October 16, 2011
October News
Hello Everybody,
What an interesting month October is turning out to be! The month of Libra (the scales of justice) has brought needed attention to the plight of the 99% of Americans who are not millionaires and especially to their children (and many others) who have been struggling in this Great Recession economy. The scales of justice carries a sword but to their credit the vast majority of the Occupy Wall Street protesters have managed to remain peaceful and nonviolent in demonstrations all across the country and around the world. Paul and I have been very engaged in supporting the efforts to get the word out about what's been happening online on our Facebook pages and individual blogs. Both having been real journalists ourselves it has felt essential to counter news blackouts, misleading reporting and sometimes outright lies with reports, videos and photographs from people in the thick of things. It's also been very inspiring because the coming together as a response to corporate and political corruption we're seeing today was predicted in our book (although we had NO idea of the form it would take).
We know many of you read this newsletter (if you do) most often because of the spiritual nature of what we most often try to present. But we believe this IS a spiritual happening unfolding and feel so strongly about the importance of this that we want to give away the PDF download version of "Waking Up in the Great Recession Mormon Desert" FOR FREE to anyone who wants it. The print version and Kindle and Nook versions are still for sale but we want to see the message in this book carried far and wide so get yours by clicking here and send this link to anyone you think might be interested: http://www.healingcommunication.com/WAKING_UP_FILE.html
No additional articles this month. The book IS the article. Enjoy it!
Thanks!
Sheryl and Paul
---------------------------------
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
---------------------------------
WHERE TO FIND MAMA LOVE
http://www.mamaloveproducts.com
---------------------------------
WHERE TO FIND OUT VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
---------------------------------
YOU CAN FIND OUR ARTWORK...
in our joint Etsy shop. Check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulnSherylArt
---------------------------------
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!
---------------------------------
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!
Labels:
99%,
healing,
New Age,
Occupy,
psychic,
spiritual guidance,
spirituality
September 6, 2011
September Newsletter
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!
---------------------------------
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
---------------------------------
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
---------------------------------
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!
---------------------------------
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
---------------------------------
WHERE TO FIND MAMA LOVE
http://www.mamaloveproducts.com
---------------------------------
WHERE TO FIND OUT VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
---------------------------------
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!
---------------------------------
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!
Labels:
art,
flower essences,
Mama Love,
psychic,
spiritual counseling
August 5, 2011
August 2011 Healing Communication News
Hi Everyone,
WE HAVE A NEW BOOK! It's called WAKING UP IN THE GREAT RECESSION MORMON DESERT and we'd like you all to have one. This has been a long time in the making but we think it's worth it and the great people who reviewed an advance copy of it seem to agree. For example, David Spangler who was the previous director of Findhorn and has sometimes been called the father of the New Age movement had this to say:
This book is a winner. It has everything a good book should have: suspense, excitement, pathos, joy, laughter—-lots of laughter—and great characters you care about and can genuinely root for! And it's non-fiction! But what it has most is love and wisdom. Profound, heart-opening love and wisdom. It is hands down one of the best books on spirituality and its role in meeting the challenges of our time that I have read. And did I say that it's funny, too? Be good to yourself and read this book. Be good to your friends and buy them a copy. ~ David Spangler, author of FACING THE FUTURE and SUBTLE WORLDS: AN EXPLORER'S FIELD NOTES.
We're the "great characters", by the way. The book is a memoir and it follows our path from our original home in the beautiful New Age, ultra-progressive town of Santa Cruz, CA to a predominantly ultra-conservative Republican Mormon community in the eastern Arizona high desert. The timing is immediately after the election of Barack Obama and the passage of Proposition 8 (the law repealing gay marriage in California). The result is at turns poignant and funny and eventually leads to a spiritual wake-up call that shows the importance of connecting the political and the personal in our task of developing spiritually on the planet.
Read more about it and get your copy here.
It's available as an inexpensive instant pdf download or as an autographed physical book, both directly from us. It is also available on the Kindle and soon other places as well. The only places you won't find it (yet) are in bookstores because we can't afford a big print run and can't get the wholesale price low enough. So, hey, now you know that all the profit from the sales of these books goes directly to us.
And that leads us to another thing we wanted to say...
