Oshun Spirit has a New Facebook Fan Page and Storefront... and Contest!

Oshun Spirit Earth Friendly Goods has a new face on Facebook! 

As many of you know, I accidentally deleted the old fan page a few months ago while working on the Journey Beads Netcarnation storefront. I never quite got around to setting up a new page until yesterday, when Highwire announced their new Highwire Commerce application for Facebook that allowed me to embed my store directly on my Facebook profile and fan pages.

The storefront functions exactly as the http://www.oshunspirit.net website does, and uses the same easy-to-navigate and secure shopping cart you all are familiar with, but also offers you the convenience of shopping Oshun Spirit without leaving Facebook.

I hope that you will take a moment and become a fan of the new page. By doing so, you'll always be among the first to know of Oshun Spirit sales and promotions, special events, and new programs or services.

And if you're not yet a fan of Journey Beads, I hope you'll join our Facebook Fan Page there, too!

As an added incentive, when you become a fan of Oshun Spirit Earth Friendly Goods   you'll automatically be entered into a drawing to win this beautiful 16-bead Tachyon Chakra Balancing Bracelet from Journey Beads!

All fans registering today, August 25 thru Tuesday August 31 will be automatically entered. The drawing will be held on September 1, and the winner will be announced on Facebook! Good luck, and thank you!

Respect and trust: an ecommerce business model to consider

Tomorrow marks my two year anniversary selling on Bonanzle. I joined Bonanzle while still in beta, along with a few dozen hearty refugees from ebay, all of us willing to build a new online marketplace venue which valued community in ways we watched ebay fall short on.

Two years later, although many fun features have been added, some key elements are still left wanting and they create real barriers to sales. Despite ongoing functionality issues I have had some success there albeit was a frustrating experience for many of my long-time customer friends and especially for my international clientele. I no longer keep merchandise there in my Oshun Spirit store, but I do maintain a storefront in which I offer a few services. In my heart of hearts, I wish nothing but the best for the community of sellers there, especially the dedicated few who are also celebrating their two year marks in late August and in September.

All in all, my experience at Bonanzle has been extremely positive: I have made great –lifelong– friends and I have learned e-commerce marketing skills that have been transferable to my own website and to  other venues. But one day I realized that it was time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change and that wishing for something to happen was different from working toward making it happen. 

I decided to be true to my truth and to take care of myself and my business first...

I began reassessing and redefining who I am and what I really stand for. I believe that it is truly in giving that we receive, and that there is powerful joy in creating and contributing. But I also stand firm in my conviction that principles such as honesty and integrity are not outdated ideals but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which I must build my business, and my life.

And why I closed my shop on ebay...

We all deserve to be treated with kindness, sensitivity and respect... and I won't settle for less for myself than I give to others. It's called sustainability. I now take more time to laugh and to play. It's called balance. I will cater to the needs and desires and the convenience of my customers. It's called service.

Yes indeed, all in all, my experience has been extremely positive: I have learned great –lifelong– lessons. I have turned my attention to my own website and other endeavors which are in alignment with my own values.  It's called good business, right livelihood, and as an eco-friendly, socially-mindful venture I can be nothing less.

So as I reflect on my two year anniversary selling on Bonanzle I'm not sure we did what we set out to do at all, but we did build an awesome community of professionals that value each other, no matter where we are all selling now. It's not the venue, but the values that bind. We're still talking on Facebook, tweeting each other's treasures, and shopping from friends we've grown to love, respect, and trust.

Respect and trust. A powerful business model, don't you agree? I know who you are and you know me, because we've been very open about our values. I love that about you, you speak your mind. And so I trust you, and I'll support you. And to that end, I promise to keep my chin up, shoulders back, boobies out, and work joyfully with others who share my ethics and ideals, I'll stay open to every wonderful possibility. And there are many, I see!

And, I am very, very thankful.

May you also be blessed!

Ask and you shall receive!

 

“The world is full of genies waiting to grant your wishes.”

The quote above by Percy Ross describes a profound fact, and that which Christ expressed as a natural law; the Universe responds to those who ask.

“Seek and you shall find. Ask and you shall receive."  

If  you are not receiving maybe that is because you’re not asking. Not really.

In my day to day encounters with clients, I have discovered that most problems that exist in relationships, and around career and abundance issues, arise because we're afraid the person we’re asking will say no.  I might point out to you that it’s a little silly to be afraid that you’re not going to get what you want if you ask... because you are already not getting what you want!

