is my first proper attempt at manifesting, and I am pleasantly shocked by the outcome.  It has worked like magic.  And it is so simple!

My friend (and also my boss) made an interesting suggestion that perhaps my sales have been quieter these past couple of months because the Universe has provided me with what I wanted and thinks the work is done.  I think he is right.  It’s time to get manifesting again!  So this week I will be brainstorming the new things I want to achieve (as a result of making good sales at work) and will make a new and refreshed Dream Board by the end of the week, to remind the Universe that I’m still in the game!

Now that I’ve experimented with work, and feel confident in this Power of Attraction thing, I think I will now also try to make a Dream Board for my personal, non-professional life to attract the things that money cannot buy, which are plentiful.  I’ll check back in with myself, and maybe you, in one year’s time to see how this second round of Dream Boards pans out.

Thank you Universe.  I am, unabashedly, grateful for the abundance in my life.

Peggy is a Whore

Peggy is a whore.

Peggy was that cute girl in class in the third grade whose decorated paper envelope hanging off the side of her desk, marked “Peggy” in red glitter and all my bitterness, was full of Valentine cards by the time the bell struck at recess. Jumping forward a few years, Peggy became that cute girl at the beach in a string bikini with all the surfers trying to catch the biggest wave while she looked on adoringly. At college, Peggy was that cute girl that … well, at college Peggy was actually just a whore. Moving into the mid-20s, Peggy was that cute girl that fell madly in love (probably with one of the surfers from her youth, where they met at their 10 year high school reunion). Peggy was then the cute girl who became a cute woman who then became a cute mother and … agh. Peggy is a whore. Go to Hell, Peggy. And take all your Valentine cards with you.

This is pretty much how I’ve felt about Valentine’s Day ever since the third grade. I was never without love, of course. My parents loved me. My friends loved me. But a candied heart with ‘KISS ME’ or ‘BE MINE’ just did not apply to them. Or to me for that matter. All the way from the third grade until I turned thirty years old, I never once celebrated Valentine’s Day (oh, except for that last-minute flight to New York with Anna and Ashley when we were 21 years old. Three bitter single college girls managed to sit in first class on a red-eye and polished off about 5 bottles of champagne before we even crossed over Colorado).

For the past few years I’ve always posted the Peggy is a Whore card on Facebook or in my Happy Valentine emails to friends. I gagged at the cheesy cards, and heart-shaped everythings, and wondered why is everything red when actually your heart is more like a blue color?

And then it happened. I started seeing hearts everywhere. It started a couple of years ago and has not ceased since. Heart shaped dog poo. Heart shaped cracks in the sidewalk. Heart shaped mountains. The list goes on, but in a way you cannot imagine. My discovery and consequential love for hearts has been an eerie but beautiful ride. In retrospect the I-see-hearts-everywhere phenomenon must have been the Universe telling me it was time to open my eyes and acknowledge hearts. First to see external hearts. Check! Then I started receiving hearts from friends, such as photographs of heart-shaped raw tuna in their skillet, or heart-shaped rocks brought all the way from Monterey to Barcelona. The Universe was telling me, okay, once you see and recognize them, they will come to you! And they did. People now tag me in photos whenever there is a heart in it. And it tingles my blue heart a strange shade of red. Slowly, painfully, I’ve become romantic against my will.

I do not find it a coincidence whatsoever that now the Universe has suddenly presented me with a real life beating heart. Perhaps it is a reward for not beating up Peggy. Or perhaps it was just time. This reward is not a photograph of a heart, as it’s 3D. I’m pretty sure it’s not a heart-shaped rock, because it breathes and holds my hand. And for the first time in thirty years, as I walk down the overcrowded bustling shopping street near to the date of February 14th, all I see are red hearts in the shop windows, and rather than wanting to throw up all over them, I stop and smile.

(This is so utterly disgusting. I can’t believe I am writing this.)

I don’t care if I receive a Valentine’s card this year. Peggy can have them all. Because there is just one beating, sweet candied heart out there that says ‘BE MINE’. And it’s only a quick bite (and bike ride) away.

Good Intentions

I have never been a big fan of New Years resolutions, not only because generally they are way out of reach, yet promised in tenacious declaration, but because people focus so much on negative things from their past, hoping to change themselves for the New Year. Most people try to change a bad habit, like giving up smoking, or will try to refrain from eating chocolate truffles left over from Christmas (that one never lasts long…I mean, how long can the Christmas truffles really last?). The major problem with New Years resolutions is that they are short-lived, can be extremely stressful and make you feel guilty for the life and lusts you left behind. I’d rather make no promise to myself than to tease myself or break one.

This said, I was recently introduced to New Years Intentions, which rather than resolutions, focuses less on changing your past and instead focuses more on adding to your future. Also, the verb intend implies that there is the possibility you will not achieve a goal, so you are not setting yourself up to be a complete failure. If there is no promise made, there is no promise broken. The fulfillment comes through working toward that goal. I like the sound of that.

So, with the selfish pleasure of reward on the back of my mind, I decided to make my Intentions for 2011 tangible, easy to shoot for, and positive. Here it goes, wish me luck!

New Years Intentions 2011

1. Get some fresh air a little more often. I live and work on the same street so my commute time does not count. Walking around does something good for my mind, body and soul. But it’s easy to get lazy, especially when it’s cold. Go outside more often. Buy some comfortable flat shoes, that may inspire you to explore.

2. Call my Grandmothers (all three of them!) much more often. Maybe call one a week. Or call all three once a month during a block of time I set aside just for that. I love talking to them. Make the time!

3. Smile at strangers. Wave to at least one a day, even if it freaks him/her out. It’s a nice gesture, they can get used to it.

4. Recognize that perhaps, just maybe, ok probably, I am falling in love with a Leo. Stop thinking so much, dear Virgo, and stop looking for problems when there are none. Just go with it and enjoy.

5. Keep on not smoking =) It’s been 14 months…the hard part is long past. You are doing well. Props. Yey for new no smoking law in Spain staring in 2011!

6. Buy a Burning Man ticket on January 19th, 2011. Actually getting there is a harder goal, so I’ll go with the one I know 100% I can do and will feel happy when it’s accomplished. Burning Man ticket or bust!

7. Learn how to cook properly the following: artichokes and eggplant. I always mess them up whenever I try. I would like to fix that.

8. Take Ed’s creative writing course at Collage again. I miss writing short stories and fiction. I usually find a way to do what I want. I want this. Make it happen.

9. Get a smaller hula hoop and practice more often. Must be in good form for Burning Man!

10. Complete my doula course

11. Buy the books I have saved in Amazon’s Wish List. Or look for them in Barcelona. Stop wasting time. Read!

12. Try to arrive to work on time in the morning. Jason…these are Intentions…I will do my best 😉

13. Even though you don’t see yourself as very positive, everyone seems to think you are, so start believing it.

14. Love openly. And give ‘front door’ compliments more often. They are nicer.

15. Manifest my dreams…anything is possible.

16. If I come across a massive dragon slide, always go down it! – CHECK! One down, 15 to go!!

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