Gaian Tarot Artist's Journal

Right Livelihood or Soul Work Secrets? questions for you . . .

Dear Readers,

I know I'm not the only person out there who wants to make an abundant living doing the work they love. Most of you know that my life changed pretty dramatically this past year, as I made the change from doing my "heart & soul work" part-time to doing it full-time. I have a fabulous coach in Elizabeth Genco Purvis, and I've studied marketing and business techniques from other teachers as well.

I believe that each of us has a unique gift to share with the world. I know from first-hand experience how frustrating it can be to not have enough time or energy to put into your soul work because you're too busy making a living at a "real" job.  (Of course there's many of us who love our "real" jobs.  I'm just talking to the folks who'd like to try their hand at being a "spirit-rich entrepreneur," as Elizabeth says.)

So I'm in the midst of creating an e-course on "Right Livelihood" for those of you who either have a dream about pursuing your soul-work as a business, or who are already doing it part-time and want to take it full-time. 

If this is something you're interested in, I'd love it if you could help me create the curriculum for this course by answering a few questions in the comments section.

• Do you need help clarifying the vision for your soul-centered business?
• Are you clear about the kind of work you are called to do, but don't know how to start getting your business off the ground?
• What do you see as the biggest obstacle(s) to moving into your soul work full-time?
• What is the biggest challenge you have in taking your business to the next level?
• What do you most need help with?
• Do you like the name "Right Livelihood" for the course? How about "Soul Work Secrets"? Any other ideas?

Thank you! I appreciate your help so much.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Flowers by the Bay

Ocean Devotion (or, What is it about Mermaids?)

 (This article was first published in SageWoman, Fall 2002)

When I was 18 my boyfriend died, and the place I went for solace was the sea.  

Every day after classes ended I drove to my favorite beach, a rocky marine preserve in a small cove that was not well-known and therefore never crowded. I would sit there for hours facing west, watching the waves flow in and recede, listening to the sounds of shells and rocks tumbling onto the shore. It was there I first learned the mysteries of life and death and renewal, in my body and in my soul:  there is no death, only change and transformation, the ebb and the flow. Love does not end with death, for he was dead and yet I still loved him.

That was thirty years ago and I am no longer a maiden seeking to discover why people die. I am approaching my crone years, and I have long since made my peace with Lady Death. Yet I still go to the sea for solace, for refreshment and for renewal.

At 18, I didn’t know much about the mythic resonances of the sea. I didn’t know that liminal places, where land meets water, are known as places where one can slip in through the cracks between the worlds. I didn’t know that, for eons, people have thought of the sea as the Great Mother, and that the West was often envisioned as the Otherworld, the place we return to when we die. I didn’t know that, in the myths of many cultures, a sea voyage often enacts the passing into that other world, the testing of the soul, and the passage beyond death. And yet these are the mythic themes that I experienced, sitting there by the sea watching the tide roll in and back out again.

In later years I came to know the many faces of the Goddess, and found myself fascinated by sea goddesses and mermaids, along with many of my sisters. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ An Island Breakfast

 

Wordless Wednesday: Garden Guardian

 

Yummy Links

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Image above found here.

Today in my jaunt around the blogosphere, I'm loving these posts:

From Hecate on restarting a daily practice:  "Even Though You Have Broken Your Vows a Thousand Times."

That is so me!  I have started and stopped and restarted my daily practice hundreds, if not a thousand, times. 

From Mark Silver guestposting on Copyblogger: "Is Spiritual Business a Contradiction in Terms?"

Oh yeah.  Lots of food for thought there (I so agree with Mark) and lots of controversial comments. (Why do so many people seem to want "spiritual" people to be poor? Talkin' 'bout some of the commenters here.)

From Cari Ferraro, calligrapher extraordinaire, on her weeklong Calligraphy Master Class:

I love this post not only because I adore peeking into the art studios and processes of other artists, but also because of the archetype of the juicy crone in Cari's mentor, Sheila.

Yes, my interests are diverse!  Yet there's a common theme of Presence, methinks . . .

A Perfect Day for Paddling

 Finally, the hot weather arrived!  We left the house early, before our work day began, and headed for Lake Whatcom, about five minutes away.  What a beautiful morning.  Lots of swallows doing acrobatics over the edges of the lake.  

Wordless Wednesday ~ Beach Stone

Are You Happy?

Ran across this flowchart/poster on several blogs today.  Love it!  It was designed by Alex Koplin and David Meiklejohn.  (Please note:  I believe that the person who is happy and at peace with herself has the best shot at making positive change in the world.)

Joanna Macy on the Great Turning

She speaks my truth.  Thank you Hecate, for pointing this video out. 

Eco-philospher Joanna Macy from "The Work That Reconnects", talking about the concept of a Great Turning.

For more info visit http://www.joannamacy.net/
Video by Leo Daedalus (c) 2005 Joanna Macy

Interested in learning more about The Great Turning?
See clips from the new movie at http://www.thegreatturningfilm.org/