I thought she was a weed. I called her my little tree and didn’t pull her. She kept growing. And then a little flower peeked out.
She’s Ronni-size now. In the middle of the rock lawn, where I didn’t plant a thing, she emerged.
She moves towards the sun, and she is teaching me to be on the lookout for unexpected magic.
The Mulberry trees in my fairy yard are HUGE this summer and seem very happy. They need haircuts, though.
I can sit under the Mulberry tree and he feels like a big umbrella covering me.
I asked the tree for permission and made an essence from his leaf. The healing pattern of this tree is of strength and endurance. Gives you the feeling of dusting off your pants, standing up, and able to keep going when you feel discouraged and drained.
I invited Emma to come sit with me under the tree. She had to move from her cushy outdoor puppy bed. So spoiled.
Totally dig the Mulberry essence, and look forward to sitting under the tree’s leaves often this summer. It’s available in my Essence store here.
This is a story about how our animals are powerful mirrors for us and take on our stuff, but it is also a story about trust.
I often write about my dog girls and my other animal companions, Speedy the tortoise and Bun-Bun and Prosperity, the parakeets. I love my animal family but I do think that sometimes they are trying to prematurely gray me. I am sure that is not their intent, but rather they are desperately trying to teach me.
Sarah, my elderly beagle mix, has arthritis and some other aging concerns, but is doing amazingly well for a dog her age. Part of that is because she tends to push herself, just like her human mother, and ignores any physical limitations, insisting she is way younger than she is. She jumps up and down off the bed, which incidentally, her current veterinarian looked in amazement at me when I told her this. And sometimes, just like people, she moves or jumps wrong and the whole dog system goes out of whack. This is what happened the other morning.
When I saw her hunched over and limping, I did what most dog parents do, I panicked. Panicking is usually my first option for dogs in distress situations. I tried to tune in and hear her with animal communication and heard “twist, twist” and felt something is out of whack somewhere. I also clearly heard “arnica” for homeopathy but I didn’t have that in the house. Emma was witnessing all this and I heard her say that Sarah would be fine, reassuring me.
I didn’t trust any of this at the time because, after all, I was panicking. I grabbed for the computer. It would have the answers! In my search through doggy symptoms, I managed to increase my panic to a new level, and had clearly decided Sarah had the first signs of cancer, especially since I remembered and was now reliving when our beloved beagle-basset had passed from bone disease in 1998. Clearly, fear was pushing major buttons of loss, illness, and prior trauma. At this point, possibly to counteract my hysteria, Sarah was calm and relaxed and not limping, but sore. I could relax more, but my mind wasn’t cooperating. At dinner, in her excitement for food, she paced more, probably aggravating the injury or whatever was going on in her body when she began to limp again and this time began circling frantically. She does have a balance issue she lives with, so my fears said that her inner ear issue had gotten much, much worse. It wasn’t the back at all!
Thank goodness at this point, guidance swooped in suggesting to check in with my Facebook friends. I love my Facebook friends and my pals in one online group I belong to, so I posted about Sarah’s condition on the group’s page and on my timeline. A big thanks and a hug to my one student/colleague who came along and gave her immediate impressions. Miraculously, she heard the word “twist” and things pulled out of whack, too. She also kept hearing Arnica would be very good for the situation and she also felt the same areas I felt that hurt on Sarah, the back and right side. Confirmation later came again with a fellow animal communicator friend the next day. We were both clearly hearing Sarah, even down to the same words she or guidance was providing.
What was really interesting about Sarah’s back attack was that two days before I had sat too long at the computer in a disjointed way, so when I moved to get up, I pulled my right hip and lower back out. That really hurt and I was desperately trying to stretch out the imbalance by doing yoga moves on the floor and trying to walk it off. Luckily, I felt much better pretty quickly.
A day or two passed after Sarah’s back injury, and she was back to her normal jumping up and down off the bed, back straightened out. The situation brought out fears and past pains I probably needed to clear out. This time around, unlike in the past, support was immediately there and I am very grateful for that change. Following logic was my best defense and seeking out good support was my other. But most importantly, what really hit home as the big lesson was to trust what I get or hear, not listen to fear. Ironically, as a teacher, I am always reminding my students of this. “Trust your gut, your guidance and your animal,” I tell them. Fear will fog up what you know. I guess the teacher needed the lesson this time.
A little tip for the Sensitive today…I’ve spent most my morning organizing my messy files on the computer. I’ve got old lessons mixed in with new in their file folders, files not in the right folders and in strange places, and basically, a big visual mess. When I am super busy this is usually what happens. Last week was such a week for me and I can tell from just looking at my computer and at my living room. How did my hairbrush end up on my kitchen table?
With all this disorganization, it makes sense that I would feel totally unfocused and even ungrounded. So, I spent the morning rearranging my schedule to reestablish some needed order. I’ve been cursing a little looking at the sheer mess of it all and both my dog girls have exited the room about an hour ago. I am sure, though, once I am done, I will feel a lot more focused and calm. Are you in a similar situation? Need to get things more organized?
Back to work…
On Sundays I scout the web for creative inspiration to inspire me to, well, create more. Like most of my students, I like to learn with fun. I’m always on the lookout for other teachers that have creative teaching methods like myself and fell deeply in love with Sachiko Umoto’s Illustration School. The book even smells good.
I totally dig French General’s cute line of art journal things and collage-y kits. Check out their blog I find here.
Pink Notions from French General
I found this collection of ghost-hunting shows on one DVD (Ghost hunter Collection) in my local Alco store (it’s like a cheap version of Walmart). I was so surprised it was there, but very excited. I will let you know if it’s any good.
from Somerset Studio’s May 2012 issue from their magazine preview page; would be so cool to make your own rubber stamps in your journals
This is the last weekend to sign up for the Summer June Session of Fairy Online School. Did you reserve your space yet?
