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Last weekend, I was a vendor at the Victory of Light Expo in Cincinnati, Ohio. I've been a vendor at that expo (which happens twice a year) seven times now. I enjoy it. I have a booth in a high traffic, centrally located corner, and I teach a workshop. About 5,000 people come through during the weekend. I offer Reiki sessions, show and sell my books, cards, pendulums, give stone readings, and generally work my little energized butt off for two very full days.
But, this year was different. I wasn't making the four hour drive from Cleveland, Ohio. I was coming from my new home in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It's a much longer and complicated trip.
We (my friend and booth buddy, Ernie and I) were already signed up to attend when I found out we'd be moving. So, I decided to make the trip and see how it went.
I found plane tickets that were reasonably priced, which took off from BWI and landed me in Columbus, Ohio. Ernie picked me up at the airport, had a quick lunch with Connie, my business partner with RAA, and we drove down, set up, worked the expo, and came back Sunday night to Columbus, stayed overnight at Connie's, and then Ernie took me back to the airport to fly to BWI. Then I drove the hour's drive back to Gaithersburg. And that's how things worked, travel-wise.
The expo was huge and busy. I barely had a voice left by Sunday evening. We met lots of people, shared lots of energy, and sold a fair amount of stuff. We came out ahead.
But I was left thinking about trying to decide if it was "worth it" to go this time. Here's what I was weighing:
- Money-wise, I could have made about three times as much if I'd stayed here and taught a class to five students. It wouldn't have required travel, or the amount of "on time" that the expo demands. It would've been quieter, more intimate, and overall much easier than making the trip to the expo.
- Marketing-wise, at the expo, I'm talking to a huge number of people, some of whom may end up being my student sometime this year. I'm directly giving Reiki to about 25 people, maybe more. I'm giving readings to somewhere around 40. And hundreds of people are taking my business cards and materials, with a possibility of following up. Those who buy my books may write a review, contact me, or recommend them to others. The impact has a high potential for residual value.
- Then there are the intangibles. I gave Reiki to a lot of people. I talked about Reiki to even more people. I gave readings all weekend. Any of these people could get a favorable impression about Reiki (I hope so!) or hear the message that anyone can learn Reiki. Healing effects really can't be measured, nor can I track what will happen after the person experiences Reiki for the first time and then goes on with his life. Maybe he will go in a new direction. One pain-ridden, hunched-over person that I gave her first Reiki session to a few years ago at this exact expo went and found herself a Reiki practitioner, and started having weekly Reiki sessions. She became cancer-free in six months. She comes back every time to give me a hug. That's priceless.
So how can I measure the value of the money, time, energy, and impact? I can't. And there's the lesson.
Just like in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," when the guy has no idea of the impact his life had on others until he is able to invisibly follow them after he had touched their lives in some way, we don't really know the impact that an act of kindness, a moment of listening closely, or a hug at the right time can create for someone. For us, it might be just a fleeting thing, easily forgotten. But for someone else, it can be the start of a turning point in their lives.
So, I've reminded myself that I'm always in the right place at the right time. If I just do my best in each situation, I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to do.
I am grateful for that reminder.
Happy Thanksgiving.
We've now lived in Gaithersburg, MD for six weeks. Partly, I've been feeling like I'm on an extended vacation from my home in Ohio. Part of me has been wondering when we're going home. But not in a sad way. I love this house. There's plenty of room for our family. It's very nice to have enough bathrooms, too! I love the new neighborhood, all of the amazing variety of cultures here. I'm even starting to get around - a little - without the GPS app on my phone. People I've met have been nice and welcoming. The kids are all adjusting really well to their new schools, and made the Honor Roll their first quarter.
My husband has gotten off to a great start in his new position. It's clearly the right decision for him, and for our family, to be here.
Although our house in University Heights hasn't sold yet, it's certainly ready for a family to move in and make it their new home.
