January 2019: Cycles and Changes

Reflections: Cycles and Changes

January Circle "Take off into 2019 on your Magic Carpet"
Events and ways to Dare to Blossom
A request for help for a friend

Welcome, welcome dear friends, welcome to the first newsletter for 2019, wishing you a wonderful year ahead

Reflections: Cycles and Changes

As the old year ends, and the new begins, I notice that some things repeat each year. Some cycles begin again: the seasons, the months, even some of the events I plan, such as the workshops at the Blue Lotus, here in Cornwall.

Other things change, for each of us is a year older than we were at the beginning of 2018. In truth, everything changes. Even as some things may seem to remain the same, they are subtly different each time around the wheel of the year.

As I pause to reflect on how to continue my thoughts here, I remember that December's 'Reflections' were entitled 'Full Cycle'. How interesting, though maybe not surprising, that in the closing month of the old year, and the opening month of the new, my mind is drawn to similar themes. (A note here: I have been experimenting with the layout - and I find that this looks good on my iPad, but not on the laptop, so my apologies if that is your experience too.)


This image was taken on a visit one year to Trewidden, one of the great gardens of Cornwall,. A sculpture, made of bronze I think, with no title or words of explanation. The next time we visited, it had gone.

For me this illustrates the concept of circles, cycles, a continuum of life. The bronze shape is not even or balanced, or even particularly circular. Yet it is powerful and moving.

The fact that a year or so later it was gone, when I think I expected it to be there forever, is about change.

Sometimes I expect things to remain the same, year after year. Maybe I celebrate Christmas in the same way, see the same people, spend time with my family as always. And yet, things are different. Maybe some people are missing who I somehow imagined would 'always' be there.

This can be sad to reflect upon in some ways, and yet, the cycles of life go on. Young people grow up, maybe have children of their own, even as the older members leave this life and are no longer physically present.

There are changes all around. As I prepare to begin a new year, some things I plan - to remain the same (or relatively so) or to change. Others will be different through forces I cannot control, and I will sit with those and allow them to unfold.

For you, in your journal or meditation. If you read last month's newsletter, you will recognise some of these questions, I have found them useful to revisit, I hope you will also:, 

• What is reaching full cycle for you?
• Will that cycle continue as the cycles of nature do? Or will something new come in to replace it? What would you like that to be?
• What changes have you planned?
• What changes do you know are on the way that you have no control over?
• What help would you like to ask for, and where can you go to receive this?

January Circle "Take off into 2019 on your Magic Carpet"

The January Dare to Blossom Mastermind Circle opens on 1st January with an open group call at 2 pm (UK time) for those of you who have already enrolled and for anyone keen to find out more before joining us. To join us via the Facebook event, click here, or to receive the Zoom video-conferencing link by email, contact me here.

At the same time I will be setting up the private Facebook group and will invite you to join us there when you book, in advance of the official start with the group circle on Zoom on Friday 4th January at 9 am UK time. We will be getting away from the tyranny of 'New Year resolutions', and seeing where the insights offered by the Magic Carpet process take us. Click this link for full details and to claim your place at the gift price of £50.

Following that Circle we will begin the full year of unfurling the Power Flower once again in a Mastermind group, starting with 'Peace' in February. Details of that are available here if you would like an advance look at what awaits you if you join us. Places are limited so it is worthwhile beginning to consider if this may be for you now.



Events and ways to Dare to Blossom

Festive Season Three Card Listenings These have been very popular at the gift price of £10. This ends today, 31st December, and the price increases to £14. If you are a newsletter subscriber, just contact me direct, and I will be happy to extend the special price for you to the end of January.

Cornwall Workshops: The cycle begins again at the Blue Lotus on Saturday morning, 19th January, beginning with Peace

Root and Branch Listenings are available at any time as a one-off, or as a quarterly subscription. If you choose to subscribe,  you will receive your personal Listening four times a year. The next issue will be in December for the Winter Solstice. I will be starting work on those very soon, so if you would like to be sure of receiving yours in time for the Solstice, buy yours now.



Point of Focus Membership: if you prefer a monthly timescale with Dare to Blossom Cards drawn for you to reflect upon, with the option of adding on one-to-one coaching calls with me, the Point of Focus subscription may be for you. Some people find subscribing to these and the 'Root and Branch Listenings' together a valuable source of support.

A request for help for a friend

During this time of year we are often drawn to reflection and dreaming.

That’s why my friend Lee Munch wants to use this very important time to speak with you for just 15 minutes, when it comes to the money in your business.

Lee is putting together a programme that will help business owners gain consistency and growth in their cash flow -without overwhelm.

Your voice matters for this market research project. In fact, Lee is on a mission to speak to 100 business owners to ensure the program fulfill on its promise.

I have already spent a little time helping Lee, and I found that thinking about her questions helped me reflect on where my business is now. Here is Lee's photo so you can see who you will be speaking to before you book your spot.

Please click here, or on the photo to book an appointment in Lee's calendar.
Thanks

Thank you dear friends for visiting with me again this month and sharing my musings.

Until next time,

with love,
Mary

Find 'Dare to Blossom Life Coaching' on Facebook, @daretoblossom on Twitter

December 2018: Full Cycle

Welcome to the Dare to Blossom Newsletter

Season's greetings
Reflections: Full Cycle
Plans for 2019
Events and ways to Dare to Blossom

Welcome, welcome dear friends, welcome to the newsletter for December

Season's Greetings

However you celebrate at this time of year, or if you choose not to at all, the ending of the calendar year has some significance for most of us.



Maybe you are reflecting on the end of an academic year if you are in New Zealand or Australia, looking forwards to the summer holidays. Maybe you are anticipating all the busy-ness and connections of Christmas with family and friends. Or, you may be alone, through choice or through circumstances. 

