As much as I love my current profession, I may have to take a temporary leave of absence to start up a new business. Watch this and you will see why.
Now really, there are franchises available. I could hire college hunks and put them to work for me? Then again, my sons would be mortified, I guess I will stay with working with clutterers through hypnosis.
Last night I spoke at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center. It was a lovely setting and the turn out was great. I was pleased to see some familiar faces, there to support me. (Thank you Ms. E!) One of the issues I discussed was how clutter in the studio can cause clutter in the mind. This becomes a barrier to creative productivity. I told the group that I knew none of the artists there had an issue with clutter, that resulted in giggles. Huh?
In my preparations for this event I came across a hand out I had from a seminar I had attended. It is the affirmations given out by Clutterers Anonymous. There are some gems within the list. So, checking online, I found them at the Clutterers Anonymous website. I am shamelessly posting them here, but do stop by and visit the site. The 20 questions is a great tool as well.
Affirmations repeated as you look into the mirror are always powerful. Also, using these in a hypnotic trance, make them your reality. So, read and embrace the ones that speak to you, on your journey towards freedom!
A reminder to locals I am speaking tonight at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center. Scroll down the page for details!
What glorious weather we had here this weekend. The kind that inspires movement and for me, cleaning. Apparently, it inspired many I know to do the same. It seems as though it was a weekend for eliminating clutter. Clutter that surrounds us, can also take up space in our heads and on our bodies.
There are many people who become overwhelmed with clutter, leading to hoarding. They have a fear of letting things go. You never know when you might “need” that item. So the piles begin and grow out of control. When clutter takes over the home, these same folks often isolate themselves.
Some common characteristics of cluttered people are:
* Highly creative, with a superior intelligence.
* Compulsive spending/shopping.
* Fear and inability to discard items.
* Time management issues. Procrastination is very common.
* Money management problems.
* Tendency to be heavy recyclers.
* Having a chronic illness/disability or being a caretaker for someone with a chronic illness.
* OCD and ADD may also be present.
People with clutter and hoarding issues have frequent feelings and thoughts of depression. Perfectionism is often present, although they are unaware of it. “How can I be a perfectionist they ask me, if I am living like this? I explain that their high desire for perfectionism can result in them being overwhelmed by not having the time to do it “right”. They then experience an emotional paralysis. This leads to negative self-talk, embarrassment, a low self-esteem, and other debilitating emotions.
I work with these individuals through hypnosis to change their behaviors and habits, one baby step at a time. Make small changes rather than trying to fix the mess all at once. We also work on improving self esteem and allowing them to see themselves as safe in the world. It is time to throw away old judgemental beliefs about themselves and move into freedom.
For some, I find they need physical assistance as well. I refer them to a great company Professional Organizing Services. They are nonjudgmental and they get in and help do the heavy lifting!
Interestingly, as the clutter around them disappears, often, so does the clutter on the body. They also find they are more organized in thought as well.
For me, it is time to drop off bags of unwanted items at the Goodwill truck, parked in the Walmart parking lot. They make it so easy to donate!
This Tuesday I am giving a presentation for the Dunedin Fine Arts Center. I am addressing the inner artist that dwells within all of us. At some level, we all have the urge to express ourselves and when we get beyond the fear of other’s opinions, we allow ourselves to truly create!
Through hypnosis techniques, we can call upon that genius to inspire us and even improve our skills.
If you live in the area, stop in and join us. It promises to be a fun event.
Once again, I am honored to have the contributions from P. W. Dowdy. My connection with this fabulous writer can only be described as a miracle. We live miles and miles apart. We have only been connected through the magic of the internet and yet, I feel as though she is my friend, maybe even my sister. She sent this article to me for sharing and I feel blessed to be able to do so.
Due to Hollywood propaganda, offering effective love today can lie in obscurity for some. Flowers and other wooing are great flatterers, but can our non- emotional actions express love more effectively?
In Sonnet 116, Shakespeare noted that “love alters not with its alterations find, nor bend with the remover to remove…it is ever fixed…never shaken.”
In that actions commonly proceed from attitude, Shakespeare’s attitude about live is a great place to start. If you wish to show love to someone – whether they understand it immediately or not — here are 7 Do’s and Don’ts:
Love is both inborn and learned. It takes the key of compassion to activate either expression. These seven means will build that compassion in you.
Debbie speaking again, How can I help but love what Pat wrote? She has no blog or website (yet) or I would link to it. She is writing a novel. I was given a sneak peek at it and I am so excited to read the whole thing when she is complete. In the meantime, I am grateful for her contributions here.