Good things are happening with me, too. I've made a wonderful connection with Beatrice Ollier of The Center for Qi Gong, Meditation, Healing and Beyond, which it turns out, is about a mile from my house in a very thriving shopping district called The Kentlands. Being as open minded as she is, Beatrice has allowed me to teach Practical Reiki at her lovely studio, and even brought me two students. We've got a great symbiotic relationship - I'm helping her with her social media presence and marketing. She's recommending me and letting me teach there. I've already taught a class there, and will teach another in January. We like each other a lot, too.
And the biggest news so far is that, finally, my new website has launched. ReikiAwakeningAcademy.com is completely redesigned from the bottom up, and looks totally new, modern, and different! We're having a free online launch party tomorrow (Thursday) night at 9 pm EST. It's a free class in Laughter Yoga, as well as festive giveaways and a party atmosphere. We figured, why not do something really fun, that includes learning, and celebrates the new site? I'd love to have a great big crowd, so please join us if you can make it! It's online, so wherever you are, you can be there from any computer or digital device that goes online. Please come!
I'm going to Ohio on Friday, to teach and share a booth with my expo buddy, Ernie Betz, at The Victory of Light Expo in Cincinnati. I'm looking forward to being back there (it's my seventh time). Though, in a way, it feels a little confusing to go from here (my home?) to there (my familiar Ohio territory), and then back here (home, Alice, home) again on Monday.
So, yeah, things are good, and I'm trying to get rooted in this new place, so that I can say or think "home" and my mind goes here, instead of Cleveland, Ohio. I know it takes time. But, I'm ready for that slightly confused part of me to officially move here too.
Peace.
Every time, yep. Mercury Retrograde becomes the antagonist of my life, whether I try to avoid it (ha!), ignore it (impossible!), deny it (so delusional), or fight it (futile).
And yet, it seems to land me facing the right direction, after sending me on wild goose chases, snafu chains, and break downs.
Here's the latest, and I'm almost ready to laugh about it. Almost. You may have an easier time. Laughing, that is.
Checks due to be received by me are late. That means, of course, that bills are going to be paid late. Except, oops, for those which were set for automatic withdrawal, and those will bounce. So, I decided to try to remedy the situation as fast as I could.
We moved from Ohio to Maryland at the beginning of this month, and our usual bank, which we used for the past 16 years, does not have a branch office in Maryland. We figured we could cope for a while by doing electronic banking and using bank machines.
So, I took money out of my paypal account, (cash), for fast access, and went to deposit it into my checking account at an ATM. Hmm. This ATM doesn't offer a deposit option. Weird. I drove to another ATM. And then a third. Same problem.
I called my bank. The customer service person said that it's not possible to deposit a check at an ATM of a bank in a state that doesn't host this bank. I can take money out, but I can't put money in. But, wait, I have an app that lets me scan a check. I just needed to get this cash into a check (and by the way, it had to be done within the hour or it wouldn't count for this business day's deposit). I asked if a money order would do. The guy said yes, that should work. Funny how that was my brilliant idea, not one suggested by the person who WORKS AT THE BANK. Whatever. Mkay.
After visiting two gas stations that don't sell money orders, I proceed to a CVS, and miraculously have the exact amount of money in my wallet that's needed to purchase a money order. I do so.
In my car now, I try to scan the money order into my phone's bank check deposit app. It can't get a good picture. After trying about six times, I go home. It's still 30 minutes from deadline.
At home, I put the money order on my table and take a picture of it again. Every detail is clear. The app doesn't agree. After another half dozen tries, I call the bank. The tech support customer service person seems perplexed. I remind her of the time deadline and offer to read her every number, text or email a picture of the money order, or anything else. She says no to these options. I ask if the fact that the amount on the money order was printed in purple dot-matrix might be an issue. She says maybe. I offer to color it in with a pencil or pen. She says sure, try that. Again, my idea.
I try that. It doesn't work. It also doesn't work for me to manually add a decimal. I kept the customer service person on the line through all of this, and now it's past seven o'clock. I still have the money that needs to go into my account, and this problem isn't solved.
I also haven't made dinner yet.