However you are spending December, I send you warm virtual hugs and greetings.

Reflections: Full Cycle



The full title of my last workshop in the 'Stepping into Your Power' series here in Cornwall, at the Blue Lotus Therapy Centre, was 'Full Cycle - Being You - Return to Peace'. As we had flowed through a whole year together, we focused on one part of the 'Dare to Blossom Power Flower' in each workshop. At the same time, I was aware of all the parts of the flower, supporting, holding the strength of the whole as we gathered together. 

As I hold these gatherings every other month, we had six of them, and so the last was an opportunity to return to our centre point, to peace.

In the words of 'Compass Rose Speaks', my poem that seems to be deepening and strengthening in power each time I speak the words, "Return your attention to your Centre Point, to Peace. Grounded, Balanced. I am your Compass Rose". Each time I end, I remind those listening, in person or on-line, that your Compass Rose is your inner wisdom. Not external to yourself, but truly the deep heart of you, the centre, the guiding star within.

By being the real you, the authentic you - the you who is the author of your life - you return to peace. From that centre point of peace you are strongly grounded and balanced and able to choose the path forward that is right and true for you.

For you, in your journal or meditation:

• What is reaching full cycle for you?
• Will that cycle continue as the cycles of nature do? Or will something new come in to replace it? What would you like that to be?
• Settle into your heart, your centre, allow your breath to slow and deepen, and listen to the voice of your Compass Rose. What is she telling you?

To read the full 'Compass Rose Speaks' poem, or to listen to me speaking the words, click here.

Plans for 2019

As I enter this process myself, I am feeling my way towards what wishes to emerge in 2019. Last month I told you about the Pathway to Power Coaching Programme. The full details are now available here.



At the beginning of December I am hosting two free group gatherings, through Zoom video-confereincing, on Tuesday 4th December at 2.30 pm, and on Friday 7th December at 11.00 am (all times are UK time, GMT). The details are on Facebook through the Dare to Blossom business page (just look under Events), or if you prefer not to use Facebook, simply reply to this email if you would like to join us.

During those calls I will draw cards for each person (one, two, or three, depending on how many people join us), and offer you the chance to share a Magic Carpet Ride guided visualisation. The calls are an introduction to the January Dare to Blossom Mastermind Circle: "Take off into 2019 on your Magic Carpet". We will be getting away from the tyranny of 'New Year resolutions', and seeing where the insights offered by the Magic Carpet process take us. Click the link for full details and to claim your space.

Following that Circle we will begin the full year of unfurling the Power Flower once again in a Mastermind group. Details of that will be available very soon.

Events and ways to Dare to Blossom

Cornwall Workshops: The cycle begins again at the Blue Lotus on Saturday morning, 19th January, beginning with Peace

Root and Branch Listenings are available at any time as a one-off, or as a quarterly subscription. If you choose to subscribe,  you will receive your personal Listening four times a year. The next issue will be in December for the Winter Solstice. I will be starting work on those very soon, so if you would like to be sure of receiving yours in time for the Solstice, buy yours now.



Point of Focus Membership: if you prefer a monthly timescale with Dare to Blossom Cards drawn for you to reflect upon, with the option of adding on one-to-one coaching calls with me, the Point of Focus subscription may be for you. Some people find subscribing to these and the 'Root and Branch Listenings' together a valuable source of support.
 

Thank you dear friends for visiting with me again this month and sharing my musings.

Until next time,

with love,
Mary

November 2018: Change

Welcome to the Dare to Blossom Newsletter

Reflections: Changes
Celebrations and November special offers
Events and ways to Dare to Blossom

Welcome, welcome dear friends, welcome to the newsletter for November, my birthday month.
You will see I have some birthday gifts for you below: a sale on my original artworks, and a special offer on the Pathway to Power coaching programme.

Reflections: Changes

How interesting. I choose the subject for my reflections pretty much at random. Often, as this month, when I am setting up the draft for the newsletter and the system asks me for the title. I now see that last month had a somewhat similar theme 'Shifting Seasons'. For me, just now, things are feeling unclear, obscured even, so I chose this favourite photo of mine. The koi carp in the pond, seem to be swimming in the sky, all about perception?



Returning to the theme, there are obviously more changes for me to explore. As some of you know, for most of October I have been forced to slow down by an injury to my right hand. A simple slip going in the door at home. Putting my hand out, as you do, to steady myself. I caught the little finger on my right hand and bent it right back and out, in a direction it is not designed to go.

The result was a badly swollen hand and a lot of pain. I assumed it was a sprain as it felt similar to a sprained ankle, as I have experienced at various times. So I treated it with ice, compression, rest - all the things you are advised to do. After a couple of weeks, the swelling was beginning to go down but the pain was as bad as ever. I still kept thinking that it would hurt even more if there were any broken bones, but eventually, one Monday morning, my husband suggested he go with me to the local hospital Minor Injuries Clinic a little later that day.

That plan was thrown into disarray by my husband being involved in a road accident, nothing too major luckily, he wasn't hurt, but his car was badly damaged and it took a long time for the police and ambulance to arrive and process everything that had to be done.  The other person, a young man (just 16) on a motorbike was fortunately only slightly hurt. And then we had to run around sorting out another car. (There is a reason why I am sharing all this.)

So, on Thursday that week, I had already arranged to go to the local hospital with my husband as he had a routine eye test that involved drops to dilate his pupils so he couldn't drive home. I took that opportunity to have my hand looked at. After a fair bit of sitting around, an x-ray was done and I was told that the long bone in the side of my hand (the metacarpal) is fractured. Not broken right through, but fractured, and 'well-aligned' so it will heal OK. No treatment except a little bandage to hold my little finger next to the ring finger so it is stabilised a little - and time.