-----
It Takes a Village to Get the Word Out About a Self-Published Book
And we could use your help. Maybe you're not interested in this book but certainly there are a few people on your list, in your book clubs, or in your communities who would be. Tell them, would you? Forward this newsletter or give them this link: http://www.healingcommunication.com/myproducts/Waking_Up_In_The_Great_Recession_Mormon_Desert,_Book_by_Sheryl_Karas_with_Paul_Hood.html
Who Would Be Most Interested?
Sessions with Sheryl and Paul
We're continuing to offer our services separately as well as a team and continue to offer people (old clients or new ones) an opportunity to have a session with one or both of us at the bottom of our sliding scale regardless of income. Money is tight for a lot of people and we always have wanted to make our services as accessible as possible (while making a living, too). We're also offering short email consults which are especially useful for inexpensively trying our work out without committing to a longer session right away. Click here to make an appointment with one or both of us now.
------
Our Joint Etsy Shop...
is filling up with great photos and artwork from our new book. Check them out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulnSherylArt
------
Where to Find Mama Love Flower Essence Aromatherapy
http://www.mamaloveproducts.com
------
Where to Find Our Videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
------
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!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!
WE HAVE A NEW BOOK! It's called WAKING UP IN THE GREAT RECESSION MORMON DESERT and we'd like you all to have one. This has been a long time in the making but we think it's worth it and the great people who reviewed an advance copy of it seem to agree. For example, David Spangler who was the previous director of Findhorn and has sometimes been called the father of the New Age movement had this to say:
This book is a winner. It has everything a good book should have: suspense, excitement, pathos, joy, laughter—-lots of laughter—and great characters you care about and can genuinely root for! And it's non-fiction! But what it has most is love and wisdom. Profound, heart-opening love and wisdom. It is hands down one of the best books on spirituality and its role in meeting the challenges of our time that I have read. And did I say that it's funny, too? Be good to yourself and read this book. Be good to your friends and buy them a copy. ~ David Spangler, author of FACING THE FUTURE and SUBTLE WORLDS: AN EXPLORER'S FIELD NOTES.
We're the "great characters", by the way. The book is a memoir and it follows our path from our original home in the beautiful New Age, ultra-progressive town of Santa Cruz, CA to a predominantly ultra-conservative Republican Mormon community in the eastern Arizona high desert. The timing is immediately after the election of Barack Obama and the passage of Proposition 8 (the law repealing gay marriage in California). The result is at turns poignant and funny and eventually leads to a spiritual wake-up call that shows the importance of connecting the political and the personal in our task of developing spiritually on the planet.
Read more about it and get your copy here.
It's available as an inexpensive instant pdf download or as an autographed physical book, both directly from us. It is also available on the Kindle and soon other places as well. The only places you won't find it (yet) are in bookstores because we can't afford a big print run and can't get the wholesale price low enough. So, hey, now you know that all the profit from the sales of these books goes directly to us.
And that leads us to another thing we wanted to say...
-----
It Takes a Village to Get the Word Out About a Self-Published Book
And we could use your help. Maybe you're not interested in this book but certainly there are a few people on your list, in your book clubs, or in your communities who would be. Tell them, would you? Forward this newsletter or give them this link: http://www.healingcommunication.com/myproducts/Waking_Up_In_The_Great_Recession_Mormon_Desert,_Book_by_Sheryl_Karas_with_Paul_Hood.html
Who Would Be Most Interested?
- Memoir lovers, and lovers of true-life adventures.
- People curious about us.
- People who love storytelling mixed with humor and philosophy.
- Self-employed people.
- Artists and writers.
- Alternative health practitioners.
- Gays and lesbians, their allies, people who support gay rights.
- Santa Cruz folks, Californians, people from Arizona.
- People making community online, marketing their goods and services online, or those attempting it.
- People who care about community, love, peace, and social justice.
- People concerned about the horribly polarized political scene, and what might shift things.
- People living through their own Great Recession sagas.
- Spiritual but not religious folks, New Age thinkers, meditators, Hindus, Pagans, Buddhists, progressive Christians, Jews, Mormons and anyone who cares about freedom of religion (or freedom not to have one).
- People who still care about life purpose and wanting to contribute to the highest good of all concerned.
