June Newsletter for Mama Love and Healing Communication News

© Copyright 2018 by Sheryl Karas

Happy Father’s Day Everybody,

I just realized that I forgot to send a newsletter out at the beginning of the month. Paul and I have been SO busy—we’re caregiving for BOTH his parents now. I used to work for the Alzheimer’s Association and for a Family Caregiver Resource Center so I know a lot about caregiving issues from the perspective of a professional. But taking it on yourself — for two people living in separate houses — required a pretty steep learning curve nonetheless! (And we’re just getting started!)

Of course, that made me think a bit about whether flower essences could be of help. Not for Paul and me (we already KNOW they help there) but for people with early stage memory loss and confusion. I need to be clear that I’m not talking about a cure from a medical standpoint (and perhaps not a “cure” at all). Flower essences address emotional and mental patterns. But there are such SIGNIFICANT correlations of emotional distress to the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease—loneliness, grief and depression stemming from BEFORE symptoms start to appear—that it’s practically criminal that more scientific research hasn’t been going to that issue. On the other hand, there’s no harm in people working on addressing those factors on our own, and flower essences are a tool I have found quite effective. You’ll find an article about what essences I might recommend below.

I’ve also been living more of an artist’s life recently. I had a piece accepted into a juried show in a MUSEUM!!!! Yes, I am excited! It’s a show called “Persistence” and it features all women artists from Northern California. It’s at MONCA (the Museum of Northern California Art) in Chico, CA and runs through mid-July. It’s a wonderful show — be sure to see it if you happen to be in the area! And that made me think about flower essences for the artist path. So I wrote about that on my blog (see below) as well.

Flower Essences for Memory Loss and Confusion
Addressing the emotional concerns that are often a factor in the development of these symptoms, especially late in life.

Flower Essences for the Artist Path
Addressing emotional concerns that affect artists, writers, performers, etc. in particular.

Bye for now,
Sheryl (and Paul)

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Mama Love Flower Essence Aromatherapy
All newsletter subscribers get a 10% discount in my Etsy shop -- sign up at the upper right.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MamaLoveOrganics

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Spiritual Counseling and Healing Sessions
In-person or video (Skype) sessions are available Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and evenings most days of the week. Appointments must be confirmed at least 48 hours ahead.
http://healingcommunication.com/How_to_Make_an_Appointment_with_Spiritual_Counselors_and_Healers_Sheryl_Karas_and_Paul_Hood.html

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Where to Find Our Artwork
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Art Prints on canvas, etc. by Sheryl Karas… https://www.etsy.com/shop/SherylKarasArt
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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Join Mama Love on Facebook or Twitter

I’m posting links to articles about flower essences, herbs and aromatherapy pretty regularly now.
Mama Love on Facebook: Be sure to sign up for notifications so you actually see the posts!  http://www.facebook.com/MamaLoveProducts. Mama Love on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MamaLoveOrganic

July 2017 Healing Communication / Mama Love News

Hello Everyone!

Hope you’re enjoying a healthy and positive Independence Day weekend! I had a life-changing set of experiences this last month that started with gaining independence from a limited mindset so I thought I’d share that story with you! Hope it helps you take heart with whatever you might be wanting to create for yourself.
Sheryl (and Paul)

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USING MANIFESTATION TOOLS WHEN YOU'VE BECOME DISCOURAGED

Author Marc Allen is on my Facebook friends list. You may or may not know his name but you certainly know his work. He and his good friend Shakti Gawain started the New World Library book publishing company and have written many many books on spirituality, manifestation and creative visualization. What he shares on Facebook is pretty much the same and, honestly, I had not been paying much attention to it —my attention online is typically obsessed with politics and attempting to distract myself from it. But a few weeks ago something he shared caught my attention and hit me hard!

