Category: Uncategorized

Let Freedom Ring and other personal musings

“Truck?”

“Did I have a dizzy spell?”

“No… Earthquake…” We all stood, sat – wherever we were – transfixed and unsure of where the safe zones were and whether we should even try going there. By the time the heavy wrought-iron chandelier stopped swaying, we had already exhaled and continued whatever had been our do-ing. Yes, despite all the musings about Freedom and expectations around Celebration, this was going to be a different kind of Independence Day.

It’s taken me well over a week to be able to finish this blog. I felt a malaise about the holiday, but not just because of the prevailing yuck over politics and the state of American affairs. It was actually the desire to be thoughtful and non-judgmental and zen about the day that made it show up how it did – without a barbeque, fireworks, or any other traditional pastime.

By chance, we ended up having dinner with a German friend going home after 13 years here in the U.S. Even though she still holds a fondness for her adopted country, the high rents and stress-filled jobs have made living a good life too unsustainable in Southern California. I’ve heard the refrain often: You Americans work too hard. You’ve forgotten how to live your lives. Then she touched briefly on the subject of patriotism and how frowned upon expressions and displays of it were when she was growing up in Germany. It was after the war of course, and everyone – even those not responsible – continued to live the shame. Thus my careful avoidance of the red, white and blue outfit, I realized. Despite all the Instagram posts designed to cheer – babies and foods dressed up red, white and blue – I just couldn’t find a single one I felt compelled to Like.

Even the intention to write about my personal journey of independence and freedom made no sense, since the past weeks have been about whether that story is fiction or not. According to shaman and friend, “You moved because of your heart…it was a ‘geographical solution’. You are running away but still bringing and suffering your problems…”

So I realize this July 16th that this past Independence Day was not about Us. It was about You and Me – each of us – and what our relationship is with fear (earthquake!), patriotism, independence, and freedom. Maybe it’s time for the quiet reflection without being bombarded by negativity or how things should be, thinking instead to next year – maybe even tomorrow – and how we do It as part of the collective.

Removing Money Blockages

It is a never-ending story, isn’t it? All the issues we wrestle with around $$$$. Note that I’ve used four dollar signs, because why go through all the work to bring in a $ (one-dollar-sign-) abundant life?

But how about if I dispense with going into the stories? I don’t imagine that you’d like to stick around to hear the ‘Woe is Me’, and even if you are a ‘Misery-Loves-Company’ reader, I’m not going to indulge you. Besides, recounting or reading them again is the quickest way to get pitched into and stuck in that old money pit again.

Three reasons:

It doesn’t take much for our energy to drop, way less to fall down stars as opposed to huffing and puffing up them. This highlights, by the way, that ‘easy’ doesn’t always equal ‘better’.

Two, if we focus on the problem, that’s all we’ll see – the problem – while somewhere else, waiting to be noticed, are the solutions, with arms flailing, “Pick me! Pick me!”

Three, hmmm, we would be approaching the whole subject as if it were a mind game, talking about it, dissecting it, planning a way forward…blah, blah, blah. Even if we focused on positive instead of negative thoughts, it’s all in our head, and what if the secret to outsmarting the money demons is to smoke them out body, mind and soul?

These tips are included in a free online class which I had the privilege of assisting with last week. I’ve taken many of Rita Harrison’s seminars before, but it was a reminder, pick-me-up, and a jump-start to a new (and too money-focused if I let it) chapter in my life.

It shifted me out of the I Can’t Afford and prompted me to get in the car, drive to Santa Monica, and explore with an absolutely certainty this was the place I couldn’t afford not to be.

Fearless – You are not your Fears

What does this title of Rita Harrison’s upcoming community college course bring to your mind? Perhaps that it’s an unexpected offering from an institution more generally focused on Accounting 101 and Food Service Management Sanitation and Safety. I imagine, however, that you wouldn’t even find the topic in the course catalog of your average ivory tower university where you might find instead The Art of Walking and The Physics of Star Trek, and other such esoteric and “look at how hip we are” classes. How often have you heard the complaint that formal education seems so detached from real life and the basic skills we really need to travel through life?