The reason for telling you this story in connection with 'Changes' is to encourage you to reflect if you wish - without the painful prompt I hope - on unforeseen change. This always happens in life of course. My example is relatively minor. Someone I know has just this week found themselves in hospital following a fall, and awaiting surgery.

I am not sure if or how I could plan for such changes, other than knowing I need to put my own health first and ask for help from those around me - not always easy to do for someone used to just getting on with things.

From the perspective of my business, here too, sometimes changes can be unexpected and apparently out of my control. At other times they are a choice, a conscious plan. Sometimes one is prompted by the other. Being made to slow down and rest has allowed me to take more time for reading. But not for writing - one of the biggest enforced changes through this injury, as I am right-handed, has been an inability to write by hand in my journal as I would normally. Something I have missed a lot, and which has reminded me how important it can be to me.  There are ways round that: I can type, slowly and for short periods of time, as I am now of course.

I thought of recording my thoughts, and a good friend suggested that as a solution too. Or there is the dictation software that can convert my spoken words to text. I certainly cannot think about painting just now though.

Letting all that go for now, I realise I have been wondering how to change what I do in 2019. What do I truly love doing and want to keep? What do I just do because I always have done it and might be better letting go of now? What works well - whether in terms of income, or inspiration, or satisfaction for me? (Maybe it needs to be all of those?) What doesn't? Is it more about 'how' I do what I do, rather than the 'what' itself?

Do I need to clear space first so the new ideas can come in? Where can I simplify and streamline what I do, clear and prepare the ground and allow delicate new shoots to emerge? These shoots may be the 'whys' at the heart of the what and the how of my work.

For you, in your journal or meditation:

• What is changing around you?
• How will you choose to respond to this change?
• You may like to choose some of the questions I asked myself above to write about for yourself.

Celebrations

As I mentioned, November is my birthday month, and below you will find details of some special prices on my artwork, and a limited number of spaces on my 'Pathway to Power' Coaching Programme with a 20% discount.

Another recent celebration for me has been my nomination (by an anonymous person) in two categories for the Devon and Cornwall Region of the Venus Awards for women. I have completed the entry process in plenty of time before the closing date, and now await the announcement in January of the names of those going through to the semi-finals.



It is such an honour to be nominated for 'Inspirational Woman' and 'Lifetime Achievement', whatever happens next.

Sale of Artworks

So, during November, any of the original pieces (i.e. not including the limited edition prints or the greetings cards) on my website will be available at 20% reduction in price. I will not be changing the PayPal links so please contact me direct (or simply reply to this email) if you see anything you would like to purchase, for yourself or as a gift. If for someone else, I can offer a service to gift wrap and send direct to them with a card and message from you if that is helpful.



'Pathway to Power' 2019 Coaching Programme

I would love to offer you the chance to become one of the first people on this new one-to-one programme, at a special 'birthday gift' price of a 20% discount.

I say this is a new programme, it is, and yet the processes we will use are those tried and tested methods that I know work so well for people. Before I give you the details, let me say that in my experience (as a customer as well as a life coach) people do not decide to buy 'coaching'. If you are a sports person or an athlete, you might engage a coach to help you improve your performance, to win a race, to be a more effective team member.

In a similar way, the coaching I offer may be focused around a goal: perhaps finding your way to achieving an ambition, identifying the small steps that will take you there. We can work very productively together do this.  Sometimes it is about having the time and space to hear yourself think, to listen to what your heart, your soul, the true you really craves. Maybe there are elements of both - knowing your true desires will help you choose where to focus, and the best path for you to get there. Sometimes returning to balance and grounding, maybe letting go of some things that previously felt important, is the necessary first step.

You don't need to take my word for it, there are a number of testimonials on the website, such as this one, from Jocelyn.

"I just wanted to say a big thank you for your guidance over the last couple of months. You have helped me through a period of transition and taught me that cutting back - or drawing on your insight: “pruning” - is not the end but the start, allowing time and the capability to blossom; to continue to evolve....." (read more here)

I will be putting the full details on the website soon, for now I want to offer my loyal newsletter subscribers the first chance at the special offer. Here is an outline.

In six one-to-one coaching sessions, on Zoom video-conferencing, we will follow the path of unfurling the petals of the Dare to Blossom Power Flower. We begin by offering you the time to reflect and ground yourself in you centre point, in Peace. During each call you choose how you would like to use the processes I offer. Maybe I will draw some cards for you, usually three. Maybe you will also choose to be taken on a guided visualisation, a magic carpet ride. There will be plenty of time to hear yourself think in a quiet, safe space. You will leave each call with some new insights and perspectives, and some small steps to take you forwards.



In the following sessions, we will continue to unfurl each petal, one at a time: Purpose, Passion, Power, Progress. Completing the cycle by returning to your centre point, to Peace.

You can choose to take up half hour sessions or full one hour sessions. (Please note that there is not time for a full 'Magic Carpet Ride' visualisation in thirty minutes together.).

My normal coaching rate is £45 for half hour sessions and £90 for one hour sessions, with a ten percent discount for prepayment.

For you, I am offering 20% reduction on the normal price. You may choose to pay as you go, n which case I will invoice you ahead of each call. This means that the price for each step on your Pathway to Power Programme is £72 for one hour and £36 if you choose the half hour option. A saving of £108 (or £54).

If you are interested, and would like to book or have any questions, reply to this email, or pop over to my scheduling page here, and book a complimentary consultation. Then we can chat on Zoom video-conferencing over a cuppa and you can decide if this is right for you.

In the words of the phrase I have used for the last fifteen years, right from the beginning of my own journey with Dare to Blossom:

Live a life you love: start now, start here. If not now, then when?