He said that when you do affirmations — (which I had stopped doing) — to try adding the phrase “in a relaxed and easy fashion” to contradict any conscious or unconscious belief that what you want to have happen will be difficult. He said this was ESPECIALLY important when 1) society wants you to believe it is difficult (my examples: making a living as an artist, affordable healthcare for all) or 2) when your own life experience (losses, defeats) has reinforced your less than positive beliefs or changed your beliefs for the worse over time.

At that point I had been looking for day job work with great frustration for quite a while (we don’t make ALL our income from spiritual counseling and flower essence aromatherapy). My biggest requirement originally was that it be work I would love. That used to mean “in the arts.” And I actually DID make my living as an artist at one time. I had a dream job working as a book designer at a book publishing company called Crossing Press, where I got paid to do art for book covers and interior illustrations among other things. But the book publishing industry changed, the world changed, and perhaps too quickly I started to believe that making my living in this fashion would be stressful and hard. I had many other interests—spirituality, counseling, alternative healing—and made the deliberate (and wonderful) choice to focus on those interests instead. 

But the world has changed even more since I went in that direction. Agencies I used to work for had their funding cut by 80%, a year after Paul and I teamed up was the Great Recession crash, we moved multiple times, and finally wound up in Chico, CA because his father needed caregiving assistance after a medical emergency and we were there. While we still are devoted to spirituality, counseling, alternative health, and the arts, we went through some pretty hard times and the idea of making our livings 100% through this work came crashing down. 

And then I found out what getting a day job would be like in Chico. My “requirement” eventually shifted from “work I’d love” to “work I’d like” to “work I wouldn’t mind doing as long as my boss and co-workers are great to work with.” I also sort of hoped that the environment would be uplifting and beautiful but I was even starting to despair of finding that. After a lifetime of never having much trouble finding work I loved, I was thinking that finding work I could feel ok about ever again, at least in Chico, was hard.

So I took Marc Allen’s advice to heart. I wrote out my ideal scenario for my life within 5 years, started doing affirmations again and added the phrase “in a relaxed and easy fashion.” I reminded myself that I have manifested pretty much exactly what I’ve wanted in the past and it came easily — sometimes without ANY effort—many times. And finally I sent Reiki to my healing in this area. 

Within 24 hours everything changed! After a year of very few interviews and no job offers I had one. And two weeks later I was offered another. Two weeks after that I had two more interviews and another job offer, and this coming week I start my third new job in a month (each one better than the last), and this opportunity is IN THE ARTS! I’ll be working in the most successful art gallery in town, with people I have a pretty great impression of and beautiful work all around. And I’ve already felt inspired to draw and paint more pieces of my own.

Art as a day job. (Or perhaps a career?) Again. What I actually really wanted. Who’d a thunk it?

(If you’re curious about the art I do, I started a portfolio blog at 
https://sherylkaras.blogspot.com/ )

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HOW MAMA LOVE CAN HELP YOU MANIFEST WHAT YOU WANT


This could be a whole article in itself! But because I’ve already written enough, I’ll point you in the direction of two products I created specifically for that purpose and two for helping you with the feelings that might try to trip you up when you act on creating what you want.

• Abundant Prosperity oil  or spray 
• Manifesting Life Purpose oil or spray 
• Renewed Faith And Optimism oil or spray 
• Doing New Things With Confidence oil or spray 

Right now the best place to find the largest selection of Mama Love products is Etsy. Come check it out, if you haven’t already. Newsletter subscribers receive a coupon code for a 10% discount off anything in my shop (including specials and already discounted items). (Find the newsletter subscribe link at the right near the top of this blog.)