If you are thinking of a signing up for a mentorship, your start date can be arranged on a Fairy Online School Friday. Certificate program students are always taken. On Demand courses are available throughout the month for sign ups and always start on a Friday.
I was playing around with the concept of manifesting and asking for more. I decided to ask for a specific monetary amount to arrive in the next few days. When I realized I was asking too little, I blurted “$1000! I want a $1000 in the next few days.”
I received this in the mail.
Look closer…
Even more than I asked for!
Did I mention you need to be specific when you ask for things? Like, I could actually cash this check. The check was from a used car dealership supposedly I could use towards a down payment on a new car.
🙂
I grew up with the “compare and contrast” syndrome. It’s the equivalent of putting out a measuring tape and saying, “Hmmm, I”m a little short here. Might need to be longer here. How I am isn’t right.”
What I’ve learned…
In the work world, I cringe when I come up against this syndrome in its many guises. If I am having an off day, I will fall prey to it and wallow in insecurity, or I will want to jump in the game and compete. Until now.
I finally saw and recognized the syndrome and realized, Hey, this is stupid! Kinda like, the Emperor has no clothes! Can’t you see that?
The advertising world gets off on this syndrome. If I think this celebrity is fabulous, I will want to have her haircut, wear her fancy designer clothes. Or, I will feel inadequate in some way because I don’t look just like her and then I will want to buy her haircare products, join a gym and spend lots of money trying to improve and make me “better.”
When I’ve been exposed to this syndrome, it is the quickest route to depression for me and to be knocked off balance for days. Sure, there’s lots of intuitives out there, sensitive teachers, animal communicators, fairy people, whimsical artists, etc. and I could fall lost in the sea of sameness. I met one lady recently who does all that I do, supposedly— teach the same kind of classes, even creating cards…omg, I am not special anymore! I have to prove I’m different, more special, more something?! But that is such a false impression. Do dentists say, “Wow. What I do isn’t special and I shouldn’t do it anymore. There’s lots of people in town pulling teeth and fixing molars.” Healers, do you hear this?
There’s a new voice in my head now that says, “WTF? Do you hear yourself with this nonsense?” Yes, my head even curses a lot too.
You see, we are like little snowflakes. All different, and our own little patterns of light and shiny that’s a mix match of special in itself. (Does that mean we are all mutts? Yes, in a way.) I could teach the same animal communication class but I guarantee I have my own particular spin on it with of course, stories and humor, because that is how I roll. (There will also have to be some cute little drawings in there, naturally.) Another person may be really good at teaching the same class but in a very organized, left-brain way with lots of exercises. Who comes to my class, hopefully, matches my energy and my particular snowflake energy offering. They need exactly that combination I offer. I forget that in the “compare and contrast” moment.
Many times the perfect students for me will write that learning with fun is exactly what worked for them taking my classes. That will feel so good to hear–like two puzzle pieces coming together in that CLICK.
Where does this awful syndrome start? I think it was created from a general feeling of unacceptance of self and our limitations. Either we came in with that to learn acceptance, and we arranged this life before we came in and were high on crack in heaven so we landed into a family that looked at us like we had three horns on our heads and gave us the message continually, “why can’t you just have one horn like us?” Or, maybe, we had a great family but we ventured into the world and the world wanted us to be a whole different animal, so we tried to change. Whatever its origins, the key is to see it now, because we can change that shaming line of thinking. You were born the way you are because maybe the world needs someone with 3 horns!
I feel that empathic undercurrent many times in social networking. It’s like one huge family trying to compete for mom and dad’s attention. Hey, look at me! I can make you $1000 in 3 days! No, I can solve all your problems in one day! MY program is super super special. Look at my amazing spiritual quote of wisdom. Aren’t I smart? I’m like a god.
The antidote to all of this nonsense is simple in solution but may be a challenge to do. Be as authentic as you can possibly be and stay true to that. Just be you. Spend most of your energy finding that authentic you that’s been buried under tons of layers of other messed-up beliefs. And the best marketing technique is to create a good product that is true to your story, or do the best work you can. Know what you are really good at and what you love to do. Know your strengths and take advantage of them. Then let people know you exist who need what you offer. What you offer is more than enough. There. You now all owe me thousands of dollars for the Ronni Marketing Program. I do accept Paypal. 🙂
ps. if you continually find yourself offering your stuff in environments that you feel you need to jump up and down and prove your worth, it’s just the wrong puzzle piece for you. Don’t keep re-creating your childhood environment. Take your energy elsewhere. See Puzzle Piece post.
I’ve started book 2 in my Help! I’m Sensitive series and wouldn’t you know it, I’m learning the lessons and tools right away. Good thing to help others, a little uncomfortable for me. I’m still such a nerd about all of this–I get super-excited about seeing the book going into the local library, etc. I like seeing my name printed on the book. That’s really fun considering since I was six years old I wanted to illustrate and write books, so there’s this deep satisfaction in me. Perhaps I should be more guru-like or “professional”, but that’s not my style. I can probably, then, rule out traveling all over the world with my “I will help you stop being sensitive now in 30 days” seminar with the infomercial.
I just ordered a bunch to put into local stores. A little scary, but fun.
I like the idea of providing real world examples in my book and real tools to apply it. It’s frustrating to me at least, when I read about the problem I’m having in a book and I’m left sitting there with it with nowhere to go. Or, if I am offered “spiritual” tools and lessons that I can’t really apply into my life in a practical, everyday life sense. That one seems to really push my buttons.
Ronni's Psychic Room 