Events and ways to Dare to Blossom

The next workshop here in Cornwall is on 17th November, at the Blue Lotus at Scorrier. Last time all the spaces were taken so if you are interested contact me soon. We are coming back full cycle to the centre point of the Power Flower, so the title is 'Full Cycle - Being You - Return to Peace'. Click the link for full details.

Root and Branch Listenings are available at any time as a one-off, or as a quarterly subscription. If you choose to subscribe,  you will receive your personal Listening four times a year. The next issue will be in December for the Winter Solstice.


 

Thank you dear friends for visiting with me again this month and sharing my musings.

Until next time,

with love,
Mary

October 2018 Shifting Seasons

October 2018 Welcome to the Dare to Blossom Newsletter Time sensitive announcment: your chance to join the October Dare to Blossom taster Circle Reflections: Shifting Seasons Silver Tent Radio Interview with Joni Advent Maher Ways to connect and Dare to Blossom News on my new book "The Pathway to Power" Time sensitive announcment: your chance to join the October Dare to Blossom taster Circle This is appearing at the top here as I wanted to offer you a chance to join the Circle that opens on 1st October. I know many of you choose to subscribe here instead of following my work and news on Facebook if you prefer not to be involved there. The latest circle has a private Facebook group, and the key part of the magic happens during the weekly live group calls on Zoom video-conferencing, so it is perfectly possible to be actively involved without venturing there. Some of you do choose to join Facebook groups for a specific purpose such as this. The Circle runs for five weeks and is a taster for the 2019 Dare to Blossom Mstermind Circle. There is no commitment to join that, though last year's taster resulted in everyone deciding to follow through the process with me throughout 2018, which has ben an honour and a joy. So, what is it? The topic for October is "Spiritual Business Planning for the Creative Soul." We will explore how to be involved in running your business - whether you are a sole trader as I am, or have a larger enterprise with employees - and stay connected to your creativitiy and your spiritual heart. We will do this using my tried and tested tools ad processes: the Dare to Blossom Rediscovery Cards, the guided Magic Carpet Ride visualisations, and the gradual unfurling of the Dare to Blossom Power Flower. My prose poem 'Compass Rose Speaks'  also forms an integral part of each live gathering. The full details of the programme can be found on my 'Workshops and Events' page. The price for the full five weeks, one for the centre point Peace, and one each to unfurl each of the petals in turn, with the calls and recordings, is just £50. Originally I had this bundled with a one to one coaching call with me, but on feedback from people interested I have separated them, and you still have the choice to buy your coaching at the same time. . Reflections: Shifting Seasons October, here in Cornwall, is harvest time. Wherever you are in the world there is a feeling of change. The seasons are stifting. From summer to autumn, or from winter to spring. Both shifts are equinoxes, the time when the hours of day and the hours of the light are (approximately) equal. At these times, whether spring or autumn, the weather often becomes wild and stormy. That has certainly been the case here in Cornwall this autumn. We have experienced several days of vigorous winds, heavy rain, and pounding seas on the coast. Today, that has all cleared, the weather fronts have passed away as the atmosphere of this magical planet swirls around us. Out on the cliffs today the air feels different; the grass is already greener, regrowing after the dry summer. The sea is calmer, yet full of movement and energy. Writing now, sitting in my garden on a mellow September day, I feel into what is shifting for me. Some of these shifts are consolidations, the coming together of all my ways of working into a coherent whole, each part supporting the other. Together the whole being 'greater than the sum of the parts'. Other shifts are letting go, moving on from things that once served me well, yet now have come to the end of their time for me. I am honouring those things, and those people, I am leaving behind, thnaking them for the part they have played for me. Knowing we may meet again in different circumstances. Looking forwards now as I step through the doorway of the Equinox, into a new seaon in my life, as well as the next season of this year. For you, in your journal or meditation: What is shifting for you just now? What are you leaving behind, and what is staying with you? How will you choose to step through the doorway? Silver Tent Radio Interview with Joni Advent Maher It was a joy recently to interview my friend and wonderful wise woman Joni Advent Maher for my Silver Tent Radio Show. (listen in here)   Joni describes herself as a mystic and spiritual midwife. She also hosts a regular podcast: Trust Your Sacred Feminine Flow: Conversations on Money, Transformation and Feminine Sovereignty.   Ways to connect and Dare to Blossom Once again, a summary this month, follow the links for more details on anything you are drawn to explore. Root and Branch Listenings are available at any time as a one-off, or as a quarterly subscription, you will receive your personal Listening four times a year. I have recently sent out the September Equinox.Listenings, if you order before the end of October you can receive your own. After that the next issue will be in December. The next workshop here in Cornwall is on 17th November, at the Blue Lotus at Scorrier. Last time all the spaces were taken so if you are interested contact me soon. We are coming back full cycle to the centre point of the Power Flower, so the title is 'Full Cycle - Being You - Return to Peace'. Click the link for full details. News on my new book "The Pathway to Power" The news is..... writing is proceeding, very slowly. Yet, just today, as I was writing in the garden, the shape suddenly became much more clear. Who knows how this will pan out in terms of squeezing in writing into a busy working life, and who knows what shape this book finally will be - the book itself may 'know', but I certainly do not just yet. I am grateful for your support in tall the various ways you each offer that, which are many and various. Just reading this is support in itself.   Thank you dear friends for visiting with me again this month and sharing my musings. Until next time, with love, Mary Find 'Dare to Blossom Life Coaching' on Facebook, @daretoblossom on Twitter

September 2018: Fresh Beginnings

Reflections: Fresh Beginnings
Inspirational video
Ways to connect and Dare to Blossom
New edition of "The Essential Guide to Cervical Cancer"


Reflections: Fresh Beginnings

September - for many, a return to school, or to work, or other study after a summer break. A time of fresh beginnings: maybe new surroundings, new friends, new colleagues.