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Spiritual Counseling and Healing Sessions
My schedule is changing but Paul’s is the same. You can work with me or with us both most evenings. You can work with Paul alone afternoons and evenings most days, including weekends. Making appointments at least 48 hours in advance is HIGHLY recommended! http://healingcommunication.com/How_to_Make_an_Appointment_with_Spiritual_Counselors_and_Healers_Sheryl_Karas_and_Paul_Hood.html

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Where to Find Our ArtworkBeautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/Beautiful Photographic Prints and Artwork by Sheryl Karas… On Fine Art America  http://sheryl-karas.pixels.com/ or on Society 6 https://society6.com/skarasArt notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images... http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl*

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Where to Find Our Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam

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Join Mama Love on Facebook or TwitterI’m posting links to articles about flower essences, herbs and aromatherapy pretty regularly now.
Mama Love on Facebook: Be sure to sign up for notifications so you actually see the posts!  http://www.facebook.com/MamaLoveProducts. Mama Love on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MamaLoveOrganic

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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! 

May 2017 Healing Communication and Mama Love News

"A Willful Act of Resistance", © 2017 Sheryl Karas

Hello Everybody!

Hope you are having a good Spring. I did a new painting in celebration. I call it “A Willful Act of Resistance” because an art teacher who meant well insisted that a real artist wouldn’t “waste their time” painting vases of flowers. . . so that, of course, is what I did. I also think that when times feel hard or scary (as they do for many of us these days), deliberately choosing to focus on what we love or want to create is also a willful act of resistance. It made me feel SO much better. I highly recommend a similar practice for all of you: what do you love? What do you want to create? It’s probably more important than ever now. I already have a buyer for the original painting but prints are available here: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/a-vase-of-flowers-can-be-a-willful-act-of-resistance-sheryl-karas.html

Sheryl (and Paul says hi!)

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New by Popular Request!

I have had several requests for a formula for “Healing a Broken Heart”.  I’ve always used my “Support for Troubled Times” formulas for that. They both contain Star of Bethlehem which is great for handling the shock and trauma. But “Troubled Times” is just not specific enough for addressing the longing for a relationship no longer in your life or for accepting what has happened so you can put it behind you. This new formula could also be used when forced to leave a long time home, business, or dearly wished for dream behind.

The flower essences include Bleeding Heart, Walnut and Star of Bethlehem and a wonderful smelling blend of Lavender, Neroli, Ylang Ylang, and Helichrysum for helping to soothe and balance intense emotions.

It comes in multiple forms: oil, spray, unscented flower essence-only spray, and flower essence only dropper bottles. Just added to my Etsy shop this month. Here are the links:

Dram oil: https://www.etsy.com/listing/525269391/grief-flower-essence-aromatherapy-for

1 or 2 oz oil: https://www.etsy.com/listing/525270841/grief-flower-essence-aromatherapy-oil

1 or 2 oz spray: https://www.etsy.com/listing/525448281/flower-essence-aromatherapy-for-grief

Flower Essence Only Dropper or Sprays: https://www.etsy.com/listing/488315737/flower-essence-for-grief-loss-broken

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Spiritual Counseling and Healing Sessions

Afternoons and Evenings (Pacific Standard Time), weekdays and weekends. Making appointments at least 48 hours in advance is highly recommended! 

http://healingcommunication.com/How_to_Make_an_Appointment_with_Spiritual_Counselors_and_Healers_Sheryl_Karas_and_Paul_Hood.html

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Mama Love

Right now the best place to find the largest selection of Mama Love products is Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MamaLoveOrganics

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Where to Find Our Artwork

Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Beautiful Photographic Prints and Artwork by Sheryl Karas… On Fine Art America  http://sheryl-karas.pixels.com/ or on Society 6 https://society6.com/skaras

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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Join Mama Love on Facebook or Twitter

I’m posting links to articles about flower essences, herbs and aromatherapy pretty regularly now.

Mama Love on Facebook: Be sure to sign up for notifications so you actually see the posts!  http://www.facebook.com/MamaLoveProducts. 

Mama Love on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MamaLoveOrganic

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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! 

Healing Communication and Mama Love News

Call of the Heyoka, © 2014 Sheryl Karas

Happy May!

