Thinking Blossoms

The Must-Have Book for Wealthy Authors This Christmas

My friends and publishers, Debbie Jenkins and Joe Gregory, are doing a special Christmas launch with
over £150 of bonuses when you buy just one copy of their new book - The Wealthy Author - before Friday 18th December 2009.

http://www.publishingacademy.com/122-10-5-13.html

For just £15 (or $25) you'll get a print copy of their acclaimed book, Free access to Publishing Academy for 30 days and loads of bonus content, ebooks and resources all authors and budding authors will love.

http://www.publishingacademy.com/122-10-5-13.html

I won't say any more here, other than they've also limited this launch to the first 200 people to buy because they want to ensure all their new customers are well looked after.

If you're interested then Debbie has a personal message for you with instructions here... http://www.publishingacademy.com/122-10-5-13.html

Note: Debbie and Joe asked me personally to share this message with my contacts so, if you get a message like this more than once congratulations! You're moving in the right social circles!

Making Changes in a Business

Well, rather light on the blogs aren't you lately Judy?

What have I been doing?  All sorts of things really, domestic things and business things, being just as busy as many people I know, sometimes too busy. When I get too busy I get little 'emails' from my body telling me to slow down. When I answer them by slowing down it's great.

My inner life of questions, thoughts and imaginations has been very busy. There was a lot to digest from the Hippocrates Health Institute experience and there are so many possiblities for how I develop my business. The chrysalis phase lasted longer than I expected and in some ways I'm still in it.  I dream things up about how my business will be and then the thoughts and imaginations change further. So I have to be patient and wait for things to take form, just as the butterfly in the photo (Conwy Butterfly Jungle - click to enlarge) had to wait before it was ready and strong enough to break out and emerge.

A lot is about to emerge, and it's very exciting!

Sometimes it can be good to make an abrupt change  from one distinct form of business to another, but that hasn't felt right to me. It's been more about how to incorporate what I've been learning in with what I've already been doing in my business in such a way that people can find me and take up renewed and new offers easily.

So here's a question for you ....  If you are in a chrysalis what kind of butterfly do you want to be?

You might have dreamed up one way of developing your business that seems just right and then with further thought and imagination something more magnificent can happen.See post I'm sending in the next few days.....

Allowing time for Change.

Well, my nine weeks in the Florida sunshine were wonderful, full of wonder at the diversity of life and what is possible with a rich variety of people who are ready to improve their lives and the lives of others. I'm home again now in Edinburgh and chose the best time of year to arrive back, with bulb flowers in bloom and the trees coming into leaf. I even managed to arrive on a day when it was warm enough to sit out in the garden in tee shirts so it was an easy and happy transition.

It's taken a week to really 'land' though and my thoughts are often with the people, place and learnings where I've just been. Here's me smiling out of the undergrowth by the lake on one of the last evenings (Click on photo to enlarge):

  It's interesting that, isn't it, being in one situation and feeling so close to another. In no sense have I lost those experiences but rather they have enriched this next phase of life. It took a while to make the transition. Partly that was about weathering jetlag and catching up with the million and one things that were waiting for my attention, but it was more about making changes based on what I'd been learning and starting to get a clearer sense of what that will mean in practice in my work.

Time to climb out of a rather comfortable chrysalis among the leaves and to tell you a bit more....

Thinking about fresh food.

This photo was actually taken in Conwy at the seed fair last autumn and it's of a tabletop that was decorated by anyone who wanted to join in, using fresh produce in a 'harvest festival' gesture - but I've chosen it because I keep thinking about fresh food! Why? I'm about to set off to the Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida and I'm thinking about the beautiful and lovely food I'll be eating there, all those lovely bright colours and interesting tastes - prepared by someone other than me!!

I'm busy packing and organising and ticking things off my list and don't have anything to blog about really, except to tell you to look back here soon for news of a wonderful June 'Creative Soul' workshop I'm running with my friend Eric Maddern in a magical venue, Cae Mabon, hidden in North Wales among trees.

And no doubt my next photos here will be of the exotic flora of Florida. In the daily company of interesting new people from around the world I'm sure I'll have plenty of 'thinking blossoms' to bring you.

Wishing you joy as the spring unfolds,  Judy

What do you have to develop to bring you into your fullness?

Hazel catkins, some in full blossom and  some unfolding, beautiful, uplifting, bringing lightness of heart. That's the beauty of the seasons, the gradual little changes. It's the changing of the seasons that's the miracle and it goes far beyond a simple division into four. A couple of weeks back I wasn't ready for spring but now I am, spring has sprung as they say. I'm enjoying the daily discoveries as bulbs come up and other blossoms, such as these catkins, start to appear. I took the hazel photo in Devon -that's the river Tavy in the background - which is considerably further ahead than us in Scotland, and warmer I might add.

And now I'm taking a bigger leap forward by setting off to Florida in just over a week to rest, eat, learn, exercise and play in good company for nine weeks at the Hippocrates Institute www.hippocrateshealthinstitute.com for their Health Educator Program. It's a very exciting prospect and it will be interesting to discover how I'll weave the learnings into my coaching, writing and workshops. I already know a great deal about healthy food and natural health generally but it's mostly been in my own life rather than obvious in my work. So this course, through learning more and affirming and developing what I already know, feels as if it will provide missing pieces in my jigsaw.

