47

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Today is my 47th birthday.

Every year, I blog on my birthday. This is my 10th birthday blog, and I'm proud of that.

I did, as I do every year, look back and read through some of my previous blogs. I realized - I am a busy person! I do a lot in a year.

Since last year:

• I officiated 30 weddings and started a wedding officiant website.
  
• I got a new (yes my second) tattoo. This one is about peace. There is a peace sign in the middle of a world, which is the iris for an eye. The idea is what we see - what we deliberately see - we create. If we can see peace, we can be peace. In this time of world unrest, and USA unrest, this message is very important. I'm proud to wear it on my arm so I am reminded every day. It also matches the same place on my right arm as the love tattoo of last year sits on my left. So I've got my love and my peace. I'm ready for my flower garland - hahaha!
  
  

  

  My new tattoo

• I finished the exam and started the thesis for my Master's degree in Metaphysical Science. I expect to finish the thesis by end of January.
  
• I published two more books, and an app, and started another app.
  
• I won an award for my book, First Family, and went to Miami to accept the award.
  
• I changed locations for my Reiki practice to a beautiful studio shared with 5 massage therapists.

And more. That's just off the top of my head.

I'm planning for 2017:

• My son, Eli's Bar Mitzvah on Feb. 11
  
• A trip to Cozumel with my husband, Evan, to celebrate our 20th anniversary (also in February!)
  
• Booking 50 weddings (that's my max!)
  
• Helping my oldest daughter get ready for college applications and decisions.
  
• And who knows what else? New and exciting adventures await.

What have I learned this year?

It's hard to discern. I would say that overall, I realized how to stop worrying, how to incorporate an awesome manifesting technique into my day (which works!), how to trust the universe more, and be awake, and stepping more fully into my role as a spiritual being ready to share what I know with others.

So... not bad. 

My birthday today was pretty uneventful. And that was a little disappointing. I did my normal Tuesday thing. I saw 4 hospice patients, took myself out to lunch (a nice lunch - it was my birthday after all), and spent the afternoon shlepping kids around. Tonight I went to watch Eli perform with his Rock Band class, and he did a great job. I did get over 200 birthday wishes on Facebook and a nice call from my parents. It's fine.

I look forward to seeing what my blog post for 48 will look like.

Peace.

The Year is Ending, but Not the World. Here's How to Remember That.

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The US election has been overwhelming. First, all of the relentless campaigning and social media overload. Then, add to that the way people were angry at each other, the increase in crime, and just a lot of energetic noise. The election results, unstable, suspect, as well as the way everyone continues to feel stressed about what's ahead, have only made things worse.

It does feel like something is coming to an end: the comfortable way we've been living and going about our lives has been disrupted, and doesn't seem to be settling down soon.

It's been hard, and it's been exhausting.

I am sure I have Election Fatigue, if that's a thing.

Throughout my day, I have been seeking ways to deal with the ever-present anxiety churning all around.
I've tried meditation, listening to music, working as much as I can, focusing on gratitude, Reiki, and lots of social action like signing petitions, making donations, and sharing whatever I can. So, that's a lot. It's wasn't helping me as much as I'd hoped.

I guess it's an ongoing process. This Election Fatigue is new to me, and so I'm learning how to deal with it by trying lots of things and seeing what helps. I think I found a couple of things.

One thing that has helped is working on a new calendar. Last year, I published this thing called My Moments of 2016, which allowed subscribers to have access to a series of daily, 30-second prompts about their day, what they think about, and other little moments. The prompts get saved, and will be presented back to them at the start of January, 2017, as an ebook of their year's little thoughts and moments. It's a cool idea, I think, but it has meant a lot of work for me, updating it daily, and then creating the ebooks to send to each participant.

Instead of repeating that kind of work for this coming year, I am making it into an app. I hired a designer, and he is creating an app for me to publish that will allow whoever wants to participate in this to just get the app, update it daily, and save, share, or download and print their responses whenever they want.

I discovered this:
There's an optimism that comes from making a calendar, or posting on a calendar months into the future. It surprised me when I realized it. I mean, this isn't meditation. This is, however, a mental process that says, "The future will come. I will have something to do. I still have a purpose. My life is going on." The relief that brings is pretty amazing.

Another thing that's helped is scheduling weddings into 2017. I am, if you didn't know, a Wedding Officiant, in addition to the other things I do. It's a happy job. Love-filled, and quite wonderful. And every time I  book a wedding in 2017, I'm reminded of the same thing: I will have something loving to do, which will also be a source of income (so yay!), help people, and remind me throughout the coming year that love still exists, it's a focus, it's a celebration, and I'm part of it. Oh wow, I reallydo feel better now!

Do you need relief from Election Fatigue? Put some great things on your calendar in 2017. Even if you have nothing to schedule yet, put a message on your calendar to surprise yourself when you get to that day. Just a little love note from you to you. Or a cute idea of something to try, something to remember, or something inspirational.

Or else - try my new app. It will be called Reflective Moments, and will be available in the Google Play store for Android first by the end of this year. That will give you your own moment of reflection daily to help you remember that you are grateful for things, you do find things funny, interesting, you are thoughtful, you have people who care for you, and so much more of that stuff that matters. You don't have to think about what to write, because you get a different prompt every single day.

Love. Love.
Alice