This has been a very busy time period for Sheryl in regards to art. She’s participating in four shows in Chico at once right now, three of them juried, one an internationally juried show. And she’s even sold two pieces. Pretty fun and exciting! That means our minds haven’t been on promoting our businesses as much. . . but you didn’t want so much email in your inbox, did you?

Interestingly, the two pieces that sold were visual expressions of spiritual ideas so the newsletter this month is about one of those: the Heyoka or sacred clown, (see photo above).

Call of the Heyoka

The Heyoka play a special role for the Lakota tribe, one of the native tribes of the Great Plains in the United States. In Sheryl’s painting a couple (I guess you could say that personally represents the two of us), rides a horse backwards over mountains in the sky. The Heyoka ride horses backwards or behave in other backwards ways to satirize social conventions and make people think about what they are doing. They joke around but also have a serious role to play. They ask difficult questions or say things other people are afraid to say. Their work is healing—they make people laugh during hard times—but they also make people think. “Is this the way I mean to be going? (Is my horse going in the right direction?) Should I really be believing my fear or shame based beliefs? Are the rules I’ve been living by healthy ones? Is it time to re-examine the way I’ve been doing or thinking about things?”

Big questions!

The Heyoka is also sometimes thought to have something in common with The Fool or Jester in the Tarot. The Fool is so busy looking skyward to Heaven that he is dangerously close to walking off the edge of a cliff. Luckily, he is protected by a faithful little dog who nips at his heels and warns him to get out of harm’s way. In Sheryl’s painting the dog is represented in some respects by a safety net. Some might argue that such a net could get in the way of flying—and to some extent it does. But, as many of our clients know, we don’t advocate ungrounded spiritual practice. We’re too intellectual and practical for that! The Fool, however, is a positive card most of the time. It doesn’t mean you are being foolish. It means the time is right to go on an adventure, to try something different, do something new. But make sure you pay attention to where you are going while you attempt to get there!

By the way, Sheryl's original painting above has already sold but prints are available in our Etsy shop.

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Spiritual Counseling and Healing with Paul and Sheryl

It currently costs the same to work with one or both of us ($100/hour). Time to set up a session?

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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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 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!

August Healing Communication / Mama Love News

Big Pink Trees © 2012 Sheryl Karas & Paul Hood

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're enjoying your summer. Lately we've been exploring the importance of checking one's assumptions. Sometimes the biggest thing holding a person back are their beliefs, especially beliefs held as truth for so long it seems there is no reason to question them. But over and over again we have been learning the importance of at least checking out our assumptions, to jiggle the boundaries and try something new. Our article this month is written by Paul.

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ASSUMPTIONS BLOWN

Lately I’ve been having some long term assumptions challenged. A simple one was something I learned in photography: “Never shoot a portrait with a wide angle lens, especially at close range.” In general it’s true. More often than not a wide angle lens at close range is going to distort in such a way that isn’t flattering. In fact, the results can be downright disastrous-- think of a fun-house mirror and you’ll get the idea.  But then the other day a photographer friend of mine, Hil Muller of Springbok Design, took just such a shot, very wide angle, very close, and it looked fantastic. I complimented him on the shot and guessed pretty close to the technical details. I made a mental note of it, noticing just how important it was to loosen up a little on things I considered to be hard and fast “rules.” Just today I was informed that the same photo made the cover of a magazine. Assumption blown.

A couple of days ago Sheryl tried for about the fifteenth time to make a palatable beverage combining a coffee drink with a black tea drink. I just shook my head. I had tried some of her previous attempts. I made faces when she ordered a half chai, half decaf coffee drink from the barista. I told her I wasn’t even going to taste it, but I did. I held my breath and took a sip; not bad! I wish I could tell you whether it was actually good but I held back my senses so much, expecting something awful, that I missed the taste of something good. Sheryl drank the whole thing and enjoyed it fully. I would have given up the experiment years ago but Sheryl just kept going until she got it right.

