Joy in the Midst of Sweat and Trees and Irises

Close your eyes and visualize "joy." 

Did you think about vacations or chore-free, work-free time?  X-rated subject matter?  

Most of us do.  After all, if you have too much work and chores and responsibility, you DO need respite from it.  You can - and I and my clients do - carve out time in the day to meditate, exercise, Reiki, pray - whatever your daily practice of Self-Care includes.


Of course, there is another road, one that we rarely choose.  So let's take a stroll down the Road Less Traveled By and see - it might make all the difference....

My husband took a week of "vacation" time and has been at my healing center in Ashland Oregon, getting megadoses of healing work, enjoying time for art  - and spending 4-5 hours/day in heavy landscape improvement (planting trees and bulbs) and repair.

I was out there with him, of course, mowing lawn, collecting acorns and running to the hardware store for more poles, deer netting and whatnots, along with backup vocals on the tree-planting.

*I* was feeling pretty sorry for myself, truth to tell.  Five hours/day is a 2nd shift, and you all know how much fun that is!  Parents, raise your hand and sound off.  Two-job wage-earners or job+college folks, groan in unison.

But Rick wasn't going down that road.

"I love working on THIS earth," he said, leaning on a shovel for a short rest-break.  "When I do THIS work, I am working for myself, for my future."


Working for myself, for my future.  Isn't that what everyone who is working hard on a degree or certificate is doing?  Isn't that what everyone who is earning a living, and maybe going the extra mile for a promotion is doing?  Isn't that what we entrepreneurs are doing?  

If we take a long, slow deep breath, close our eyes and talk it over with our spiritual guides or inner wisdom, won't we hear the same Truth?  

All this work, all these "chores" are labor for myself, for my future.  And who doesn't want a happy future?


Email me at victoria.leo.reiki@gmail.com for a FREE Getting Unstuck session (not a sales pitch).  You deserve to start working on your future today!

All the advantages of living in cities..... really aren't! Fascinating stats!

You know that urban neighborhoods are more ethnically diverse than small surrounding cities (aka suburbs), right?  With a more diverse political spectrum, right?  And big cities are where more and more people are congregating for better quality of life, right?

Turns out all of that is wrong.  Central cities are full of singles, urban neighborhoods are more uniform with respect to ethnicity AND political philosophy, and have the highest levels of economic inequality in the nation.  They are also lonely places where no one except the hipster singles interact outside of their immediate circle of friends.

It all makes sense.  What pulls people outside their homes isn’t just the mating game of the affluent Young Urban Singles that Microsofties are the poster boys/girls for.  There is much more ethnic diversity, political diversity and meeting-your-neighbors in surrounding small cities, because that’s where the child-raising is happening and kids pull you into church and PTA activities. 

One of the stats that runs particularly counter to popular assumptions is that high-density megacity neighborhoods that are multi-cultural are NOT highly interactive.  It turns out that having to navigate a half-dozen different social and cultural norms, and people whose goals, needs and preferred living style are at odds with yours (seniors who want quiet at night and parents of babies who are anything but, comes to mind), along of whom are right on top of you, without adequate soundproofing or privacy, does NOT cause neighbors to reach out and connect, kumbaya.   It creates the stereotypical city culture of everyone living parallel lives.  Parallel lines never cross, you’ll recall.  As someone who has lived in moderate to megacities, yes, indeed. 

So what on Earth am I talking about?  A fascinating library read by Joel Kotkin [The Human City], focused on the kinds of human environments cities and small surrounding cities create.  It turns out that it’s not what I – or maybe you – thought it was.  

Let me explode more barriers that are holding you back from living the life that you want to live!  www.soaringdragon.biz.  Email for a FREE Getting Unstuck session today.   victoria.leo.reiki@gmail.com