Last Friday, Halloween, I had the great honor of appearing on a local television station. We discussed Halloween Superstitions. My interview with Marty Matthews is at 10connects.
I wanted to post it here, but ran into snags. So, just click on 10connects and you can see it. Post your questions for me there as well. I will be checking to see what questions are asked and do my best to answer them!
Friday night was a fabulous night, lots of adorable kiddies came by in costume. Now, it is November and I am ready to move forward into a new month, with great opportunities. Lots planned, a class at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center, a great networking event I am speaking at Casa Tina’s (also in Dunedin) and my annual day long marathon at Palm Harbor University High School for the Great American Teach – In.
For now, I am getting my week planned and started. I had a great walk today and feel the positive energy in the air! The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Here’s to great new inventions!
A delightful Halloween tradition is the carving of pumpkins. How my kids always enjoyed the gooey insides as we scraped them out onto newspapers. Of course, somehow there was always enough goo to spread well beyond the papers, no matter how many I spread out. We would draw a face and carve it. Place a candle inside and our creation took on a life!
There were years I bought several pumpkins, attempting to do my “Martha Stewart” impression. Unfortunately in my house, I usually ended up looking more like Jimmy Stewart. Oh well. The kids and I had fun.
Carving Jack-O-Lanterns is a Halloween custom that dates back to ancient Ireland. The first Jack-O-Lanterns, though were actually made of turnips, beets or even potatoes, not pumpkins. Pumpkins began to be used later, when Irishmen immigrated to the United States.
There are several version of an Irish legend that tells of a man named Stingy Jack, who convinced the Devil to pay for one last drink before he took his soul. The Devil turned himself into a sixpence and when it came time to pay, instead of paying for the drink Jack pocketed the sixpence and kept it stored beside a silver cross. This prevented the Devil from changing back. Jack made a deal with the Devil before letting him free. The Devil could not harass him for ten years. When the Devil returned, Jack again tricked the Devil and surrounded him with crosses.
When Jack died he was refused entry at the Gates of Heaven. He went to the Gates of Hell and the Devil told him to go away, as Jack had made him promise not to claim his soul. Because it was dark, Jack didn’t want to leave and he couldn’t find his way. The Devil tossed Jack a glowing coal and Jack put it inside a turnip. Ever since with this “Jack O’ Lantern”, Stingy Jack’s lonely soul has been roaming the earth. Other versions tell of Jack’s death while stealing turnips and when he was refused entrance into both heaven and hell, he used a candle to light the turnip he still had with him. Other versions exist as well, I am sure.
The tradition of leaving the pumpkins out is to keep evil spirits away. Personally, I put a lit pumpkin out to delight my adorable little trick or treaters.
Superstitions can be a good thing, if not taken to an extreme. If your lucky shirt helps you remember your lines for an audition, great! Seeing it will boost your confidence, therefore, it has a placeob effect. It is when a superstition leads to obsessive behavior or fears that you might want to examine their value.
As a little girl, I loved to dance and twirl around in the living room. My mother had a beautiful, big mirror hanging in there, just perfect to view my moves as I made them. The reflection in my childlike mind was a Prima Ballerina, a chanteuse or a glamor queen. I would sing and dance the hours away.
One particular personal appearance resulted in my shoe flying off my foot and straight into that mirror. Broken, shattered were my the mirror and my heart at that moment. After all, I had doomed myself to seven years of bad luck and the disappointment of my mother both. I wept. My mother found me and consoled me. We would find another mirror to hang, she understood that accidents happen. Perhaps there had been a lesson in tying my shoes as well as getting a bit to out of control inside the house. My mother reassured me that my luck was not doomed for the next seven years.
The superstition that a broken mirror results in seven years of bad luck dates back to the ancient Romans. They believed that life renewed itself every seven years. If the person looking into a mirror was ill, the image would break the mirror and the run of bad luck would continue for seven years. At the end of seven years life would be renewed, ending the curse.
I imagine that to the first person to ever see their own reflection in the water, it seemed magical, mystical to see another so much like themselves. Mirrors have been attributed with the ability to foretell the future, create bad luck, create good luck and even hold onto a person’s soul. (Think of the story of Dorian Gray.)
I have learned that mirrors are just that, mirrors. They are useful when I want to make sure my lipstick isn’t smudged across my face (it can happen!) and fabulous tools for affirming the positive in my life. I created a video not too long ago regarding the power of eye contact in the mirror. I did not have seven years of bad luck, I make my luck! I learned a valuable lesson that day as well.
It seems, that my mother is wise, loving and very forgiving.