Also, today I took some “me” time and relaxed with the headphones on listening to music and drifting in and out of sleep. As I phased back into full consciousness an interview of John Irving, the novelist, came on. ( City Arts and Lectures ) John Irving may not be my favorite author but I did enjoy reading “The World According to Garp” as a teenager, and later “The Hotel New Hampshire.” Years later I’d take a lot of writing classes and even take a minor in creative writing. I learned a lot in those classes but I never heard anything like Irving’s particular method: he writes the last sentence of the novel first. Literally the last sentence, then be backfills the entire novel from there. Also, he’s almost entirely “plot driven” in his technique: it’s all about the story, with the characters essentially doing as they’re told to fill in the story. This is approximately the opposite of what I learned. In fact the moment I found myself making a breakthrough in writing was the day that I broke away entirely from that technique. I found it contrived and it made the characters come off as unreal, the story forced. “Character driven” stories became my thing and I never looked back. This is not to tout one technique above the other, but to say that John Irving has made a highly successful and decades long career doing exactly what I would not do. John Irving says he can’t stand the idea of his characters driving the story. I sometimes think about that; whether we drive our own stories or if it’s our stories driving us.

Months ago we attended an art opening by a young college student. She’d done several very large paintings of a female figure completely draped under what looked like a sheet. They were very skillfully done, very meticulously painted using some techniques of the old masters but with one huge difference: she paints the way that an inkjet printer prints:—top to bottom, one inch at a time. I can’t even imagine producing a painting the way one would knit a sweater. It’s incomprehensible to me, but it works for her. Last we heard she had sold out the show and is getting on with her education and career. There is no one right way of doing anything. I think. But you know, somebody out there is going to challenge that assumption.

Speaking of paintings, Sheryl started one a while back, and somehow pushed past her boundaries doing several techniques and using a color palette that she normally never would (think big pink trees!). I stood back and could see the whole thing starting to go wrong. The results weren’t so bad but her demeanor was shifting and her technique was becoming more frenzied, almost desperate. Shortly thereafter she announced that she hated the piece and she’d be painting over the whole thing with white gesso. Completely out of character for me I asked her if she’d mind if I took up the unfinished piece. After all, it was about to be obliterated so what did we have to lose? Some remarkable things happened after that. Bear in mind that I’m not much of a collaborator on creative projects, but I took this on and felt much freer than I did when I worked on a solo piece. I couldn’t take responsibility for the whole painting no matter what, so I was at ease while I worked. Even more remarkably, Sheryl got re-motivated to work on the painting. We decided to take turns working on it, back and forth until it was done. We ran into small difficulties and disagreements but we always worked it out and then one day it was done, we both signed it and we're on our way again: likely painting our own paintings solo but also better for the experience.

--- Paul Hood, August 2012

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HOW MIGHT YOUR OLD STORIES BE DRIVING YOU? COULD YOU USE SOME HELP IN LOOKING AT YOUR ASSUMPTIONS?

Spiritual Counseling sessions with one or both of us can be set up by clicking here: http://www.healingcommunication.com/How_to_Make_an_Appointment_with_Spiritual_Counselors_and_Healers_Sheryl_Karas_and_Paul_Hood.html
We work in-person (in Chico, CA) or by telephone or video via Skype anywhere in the world.

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NEWS FROM MAMA LOVE

From Sheryl: One of my assumptions is that I should keep my Mama Love news focussed on retail customers and not mention my wholesale prices in this newsletter at all. But most of our clients are therapists, acupuncturists, nurses, massage therapists and other alternative practitioners who would surely benefit from selling Mama Love through their practice, small business owners and mini-online entrepreneurs, and lots of people who make part of their living -- or should make part of their living -- selling products like these. Does that describe you or someone you know? Check out the Wholesale section of my Mama Love site: http://www.healingcommunication.com/mamaloveproducts/Wholesale.html.