This week, (as I write it is the last week of August), I received one of those 'Facebook memories' telling me it was nine years since I began a new job on 25th August 2009. This was with Outset Cornwall, a new programme to provide 'business start-up support' in the county. In March that year I had been made redundant from a local college when an earlier version of such a programme had come to the end of the funding.

In all I spent twelve years doing that sort of work in the two organisations. It was a joy and a privilege, and a time of deep learning and some uncomfortable lessons too.

In June 2015 the second contract with Outset Cornwall ended and most of us were made redundant. I decided to focus on Dare to Blossom Life Coaching, which I had been running and developing all that time alongside being fortunate enough to be paid as an employee to be a business coach and trainer. Despite being offered work back with Outset Cornwall a year later when the programme restarted in a different form, I took the decision to create my own work, to follow my heart more truly than I found possible as an employee. Another fresh beginning.

A note to add here: I have also followed my heart in the jobs I have done over the years, for example, following my experience or cancer, when I moved into health research and took a cut in salary. Fortunately, many people are able to do change roles and follow their hearts in organisations, as not everyone is suited to self-employment. In my business coaching roles, even though one of the 'measures' was the number of people who started a business, I felt the coaching had been a success when someone realised that this route was not for them. In my private coaching, a key theme is to 'start where you are' and examine what can be easily changed to make wherever that is a more fulfilling and happier place for you, before embarking on any big changes.

When I look back on the three years and three months since then - so much has changed, emerged. So much has truly blossomed for me, and through my work, for others. As I prepare new offerings for September; as I continue to work on my new book; as so many ideas flow around me - sometimes all those potential new things, fresh beginnings, can feel overwhelming. And so, it can be valuable to look back, to see how far I have come. To notice how I did that: one step at a time. Sometimes those steps were sideways; sometimes backwards; sometimes retracing, back to a fork in the road and making a different choice. All along, the petals have been unfurling, row after row, layer after layer.

.

Recently I shared my regular coaching exchange with Kathy Kane of the Purple Ink Cafe. We connected some years ago now, neither of us can remember exactly when. I had followed up a piece i had seen on on-line, where some words Kathy had written really struck a chord for me. She became one of my team of coaches for a while as I took part in one of her programmes, and I have recently been a guest speaker in The Purple Ink Cafe. Highly recommended - I love the way Kathy and her business partner host the live calls and they attract fascinating speakers.

So, to return to the point about reviewing, and about fresh beginnings. After my turn in our recent exchange, Kathy sent me a summary of some of my words in our call. 
 

"Re-member...dismember...put self together...coming home to self...direction...grounding."

And then:

"You are open to the creative process.
The process will reveal itself!
Enjoy the process
Seeds are germinating
You allow growth to take place
You are enough
You remember how much you've learned."

Thank you Kathy, if you read this. I highly recommend Kathy as a one to one coach, and in her community at the Purple Ink Cafe.

I have sessions with several coaches on a regular basis. Some are exchanges, others I pay whatever their rate is. I choose people with different talents and skills, people who I admire, people who charge more than I do. They help me see the potential for the germination of my ideas, based in the rich soil of my past experience. (If you are one of my treasured team, and you have anything you are planning that you would like me to share here - do contact me.)

Returning to Kathy's words. As I shared with you last month, my process in writing my new book has involved a lot of introspection and exploring memories. Sometimes maybe I could 're-member', and even 'dis-member' some of these. Seeing the past differently. That has been happening in conversation with people in my family who have quite different memories of the times I have been writing about. Yes, there are facts involved, and - for the purposes of exploring my 'pathway to power' the fact that different people remember the same time differently has no particular significance.

What I choose to do with that now is what I wish to explore. Another response I have had recently was from the person whose challenge to 'stop hiding' I am finally responding to. She said "Perhaps you can also write your own future?" In many ways that is what all of us are doing. I have begun to explore that in my journeying visualisations, with some interesting results. More on that another time.

For you, in your journal or meditation:

• What do you wish to re-member?
• Do you need to dis-member it first?
• Do you want to flow-write about 'writing my future'?

Inspirational video
From 'Food for My Soul' - this is a beautiful piece. Make music with what remains....

Ways to connect and Dare to Blossom

Once again, a summary this month, follow the links for more details on anything you are drawn to explore.

Next week, on Thursday 6th September at 7.30 pm (UK time) I am hosting a taster call for the October month-long introductory Dare to Blossom Mastermind Circle. Last year the group of wonderful women who joined me for that trial month all signed up for the group that has been progressing through 2018. One person joined us during the year and has become an integral part of the Circle.

The working title for October is "Spiritual Life (and Business) Planning for the Creative Soul." I will be refining that after the call. If you are on Facebook the link for the free taster call is here. If you prefer not to use Facebook you are most welcome to join us on the call on Zoom, simply email me to say you would like to do that, and I will send you the link to use on the day.

The next workshop in Cornwall is on 15th September, "Progress - Moving On". Bookings are already coming in, so do contact me if you are intending to join us.



Root and Branch Listenings are now available as a one-off, or as a quarterly subscription, you will receive your personal Listening four times a year. The next will be in September, around the Autumn Equinox.



New edition of "The Essential Guide to Cervical Cancer"

I am delighted to say that the new edition will be published in November and is available to pre-order now from Need2Know Books 
 

Thank you dear friends for visiting with me again this month and sharing my musings.