Sessions with Sheryl and Paul
We're continuing to offer our services separately as well as a team and continue to offer people (old clients or new ones) an opportunity to have a session with one or both of us at the bottom of our sliding scale regardless of income. Money is tight for a lot of people and we always have wanted to make our services as accessible as possible (while making a living, too). We're also offering short email consults which are especially useful for inexpensively trying our work out without committing to a longer session right away. Click here to make an appointment with one or both of us now.
------
Our Joint Etsy Shop...
is filling up with great photos and artwork from our new book. Check them out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulnSherylArt
------
Where to Find Mama Love Flower Essence Aromatherapy
http://www.mamaloveproducts.com
------
Where to Find Our Videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
------
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!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!
July 3, 2011
July Newsletter 2011
Upper Bidwell Park, Chico, CA ©2011 Paul Hood
Hi Everyone,
We'd like to thank all those who decided to take advantage of two new options we just started offering this past month: 1) sessions with one of us instead of with us both working as a team and 2) short email sessions. The feedback has been excellent and interesting. We believed working as a team was a special thing and for many people it has been. But some people find so much attention at once overwhelming -- offering more conventional one-on-one sessions was a plus. We also didn't realize the value in short email consultations before! Some people like time to process the information they receive in small chunks. They also need a way to try our services out without jumping into a bigger commitment right from the start. We like doing it so we'll be continuing with that, too. We're also continuing to give anyone who wants to do a phone or in-person session a chance to do so at the bottom of our sliding scale regardless of income. Click here to make an appointment with one or both of us now.
One theme for us this year -- and lots of people on our list -- is the lesson in having things go wrong, not getting what you want, working really hard over a very long period of time only to be forced to do something else. But I can't help but realize that this isn't the first time for me-- a lot of us who were in Santa Cruz in October 1989 when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit know the meaning of having your plans dashed or redirected! But then it was a clear-cut case of "Act of God" or at least "Act of Planet". This economic crisis isn't really a lot different -- the vast majority of people who have faced job loss, foreclosure, and downsizing were not at fault -- and yet the inability for so many people to simply jump back in and put things back in order right away hits like a blow to the solar plexus, it dredges up issues of self-esteem. Failure and the ease with which we get up again afterward has a lot to do with upbringing and societal conditioning. Paul shares his thoughts in our newsletter article for this month.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE FAILURE OF LARRY CROWNE
So, we go to see the new Tom Hanks movie figuring on some light entertainment. And for the most part, it was. However there was a moment so horrifying that I can scarcely believe that the movie was not rated a hard “R”, “NC-17”, or the dreaded “NR”. The story is moving along quite nicely and then, right out of the blue, a perfectly good cheesecake, a boxed cheesecake no less, is violently thrown against a door. It’s very graphic. The cake fairly explodes, and then oozes down the door. I was beside myself, and yet, I couldn’t look away. The movie continued on of course, but what was Tom Hanks thinking? This is a family film! All I could think to do for the next hour was to keep repeating to myself, “It’s not a real cheesecake, it’s not a real cheesecake, it’s a movie cheesecake.” Thank God it wasn’t a blueberry cheesecake. Even Hollywood has SOME limits.
Seriously though, we did watch the movie. There was a cheesecake scene. I’ve seen some pretty good Tom Hanks movies but this wasn’t one of them. Same goes for some other Hollywood actors who end up with too much creative control on a pet project. We all have our limits. Other times, it all comes together. “The Apostle” for example is an awesome film and was the pet project of Robert Duvall. To be fair, “That Thing You Do” written and directed by Tom Hanks in 1996 was a really good film. But on any given day, week or year things can go different ways, and in fact, that’s exactly what I think Tom Hanks was trying to address in this latest film. It’s a “human” picture, and a lot of human mistakes were made in making it. They meant well, and it shows. Sometimes that’s enough. OK, not this time, but even though I sat through a bad movie I’m not sorry that I did. I’m a little sorry for Tom that he made it but I’m not sorry he made it. Also, I know that he can do better, and I suspect that he will.
Wouldn’t it be great if we celebrated the failures as much as the colossal successes? “Wow man! Did you see how badly you blew that one? That was awesome! I honestly don’t think you could do any worse if you were hogtied, blindfolded and completely unconscious. On a scale of one to ten that was negative fifteen. If my four year old kid painted a picture like that, I’d give him a time out. Listen, you need to go to the cemetery and dig up every artist who ever lived and make a personal apology to their lifeless bodies. Right on, man! Do another!”
