Hello Everyone,
Biggest news this month? Sheryl’s new Mama Love website is done! It’s been quite a long time in the making — she had to learn a new website creation program to do it— but it’s done!
Come check it out!
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There Are No Wrong Turns, Just Unexpected Paths
“Ha!” Paul said when I showed him one his photos with this quote applied. “I can think of a wrong turn a person could make,” he said. "How about using meth? This is s a meme, a quote taken out of context. Obviously, some 'unexpected paths' are worse than others. If you want to call them 'wrong turns,' be my guest!"
But on the occasion of finally getting my website up to date, I have an admission to make. This was an undertaking with twists and turns I never would have anticipated.
For example, I never expected that the software I used to create the original version of my website (iWeb) would be dropped by Apple and left unsupported. I never expected that that old software would convert most of my text to graphics so my website became practically impossible to find on the web. And I never expected how many choices I would encounter when it came to creating another.
I actually spent an entire semester taking a class in Dreamweaver which taught me most of all how much I didn’t want to use that program! Then I taught myself Adobe Muse but, as it turns out, that program assumes an understanding of how websites are best created that I actually needed that Dreamweaver web design class for! Not the Dreamweaver part but the web design processes that were taught with it.
So was the class a wrong turn? No, just an unexpected path.
Many of our clients in the wake of the Great Recession have wanted a direct road map to their next destination. And, let’s be honest, I’d like that at times myself! But it’s not always healthy to know the outcome of a particular path before you go ahead. Why? There are life lessons that require patience and long-term commitment. And the danger is that you wouldn’t do what has to be done if you knew what was on the road ahead. And what if you were to find out that the end result would not match your expectations and desires — or that you wouldn’t achieve the type of success you intended at all?
These days most of us no longer want to hear about “The Secret.” We know that success is not just about intention alone. Because we don’t live — can’t afford to live — in isolation. And if you don’t have the heart for doing what it takes to succeed in a particular profession — given the time and place and society we live in — no amount of intending will healthfully get you there.
But the journey is worth taking. If you do set appropriate intentions and take on the tasks step by step by step by step, you’ll learn what can and cannot be done, make adjustments, maybe turn in another direction entirely that you would not have had access to without the previous choices. Whether the path leads to the success you intended becomes secondary to the ability to succeed at creating something that actually works.
Many years ago I wrote a book about the pagan origin, folklore and history of the Christmas Tree. I thought it would be a great success because so many millions of people put up a Christmas Tree each year, how could they not be interested? It turns out that enough people were interested to make
THE SOLSTICE EVERGREEN a “bestseller” for the very tiny publishing company that published it. It also made me an “authority” who has been contacted for mini-interviews about the Tree almost every year since. But it was not a financial success by any stretch of the imagination for me.
Instead it led to something far more important—the dream job I most wanted at that time (and still the most interesting regular job I’ve ever had). Because I both wrote and designed the book, created the illustrations and cover art, it helped a local book publishing company take me seriously when I applied for a position as a graphic designer. I designed and created art and illustrations for dozens of books for them, was eventually promoted to Art Director, and went on to write and publish three more books of my own.
So the announcement I have to make today is that my website is newly redone and ready to show off! Hooray! And what is that going to wind up meaning for my life and all of you? Who knows! But now I can add a new product line or two that I’ve been thinking about (herb teas, for instance), see what will work, and where it will go.
Come visit my website:
www.mamaloveproducts.com
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Want Support on Your Creative Journey?
Book a spiritual counseling and healing session…
http://www.healingcommunication.com
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Where To Find Our Artwork
In our joint Etsy shop...
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulnSherylArt
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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Where To Find Our Videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
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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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