Until next time,

with love,
Mary

August 2018 The (rocky) Pathway to Power

Welcome to the Dare to Blossom Newsletter

Reflections: The (rocky) Pathway to Power
Inspirational video
Ways to connect and Dare to Blossom
New art commission, and summer art sale

Reflections: The (rocky) pathway to power

This month I am deep in writing for the new book. Since July's newsletter the title has changed, from 'Stepping into Your Power', to 'The Pathway to Power'. The content and the form of the book seems to keep shifting too. Every so often I feel that I am stumbling along a rocky path. In truth, some of those rocks are boulders, too big to see around, or over, to the other side, to see where the path may continue.

As I write that, the phrase: "Maybe the obstacles in your path are your path?" comes into my mind. So, maybe some of the rocks I feel I am stumbling over are actually the parts that have the deepest message? For me, and for others when I find the courage to share. I keep being inspired by the words from one of the critical friends who read my first coaching book* :

"Dare to be you, stop hiding behind the coaching, challenge the readers to dare to be themselves."

Here I am, ten years later, responding to that challenge. Thank you if you read this.

*(Dare to Blossom: Coaching and Creativity,  signed copies are available direct from me)

If you are in the private Facebook group, thank you so much for your support, and you will already have seen this early extract (which like all book drafts, may or may not find its way into the final version).

For those of you who are not, here is a piece for you. It has taken me a while to choose which part of the draft to share here. This was the moment that the title changed, so, even though it is not at the very beginning of the book, it does (at present anyway) appear as part of the first section. I have also included the first part of the process of 'stepping into your power' using the Dare to Blossom Power Flower, which has some suggestions for reflection. I originally thought this process would be the main core of the book, but apparently the writing has other ideas.

If the new title sticks, I will be needing to change the caption on this photo. As you read on you will find several pieces, that may or may not appear in this order, or at all, in the book. The book will begin with the prose poem "Compass Rose Speaks", that I shared with you last month.



"Welcome, welcome to the first step, or more accurately, the next step, on your pathway to power. Each of us makes our own way, in our own way. I have learned through my meanderings – often seemingly in circles, maybe in spirals – that in all my searching I was simply finding my way home to myself.

Some of my story is scattered through this book, simply to illustrate how the ups and downs of each life are unique, and each in their own way universal.

This book is like a patchwork, an intricate pattern of pieces that may not seem to make sense until you step back and look from a distance, from a height, from a new perspective.

There are sections following the flow of the Dare to Blossom Power Flower process that I have been using with myself, in one to one coaching, and in groups for almost two years now, at the time of writing. Each part, each petal, contains some prompts you may choose to sit with for yourself, in quiet reflection or with your journal.

There are pieces from my meditations, my Magic Carpet Ride journeyings where I have received insights, messages, inspiration. All the things that others report receiving too when I act as their guide, their companion, on the visualisations.

And, there are memories. The most personal part of all, and, for me, the most challenging. Have you ever had that experience with a brother or sister, wife, husband or partner, when you are talking about the same event? You were both there, apparently experiencing the same thing, and yet your memories of it can be so, so different. Does this matter? Yes, it does in some circumstances, yes, very much so. And, in others, maybe not.

I am sensitive about not wanting to upset any of the people close to me in my life. And I am aware of not making my own memories ‘wrong’ in any way. Especially those from when I was a very small child. There are not many of them, and, naturally I suppose, most of them are of experiences that had a big impact on me.

My very earliest memory, and one I can date accurately, is of the day my baby brother was brought home from hospital. I was born roughly two years and five months before him, so this is a very early memory. The picture I see is of being allowed to hold him, sitting on the back seat of the car as my father drove us all home from the hospital. I clearly remember the feeling of love and astonishment, and of responsibility, at being allowed to hold this precious, tiny human being. Whether this happened or not, it is vibrantly alive as a memory for me.

The Pathway to Power

When I started this process for myself, many years ago now, ‘power’ would have been – was – a word that frightened me. I was frightened of many things. On reflection, many of those things could have been put under a heading of aspects of power, or of what I saw as that at the time.

Raised voices, especially angry ones. Especially male voices. Violence of any kind, even when not directed at me. Lies – I often was on the receiving end. I learned to use lies myself – something I am not proud of now. And the thought arises – how is a lie defined? Are there ‘grades’ of how bad a lie is? Rhetorical questions and ones that maybe trouble many of us. Those with power often use ‘lies’ to control. When they control access to information is that the same?

Going down that train of thought feels like descending into a dark pit of confusion. And, yes, all that, all those things, are present in the world.

I feel that I can choose, and if you are reading this you are too, a different form of power. As I grew up I discovered other ways – ones I am also now leaving behind. Through choice, and through natural aging – the power of being a physically attractive young woman is no longer available to me. I now know that the internal beauty of a person does not age, in fact just the opposite, it often shines all the more brightly as time goes on. I used to think that quiet people have no power. I have been learning that the opposite is true. Quiet power has deep strength.

The power I speak of, the power I wish to step into, the path I have chosen to follow, is of power within. Rejecting power over others. That power that wishes to dominate and control. The power that uses fear, raised voices, anger and violence. The power that needs to make others small and weak and powerless in order to believe in its own power. The power that tramples over people to get to the top and keeps them down-trodden.

Power within is different. It chooses to start within. To examine the heart. To connect with the good within each of us. We are each different. Yet, we each desire the same basic necessities: food, shelter, warmth, love. We each have the capacity to give and receive love if it is not frightened or frozen out of us by fear. And even then, there is the seed, the capacity there to love. It may need the most tender and hands-off nurturing in order to dare to even think about breaking out from tight in the bud; to dare to blossom is maybe be a step too far. At first.

When the power within does emerge, and is used in the collaborative, feminine way, it supports others: together we rise. Male or female, or however we may see ourselves: bringing a balance of yin and yang, feminine and masculine, action and reflection, allows the best of each to shine forth together.