Yes, that would be great. Because we'd never be afraid to try something for fear that we might fail. Because in the end it's not about pass or fail anyway. As Jim Morrison once said, "No one here gets out alive." So it's all about how we choose to live our lives. Are we good to each other? Did we care? Did we try to do the right thing? I'm thinking that's what Larry Crowne was all about and what Tom Hanks was about in making the film, so for that he earns my applause.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On a related note, Conan O'Brien delivered an interesting commencement address at Dartmouth College this year. It starts off with the typical funny stuff but about 2/3 of the way in he chooses to impart words of wisdom about the experience of failure, loss and disappointment and the gifts it brings. Kind of like what the Tom Hanks movie was all about despite the execution. Check it out. It's pretty good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW FROM MAMA LOVE!!!
Soothing Angry Skin Body, Bath and Massage Oil -
A lot of us know that stress and upset can make our skin problems way worse. I originally designed this for two people with shingles who reported that the problem came about during a long-standing downturn in their lives-- it helped them tremendously and helped their tendency to be angry and upset, too. Then I tried it for a hot itchy rash that appeared after months of growing anger and frustration. Worked wonders for me as well!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We Have Art and Books Available Online
Healing Communication Press: http://stores.lulu.com/healingcommunicationpress
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images... http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl*
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Beautiful Photographic Prints and Artwork by Sheryl Karas...http://sherylkaras.imagekind.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where to Find Our Videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be a Fan!
We've recently joined the world of 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. Check us out at http://tinyurl.com/HealingCommunication . Check Mama Love out at http://www.facebook.com/MamaLoveProducts. Become a Fan and be sure to let other people know about us, too!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!
We'd like to thank all those who decided to take advantage of two new options we just started offering this past month: 1) sessions with one of us instead of with us both working as a team and 2) short email sessions. The feedback has been excellent and interesting. We believed working as a team was a special thing and for many people it has been. But some people find so much attention at once overwhelming -- offering more conventional one-on-one sessions was a plus. We also didn't realize the value in short email consultations before! Some people like time to process the information they receive in small chunks. They also need a way to try our services out without jumping into a bigger commitment right from the start. We like doing it so we'll be continuing with that, too. We're also continuing to give anyone who wants to do a phone or in-person session a chance to do so at the bottom of our sliding scale regardless of income. Click here to make an appointment with one or both of us now.
One theme for us this year -- and lots of people on our list -- is the lesson in having things go wrong, not getting what you want, working really hard over a very long period of time only to be forced to do something else. But I can't help but realize that this isn't the first time for me-- a lot of us who were in Santa Cruz in October 1989 when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit know the meaning of having your plans dashed or redirected! But then it was a clear-cut case of "Act of God" or at least "Act of Planet". This economic crisis isn't really a lot different -- the vast majority of people who have faced job loss, foreclosure, and downsizing were not at fault -- and yet the inability for so many people to simply jump back in and put things back in order right away hits like a blow to the solar plexus, it dredges up issues of self-esteem. Failure and the ease with which we get up again afterward has a lot to do with upbringing and societal conditioning. Paul shares his thoughts in our newsletter article for this month.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE FAILURE OF LARRY CROWNE
So, we go to see the new Tom Hanks movie figuring on some light entertainment. And for the most part, it was. However there was a moment so horrifying that I can scarcely believe that the movie was not rated a hard “R”, “NC-17”, or the dreaded “NR”. The story is moving along quite nicely and then, right out of the blue, a perfectly good cheesecake, a boxed cheesecake no less, is violently thrown against a door. It’s very graphic. The cake fairly explodes, and then oozes down the door. I was beside myself, and yet, I couldn’t look away. The movie continued on of course, but what was Tom Hanks thinking? This is a family film! All I could think to do for the next hour was to keep repeating to myself, “It’s not a real cheesecake, it’s not a real cheesecake, it’s a movie cheesecake.” Thank God it wasn’t a blueberry cheesecake. Even Hollywood has SOME limits.
