Archive for March, 2007
Recycling Business Cards
March 18th, 2007
Got useless business cards?
Have you ever changed your company logo, phone number, web address or just gotten a new job and still have a stack of business cards left? Well, they don’t need to go directly into the recycle bin. You can reuse them before they become a recycled sheet of paper.
Options
1) I take some of those worthless little pieces of paper and use them to write myself little notes. I keep them in convenient places around the house, with a pen. I don’t carry them in my purse because I don’t want to give out an old card by mistake. This tip works great with David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done.
2) My daughter loves to draw on them. She takes them and gets creative with the design on the front and also draws pictures on the back. Hey, you never know, your child might come up with a great design for your next business card, huh?
3) Save one from each version and make a poster of the evolution of your business. I know, this only takes care of one card from each past version and you eventually have to recycle the whole thing anyway but it can be fun. Oh, course, looking back does activate former vibrations which you may or may not want to do. It’ sup to you. I haven’t done it.
4) Use them to level a wobbly table.
5) Save them to use as filler in the bottom of a vase of dried flowers. Could be colorful depending on the colors on your card.
Do you have other ideas?
Email me with your other ideas and we’ll post them here for all to see. It doesn’t pay anything but you get the credit.
Posted in Snow Bear
March 16th, 2007
Snow Bear is a recent pick of my six-year-old daughter’s. We were at the bookstore and we both loved the story and the pictures
What this book is about: The young snow bear is now old enough to venture out on his own so his mother tells him to enjoy the snowy world but stay where she can see him. (I prefer to tell children to say where they can see me because they have no way of knowing if I can see them from where I am.) He plays in the snow with his mother watching for a little while then wanders down to the water’s edge where he meets a new friend and plays. Well, eventually he realizes he can’t see his mother anymore. As he looks for her other animals and one girl help him find his way back to her. Everyone is nice to the lost bear and treats him with kindness and love as they help him find his way back to his mother
Conclusions: This is a nice book. I like the underlying themes that resonate with what I now know is true. One is that the world is a safe place. Now that I’m teaching my children about the Law of Attraction we can see in this book that the mother manifest what she didn’t want, the bear getting lost, by her fear of it. Now the bear knew he was always safe and would find his way back home to his mother, which he did. He ever had a nice fish meal along the way. Oh, when he gets back to his mother she tells him that she was worried about him but she greets him with love and he tells her all about his adventure.
View book details at Amazon: Snow Bear
“Portrait Reflections” for Healing – Part 1
March 9th, 2007
What this is
This could be called “Soul Reflections”. Maxine Sperling has developed this method to see into someone and capture on paper what is going on with them at that time in their life.It has cathartic value from inception through completion and at the end you have a powerful picture that is very meaningful to you.
My experience
Getting started
We started with a meditation to get us into a receptive and meditative state before allowing the Universe to unfold everything in Divine order. I sat facing Maxine as she instructed me to make eye contact with her even as her eyes darted between my face, the drawing paper and the pastels at her elbow. The idea was that I would always be available, through the eyes, whenever she looked there to truly see me. She said I could express any thoughts that came up and we got into a conversation, which totally fit into the perfection of what was happening. After a while Maxine’s guidance told her it was time to reflect upon what had been done so far so together we took a look.Reflection
We looked upon the developing portrait as an entity unto itself. What struck me first was the mouth, which was pretty with its full lips. It seemed to be holding something in. We discussed it a bit and what it might mean. She asked me what was being held in that mouth. Through dialoging, visualization and suggestions from Maxine we came to discover that it was words being held in the mouth and the meaning it held, considering what the words were, was that I want to be safe to speak my truth and have my words be heard and honored.Healing and forgiveness
Maxine guided me through some affirmations and did some energy work on me as we stood there facing each other for the clearing and healing as I forgave myself for feeling this way, which was less than how I wanted to feel. It wasn’t that I felt badly because I want to be able to speak my truth. The issue was that my feelings toward myself for judging others for not “allowing” me to speak my truth were keeping me from my joy. We all know now, through studying the Law of Attraction that we are all responsible for how people treat us so forgiving myself for feeling this way went a long way toward changing how I expect people to treat me when I do speak my truth. That’s where the value lies.