Can't afford to buy so many at once? Discounted gift sets and mini bulk discounts (4 or more, including discounts for buying Mama Love "naked" without packaging) are always available:  http://www.healingcommunication.com/mamaloveproducts/Products.html

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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...

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*
On our brand new Facebook Page... www.facebook.com/paulnsherylart

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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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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 Newsletter 2012

© Copyright 2012 Sheryl Karas

Hello Everybody!

LIFE LESSONS ON THE PATH OF AN ARTIST / SPIRITUAL COUNSELOR AND HEALER

I’ve been diving into the world of paint after many years of doing photography and digital art alone. It’s been a long courageous journey actually, a long winding road starting in childhood. I’ve always wanted to make my living doing art and actually did have a career as a graphic designer and book cover art creator for 25 years before making the choice to switch to spiritual counseling to provide a much needed balance to the artistic life. But the choice to paint has only been briefly touched before. And, as I said on a recent Facebook thread, I never expected it to be such a personal growth experience.

“It SO is!” several fellow artists chimed in. Every choice is, really. Every time we begin something new little chimes go off in our psyches. It can be nice chimes: “Finally, I’m doing what I always wanted to!” Followed in close succession with all the inner criticisms and hopes and fears familiar to our family patterns. Or, perhaps, if we’re open to it -- lessons learned and discoveries made. I’d like to share one or two of that variety right now.

My favorite life lesson -- it must be a favorite because I seem to need to revisit it over and over -- is letting go of the need for perfection and complete control. Good graphic designers get in the habit of controlling every detail of what they do. Computer programs are so good at this kind of thing. Don’t like a color? Change it in an instant! Move something a few inches to the right? No problem. No, no, that’s not right--move it back! No problem again.

Unfortunately, there is no Command Z on a paintbrush, just the tedious prospect of painting over what you did and trying again. That’s not so much fun so it would seem easiest just to keep things simple, keep the choices safe and barely be challenged at all. But something in my soul had other plans.

First I bought the largest canvas I’ve ever painted on -- 30” x 40”. Then I decided to collage a texture on part of it with torn rice paper and use heavy impasto texture gel with a palette knife to get even more dramatic effects--none of which I had ever used before and wasn’t sure I liked once I got started. Then, to top it all off I decided to create a rather garish underpainting in bright pink, yellow and baby blue. Keep in mind this is a forest scene and you’ll understand why the choices made me freak out. The inner perfectionist could not win! At least not easily, especially when it was thwarted at every turn by some inner imp who kept wanting to try something new.

At one point I was attempting to very slowly, carefully and precisely add bright pink textured gel with a palette knife to a thin tree trunk and discovered that, at my level of experience, it simply could not be done. So I let go of precision and started to more freely slap it on and the result was kind of cool. More random, less precisely controlled, allowing for possibility and I ended up with something that more closely approximated the effect I wanted all along. Only better because more than a little serendipity made its way in. Huh, let go, let God? (What a concept.)

But does letting go of control mean letting go of being in charge altogether? That’s the next lesson I’m in the process of learning. Once I got over the shock of it I found myself enjoying the bright yellow, pink and blue from a modern art point of view. Kind of David Hockney-like, if you’re familiar with his work, especially his paintings of trees. But while I like these color choices from an inner child point of view (the imp who took over, I presume) ... I know I won’t be able to put this piece out with pride if I settle for this beginning as an endpoint and let the painting be in charge instead of me. The adult me keeps feeling hamstrung by the colors even though I know they were originally only meant to be an underpainting. I just wanted to paint over the whole thing and start over. But then Paul reminded me that, since I was on the verge of painting over everything anyway, I could use the opportunity to really loosen up and try anything first. Just get wild and creative while taming the colors down. See if I can salvage the thing by not giving up too soon, knowing that if I can’t get to the point of succeeding I haven’t lost anything but a few afternoons and some tubes of paint.

So that’s the next step. To let go, allow for possibility while continuing to choose the general direction in which I intend to head (or be led).

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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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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!

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!

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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