Seriously though, we did watch the movie. There was a cheesecake scene. I’ve seen some pretty good Tom Hanks movies but this wasn’t one of them. Same goes for some other Hollywood actors who end up with too much creative control on a pet project. We all have our limits. Other times, it all comes together. “The Apostle” for example is an awesome film and was the pet project of Robert Duvall. To be fair, “That Thing You Do” written and directed by Tom Hanks in 1996 was a really good film. But on any given day, week or year things can go different ways, and in fact, that’s exactly what I think Tom Hanks was trying to address in this latest film. It’s a “human” picture, and a lot of human mistakes were made in making it. They meant well, and it shows. Sometimes that’s enough. OK, not this time, but even though I sat through a bad movie I’m not sorry that I did. I’m a little sorry for Tom that he made it but I’m not sorry he made it. Also, I know that he can do better, and I suspect that he will.
Wouldn’t it be great if we celebrated the failures as much as the colossal successes? “Wow man! Did you see how badly you blew that one? That was awesome! I honestly don’t think you could do any worse if you were hogtied, blindfolded and completely unconscious. On a scale of one to ten that was negative fifteen. If my four year old kid painted a picture like that, I’d give him a time out. Listen, you need to go to the cemetery and dig up every artist who ever lived and make a personal apology to their lifeless bodies. Right on, man! Do another!”
Yes, that would be great. Because we'd never be afraid to try something for fear that we might fail. Because in the end it's not about pass or fail anyway. As Jim Morrison once said, "No one here gets out alive." So it's all about how we choose to live our lives. Are we good to each other? Did we care? Did we try to do the right thing? I'm thinking that's what Larry Crowne was all about and what Tom Hanks was about in making the film, so for that he earns my applause.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On a related note, Conan O'Brien delivered an interesting commencement address at Dartmouth College this year. It starts off with the typical funny stuff but about 2/3 of the way in he chooses to impart words of wisdom about the experience of failure, loss and disappointment and the gifts it brings. Kind of like what the Tom Hanks movie was all about despite the execution. Check it out. It's pretty good.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW FROM MAMA LOVE!!!
Soothing Angry Skin Body, Bath and Massage Oil -
A lot of us know that stress and upset can make our skin problems way worse. I originally designed this for two people with shingles who reported that the problem came about during a long-standing downturn in their lives-- it helped them tremendously and helped their tendency to be angry and upset, too. Then I tried it for a hot itchy rash that appeared after months of growing anger and frustration. Worked wonders for me as well!
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We Have Art and Books Available Online
Healing Communication Press: http://stores.lulu.com/healingcommunicationpress
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images... http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl*
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Beautiful Photographic Prints and Artwork by Sheryl Karas...http://sherylkaras.imagekind.com
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Where to Find Our Videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
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Be a Fan!
We've recently joined the world of 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. Check us out at http://tinyurl.com/HealingCommunication . Check Mama Love out 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!
June 10, 2011
June Healing Communication News
Hi Everyone,
We've moved back to California—Chico, CA, the City of Trees! And what a magnificent, lush, green, City of Trees it is. Beautiful big trees of every sort lining almost every street—it's like living in a giant arboretum. Paul has family here and has lived here on and off but it's very new to Sheryl. How'd we choose Chico? Well, it appears to have been waiting all along but we didn't think of it. Instead we chose to accept a job as live-in innkeepers in Grass Valley, thinking we'd each work part time at that while building our practice and other businesses up, drove partly across the country to get there, only to have the job whisked away before we could even begin! Luckily, Chico is just an hour and a half away and Paul's dad was there to see us through. Talk about needing to live in the moment and do what the universe puts in front of you! Flower Essence fans and other curious people might like the article Sheryl posted about Green-Cross Gentian and having the strength to carry on that she posted on her blog here. It's especially applicable for those who have been uprooted and need to connect to a new home.
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NEW!!! Spiritual Counseling and Healing Sessions
To help us get our practice restarted we've added a bunch of new options to our website. The two of us have always chosen to work as a team -- it's been fun for us but not necessarily what everyone wishes we would do. We now offer our services separately as well as together and offer short sessions, even mini-email consultations as a way to check us out without breaking the bank. We had to alter our fees as a result, and to make things even more accessible we're now offering EVERYBODY an opportunity to work with us at the bottom of our sliding scale regardless of income. Check our "Make an Appointment" page to find something that fits your budget.
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NEW!!! Intuitive Flower Readings
What do the "flowers" have to say about key issues in your growth and development at the current time?