Without asking you already have nothing. What are you afraid of?  Who cares if you don’t get it when you ask for it, because, before you ask for it, you don’t have it anyway. So there’s really nothing to be afraid of.

Another reason for people not asking for what they want is they are afraid that they are unworthy of it.

The solution is to make yourself worthy.

I am reminded of this by my dogs everyday. I will be busy working and suddenly a tennis ball will be dropped on my lap, or a paw laid on my arm to coax my fingers off the keyboard and move behind the ear. I'll hear the jingle of collars and leashes being pulled off the pegs by the back door and within a few seconds all three of them will be in my office ready to go! They live by the principle that it never hurts to ask.  

It is essential to realize that we can't reach our goals without the help of others. Therefore, we must ask them for their help. True, we may not get what we ask for, but we will never get what we don’t ask for!

You can prepare the way by following another universal law, which is, “You only receive what you give away.” In other words, before you can expect others to respond favorably to your requests, you have to willingly cooperate with those asking for your help.  

Be loyal, trustworthy, generous and kind. This sets in motion relationships and networks that are predisposed to help you because you are worthy of it.

To maximize your chances of success, here are some pointers to keep in mind.

• Make your need and desire for help a request, not a demand. Accept refusals graciously. Thank them for their consideration. Show gratitude for help; show understanding when it is not offered.
Make reasonable requests, don’t ask someone to do what you are not willing to do for them.

• Don’t try to get what you want by manipulation. Don't use fear tactics, passive aggressive action, and don’t try to make the other party feel guilty for refusing. Don’t ask for advice or suggestions if all you want is to have someone agree with your preconceptions.

• Don’t ask others to do what you can do without their help. Show some initiative. Don’t beg God, or make deals with the Devil. God helps those who help themselves, use your prayers for prayers of thanksgiving, and don't compromise your personal ethics.

• Remain committed to your goals and don’t get discouraged when your requests for help are turned down. You will never lose if you never quit. Just keep trying. Your efforts will be rewarded, sometimes in ways that are not immediately obvious!

Asking for what you want doesn’t mean you will get everything you ask for. But it does mean you will get more out of life. More love, more joy, more belly rubs, more walks and games of fetch.

Today, enjoy the many rewards that are yours just for the asking!

May you be blessed!

image credit: yattermatters.com

Yes, You can go home again!

Yes, you can go home again!

The phrase, "You can't go home again" comes at the end of the story... when protagonist George Webber realizes, "You can't go back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time — back home to the escapes of time and memory..."

“You can’t go home again” has entered our speech to mean that after you have left your backwater town for a sophisticated metropolis, you can’t return to the narrow confines of your previous way of life, and, more generally, attempts to relive the old days will always fail.

Wrong, George, you are mistaken.

Rewind to 1997. As a newly-minted Reiki Master I was blessed with a vibrant local practice which included teaching, a growing clientele,  a well-respected voice on several prestigeous Alternative and Integrative Medicine Boards, and a retail line of quality aromatherapy oils, salts, Feng Shui cures and hand crafted soy and coconut oil soaps that I offered to my clients at office visits. I was intuitive, helpful, and appreciated.

From this practice I entered the non-profit arena with the dream of doing really good work, I wrote grants, became a keynote speaker for hire, and founded a holistic wellness center for at-risk kids and their families. I networked with Juvenile Justice, Mental Health Providers, and the Health Education Network. I had the Midas Touch. I was careful to stay academic, scientific, using best-practice protocols, and results-oriented strategies yet creativity and abundance flowed. Life was good.

Then I had this recurring dream that I should offer my psychic services on ebay. First the dolphins came to me. Then my grandmother. Then Abraham Lincoln (I kid you not). But he got my attention. Working as a professional out-of-the-closet-psychic seemed to be too far of a stretch for this business woman working with kids, the courts, the MDs...

Too out there. But the dreams found their way into conversations, converstations into experiences, experiences into referrals, referrals into a full-time occupation. I was a professional psychic.  I knew there was a huge metaphysical marketplace on ebay. I put up a listing for a Motherpeace Tarot Reading. Just as Abe suggested. I was booked weeks out within the month.

I was incredibly busy, and profitable. I supported international relief organizations, funded sustainable living initiatives in third world countries, spent months studying with indigenous elders and working with dolphins. I saw fewer and fewer local clients, and instead offered distance healing modalities which could be purchased online. I added my oils, salts and soaps... textiles, enegeticaly-enhanced jewelry, channeled art. More readings, and courses of metaphysical study and private counseling. Oshun Spirit Dancing!