You may be like many people who are looking to redefine success for themselves and live life less stressfully, looking instead for enlightenment around concepts such as Balance, Love, and Confidence. How much do Fear and Success do a dance in your life in both obvious and subtle, teensy weensy and enormous ways, crowding out the others? The first Meetup I attended after landing in L.A. was about just that topic, where attendees revealed fears ranging from stepping on dirty floors and riding in elevators to pursuing a vocation and of course, Financial Insecurity.

And now I notice how fear is behind even little things that I didn’t think were fears. It has dogged me and can manifest every day in one crazy form or another: “Are they mad at me?” “Gotta stop buying that bargain produce,” and “Will the time return when I’m greeted at home with the biggest bear hug?” Is this blog good enough to publish yet?

So before I fall into the Fear of Joy which is the artist and writer’s greatest, I’ll close this blog right now with an invitation to attend the class. Notice that the subject is not Fear but Fear-lessness, because you won’t be rehashing fears but putting into place what you’d like instead. There won’t be bungee-jumping, walking over hot coals, or screaming into the cosmos (unless that’s what you want). You’ll connect with your fears in an easy way …because it will be your way. And that’s the secret: when You are in the equation and not just following someone else’s steps, you will master fearlessness with an ease and grace that will surprise you.

Now don’t think too much! Just register here. Then watch Rita’s short video, and start to notice what little things – whatever you want to call them – are just stories … and by the time the class rolls around, you’ll step into what you want instead.

If you’re reading this after the class has been given, don’t despair. Visit http://www.willow4u.com to book a Power Pack.

Change Please

Now to the Change part, which is the Life part, because yeah, yeah, “Change is the only constant in life.” Yeesh, we know this and do it every day as best we can. There are the days when everything goes ‘well’ – whatever that means – and it’s easy to talk about smelling the roses, savoring the journey, and just ‘Be – ing’. You may try to replicate that for the next day and the next, but this is when you realize you really can’t and shouldn’t so precisely. “Have a nice day…or not,” a friend and I have begun to say, to turn on its head that programming that Nice and Good and Fine look a certain way and are what we strive for.

Dad was right about life being a bit Russian Roulette and that we can’t know the good days without having the shxx ones. So I guess I subscribe to the, “It’s all good.” Or not. I’m really loving this “or not” thing to take the edge and Shoulds off of life, because there are other days that are just not fun.

Like yesterday, when an innocent comment like, “I wouldn’t do that” lands with a thud and I have to take a breath to get out of the “Can’t you do anything right!?” file. When you get an invitation to a “bring your swimsuit” bbq and in that off-handed “Hey, bring your friend (whose name I can’t remember)” way. When a conversation that starts as “What do you think about…” turns into wrangling and then to “I feel like a punching bag and can’t talk to you anymore” and finishes out the day with “Guaranteed we’re not going to talk tomorrow.” When the high point of your day is returning a toilet seat to Target. When your sister says the words “family trip” and “Bali” all in the same sentence.

Physical exertion, there wasn’t much, but I would certainly call it a ‘heavy-lifting’ or according to my British sparring partner, a “fxxx-all” day. Essentially it was one of those days when buttons get inadvertently pushed over and over, and memory files are yelling and reacting to each other, and it would have been easy to let the broken record play “Life’s a Bitch, and Then You Die.” The hard feelings could have really set in with each of us making assumptions and decisions about the other.

This is then where the freaking hard work (or not) comes in, all the hours and practice that the magician puts in behind the scenes, deep down, in plain view, wherever it needs to happen to make the Show …. well … magical. Stay tuned.