She transfers me to someone else. That person tells me that, by the way, there are app deposit limits which happen to be less than my husband's upcoming paycheck. So that means that he won't be able, in any way other than US Mail, to deposit his check into our checking account in two days.
By now, the Universe has sent a very clear message that it's time to change to a local bank.
The customer service person on the line suggests that I move funds from savings accounts into the checking account to cover the upcoming payments. Turns out that in some tiny little accounts I had started when my kids were babies, there was just enough to cover the payments that were being withdrawn. So I moved the funds. It only took another half hour of being on hold and shuffled around.
The money order is now put aside for deposit into a new checking account at a new bank.
So, as annoying as this process was, I consider it to be a good thing for these reasons:
- I found out about the deposit limits before we actually tried to deposit my husband's paycheck on Friday.
- I had enough money to cover the amount going out, once it was moved around.
- I now have a money order for starting a new account at a different bank.
- I got a VERY CLEAR SIGNAL from the Universe that it's time to put down roots here, and that includes income.
But that's not the end of the story, though it would be nice if it was.
We went online last night to set up a new local checking account, since my husband is working all this week. It seemed to be smooth (why don't we learn that during Mercury Retrograde this is only an illusion?). I took my printed confirmation paper printout thingie to the local branch today, expecting to hand it over and get the two temporary debit cards for our new joint account, as well as deposit this money order into it.
Not so easy.
We were told that we both need to go personally into a branch office. They need to do more identity verification there, before we get our new cards. And, until my husband does this too, we can't have a joint account. Wah.
At lunch, my husband asked Siri (yeah, he asked an electronic device to guide him to a place during Mercury Retrograde. Yeah.) to take him to the nearest branch of this particular bank. Siri decided to give him an unwelcome and untimely tour of random sites in Washington, DC instead.
So the new plan is for him to leave work as early as he can, and meet me at the local branch that's near our house. We'll do this thing together in person, and have a new account to use.
Yesterday, I did a Reiki exchange with my new friend David Gleekel, owner of The Reiki Center of Greater Washington. He told me during my session that I haven't put down roots yet. He could feel my energetic roots all curled up at the base of my feet. After the session, he checked them again and said they are uncurled. They're ready to accept that I live here.
In the end, we're getting the message. This is where we live now. This is where we make money, spend money (oh yes), and need our money to be. The flow of money is part of overall abundance. If we want to live and work here, our roots need to be here - money and abundance-wise too.
So, with a centrifugal whirl by our friend (or not) Mercury Retrograde, we're being set on our feet again, right where we are now, and hopefully taking healthy root in this new place where we've been planted.
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By the way, I'm now available for appointments at Feja's Hair Design and Wellness Spa in Gaithersburg, MD (call for an appointment), and I have a Practical Reiki 1 & 2 Training coming up Nov. 9-10 at The Viva Center in Washington DC (Dupot Circle area) - registration is open.
A most amazing chain of events happened to me lately, starting with last week. It's so filled with "coincidences" that I had to blog about it, just to process and actually make the list that's blowing my mind.
As they say, "There are no coincidences." After reading this, you might just agree. I can't think of any better evidence that this could be true.
A week ago, my oldest daughter, Rayna, was wearing her Camp Wise tee-shirt to middle school gym class. Camp Wise is an overnight camp in the Cleveland area, where lots of kids go in the summer.
Another girl noticed Rayna's shirt, and asked her, "Are you from Cleveland?" Rayna replied that yes, she is, and we just moved here. The girl, Hannah, said she had moved here from Cleveland ten years ago. And they started talking. Rayna came home and told me about it. I thought that was cool.
Well, shortly after Rayna came home from school that same day, a school secretary called to say that she had found Rayna's math binder in the Guidance Office, where Rayna had been keeping her too-large-for-a-locker backpack. Rayna exclaimed that she needed that folder for her homework, so I sent Rayna on her bike to go up to school and get it. Rayna cajoled her sister, Sari, into coming with her.