The power that I invite you step into, gently and with ease and grace, is a quiet power. A power that can move mountains and change the world, one small step at a time. A practical power that helps us be true to ourselves and to operate from that place, at work, in our businesses, in relationships of all sorts.

A memory
I am young, five or six, I don’t remember exactly. I have been very ill, for what seems like a long time, with rheumatic fever. I am so weak that my mother has to carry me downstairs in the morning where I lie on a ‘day bed’. My little brother is able to run around and play outside, I am very envious. A doctor comes regularly to look at me and gives me injections with an enormous needle. One day our old cat climbs in the window above my bed and lands in the bowl of pudding I am eating. Very messy.

One night, I am alone and scared. I call out for my mother, but she doesn’t come, maybe she can’t hear me. I doze on and off, but I am sure I am awake when I hear a voice. It speaks to me, clearly, with a message. A message that is comforting and that is to influence me greatly later in my life.

If only I hadn’t forgotten that message for so many years. Or, maybe that was the way it was meant to be. In the same way that as babies we come into the world forgetting where we are from and how we come to be here.

I don’t know when I forgot hearing the message and the words the voice spoke to me. It was a very long time before I recalled even hearing the voice. When I did I was frustrated for quite a few more years by not remembering the words.

Eventually, after some difficult times, which proved to also contain gifts that transformed my life, I did remember one day, in a meditation.

The words are: “You are safe my child.”

At first I heard the voice as a deep one, and wondered who it was, assuming I suppose that it was someone outside myself - God, Jesus, an angel? Later, I came to the realisation that - for me - the voice is from my higher self, the source of my inner wisdom, and of my power. From my connection with the energy of all that is, the source, of which I am a part.

My journey home to myself has been made possible through connecting deeply through dreams and visualisations. The experience I will share with you next has been a touchstone in all my work since, and took place at least three years ago, probably four.

A Journeying meditation

“Starting in ‘reality’, I am outside, on our roof terrace in the sunshine. I am surrounded by the timber of the walls and decking, warm wood. As I enter into my meditation I find myself walking. Walking away from a group of women, a circle. They are following me with their eyes as I go. I hear no sounds, yet I know they are calling me back, asking me to return and re-join the circle.

I hesitate: I look at the path ahead, it looks inviting. I look back. I see the love and companionship offered there. I know I have a part to play in the circle, that without me the company of women there is incomplete. Without me the beauty of the tapestry that can be created will be missing a stitch. The power of the collaboration will be diluted.

I turn and walk back towards the waiting women. I am greeted warmly, and before I re-join the circle, two of the women lead me into one of the tents, that surround the fire pit. It is dark inside as I enter, my eyes taking a moment to adjust. Waiting to greet me is a wise elder, an older woman. She smiles, and holds up her hands, palms outwards.

Two steps…. Raising my hands, I place my palms against hers. An energy passes between us, we gaze into each other’s eyes, into the windows of the soul. (In my physical ‘real’ world, I am placing my hands against the sun-warmed wood, this meditation has been a moving one, literally, with me moving my body around, as well as emotionally.)

The wise woman embraces me warmly. As she does this I realise that we are becoming one, we are merging ourselves, our selves, together. I have become the wise elder woman.

The two women, my two tribe sisters, lead me outside to the awaiting circle, where I take my place and we dance gently around the fire in a circle dance, sharing the warmth of our hands and the connection of our eyes and our hearts. I have come home. And I have stepped up to celebrate my years in this life and share my wisdom in a way that allows others to grow and blossom.”

A note from my experience: when I began this process, my inner critic would keep popping up laughing cruelly at my lack of imagination: magic carpets. Native American guides. Walled gardens. Later I realised that all these images and more are universal archetypes from myth and legend going back to the days of purely oral storytelling. The familiarity of them is a way to help me understand the messages they may bring.

Step One: Peace – where is your sweet quiet centre point? Grounding, balancing.

The centre of the flower, the grounding place. The place from which the petals unfurl. Botanically, the centre is the place where the pollination takes place and the fruit begins to grow and develop. Within the fruit, the seeds of the new generation of plants - and so the cycle goes on.



As part of the Stepping into Your Power process, having a strong centre feels essential to me. Until I realised this, I see now, many of my efforts to step out were taken from shaky ground. And that meant if I felt a wobble or uncertainty, I had nothing to come back to, nothing to anchor me.

It may seem obvious to me now - but it has taken a long journey to come to this realisation, and to then begin to build that strong foundation within myself. Not depending on others. Being strong and secure; standing steady in my own being.

This doesn't mean not asking for help. Being able to do this has been crucial for me. This has taken a serious of steps. Finding where that help may be, and who from. Finding who I felt safe asking for help. And, then being able to ask even when I did not feel safe. Being able to understand and cope with rejection if it did happen, whilst being secure in the knowing that all is well. That maybe what my immediate response perceived as 'rejection' was in fact the 'help' I was asking for, a message for me.

For me, I feel it is crucial to find that grounded centre point, that strong, peaceful foundation of self and soul, before I begin stepping out, stepping into my power, unfurling the first petal.

Does that resonate for you? How would you describe that feeling of having a secure anchor in a storm? One that is truly sound.

At various times in my life I have felt I have found that, and then my experience felt as if it gave way, the anchor turned out not to be sound. Maybe I had set it on insecure ground.

Is that part of our travel through this life? The process of coming home to ourselves, of rediscovering our inner wisdom, is that one of testing our anchoring points and finding them over and over, coming back more and more truly to our essence?

Exercise:
What does Peace mean to you?

Begin with finding that peace that comes when you sit with your breath and deepen into it. Breathe it deeply in, down into your belly and spreading throughout your body. Hold for as long as is comfortable - no forcing here. Notice the peace in that moment, in that space, that gap between in and out breaths.