Agent

“Uhhh, I think I’m your agent,” I said, grasping for some definition of the tasks that were falling to me. And then everything made perfect sense for each of us. The “Why L.A.?” became “of course, L.A.” because where else would a holistic healer have an agent? Then the relationship suddenly had all the right words to define it: Collaboration, Autonomy, Expertise.

As Rita Harrison’s client and student, I knew the Willow System in such a way that I could represent it authentically and passionately. And because Rita and her methodologies aim to and do deliver “optimally,” I had the confidence, competence, and clarity (yes, more about the Power of 3 later) to move into my soul purpose. Ok, let’s say that again. Needless to say, it’s been an interesting road to finding that happiness thing, especially when I’ve sought it from others most of my life.

So I reclaimed the business experience (leaving behind the stuff that had put old ventures into indebtedness), corporate and institutional familiarity (without the non-constructive contempt), and a mother’s multi-tasking and juggling skills (that had lost their sense of purpose with kids grown and off on their own paths). What transformed all of that turned out to be remarkably simple (which doesn’t mean ‘easy’ by any means).

It happened that a reading by Connie Viveros crystalized it beautifully with images so lush I couldn’t speak as I received them. Don’t forget, I now say to myself: Toss a joy for living – tears and all – into the magician’s hat and one by one, all I need to create my new life will be provided one white dove at a time.

Agent of Change

So… like so many others, I’m now in L.A. with a dream. Of course how to materialize it and how it materializes is the rub.

There had been a vague intention and outline of a plan, but what pushed me into action was more a jumping-out-of-my-skin Gotta Get Out of Here. Sure, the “more opportunities” thing awaited, but not a real job as tsk-tskers would say. I’m Taurean, and the lack of a stable prospect scared the crap out of me, but my Five of Spades birth card of the Wanderer put me on the move lest I blow something up.

The good folks I’ve met at L.A. Meetups have been mirrors to notice my What the Heck. Name, Who You Are, and 90-Day Goal introductions often free-formed into musings of hope and dissatisfaction about ourselves and this city of dreams. I say it without irony because L.A. absolutely still is – both stereotypically and authentically – where people come to see what they are made of. An Indian American music producer /composer from Austin, TX and a Canadian “composer for media” had had successes back home, but both were here with game plans for More. The former is giving himself the classic one-year window to find more gigs, and the latter sojourns twice a year for opportunity tours. Other stories include that of the organizer of the Create Yourself – Los Angeles Meetup and a Japanese American film maker who walk the talk every day by crafting work and a life in the industry that they want to be proud of.

My timeline? Nothing beyond Now. The work? Hmmm…health and wellness? Dare I stretch to say Healing Body, Mind and Soul? Writing? Just “something” to bring in the $$? As life would have it, the ruminating was interrupting by a giant crash as I literally and horrifyingly broke a beautiful piece of artwork in the house I was staying. Dust settled and glass shards and shavings mopped up, the message was clear to have a session with my main ally in life.

The answers from a Willow session are always unexpected and big if you let it be. We discovered quickly that goal-setting was a priority, but (and the “but” is key) the guidance was specific – “within the parameters of joy.” Making that distinction opened up possibilities that hadn’t occurred to me when I was only goal-oriented.

It was a subtlety that brings light-year-measurable forward movement. How different would daily, weekly and monthly goals be if I also slowed down to savor the simple pleasures of life? What if I dropped the judgments about all the things I should do and listened to the voice that connects me to myself and a deeper pride? What would happen?

California States of Mind

It’s real because we’ve made it so: Crazy California. We’re pioneers, thinkers outside-of- the-box, and dreamers who have escaped comfort to commit to an adventure. Flip-side, we’re fabulously busy just being busy, flaky beyond decency, and more sick and tired than healthy and happy. The more refined assessment from the outside world: Northern Californians Fake Real, Southern Californians Real Fake.

