Author Archives: Andrea

What has been a significant defining moment in your life?

Mark Tietig 1983 aboard La Calma

Mark Tietig 1983 aboard La Calma

On Facebook, my spiritual brother Jeffery Stone asked a great question: “I’ve been pondering life and my journey, thinking about how I am defined by my life experiences and those moments that molded my character. I thought about how so many things could have worked out quite differently had things not changed on a dime or been different by a mere  two degrees … good, bad or indifferent …   So I’d like to ask that you think about and share what you feel has been a significant defining moment in your own lives … I know that we all have so many ...”  GREAT QUESTION! After pondering, I shared, “In 1983, I went on a 3 month sailing trip from Miami, FL to Anapolis, MD with a friend who’d been blinded in a sailing accident four years earlier. Afraid of the ocean and being near large submerged objects, it was a daily test for me of faith and trust. It culminated in me doing something I would never have considered doing months earlier: My blind friend set out on a solo sail with his guide dog using his 33′ Cheoy Lee sailboat’s voice feature for the satellite navigation system. We’d be filming from a boat behind him. I was on the crew that sailed him out of Government Cut in Miami, the channel out to open sea. Once in open waters, we transferred on to the other boat. That means standing on the very bow of the boat, about 3 feet away from the other boat, and waiting for the waves to sync up before jumping onto the second boat, without falling into the deep ocean in between. Continue reading →

Always hold an umbrella for a mom with kids

Coming out of the market I saw a young mom with 2 kids in tow and a cart full of groceries going out to her car in the rain. I ran over and held the umbrella while she got kids in their seats and bags in the car. What a blessing to be able to do that. Talk about Grace falling like rain. I live for little stuff like that.

A lazy, rainy Thursday

97% humidity, 72 degrees, it’s cozy inside, eating hot bowls of potato and roasted pepper soup for lunch while watching the rain fall in the garden and drip off the leaves. The MiniCow is in her basket on the little round table.  I couldn’t be more content.  Thank you to Whoever made that happen. And yes, I know I helped.

I take a day off to lounge in bed. Well, almost.

I rearranged the master bedroom Tuesday night.  I didn’t set out to.  I was vacuuming when I decided to wash the window sheers and the several wall hangings I use to make up my Arabian Nights harem canopy for the bed.  I moved the bed around, moved three chairs out of the room, moved one back in, night stands out of the shed and placed on either side of the bed, a variety of lamps and lighting: red, amber, 25w and 60 watt white. I’m mega sensitive to light so I like to have choices.  The room measures 15 x 20 and the bookcases lining the walls have my astrology, tarot and divination books in them. This is a good room to study in. There are now lamps at each sitting station. I like to keep my room as my sanctuary, it’s the only room in the house I am not reminded of the office. I often feel as though I’m on vacation when I spend time in my bedroom.  It reminds me of being at a hotel the day before a conference, relaxing, skipping the opening night dinner to catch some alone time. It feels deliciously self indulgent. Continue reading →

I move my furniture a lot because I like changing it up

I have a habit of rearranging the furniture pretty often. A friend mentioned that constantly rearranging furniture is known as an obsessive compulsive disorder trait, a way to avoid confronting problems and facing anxiety and fear head on. That may be, except I’m not aware of any problems or anxieties. I think I do it as part of my process of changing things up to keep my mind engaged and the energy flowing.  I Googled to see what was being said to see if it applied to me.  Not really.  I don’t do it to restore order and symmetry, I do it to freshen my environment and keep the energy flowing. The nature of my work is that I speak with many people each day and walk beside them through troubled times. I always do a cleanse and release after each session to wipe the slate clean so to speak.  Changing up the furniture is great for doing that. I also think of it as a relaxing activity, like when my partner plays the piano for a little while each day, just to have fun doing it. So,  OCD? Nah, I just like keeping myself on my toes.

I dreamed I got calls from a Craigslist ad and got them the next day

I dreamed two nights ago that someone put my cell phone number on a phony Craigslist ad and I began getting harassing calls. Yesterday I get a text from a guy in Muskegon, MI asking the height of the chairs I have for sale on Craigslist. Their area code is 231, mine is 321.  I called the number today using a 231 area code and got the guy who placed the ad.  I told him I’d gotten a text and to check his ad.  So how did I get the info a day ahead of time that it was going to happen? And see how the brain incorrectly translated the info since it was going through my own subconscious filters?  Someone mentioned Craigslist just two days before. I’d had harassing calls earlier this year. I didn’t think it was related. I went to forward the text to him and my phone kept correcting the number and sending it to me at my 321 area code.  The phone clearly thought I was typing it wrong.  I had to create a new contact listing for him before the text would send to him and not me.  I can’t help but wonder if there’s more to the story.  I’ll keep you posted.

RELATED — LINKS TO MORE DREAMS:      Continue reading →

I try to open files from the wrong program…

I went to open the January magazine and I couldn’t find the file.  Not only could I not find that file, I couldn’t find any of my Adobe InDesign magazine files. None of them.  I could see all the pdf files, but my main files were not listed. WTF? I decided to open it from the external drive.  It wasn’t there either!  None of the files could be found, none of them.  I was surprisingly calm, considering I’d have to create the entire January magazine from scratch. But I could do it in one afternoon. As soon as I realized how easy it would be, I realized that I was in the wrong program.  I was not in Adobe InDesign, I was in Adobe Photoshop. I didn’t see the entire list of files on the drive because it was showing me only those files I could open in Photoshop, my jpgs and pdfs. I had to laugh.  As soon as I realized there was no problem, my awareness expanded and I immediately saw clearly what I’d done. Continue reading →

Typical Florida

1-11Mid-November and while it’s a balmy 77 degrees, it’s 86% humidity so the a/c just went on.  Gotta love living in the sub tropics.

No kids = no holiday hassles

Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, looking forward to them this year = my bf has no kids. Yep, I lucked out and found the holy grail, yo!  A galpal reminds me that for some, kids ARE the holy grail 🙂  To each their own.