Relationships, career, health, etc -- there's at least one flower essence that can be used as a guide.
As an experienced spiritual counselor, healer and flower essence practitioner Sheryl has been using flowers as an aid for her emotional, spiritual (and physical) health and well-being for many years. She's always been intuitively guided in the work she does... offering flower readings are a way to give you a taste of it in a fun and hopefully accessible way.
$15 for a brief look at one issue in your life via email
$25 for the same thing with the appropriate Mama Love Perfume (or one of your choice)
See the bottom of her Mama Love Products Page.
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NEW!!! Red Hot NAKED Mama Love
:-) Hee-hee. Thought that might get your attention! Here's the story:
"Hey Mama Love! You're all about value and the environment and all that good stuff. How come you sell these products with all this packaging I have to throw away?"
"Well, that's what sells it. People think they're cute and buy them as gifts for their friends!"
"I don't, I buy them for myself. I don't want the packaging--I love your stuff anyway. Why not save yourself the trouble and me the expense and give me my Mama NAKED?!"
"Gasp! Um... okay. I still put them in bottles, label and shrinkwrap them but the rest of it is gone -- no cute jacket with info about the product and a cute Healer Mama on it. If that's for you, you get a big discount!"
$9.59 each, $56 for six, $110 for one of each (set of 12)
Look for "NAKED Mama Love" in the Products section of Sheryl's Mama Love website.
And if you prefer your hot Mama all gussied up.... you still can for $12.99 including shipping to the U.S. or Canada.
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NEW!!! Our Artwork and Funny Words on All Kinds of Stuff
We've got a lot of new products in our Zazzle shop where you can buy our art and silly sayings (and serious sayings) on t-shirts, mugs, greeting cards, posters, all sorts of stuff. Even iPhone and iPad cases and —- can you believe this? —- custom made Keds high top sneakers and low top shoes. Visit our shop here: http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl*
A small sampling of our newest stuff:
Reach
Red Zinnia
Peace and Love and All That Jazz
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We Have More Art and Books Available Online
Healing Communication Press
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images.
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood.
Beautiful Photographic Prints and Artwork by Sheryl Karas.
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Where to Find Our Videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be a Fan!
We've recently joined the world of 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. Check us out at http://tinyurl.com/HealingCommunication . Check Mama Love out 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!
March 9, 2011
March Healing Communication News
Hi Everyone,
Well, it seems like we've been out of touch for awhile but that's because we've had way too much going on.
We've moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and it looks like very soon we'll probably be moving again. Down the street or back to California? We're right on that fence right now, it depends on how a few things play out. So bear with us! Once we know for sure we'll send out an announcement as soon as possible but in the meantime we're having an online moving sale to raise some cash and, perhaps, lighten our load.
First off, several of my Mama Love flower essence aromatherapy formulas were damaged traveling back and forth across the country. The product is still great but the packaging is scuffed, torn or bent. I'm making these available at $8.00 each including shipping instead of $14 in my Etsy shop. They're available THIS WEEK ONLY and then I have to shut the shop down temporarily so we can manage whatever our next move is going to be. Friends on Facebook have already been buying them so act fast because the ones you want at this price might soon be gone. http://www.etsy.com/shop/MamaLovePerfume
Also, we've marked down the fine art glass pendants and handmade silk and faux fur evening bags we've been selling in our other Etsy shop. The pendants were $24.99. Now they're $16.50 including shipping. The evening bags were $35 and now there are just 4 left at $19.50. Again they're available THIS WEEK ONLY and then we have to temporarily close that shop, too! http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulnSherylArt
I've also been adjusting prices in our print-on-demand bookshop. This is a more permanent change. We've joined the modern age when it comes to e-books...or at least we're trying to be up-to-date. When we first opened that shop the advice was to keep the price of e-books more in line with the cost of print so as not to hurt regular book sales. But, of course, the cost of print-on-demand items of any sort are higher than mass market so it puts our work out of reach for a lot of folks. So we're rectifying that situation. Our e-book downloads are now $2.99 for "Changing the World One Relationship at a Time" and $4.99 for "The Spiritual Journey of Family Caregiving." You'll find them at http://stores.lulu.com/healingcommunicationpress
And our article this month?