It just so happens (here comes the flood)...that Hannah and her sisters and mom were at school when Rayna and Sari got there. They were all talking excitedly about Cleveland, and when Hannah's mom heard Rayna's last name, she said that she knows me from the same temple where I had worked, where she belonged before they moved here. She remembered me, and remembered that I had some notoriety there because I wrote the Apples to Apples: Jewish Edition games. Not only that, but she also knew a bunch of the same people that Rayna and Sari knew from school in Cleveland. She gave them a ride home with their bikes so she could say hi to me.
We talked in my driveway, and she (her name is Kelly) invited my family to dinner Friday night (which was last night). She said she thinks her husband might know mine, because her husband, my husband, and I all went to the same elementary school.
Last night, we went over to Kelly's house for dinner. The game of Jewish Geography (that's what it's called when Jewish people connect everyone they are mutually acquainted with) went on and on, of course. Most amazing of this was that Kelly's husband knows Evan's aunt and uncle, next door neighbors from his parents' house, and about a zillion other people that Evan or the both of us knew from school years and from living in the same area. And, also, our kids went to the same pediatrician (who is also my cousin). She has four kids, as do I. Her two youngest are in the same grades and school as my two oldest. Her older daughter does pet sitting (something we also needed to find for when we go on vacation in May, and if/when we visit Cleveland on a long weekend between now and then).
But there's more.
During the course of conversation, Kelly said that she loves and has been to Lily Dale three times. I've taught in Lily Dale for the last two summers, and will teach there again summer of 2014!! The odds that the first person I "randomly" meet from Maryland is into holistic/metaphysical stuff, and has been to Lily Dale, are rare enough, let alone that I am sitting having dinner with this same person, and she knows me from living in Cleveland, and we went to the same temple...I mean, these are lottery winner odds. She also went upstairs, got her little bag of stones and a pendulum, and we played with those for a bit, while sharing stories of how we've found lost items using intuitive techniques.
And yes, there's even MORE!!
Kelly also told me about a metaphysical "church" around here that's having a healing service this Sunday, and I suggested that we go together. So she's going to pick me up, we're going to go there, and then get some lunch in Georgetown afterward.
Mind blown.
And I'm thinking back to how I had created goals for myself before moving here. One of the goals I'd put out to the Universe is to get acquainted with others who are into holistic work out here. How gorgeously generous of my Guides to arrange for me to meet Kelly, someone with ties to back home, and for her to be one of the people who will help me meet this goal.
Since writing my last post, I've also found a local place for my Reiki practice and have scheduled a Practical Reiki 1 & 2 Training at a lovely wellness center in DC. I also connected with the director of another Reiki organization, and we're having lunch together this coming week, and I joined a couple Meetups in the area. My new website will be launching at the end of next week, too. Things are moving, and they're happening easily, and in absolutely incredible ways!!
It's like the universe is saying YES, but not subtly. BIG, bold, and right up in my face!
So I totally had to share this with you.
Peace.
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| Our new home |
I'm writing to you now from our new home in Gaithersburg, Maryland. I just reread my previous post, where I was in a state of limbo, waiting for something solid to happen. Well, happily, it finally did. My husband did get that job offer, we did (after a more stressful and convoluted process than I had ever imagined) find a house to rent. We are almost fully unpacked, and everyone has started their new job and schools.
I've begun the process of finding a new home base for my Reiki practice. Our new website is gearing up for launch, and lots is in the works.
But I can finally breathe. I'm sitting at home. I can blog. I can produce my internet radio show, Reiki Talk, again. I can think about finally writing that book on distance healing that's been rattling around in my head for about six months.
There are, I admit, a few loose ends still. We need to sell our house in Cleveland. I need to get a new practice started around here and schedule some local classes. But the pressure is greatly reduced, and things are coming together. Most of all, I finally have some control over the pace.
Yeah, that's it. The pace.
I like having the chance to reflect, plan, and take action - on my own time. Before, everything was rushed, hectic, and also there was this pressure as everything was hinging on something else. Now, I can make the calls, email the contacts, write, post, and stop if I want to - to breathe.
