April 9, 2012

April 2012 News

Copyright 2010, Sheryl Karas, All Rights Reserved

Hello Everybody,

Hope you had a nice Easter, are having a great Passover, or are enjoying the passage into Spring—the time of resurrection. There are several kinds of resurrection—some involve making a leap of faith, others involve lots of little steps of faith. Believing in yourself, believing in a Higher Power—either way, you must believe enough in the power of something to see your changes through.

Ready to Resurrect?

This is an illustration I did for Angel's Trumpet, the flower essence for spiritual surrender and giving in to the power of the Universe to hold you through intense transitions. People use it to ease a person's passage into death but it's equally applicable to resurrection within any stressful transition where CHANGE is the hardest thing you face. Sometimes in times of great transition it helps to remember to surrender -- to let go, let God. Letting go of your old life, your old patterns of being, can allow you to rise up and be born anew.

I don't currently use Angel's Trumpet in any of the formulas I do although I could add it to a custom formula if anyone is interested. I've used it myself but only during the most intense times when it felt like help had to come from outside ourselves and saying yes to that choice was the best choice available. We lived through a time like that almost exactly one year ago—flying from the Mormon desert to our current home in Chico in a series of hops, skips and giant leaps of faith. Help was given and there were some true gifts along the way but it was definitely a hairy ride!

But even after going through a major transition there is a time when you realize it's time to let go of THAT experience and keep on going. As a result of our last newsletter a couple of people requested a formula I was considering for beginning again with a positive attitude and a product I gave up on during the height of the Great Recession crisis popped into in my head. Mama Love for Renewed Faith and Optimism was discontinued because it just sat on the shelves. Paul thought that was hilarious—"Renewed Faith and Optimism is being discontinued due to lack of faith! People who really need it are so discouraged they think 'it wouldn't work anyway.' People who aren't discouraged don't need it. And you're giving up on it even though it works really well!" We even put the incident in our book "Waking Up in the Great Recession Mormon Desert" (still available free to download at http://www.healingcommunication.com/WAKING_UP_FILE.html )

But Mama Love for Renewed Faith and Optimism does work really well. It smells like rose and cinnamon and contains essential oils and flower essences for alleviating depression and anxiety, soothing the heart and increasing the ability to take the time necessary to begin again with self-confidence. It's great for those who need to muster the faith to start again, especially if the road has been rough and more than disappointing.

And then there is the aspect of working through the issues that come up when you try again. Paul has been addressing some of that recently. I'll let him jump in:

"Recently I did a photo shoot with a young woman who contacted me to help with her modeling portfolio. Seemed like a simple thing, but posting a couple of photos on Facebook caused a minor uproar among a handful of people, even to the extent that I lost a friend over it, albeit not a close friend, but somebody who thought that a photo of a woman doing a classic pose or two in an outdoor setting (fully clothed) was somehow beneath me as a spiritual person. You can’t please all the people all the time. I’ve only ever gotten criticism for doing things which I never thought would be controversial, things which were not at all challenging to my own beliefs, so there’s really no use in second guessing where change and evolving consciousness might take you-- especially when you don’t even think you’re engaging in anything challenging. Sometimes the commonplace is challenging.

"Far more challenging for me was making the transition from photography to fine art. I hadn’t drawn or painted anything freehand in decades, excluding some digital painting, and I began to wonder if I’d ever have the guts to pick up a paintbrush. Finally I just did it. I took the opportunity of controversy in photography to take a little break and do some drawing, then digital enhancing, and finally painting. An unexpected benefit has been a cross-pollinating between digital and manual/physical artwork. If I hadn’t experienced some discomfort and controversy in photography, I might not have picked up the paintbrush yet. I can take a photo of anything, it doesn’t challenge me, I have no problems or qualms with that. If a thing exists it can be photographed but for me putting a few lines on a page was a barrier that it took me years to break back through. Now that I’ve started, I am surprised that I’ve been held back for so long".

For issues like this one of my other formulas—Doing New Things with Confidence, for example—might be appropriate. But even better is to arrange for a session or two or even to choose a couple of challenges in your life you want to tackle and stick with the process of working through the issues step by step. We're still offering our services at the bottom of our sliding scale for everyone regardless of income. Appointments are currently available evenings, weekends and two afternoons mid-week and generally need to be arranged two days or more in advance.

Remember that we all fall from time to time–sometimes we even get the rug pulled out from under us or get pushed down. But, as they say, you're only defeated if you don't get back up.

If you hang out on the internet enough you've surely seen the video of Nick Vujicic, a young man born without arms and legs who became a motivational speaker. In one of his videos he demonstrates how a man with no arms and legs gets up if he falls down and talks about everything he has learned to do with this handicap, bringing the audience to tears with his conviction that everybody is worth something and can do things with their life if they choose to! If you need a little inspiration to get started with your own personal resurrection take a look:



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WHERE TO FIND INFO ABOUT OUR SPIRITUAL COUNSELING AND HEALING PRACTICE

http://www.healingcommunication.com
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WHERE TO FIND MAMA LOVE

http://www.mamaloveproducts.com
http://www.mamalovehealing.etsy.com

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WHERE TO FIND OUR VIDEOS

http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam

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YOU CAN FIND OUR ARTWORK...
On our brand new Facebook Page... www.facebook.com/paulnsherylart
In our joint Etsy shop... http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulnSherylArt
In our new prints and poster Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FutureSoBright
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Beautiful Photographic Prints and Artwork by Sheryl Karas... http://sherylkaras.imagekind.com
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images... http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl*

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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. Our artwork also has a brand new page at www.facebook.com/paulnsherylart. Become a Fan and be sure to let other people know about us, too!

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