Where we go from here
This was just the beginning. The whole process takes “three to four sessions of two to three hours each to call that piece of work, and the image, complete” to quote Maxine. I’m looking forward to the next session and I’ll tell you about that one afterwards, too.
About Maxine
From her brochure: “Maxine Sperling has been exploring portraiture and self-reflection for over 30 years. She has taught portraiture at various schools in the Philadelphia area including: The Philadelphia College of Art, (now the University of the Arts); The Wayne Art Center; The Chester Springs Studio; and at her own school “The Dance of Drawing”. Her portraits are in many private collections.”
For more information or to schedule a session you may call Maxine at (610) 277-7489
Chocolate Cravings
March 5th, 2007
Cravings
I don’t know about you but I get cravings for chocolate about a week before getting my menstrual flow. When I go into the whole food store during that time I see chocolate everywhere. And I want it all. I know, someone somewhere said chocolate is good for us (Wow, you can find a study to support ANYTHING nowadays. Who came up with this one?) and, no wonder we crave it before our flow, huh? Anyway, I found a way of getting my chocolate "fix" without the ups and downs of cooked chocolate candy. Also, if I indulge myself and eat the chocolate from the store I keep craving it. I never seem satisfied.
This month
Well, this time I indulged in a bag of Newman’s Own Double Chocolate Mint Chip cookies before I knew what was happening. Once I realized I had eaten most of the bag, (aw, come on, the bags aren’t THAT big) I took a look at my calendar to see if I was "due" for my monthly flow. Sure enough, I was one week out.
I made the best of it
Luckily for me I had a couple pounds of raw cacao nibs that had already been soaked and dried. I took out my Dawn of a New Day Raw Desserts book (I had printed it out on the color printer and it looks really nice) and looked up the recipe for Chocolate Fudge (page 13) and went to town.
I was satiated
The raw chocolate fudge really did the trick. It satisfied my cravings, for the day, and now I have enough healthy raw chocolate (that gives me a sense of Well-Being) to keep me out of the candy jar at the store.
PMS
Not that I get PMS, I actually don’t, but for those who do, who needs mood swings from sugary candy when you might already have the PMS thing going on? Who needs it? Eat your chocolate raw and with as little in it as possible and have a healthier time of it.
PMS Examined
I would be remiss in my duties, now that we are on the subject of PMS, if I didn’t tell you something helpful I found out. In The Power of Now and Practicing the Power of Now (the abridged version of The Power of Now) Eckhart Tolle tells us that PMS is actually due to the activation of the collective female pain body (from all women on the planet and those who have come before). He offers this time as an exceptional opportunity for women to achieve enlightenment. I think the trick is just paying attention to when the pain body is starting to become active in you, through negative thoughts, irritation or body discomfort, and observing it. It’s been a while since I read the books so I suggest you at least get the abridged version and put The Power of Now to use for you.
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Chocolate Candy Recipe
March 3rd, 2007
Chocolate Candy (Excerpt from Dawn of a New Day Raw Desserts)
Yields: 20 Candies depending on the size of your forms
Preparation Time: 20 Minutes plus Refrigeration
Special Equipment: Food Processor
Ingredients:
2 Cup Raw Cacao Beans, soaked and dried
1/2 Cup Raw Agave Nectar or Raw Honey
1. Blend cacao beans, scrapping sides of bowl frequently, until the beans become liquid. (Monitor the temperature so they don’t get hotter than 105 degrees while being blended.) If it gets too hot stop blending and let it cool in the refrigerator or freezer before continuing.
2. Add agave or honey while food processor is running, blending thoroughly until you have a smooth mixture. It should be a solid mass at this time. Scrape the sides of the bowl frequently while blending.
3. Press into pan, chocolate mold or spread on wax paper and refrigerate until solid. (Only fill a mold halfway with chocolate-and you have to press it in with your clean fingers-so it will pop out of the mold after it has chilled.)
4. If in pan or on wax paper, cut into bite size pieces or shape with cookie cutters.
5. Store in the refrigerator and serve chilled.
Voila! Raw chocolate bars that make you feel good!
Kindle Version $5: Dawn of a New Day Raw Desserts
From Amazon.com $12: Dawn of a New Day Raw Desserts: Fast and Easy Raw Desserts for the Whole Family
From the Publisher $12: Dawn of a New Day Raw Desserts: Fast and Easy Raw Desserts for the Whole Family