An excerpt from "The Spiritual Journey of Family Caregiving" about why our way of helping people as spiritual counselors mattered in the work I did as consultant for families dealing with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia.
Respecting the Sanctity of a Human Being
by Sheryl Karas
I'm going to start by being honest: becoming a Family Caregiving Consultant was never part of my game plan. I went to school to get a Masters Degree in Transpersonal Psychology, sometimes thought of as Spiritual Psychology, and intended to do private practice personal coaching, lead support groups and teach workshops for a living. I thought of myself as an entrepreneur. Instead I ran out of money before I got started and had to find a regular job. Doing office work and leading support groups at the Alzheimer's Association was the only one I found and I was none too pleased about it. I knew nothing about Alzheimer's Disease and hated the idea of doing office work but figured the support group training would help while I figured out what to do next.
The first day the executive director handed me a copy of "The 36-Hour Day", a horrifyingly depressing book considered at the time to be the Alzheimer's "Caregiving Bible." She had me watch some videos on Alzheimer's Disease and two weeks later left me alone in charge of the office while she went to get something to eat.
I had a big stack of paperwork and filing to do on my desk and was sitting there dejectedly trying to imagine how a Masters degree was going to be of any use in this when the phone rang. The man on the other end was involved in a family argument about how to take care of his dad. He said his father lived alone on a ranch far out in the country and had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
The father had lived in that house his entire life and always said that he would rather wander out into the woods and die like all natural born creatures than to be shut up in a nursing home away from the place he loved at the end of his life. But now his relatives were refusing to honor his wishes. None of them could leave their families and jobs to live with him and they were all fighting about how (or if) they should take him away and have him placed. I suggested a few services they might take advantage of but spent most of the call listening and helping the caller sort out his feelings about the ethics of following through on his own request.
A day or two later I was left alone again and received a call from a woman taking care of her mother who was having what people in the field call a "catastrophic incident". She was extremely agitated, screaming obscenities, and was accusing the caregiver of trying to steal from her. The woman on the phone was at wit's end and said "I've had enough of this—YOU talk to her!!" and, to my horror, handed the phone to her ranting mother. Keep in mind I had NO training at this point beyond a basic introduction, had never talked to a person with dementia in my life, and had no idea of what to do.
I listened to the mother's rage and vitriolic screaming for a few minutes, freaked out silently for awhile, and finally thought "this isn't what I get paid to do." I interrupted the raving and said the first thing that came into my head. "Mrs. So and So, could you help me with something?" Immediately, Mrs. So and So snapped out of her rage. "Of course, dear! What can I do for you?"
Then I didn't know what to say so I stammered out the truth. "I'm brand new on this job and I don't know how to help you and I have SO much I have to do! Could we do something else?"
"Absolutely!" she said. "Don't you worry about a thing. I'll take care of it." And then she hung up the phone.
About twenty minutes later the caregiver called back. "You're a miracle worker! What did you do? She's been happy and sitting quietly reading a book upside down ever since."
I was stunned. I didn't know why what I did worked but I never forgot it. By asking the patient to take care of me, by treating her with respect and letting her feel like she still had value, I somehow got through.
From that point on I realized how my Transpersonal Psychology background was going to matter in the work I had taken on to do. One client after another asked for "practical" help but the help that made the biggest difference was listening and honoring each person's sanctity as a human being.
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You can read this book as an e-book download on your own computer or on any e-book reader that can read pdf files for just $4.99. Or buy a conventional print version if you like. Here's a link: http://stores.lulu.com/healingcommunicationpress
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Spiritual Counseling and Healing Sessions
Available now!
http://www.healingcommunication.com/How_to_Make_an_Appointment_with_Spiritual_Counselors_and_Healers_Sheryl_Karas_and_Paul_Hood.html
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We Have Books and Art Available Online
Healing Communication Press: http://stores.lulu.com/healingcommunicationpress
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images... http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl?rf=238549309058651585
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Beautiful Photographic Prints and Artwork by Sheryl Karas... http://sherylkaras.imagekind.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where to Find Our Videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be a Fan!
We've recently joined the world of 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. Check us out at http://tinyurl.com/HealingCommunication . Check Mama Love out at http://www.facebook.com/MamaLoveProducts. Become a Fan and be sure to let other people know about us, too!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!
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