Life was very, very, good!

Fastforward to 2010. With several online storefronts, and a greatly expanded product line and scope of services, a dotcom, a dotnet, and a bead business... I spent my days tweeting, posting, optimizing, adding attributes, keywords, and all the while struggling to work around and finally troubleshoot the horrific functionality issues of a start-up venue I had invested way too much time and effort in... I wasn't living my dream any more.

I was compromising my ethics, my integrity, my Spirit. I was caught in a web. And, I wasn't having fun. So I packed up the tent and put the goods in the wagon. And I went home.

Home is a beautiful lakeside community tucked between Lake Winnipeasukee and Lake Wentworth and the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I left the sophisticated metropolis of ecommerce and  analytics and the failed shipping profiles which I abandoned and left rusting at a ranch in the valley and went home to my Adirondak-style lodge on the lake. (Yes I walked through the valley and feared not the evil!)

I came home to the local non-profits, the programs for kids, family services, the conservation organizations, and the education network. I offered my experience, my creativity, my abundance... and the bead business.

I had some fun. I made some bracelets. I reconnected with my roots, and I raised thousands of dollars for my little backwater community in just a few weeks. I had fun. I shipped nothing... instead, reaching across the table I'd press a bracelet into a human hand, send a little spark of light, and whole-heartedly say, "thank you, wear it in good health and in happiness."

I remembered who I am. I remembered what I do. Oshun Spirit Dancing!

And I'm booked several weeks out.

May you be blessed!

visit http://www.wix.com/suberry/JourneyBeads

Leveraging the law of attraction by observing the law of vibration

Universal laws are unwavering principles observed in the natural world, within the human mind throughout time, and through interpersonal relations. These laws or basic truths can help guide you in your pursuit of fulfillment and abundance... and will certainly guarantee your undoing should you fail to understand them.

Science has proven that the entire universe is vibrating energy. Solids like ice, liquids like water, gases like steam, wave forms like thought, sound and electricity, it's all energy vibrating at a particular frequency.

Vibrations of a similar nature tend to harmonize with one-another: like attracts like in the vibratory realm. The nature of the vibration held by an object or event determines many things, including the density and behavior, and the likely future of the phenomenon.  When a phenomenon shifts its vibration in any way, the supporting energies also change, and the future probabilities are also shifted.

Your thoughts and feelings determine your dominant vibration and the vibration of your creation(s). Your emotions and intentions will always indicate whether or not your vibration is  of a high or low frequency.

The results you get, whether positive or negative, are what you have helped to manifest. One key concept to better understanding manifestation and to being able to use it more proactively is the cycle of observation. By virtue of this cycle, you are co-creating your world based on what you passively observe and acknowledge. Continued exposure to low energy people and attitudes will bring you down. Surround yourself with those who bring out the best in you, and you will be your best!

This means even without focused intention we continue to build our reality on a moment-by-moment basis. Much of the time our vibration is determined by passive observation. So for many people it is possible that reality gets manifested based not on focused intent, but on casual observations that occur in each moment. This is why so many people complain about a life they claim not to want and insist that manifestation is not working for them. In fact most people seem to be stuck in this mode by default.

We attract the people, events, ideas, and moods that are in alignment with our vibrations. We repel or are repulsed by that which are not harmonious. In other words, what we think continuously about and feel strongly about and are surrounded with will become part of our reality as we contribute to the phenomenon's growth.

By observing and controlling your thoughts and actions, and choosing only to entertain the emotions that serve your highest purpose, you can use universal laws to bring ideal experiences to you. The law of attraction is a secondary law that functions in accordance with the law of vibration. Therefore to use law of attraction effectively you must always be aware of the vibration you are sending into the world.

To leverage law of attraction in your favor be sure to pay attention to your emotions. Any time you catch yourself dwelling on anger, fear, disappointment, and so forth immediately shift to the closest positive emotion. You may not be able to leap from despair to complete optimism, but you can make a minor adjustment and take on the feelings of hope and possibility; from here you can shift again and again until you arrive at the ideal emotional state.

In this manner you will keep yourself in the emotional state for drawing the positive experiences you want into your life. All things have a purpose. And all of life has meaning. And change is good. May you be blessed!

“After the storm comes the stillness. After the heavy rain, there is growth. 

After the unpleasant changes, there will be greater activity, greater success.”

– Master Choa Kok Sui

image credit: rassouli.blogspot.com