I'm grateful today for being exactly where I am - in this nice house, in a nice neighborhood, with the chance to expand my teaching area, schedule my classes, and really just take a moment to breathe.
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| Ace Ventura |
These past few weeks have been weird. As I sat here composing my post, I thought of a few metaphors for how I've been feeling.
One is the moment when Alice steps into the looking glass, yet isn't quite across yet. She is simultaneously in both worlds - her familiar home, and Wonderland. (Which is more Weirdland than Wonderland, anyway, right? I mean, it's more disconcerting than wondrous most of the story, especially that nasty queen!)
Another is the image of sticking my head into another dimension, while my body is still here, in my original one. I'm seeing all sorts of weird things, but I'm not fully in there with them.
I named this post "Driving with my head out the window" because I guess that captures it best. It's not about just standing there looking back and forth, but it's also representing the idea of the motion of things whizzing by outside, but inside they feel still, despite the actual movement of both.
In many areas of my life, I'm feeling like this.
First, my business, Reiki Awakening Academy. Lots is in the works, in progress, right now. Among them, a new website is being developed. It's VASTLY different from the current one, and also a whole lot better. I'm waiting for the coding to be finished, and then I'll have loads of work to upload the real content instead of the placeholders that are there now. We are also planning a full school year of classes, trainings, and retreats. But the school year hasn't really started yet. So all of this momentum is happening behind the scenes (that's the outside the window part), while inside the car, everything seems like it's just sitting here waiting to get somewhere.
Next, my home life. My husband, Evan, has spent most of the summer interviewing for a very big position 350 miles away. This organization recruited him, quite "out of the blue" but not really, as it happened just a few days after he tried a manifestation exercise that I taught him. More interestingly, it is the same position he interviewed for four years ago, and back then, he was suddenly passed over when they hired an internal candidate. This job was a fantastic fit for his education, experience and skill set, and the level of position and salary sounded perfect for us. It was surprising and a little jarring at the time that (seemingly at the last minute), he didn't get the offer. Turns out that if he had been offered the job then, it would have been absolutely wrong for our family. Shortly after he didn't get the position, his mom got sick. We were very much needed here, and if we had moved, it would have been impossible for us to stay. We spent the next eight months caring for her. And then she passed. And we had to settle her estate, sell her house, and readjust our lives. It took time.
Back to this summer, when as I mentioned, Evan was suddenly contacted by that very same organization, saying that the same position is open again, asking if he would consider applying for it. Only this time, he went through the whole interview process, and was called and told that they are putting together an offer for him. They had said they were going to make the offer last week. But then they called and said their finance committee would be on a retreat for the week, so the offer won't happen until Aug. 21. We don't know what the offer will be, or if the (we assume) relocation package will be enough to make this possible for us.
I get that same world-rushing-by-while-I-sit-and-wait feeling when I think of all the ways this could play out, along with figuring out what to do about our house, a new place to live, school systems for the kids, a new Reiki practice location for me, and the timing of it all. It's impossible to really plan until we know about the offer. So, until Wednesday, or possibly a few days later after negotiations, my head is out the window trying to catch a glimpse of the world of potential, while my body is here, getting the kids ready for the start of school next week in their current school.
Finally, those I work with - my business partner, and my Naturopath, both incredibly intuitive people (to say the least). I went to see my Naturopath last week to get some advice and energy work for a small but irritating health issue. She helped me with it, and then we were chatting about computers. She told me about how she gets overwhelmed by electromagnetic energy, like being in the Verizon store. She could always see energy, and it certainly helps her in her work. I can't, and I could stand in the Verizon store all day without noticing the energetic difference. I listen to her and it's like sticking my head into the looking glass while the rest of my body stays put. I feel like I'm somehow missing something by not being as sensitive as she is to the energies all around me.
