Saturday 19 October 2013

Dear Universe…

OK, it's been a long time between drinks but I'm slowly getting my blog back on.

Truth is, there's been so much going on in my daily life that my creative blog juices just haven't had time to make it from the blender into a glass.

However, this morning, it's a perfect Sydney Saturday and I can feel a new blend forming as I type.

The reason why I haven't been blogging is because I've been focusing on finding regular and satisfying work that allows me the time and headspace to write books and build my meditation group (The Love Circle) into a business.

You may remember from my blogs Beating Financial Cancer and It's Time To Shine how my finances have been down this year. I'd been holding out for work that made my heart sing and which yielded a regular income. I wasn't prepared to do work that didn't fill me with joy and as a result, my earnings were relatively low. Well, the great news is, I found a job that ticks both boxes!

About 3 months ago I got a call from Reader's Digest asking if I could fill in for someone who had to take unexpected leave. Lucky for me I was available. After a couple of months of filling in on a random basis, I am now doing ongoing freelance work for a magazine that I love. The people I'm working with are incredibly inspiring and lovely, there's not a fluorescent light in sight, and I find the content absolutely fascinating! Basically, I have scored a trifecta!

Had I not held out for a role that would fulfill all my requirements, I may not have been in a position to fill in for someone at such short notice, and therefore may have missed out on this opportunity altogether.

Of course, there are many ways to look at this. You could say that by throwing the dice you will eventually roll a double six. I could have found a happy and stimulating role without needing to put myself through the "turmoil" of holding out.

Whichever of the two trains of thought you hold, doesn't really matter. I feel absolutely certain that my sending a message to the Universe about the exact life I wanted to live has led to this incredible opening.

Which leads me to my next wish…

Love.

Yip, now that I have found a wholly satisfying 3-days-a-week work scenario where I get to experience regular work at a magazine I love, with people I admire and adore; I now have the luxury of at least 2 days a week that I can spend writing my books and working on other projects such as building my meditation practice and looking at starting to teach yoga.

But that's all work stuff and life isn't just about work. It's actually about love and happiness.

So here lies my next request, which I put to the Universe this morning. It went something like this:

Dear Universe,
Thank you so much for answering my prayers. I am so grateful for my wonderful life. Thank you for my amazing apartment, for the birds that wake me in the morning with their beautiful songs and for the incredible people I have in my life. I am blessed.
I would like to ask you to help me find someone to share this all with. (At this point, tears starting flowing…). 
Please can you help me to open my heart so that I can allow someone else in. I would really like to meet a soulmate; someone I can love.
Please help me to be open to finding someone to begin a new and loving relationship with. To give love and to receive love.
Thank you.
PS I would really like a dog too.

That last line even made me laugh as I said it, but it's the truth, and as you know, I intend to hold nothing back in these blogs.

And so there it is. I am ready to find love. My "light is on" as they say.

The fact that it's taken me 42 years to find the "on" switch doesn't matter. Yes, I've been in love before, but back then, I didn't love myself, so whether that was ever true love or not I don't know. It was what is was and that's totally OK.

However, I am now in the incredible position of loving myself wholly and completely. I can only guess that self-love will allow me to give love in an entirely different way. My cup is now full and constantly overflowing, as opposed to occasionally percolating and then being drained. I can honestly say there were many times when I was so busy scrambling around looking for paper filters that anyone wanting a drink was going to have a long wait.

But now I have all the ingredients laid out, chopped and ready to go, and I've gotten rid of the percolator, replacing it with a shiny new blender. The blender is constantly whizzing and whirring, serving up deliciously healthy and satisfying cups of love. Every day.

For the past 12 months or more I've been drinking it on a daily basis and sharing it with friends. But now I'm ready to open shop and find a brand new customer: namely a loving man who likes to try new things. A guy who is ready to meet his soulmate, to give and receive love like he's never known before. A man who is open to sharing his journey with me and who can give me a look that says "I love you" without having to say a word.

Yes, Love In A Cup is now open for business. I'm taking the idea out into the world. Our brand values are Love. Our mission statement is Love. Our vision statement is also Love. It's a simplistic plan and I really hope it will work. I have the backing of the Universe who is on board as an angel investor.

It's a great position to be in and if previous experience is anything to go by, I just hope in my heart I can roll another double six…


PS It would be really great if he likes dogs too.

: )


Thursday 3 October 2013

A Fishy Tale

Well, it's been precisely 3 months since I last wrote a blog and it's been exactly the same length of time since Jacqueline Harrison and I added anything to our book Stress Free Business.

As it's been a while, I'll give you a brief recap:


1. Jacqueline Harrison came to me with a book idea and we spoke about me editing her book.
2. I started writing a blog (this blog!) about the processes in her book.
3. I approached Jacqueline about co-authoring the book.
4. Jacqueline agreed, the book took on a new life, changed its name and we began working together.
5. After about 3 months, life took us both in different directions for a while and it became 3 months before we had a chance to reconnect.
6. Today we had our first book meeting in 3 months.

Basically, the past 3 months has been a whirlwind. Fast forward to now and I can honestly say I am thrilled to be back on the book project albeit with a brand new motive.

The initial motive was to become a millionaire blogger.

Great, still loving that idea, but if I am to be completely honest, I also now have a far deeper intention for writing this blog (and the book), which may have always been there but was overshadowed by the millionaire price tag.

Wanna know what that new intention is?

Because. I. Want. To.

I know, sounds like a dumbed down version of life doesn't it. A bit like the sequel to Jaws. You already know someone's going to be eaten by the shark so what's the point in watching? The element of surprise has gone.

Will I become a millionaire or not was the whole point. The million bucks was the great white shark and it was lurking in the depths of the ocean somewhere. It was up to me to outsmart it and try to catch it before it came and bit me on the behind or swam away never to be seen again.

Trouble is, I've now gone and written the aquatic monster (i.e the lead character) out of the script which means I'm left with a plot that reads something like this…

1. Girl goes to beach at night and decides to go for a swim
2. People go to beach during the day and have a great time
3. Three men go on a fishing trip and catch nothing

Hmm.

If I was pitching that one to Steven Spielberg I doubt I'd get a bite (pun intended). Not much of a plot really. Unless I was to angle it slightly differently…

1. Girl wants to be a millionaire
2. Girl decides to do that through catching a great white (writing a book and a blog)
3. Girl realises she doesn't need to catch a great white to be rich
4. Girl decides she wants to write the book and blog anyway because it's so much fun and to heck with the shark!

And there it is. A very short blog to simply reintroduce myself back into the blogosphere and to ring the bell and announce that it's time to put my swimmers back on and get back in the water.


PS… [read: Spoiler Alert]
The shark still exists only now it's wearing the equivalent of frilly pyjamas and a pair of ugg boots (specially made fin-shaped ones). Steven Spielberg is still on the watch list and if my estimation is right, just like Jaws there will definitely be more than one sequel to this story.

PPS… Actually, you'd best keep your wits about you, because the scariest thing about any shark tale is the very moment after you've been lulled into a false sense of security and think that it's dead.

[cue the music…]