I’m a born-and-raised San Franciscan who three weeks ago piled necessities and niceties into the reliable old Accord, and floored it down the 5 to resettle in L.A. (County) for…time undetermined. I’m actually in Long Beach, but that reveal so takes the edge off my adventure. A 93-mph speeding ticket further sobered me up and brought my high-flying escape down to earth.

In the Bay Area, they say there aren’t many of us natives still around, but I think it’s that we just lay low. Many of us are actually firmly planted, prisoners of our homes and family holdings. By accident of birth to American-dreamer parents and outrageous property values, we have an affluence and sense of having made it just by having stayed in the fold. If we were immigrants previously marginalized, we are now the entrenched establishment, landlords holding down the fort against invading renters.

What’s more, as a wanderer by nature, the city so much of a magnet to wanderers had become a crab bucket to me. When you are part of a tribe, you are supported when you stay, and for your own good, pulled back in when you wander off. There was also something disquieting in the collective. I couldn’t put my finger on it, although the Fake Real thing was beginning to seem less name-calling, maybe even truth-telling.

Don’t get me wrong. This may feel like a battle of North and South, California and Everywhere Else I’m setting up here, but it’s truly an attempt at non-judgmental musings. It’s a new age – Aquarius – and a blog makes that possible. Stay tuned.

Visit https://www.willow4u.com/relationships/ to find out how you can look more deeply at your collective and find solutions instead of frustrations.

Check out an Upcoming Event: Shift, Heal and Evolve.

Shift, Heal and Evolve.

Meet your innate potential for healing and spiritual awakening…

Join this unique interactive event where you experience how to restore your natural healing abilities, boost your energy, emotional and mental strength, and master illness prevention that naturally lifts you into a higher consciousness and spiritual awareness.

When you are in need of healing, you often feel disconnected from your own healing powers. The consequence is that you don’t use them or forget about them completely, hoping that something or somebody outside yourself can provide what you seem to have lost. The truth is that you’ve still got it in you, you just need a little help.

That’s the reason why Rita Harrison, a German-government registered naturopathic doctor, physical therapist, and international healer comes to LA to share with you her over-35 years of experience in holistic and spiritual healing…so that you can make a shift, live your life, and be happy. Visit www.willow4u.com for more information.

Register at https://www.facebook.com/events/2463432877244369/

2515 South Robertson Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90034 Get directions to the space

Love, Money and Success

Write Your Most Empowered Love, Money and Success Story! Make it your new normal…

Create Your Self Meetup – Los Angeles Chapter
Thursday, June 6, 2019, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

WeWork, 10000 Washington Blvd, 6th Floor, Culver City, CA

Create even more than you imagined by liberating yourself from what doesn’t work anymore!
When you dream big, you are already on the right path to success, but many people make the mistake that when they don’t achieve their goals quickly enough, they stop dreaming, thinking that they dreamed too big. That’s wrong. What’s right is to keep on dreaming big and build the foundation on which it can happen.
Known for her efficient approach, Rita Harrison shows you how to do this in 3 powerful steps. Come and experience it for yourself.
Rita is an international healer, author, and inspirational speaker who has helped close to 55,000 clients over the past 35 years to achieve their goals. Her passion is to help people find their inherent gems and apply them effectively to transform their lives into precious crown jewels!
As the developer and founder of The Willow System, which helps people maximize their potential, she has worked successfully with the Hawaii Counselors Association, Healing the Healers, and SAG-AFTRA Portland besides many others.

Visit www.willow4u.com for more information.

“After an hour with Rita, I found myself liberated from aspects of my emotional landscape that were truly holding me back. I experienced a state of joy and optimism, and carry the results of this experience to this day.
I’ve worked with energy prior, and my time with Rita exceeds anything I’ve done before in real, powerful and exciting ways. This is Rita’s life’s work, and she travels the world doing this – it is her way of healing the planet and its people, one energy system at a time!” –Mary McDonald Lewis, Voice Actor, Affiliate Voice & Dialect Coach