My business partner emailed me yesterday. She had a surreal (to me) experience of being in and out of her body most of yesterday, being visited by spirits, Guides, and getting "downloads" of new books to write. She grounded again last night and "returned" to a more earthly state of living in her body. But honestly, she's like the Mad Hatter (not crazy - no implication intended there!), and I'm in Wonderland when I read about her experiences. I am that Alice, looking around and feeling out of my element when faced with things like this. I can only look - these experiences are out of my realm. They are, though, common enough for her, as she has been astral traveling since being a child.
So here I am in a sort of limbo. I do my thing - I am good at giving Reiki. I'm pretty awesome at teaching Reiki. I can give some insightful Angel Card readings. I have a sensible business savvy. Inside my calm little car, I am used to the way things are.
But I'm feeling like intense things are whizzing all around just outside of me in my little world, and I can guess about them, hear about them, learn about them, but they aren't taking me with them to experience them personally. While it's just a matter of time - just a few more days - for Evan's situation to work out, and a matter of weeks for my website to be ready, new programs to be launching, and classes to begin again, my imagination and desire to be moving (rather than waiting) are far ahead, whizzing around in an unsettled pattern.
And when it comes to the people I'm working with, I don't know if I'll ever be able to really visit their worlds as they see them. It bothers me a little. I remind myself that they both have had a lifetime of that natural intuitive gift that I only started finding in myself and working towards five years ago. Logically, I know that perhaps, in time, with continued work on my own development, I could sense something of what they experience, when it's right for me. And, that is ok.
But for now, I'm feeling like I'm driving with my head out the window. Inside the car, I feel the sensation of barely moving. I'm enclosed in my little space. But my head, outside the window, is getting a bigger, wilder reminder that what I experience inside my space is only a fraction of what is really happening.
How do you ride through your life right now? Will we see each other on the road, our hair whipping about wildly in the wind?
Are you near the looking glass? Do you know it's there? Have you stepped inside?
This is my children's second week of summer break from school. None of them are going to summer camp, so they are home with me. It's also the week of the Summer Solstice, Super Moon, and the start of Mercury Retrograde.
I knew that my schedule would need to change with theirs. I knew that I'd need to adjust my times for work to add in time for playing with the kids and getting them out of the house. I've done this before, and found a way to shift rhythms. I knew that I'd miss my more extended work time, alone at home while the kids were at school, or being able to freely schedule local Reiki healings during the daytime hours. This summer, though, there's been a different and rather unexpected part of my routine that I'm missing.
Quiet.
My four kids have lots of energy, as kids usually do. And we are very active together. We've gone to the park, playground, pool, bike riding, and every day's been different. So I'm also more tired at the end of the day than I had been during the school year.
The other night, around 11:15 pm when every kid was finally in bed, quiet, and I was sitting downstairs, I realized...it's quiet. At that moment, I felt a sense of relief come over me. I think I'm suffering from sensory overload. It's been hard to concentrate when I'm trying to get some quick work done in the mornings before we leave for our day time activity. My attention is different, more scattered. The sudden recognition of quiet was so surprisingly welcome to me, that I realized it was the biggest missing piece of my summer. For a moment, I just sat there and let the silence soothe me.
I wanted to enjoy it fully somehow. I wanted to meditate maybe, or to get some work done with the chance to apply undivided attention to it. Instead, after 5 minutes, I was so tired that I had to just, reluctantly, go to bed.
I have big plans this summer. I am writing a new book. (If When I can find the time and attention to get back to it, that is!) I'm getting my school website overhauled and completely redesigned. I've had a catalog made for the programs and courses we're offering. I'm teaching in Cleveland, Columbus and Lily Dale, NY (twice!), and helping to lead a retreat. Add to that hiring teachers and planning events for the coming school year, and it becomes a lot. Then add keeping four kids occupied enough to avoid fighting and messing up the house, and it's quite a challenge!
I've come to the conclusion that quiet time is not only rare and valuable, it's necessary. It's necessary for my peace of mind, productivity, and emotional balance. Now I need to figure out when and how to schedule it into my day.
Wish me luck.