Breathe out slowly and luxuriously, feeling the tension flow out of your body. Pause again at the end of the out breath, noticing the peace, the space.

Return to that whenever you remember through your day, your week.

Journaling exercise for a spare moment - even if you have no time to write, the prompts will be working for you.

• Write about 'Finding Peace'.
• What does peace mean to you?
• Where are your favourite places to find it?
• What are your favourite ways of accessing peace?
• When you can't seem to find 'peace', how do you feel? How can you be OK with that?
• How can you find your way back to peace in the midst of a busy life?

If you own a pack of the Dare to Blossom Rediscovery Cards (or any other cards you enjoy using to access your inner wisdom), it is a valuable additional exercise to draw a card, or more than one, for each part of the flower as we reach it. Write about your first responses to the card, the word or words on it, the colour or design. Do this before reading any words written in a guide or companion book.

For me, 'Peace' often appears in surprising ways and unexpected places. As well as the obviously 'peaceful' times, I find it in a crowded train; when driving on busy roads; when my husband has the television on loud. I find it in my heart and in reaching out to others through my heart to theirs.

How does your own Peace centre point work for you? Does it feel ready to be the foundation for you to grow? To step out, to begin to truly stand in your self and to discover what your purpose will be? And, 'purpose' may not be a grand, whole lifetime sort of purpose. This works on many levels.

Maybe, right now, your purpose is simply to be? To be you, to be here, to be enough. Maybe for life, this is your purpose? To get up tomorrow morning and begin a new day. Taking one small step at a time. Finding your way gently and gradually as you move forward into the unknown. To be Peace. To be in Peace."
 

So - there is a taste of the new book: I know there will be plenty of change before the final version emerges ready to publish. In due course I will be looking for people to read a final draft, and write reviews for the book. Let me know if you would like to do that for me.

Inspirational video

When thinking more deeply about how to write more of my memories, I encountered one of those rocks, those boulders. In many of my memories, there is an element of what - eventually - I realised is shame. Parts of me, those 14 year old, 16, 18, twenties, thirties, forties, fifties.... and onward through the years... those parts of me are in some way ashamed. I will be sitting with each of those parts, and giving them some tender loving care. Asking them gently to explore with me, the things - whether that I did or that I experienced from others - those things that bring that feeling.

Then I realised that this is not just my experience, many of us (all of us?) feel the same at times. So I returned to the work of Brene Brown. As you may know she is an academic researcher, a writer and inspirational speaker. On vulnerability, and shame, and 'daring greatly'.

Here is a very short video clip of Brene with Oprah. Very clear and simple, to paraphrase: Shame thrives on secrecy, silence, and judgement. The ways to combat shame are to: Talk to yourself as to someone you love. Reach out to someone you trust. Tell your story. She also has many other talks online, here is a TED talk from 2012.

I have also found another piece of hers about choosing who you share with, and this has given me a pause for thought. Where is the balance point for me I wonder? More to explore and reflect upon as I write.

One final piece, this time on how joy can be terrifying and the antidote to that being practising gratitude.

Ways to connect and Dare to Blossom

Simply a short summary this month, follow the links for more details on anything you are drawn to explore.

The next workshop in Cornwall is on 15th September, bookings are already coming in, so do contact me if you are intending to join us.

There are still coaching slots available at the half price offer until the end of August, the regular details are here, to take up the offer you will need to contact me direct, or simply book your complimentary consultation.

Or for a real laser boost, the Burst into Bloom Summer Special is here (20 minutes for £20)

Finally, why not experience your own Root and Branch Listening. Tthere is no time commitment for this offering as it is all done remotely, so if the summer holidays are so busy you can't possible book anything this may be perfect for you.

New art commission, and summer art sale

I was delighted to receive a commission from Cas Smirthwaite recently, and a little daunted, as she is a talented and experienced artist and graphic designer (through her business Flying Lizard Design, she created my logo as you see at the head of this email, and the banner stand and hangings I use at shows.)

So, when she gave me a free hand, simply saying she likes the purples and pinks I use and had an idea of a bird or birds flying - I accepted and relaxed into enjoying the challenge. As we are live quite close together geographically, we were able to meet half way for coffee so I could deliver the finished painting in person.



This photograph cannot really do justice to the glow and sheen of the wax, and the silver flashes I was able to incorporate into the wings of the flying birds. I am pleased to say that Cas loves her special piece, here are her words:

 "It truly is a beautiful piece and really evocative. I never expected life coaching sessions with you to lead me where they have and as a consequence I was inspired to take my career in a direction that I hadn't really thought of before. Your coaching sessions really enabled me to think more creatively and these birds in flight sum up the feeling of letting your imagination and your dreams take flight instead of letting yourself be stuck in a rut with your feet bogged down on the ground. I'll be able to look at your artwork and remember all the things we talked about and why I'm taking the exciting road rather than the safe (and boring) one I was on." 

If you are interested in my art, there are original pieces and some prints, plus cards available on my website. At the moment I am offering £10 reduction on any of the original paintings there. Please contact me if you see one you would like to buy, as the sale price is not available on the website and the postage and packing cost will depend upon where you are in the world.

This painting is also in the sale, too new to have made it to the website as yet. Normally £50, sale price £40, the painting is 6" x 8", mount 8" x 10", cellophane wrapped to protect it until you choose a frame. (Or enjoy it simply resting on a shelf as it is as I often do.)



Of course if you would like to commission your own piece, that would be wonderful. Either reply to this email or via the contact form on the website to open the conversation about what you would like to see hanging in a special spot on your wall.
 

Thank you dear friends for visiting with me again this month and sharing my musings.

Until next time,

with love,
Mary

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