However, I had some cash in my billfold, almost enough to cover the purchase. So I explained the situation to the self-checkout lady, and we set three purchases aside for me to come back and get. I paid with cash, took the groceries home, grabbed my purse (yep, there was the debit card. My billfold doesn’t quite close sometimes…grr!), then went back and finished my purchases, then, took the juice I’d bought for mom over to her house.

As I said, I could have gotten angry. It was hot; I was thinking I’d be home in an hour and could get back to work. But you know what, I didn’t get angry.

I told the universe these things instead:

THANK YOU for making sure I hadn’t taken that cash to the bank to deposit yet.

THANK YOU for the fact that I was looking for shoes for my partner, so I only had to leave behind a couple of things.

THANK YOU for the short drive I have back home.

THANK YOU for the nice lady in the checkout aisle to help.

THANK YOU that I really don’t punch a time clock, so can take the extra time this needs.

THANK YOU that my partner realized I was home and could help me carry in the bags of groceries.

When I got home, it was, “THANK YOU for my debit card being right on top of my purse’s contents, so I could be assured that it was where I thought it was.”

When I went back to Walmart it was, “THANK YOU for the items sitting there ready for me.” and “THANK YOU for being able to check out so quickly.”

I went to mom’s house. “THANK YOU that mom had time to get some things together so I could help her.” and THANK YOU that I could buy mom an extra jug of juice.

Then I returned home to THANK YOU for making that go so smoothly and well.

And I did it all with a smile on my face. That’s how I turned what could have been a frustrating afternoon into a very powerful lesson of gratitude and thankfulness.

THANK YOU universe for this lovely reminder.

This is a FREE seminar held by me over at my Harmonic Spirit site.

So, what are you waiting for?

Start your novel today! Click here to register for FREE!

Where: online, link will be sent prior to seminar starting
When: Wednesday, May 30, 6pm CST, with a reply available for those who can’t make it

I’ve been a published author for over a decade and a publisher for half of that time. Through boot camps, classes, seminars, and hard work, I’ve improved my writing and helped others improve theirs too. I devote my life to following my creative muse, no matter where it leads, and I want to help you do the same. You’ve always wanted to write a novel. Why not start this month? Right now? Today!

Janus can be a trickster, and it’s from him that the term “two-faced” comes, so magick done with this deity needs to be careful and constructed well. However, he is a good choice for time magick, releasing, gateways, and transitions.

Writers and creative people might be familiar with his guises in the form of the blessed muse, which comes and brings inspiration, and writer’s block, which makes it impossible to write. The agony and the ectasy of writing, or any creative endeavor, are well represented by Janus.  Look to Janus to help you leverage the strength of your past and your previous endeavors as you branch out into a new  genre or project. The closing of a past project and the opening of a new one are under Janus’ domain.

The muses might be fickle, but Janus is always there, always watching, and always leading us away from the old and into the new.

And sometimes, to break through our blocks we have to write something completely new. Getting away from the troublesome story with something new will free up your muse and perhaps bring your spark back to the work in progress.

So how do you launch your story with a tarot card? All you need to do is pull a card. In fact, I did the exercise here. It doesn’t need to be a long story, though mine could possibly go longer here. Mostly the idea is to get the words and the creativity flowing.

In fact, for the first five commentators, tell me about your work in progress, and I’ll pull a tarot card and tell you how it could apply. Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll let you know when Mary’s Muse Warriors officially opens!

My Card: 3 of Pentacles (Deck: New Palladini Tarot)

The idea I took away from it: work, apprenticeship, pleasing the investors/overseers

The story:

I pinched the bridge of my nose in a futile attempt to stave off the growing migrane. Somewhere in this morass of code was the bug preventing us from launching in less than twenty-four hours. I sighed and went back to the start of this section. Play testing had revealed that when the orc stepped from the castle it through an unhandled exception error. I grumbled and started the scenario once more.

“Holly, phone!” Bobby, my business partner yelled over the roaring orc coming from my speakers.

“Damn it! I’m busy. Take a message,” I hollered back at him. He knew better than to bother me. I’d told him I had to find this bug, and his job was to keep the hungry investors and anxious customers happy.

“It’s Harold.”

Crap! I bit back several more curses–I didn’t know if Bobby had Harold on speaker–and took a deep breath to calm my temper. “I’ll take it at my desk.” I paused the game play. So far so good, though I hadn’t reached the buggy portion of the code yet. Picking up the handset, I put a smile on my face. “Hello. Holly Viewood, here. How can I help you?” …

As far as incense types, I prefer stick or cone incense. It’s easy. I have my burner, and I can plunk in a stick, light it, and instant incense. When it’s done burning it goes out on its own, so there’s not a lot of worry. Cone incense works much the same way, where the cone is placed in a heat-proof burner and left to burn. Many burners combine cone and stick so you don’t even need to worry about special equipment. A solid bowl full of sand works well, too.

You can also purchase resin or herbal incenses which require a charcoal tablet to be lit. The resin (or herbs) are placed on the charcoal and as it burns, it heats the incense to release the fragrance.

If you have allergies, or have sensitive people in your house, you do need to be careful. I have allergies, and I find the overly floral incenses really bother me. That’s why I stick to sandalwood, pine, and other wood/resin-type incenses. Additionally, the manufacturer matters. Some of the India incenses, like Hem, are really strong and overpowering. So once I find a brand of incense, or someone who makes it by hand, I tend to be pretty loyal.