And, back to catkins, here's a catkins metaphor. The time in Florida is to help me unfurl what I know is already there ready for unfurling.(click on photo to enlarge)

Which brings me to a big question for you. What do you have to develop and learn to bring you into your fullness in your personal and professional life? That's an important question, and for some it may be THE important question. It may be a question you carry around for a while or, as with me and my decision to go on this particular course in Florida, there may be instant recognition and a fast decision when the opportunity arises. For more on quick decisions look in my book list at 'Blink'

I'll be posting here during my time in Florida so do drop by to see what I'm up to. (and I'll be keeping up with coaching clients by phone)

No doubt there will be plenty of plant life to photograph, that's when I'm not busy eating wonderful food, talking and sitting around the pool, sigh........

Happy Christmas

Wishing you Joy. 

Wherever you are, whatever you are up to, whoever you are with, I'm wishing you joy, peace and hope.

For some it's a stressful time, money, relationships, the future..... but can we stop, pause and find the joy in life just as it is? Do whatever we can do personally to create peace? And hope, find little light-rays of hope, gestures of friendliness? Notice signs of change in ourselves and in life around us?

I like the long Christmas, the Christmas time that carries on through to Epiphany on January 6th, the day that marks the arrival of the three Kings with their gifts. Not feasting all the way that is, but enjoying relaxed times and inward times pondering. Epiphany, an interesting word and one worth exploring.

I'm writing this in an internet cafe so there's no photo, but I'll add some lovely frosty ones soon.

Wishing you well.

:-) Judy

Back to my on-line life!

At last after about a month I put pen to paper and am moving back into my on-line life by blogging again!

All the activities and changes involved with moving house to a different country - to Scotland from Wales - might have made interesting reading but the doing of it all didn't leave any time. Anyway, I've been busy sorting, doing, organising, saying goodbyes and hellos, thinking, planning choosing.... and not writing and reflecting much. It just wasn't the time for that.

I have taken a few photos though, such as this one of Colinton Dell in Edinburgh. I think I took it on the day autumn turned into winter when a bit of sunshine was shining back from the leaves (click on photo to enlarge). There's rich green moss on the wall and so much water rushing along to the sea. And me? What was I up to? I felt very small in comparison with all that volume of moving water, so much rushing change. I was a step back, walking at my own pace along the path. I was taking my time, stopping to look and walking along, getting used to being here.

So that's a pleasant thought as I re-start blogging, taking one's own time.

On the move!

Another glorious dawn photo (click on photo to enlarge), taken by a quiet pond up in the mountains near the home I am leaving. One nice thing about dawn is that one doesn't really know what the day holds. I'm nearing the dawn of a new phase in life.

I'm busy packing up ready to move back to Edinburgh in mid November. I might not be in blog-writing mode for a little while.  I'll be concentrating on other aspects of life, right now on practical aspects - putting things in boxes, ticking off lists and saying some adieus.

It's a bit hectic but I'm really enjoying the transition, appreciating the last times here - who wouldn't with such lovely weather in such an incredibly beautiful corner of the earth?

And I'm enjoying anticipating what the future may hold in Edinburgh.

With telephone coaching  there won't be much of a gap. I'll be able to take on new clients again quite soon so please do get in touch by email if you are wondering what difference your very own life coach might make, wherever in the world you live , to your life in 2008.....

I'm planning a couple of workshops back in North Wales next year, and early in the year a 'How to Lead Lively Workshops' weekend in London. (look back in this blog for mo0re about 'How to Lead Lively Workshops.' Please get in touch if the London workshop interests you as I'm busy considering dates.

And who knows what I'll get up to in Edinburgh. I know there will be plenty to point a camera at with so many parks, gardens and walks to choose from. No doubt I'll be finding exotic blooms in the Botanical Gardens even at Hogmanay, and writing about it.

A New History of Success

Well,it's very nice knowing that today is Good Question Day: it's exciting. It's building success for everyone who takes advantage of the day's offer, for all the wonderful people who have contributed to the book and for me. That's why I call it 'generosity marketing'. It's not merely win-win, but win-win-win-win-win, that's me, my publishers, the contributors, you, and whoever benefits from what the book and gift-recipients get up to as a result of all this learning and success-building! And it can be win-win-win-win-win-win if you can pass the offer on to more people please by sending them this link: www.goodquestionday.com !!

And, if you are interested in what my publishers and I have been up to to create this one day event for reasons of your own, sign up for my newsletter and I'll send out a newsletter telling you more.

The photo here is of Vicky Parker, a true artist both with flowers and with pen-and-paper, and I've put it on the cover of my new e-book which is my gift for you today because her expression captures joy.

Whatever ups and downs there have been in the past it's possible to make a joyful fresh start by ........ I'm not telling! Have a look at www.goodquestionday.com and scroll right down to the bottom to find out more ;-) 

Spreading Ideas Through Networking and the Internet

This plant shows me something about spreading ideas and advertsing. The leaf stalks spiral out from the centre and in each leaf the veins branch out. On a microscopic level there'll be more branching out too. Perhaps I notice that because my current focus is on advertising for 'Good Question Day' in which a group of people are offering goodies and the offer gets passed on from person to person to person, and hopefully to further persons.

In the olden days we had bush telegraph, fires lit cross the tops of hills, people galloping off on horses, and in the Middle East camel caravanserai of nomadic people taking goods and information from town to town.

Then books.......