Santa Cruz Lighthouse by Paul Hood
Hello Everybody,
Happy Labor Day! Hope your weekend was a good one. Ours was filled with lots of art and talk. Our latest art pieces from this weekend are in this newsletter. Enjoy!
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FINDING A NEW WAY
An interesting theme presented itself -- rather “insisted” itself -- to us this month. Insisted? Yes. You see, I expected to put in an excerpt from our latest book, "Waking Up in the Great Recession Mormon Desert", about claiming the change you wish to make in your life. (You can still read that one if you like!) It was about believing so strongly in the change you wish to make that you can’t believe you don’t deserve to have it! It was about really going for it and intending, not just wishing, but actually believing you’re going to succeed.
Alrighty then, that sounded like a great newsletter theme but why then, did the following theme intrude itself instead? It popped up over and over in sessions we did with clients, on posts we read on Facebook, news articles, conversations with friends: “I really wanted to do ‘this’ with my life but... I need to take a break from cartooning because I hurt my hands.” “I can’t afford to do my art full-time anymore because I can’t pay my rent.” “My boyfriend left me and won’t return my calls.” “Someone I love is sick and needs me now.” “A hurricane just destroyed my house.” Etc., etc.
What happens to those cherished hopes and dreams when life intrudes instead?
Paul took a first crack at this in a free write recently:
“A friend of mine on Facebook misses being a cartoonist. He said so. Right back at him came an unsolicited philosophical response. I mean, I think he just meant to say what he missed. He didn’t want a suggestion, or an answer, but here one came. Worse yet, it sounded very close to Yoda’s “Do or do not, there is no try” from the old Star Wars movie. So my friend answered pretty politely at first, but when that didn’t get through: “Your Yoda platitudes sound nice and simple, but they are too simple.” Because my friend has a repetitive motion injury specific to drawing. He can do everything else, just not that. Not for awhile anyway. But he misses it, and that’s all he wanted to say. Doing a lot of drawing made him have to stop doing that one thing that he really liked, and there was likely no way around that. There’s not much you can say and he wasn’t asking for anyone to say anything. Maybe we should really telegraph it when we’re feeling that way, like “I don’t want anyone to answer, I’m just going to announce something.“ And I think that would work, because people always want to help, and sometimes we don’t want them to.
Later on in the day I walked outside just after a car crash occurred several yards from my house. Those involved weren’t even out of their cars yet. It was a rear end collision; hit hard enough to push that car into the car in front but nobody was injured. The responsible party was pretty upset, started to cry a little. Everybody had their cell phones out, so we knew help was on the way. It was all women there. A young woman from one of the cars that had been hit walked over to the woman who had hit the other cars, put her hand on her shoulder and said, “It’s OK. It’s just cars.” I think that did help. It helped me. I wanted to see and hear that, and know how amazingly civilized people can be.”
I recently received a newsletter discussing the importance of not resisting what is. Sure, you might want things to be another way and it’s perfectly okay to admit it. But sometimes the most important thing to come out of a bad situation is recognition of what’s essential, what’s really most important to us after all. You know, “it’s ok, it’s just cars.” We’re alive and well, that’s the important thing!
That doesn’t mean that those cherished hopes and dreams are a mistake, but maybe the most important things are to cherish what you have today, to accept what’s happening now and build (or rebuild) from there, or to decide to do something that helps you bring more of what you’re capable of to the forefront. Something you’d never choose if the doors you wished were open weren’t closed to you right now. Life gets more interesting with a little rediscovery and redirecting. Sometimes the undiscovered territory ends up being the most interesting place to be of all.
-- Sheryl Karas with Paul Hood
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SESSIONS
We're continuing to offer everyone an opportunity to work with us at the bottom of our sliding scale. We also have 1/2 length sessions and short email consultations to make our services affordable and accessible.
Sheryl also has been trying something out through her Mama Love shop on Etsy she'd like to extend to everyone on our list: Flower Essence readings via email! What's a "flower essence reading"? Dowsing for guidance using the Flower Essence Repertory by the Flower Essence Society as a guide! Seriously. Sheryl's been designing formulas like this for years. And gets lots of insight and help for other people now as well. Try it! Find out what the "flowers" have to say for your highest well-being. A flower essence reading alone costs $15. A reading with a related Mama Love perfume (1 dram) is $25. If you'd prefer a custom made 1 oz formula along with the reading it will cost $32.
You can also do a session with Paul and ask for a flower essence formula from Sheryl to take the healing further. Similar costs apply.
http://www.healingcommunication.com/How_to_Make_an_Appointment_with_Spiritual_Counselors_and_Healers_Sheryl_Karas_and_Paul_Hood.html
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OUR LATEST BOOK -- WAKING UP IN THE GREAT RECESSION MORMON DESERT
We're getting excellent feedback on our latest book. You can get an autographed copy directly from us here. You can also buy a very affordable downloadable pdf version there or get it on the Nook At Barnes and Noble or on the Kindle on Amazon.com. We understand that Google Books will be making copies available as well sometime soon.
Do us a favor? If you've read the book and like it, could you write a review please for Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com? We don't have any customer reviews yet and really could use some!
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YOU CAN FIND THE ARTWORK FROM THIS NEWSLETTER BLOG POST...
in our joint Etsy shop. Check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulnSherylArt
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WHERE TO FIND MAMA LOVE
http://www.mamaloveproducts.com
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WHERE TO FIND OUT VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
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JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
We post little tidbits of inspiration and fun, information and news about what we're up to, things that don't fit in the newsletter and things that do. And it's an easy way to interact with what we post through comments and possibly discussions from time to time. Look up "Paul Hood" or "Sheryl Karas" or both. Mama Love has its own page. That's at http://www.facebook.com/MamaLoveProducts. Become a Fan and be sure to let other people know about us, too!
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THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REFERRALS!
Simplest way to tell people about us? Forward this newsletter and include a note saying you like us. It's easy!
Psychedelic Sunflower by Sheryl Karas