Like people, our pets can also be sensitive. Birds, with their very tender respiratory systems are vulnerable to incense smoke (or any kind of smoke). In fact, at one time, Glade scented candles were implicated in bird death, and I won’t use Febreze or other “fresheners” because of their chemical compound. When they’re sprayed into the air, then they can enter the systems of birds (and people) easier. So, always use incense in a well-ventilated room, and make sure to keep it away from pets. Some even questioned it around their lizards. I had a cat who ended up with kitty emphysema from cigarette smoke, so I follow some general precautions when I burn incense, which  help me anyway because of my allergies. I try to crack open a window or make sure there’s a fan to disperse any smoke away. I use kinds which won’t bother me, and I only use cone or stick, because they can be easily doused if it gets too strong. And, I only burn one stick at a time and generally only once a week or so. Now, this does mean I have to watch my “habit” because when I’m writing or doing something creative, I do like to have incense or candles going, but I can also work without them, and I’d rather be extra careful than have something happen.

Really, if you’re concerned about allergies, know your source. Buy handmade as much as possible where you can talk to the person who made the incense. And, be careful. There’s a good chance with the varieties of incense out there, you can find one that will work for you.

There’s something very primal about making things with our hands. My partner and I just replaced the doors on a storage shed yesterday. We made the doors; I painted them, and now, looking at our shed there is the pride of having completed a task and completing it well.

When we craft with our hands, whether it’s household projects that have to be done, or something that you’re doing just for you. When we put our hands together and make something with them, it’s an expression of our creativity.

Those of us who do energy work, such as reiki, can also imbue these items with reiki or other energy. If we make a gift for a loved one, we fill that gift with love for the family member. Crafting with our hands will give us the satisfaction of doing something well, provide an outlet for our creativity, and help reduce stress.

So, what do you like to craft?

You see, about that time I found my spirituality again. With all that had happened, honestly, I had no where else to turn but the Goddess. And giving myself, and my muse, over to her, made the plot bunnies as fertile as cute, fluffy bunnies can be. Plot bunnies are the cute fluffy bunnies you know. They’re not the ones that eat the heads off your marigold flowers or mow down the green bean shots in your garden, and can you tell I’m talking about real bunnies here? LOL! (We have roaming marauding bunnies where I live and woe to anything you want to grow. But I think we’ve reached an agreement. If I can have my garden, they can have everything else. *smiles*)

But seriously, back to the topic on hand, it was when I tapped into my spirituality, when I started living a magickal life that the inspiration came back. I thank the Goddess, those with whom I’ve had the chance to meet and learn from, and mostly the Goddess for that. I cleared away a lot, like weeding the aforementioned garden, and in the space, I allowed Her to fill it, and as a writer, what bigger blessing could she provide than inspiration. Story ideas. The kind of ideas that wake you up in the middle of the night and make you sit, fumbling for a pen and paper or a laptop so you can get started writing, those were the ideas that I had. And I’m loving it!

I feel the muse, the energy, and I know that I am the Source. Of course, She has something to do with it. But She also tells us as above so below, as within so without. If I weren’t open and receiving and inspired inside, then my outside world wouldn’t inspire me, and the chain goes on and on like a snake eating its tail (or my cat chasing hers).

For those looking for inspiration, I’d offer the same advice as I’ve given here. Get magickal. Get in tune. Get spiritual. When we connect our own inner source to the divine, then we allow ourselves to be filled, even as we’re filling others with the light of inspiration. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a writer. Artists, crafters, musicians, everyone, even if you don’t think you’re creative, uses this inspiring energy in his or her life. It takes inspiration to juggle a busy schedule with three kids and after-school activities. It takes inspiration to find a way to close the business deal. That’s creativity, baby, and the Goddess blesses all who chose to seek their own inner source.

One of the self-care things we can do, and we should do, is to take care of our bodies. That means all those things we were taught in school: exercise, nutrition, rest. But some of us just don’t operate on the three-meals-a-day plan. I get up, have my coffee, get to work, and it’s only after about three or four hours that my body thinks about food. I believe in honoring my body, so I wait until I’m awake and ready for food before eating. Unless I know I’m going out of town or having a busy day, then I’ll force myself to eat right away. But otherwise, it’s me, my coffee, and a few hours later, my smoothie.

Why smoothies?

I can drink them at the computer. My favorite recipe contains the following:

1/2 c. of soy milk or organic milk
1/2 c. of plain yogurt or kefir
1 banana
5-6 frozen strawberries, or a dozen frozen blueberries/other berries
2-3 baby spinach leaves

I mix this in a personal Avon blender I liberated from my mom’s house (no, she actually was going to put it in the Goodwill box when I made a big squee and started jumping up and down, because it was perfect for my smoothies, LOL!). Pour it in a big plastic glass I got on a vacation, and viola! Instant brunch.

I will add things to the smoothie, too. I’ve been known to add Omega-3 oils, or protein powder, or even ground flax seeds. But the basic recipe–milk, yogurt/kefir, banana, berries–doesn’t change. Actually, the spinach was a recent addition thanks to my good friend Kimberly at Blogging With Gypsy.

This will keep me going for a few more hours, and then it’ll be close to dinner time, and I can cook our big meal of the day. And, I can feel my body being hit with all those nutrients and going “thank you!”

I think tomorrow I’ll split a kiwi between me and the parrot and add that to my smoothie too!

Our lives are busy. That’s an understatement. But even so, you can take time out every day to honor yourself, and when you do take those precious moments, you are making sure that you are balanced and ready to face your day and anything else that might happen. This seminar will last 45-60 minutes and will give you five easy to implement TODAY tips that you can use to help honor and care for yourself.

The seminar will be presented over a webpage, and there will be a replay available–just sign up for our mailing list to receive the notices! But we hope to see you there live. All you need to do is click a link and listen!

May 15, 7pm CST

Register today: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3492685717