Fairies need farmers

Many years ago I used to visit a clairvoyant on a regular basis to get my tarot cards read to me. This lady came with high recommendations and reputable referrals from some coworkers. At the time I had full appreciation and respect for the reader’s gifts as her insight was so profoundly accurate and insightful.

I would visit this lady like anyone would see a coach or a counselor. In fact I explained our regular six monthly sessions as my spiritual counseling. I would gain much from the thoughts and ideas she unveiled and allowed me to consider. Never did she forebode nor portend doom or gloom. No, there may have been challenges or other issues in my way to address, but nothing predictive. Instead we explored many facets of my life journey at that time. We focused surprisingly on the present and the way that I traveled my life path. I share below an interesting comment she made to me once.

Living the dreamer’s life

First let me set some context. For years I have always lived the idealist’s life, dreaming of the next possibility, thinking way in the future. The upside to this way of seeing the world is that I am forever inspired, inventive, idea oriented and creative in my approaches. The cost and challenge of this life is that I have had and still do sometimes avoid or absent-mindedly deal with the reality of practical life situations. Even so I still managed to develop skillfully the outer ability to be organized and practical.

Relationships, Wisdom storiesJenn Shallvey3 November 2009

In a cave with grief learning about life

Please excuse my absence.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I hope that you now have a bigger heart.

My absence from this blog is because my heart had a blow. Not one that is uncommon, yet one that is unfortunately a part of life, being human and growing up. I write this blog not to seek sympathy, but to be open, real and share a perspective that we all experience either directly or indirectly.

My mother passed away the end of June.

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Prior to her transition from this earthly world I sat in wonder of whether this decline was a false alarm, one of many. However this moment was her time to go. Living across the globe, separated by the Pacific Ocean, our face to face visits were few and far between, yet our phone calls regular and a feature of my weekend activity. Blessed to have visited her one last time in April, I was surprised that she would decline so quickly and be physically gone by the end of June. Her passing reminded me that time is fleeting and that we must treasure all moments in life when we are in them just as much as the memory later.

Loss/GriefJenn Shallvey29 September 2009

This blade of grass stands up

My declaration

I am in service to people who are in transition. Transition between jobs, roles, life situations etc.

I desire to help hold the space for these people to open up and blossom from within. Like blades of grass I see people sprouting up from the earth all around the globe.

I hence feel that my work is widespread and covers lots of territory.

I also feel like the numbers of people that I will help is vast and that no one is different nor stands out.

Unlike my common understanding that they are unique souls there is also a common understanding that we are all the same.

Bearing water

So I am the water bearer, the one bringing forth the water to help the seed grow.

The soil and foundation is created and given to each person by the life they lead.

PurposeJenn Shallvey19 May 2009

Getting started: make decisions work for you

Welcome to the May 2009 issue of Being Real. THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING!

This month's issue is Being Real About Decisions . Topics are:

Get Started: make decisions work for you
Pay Attention: use insights, signs and other factors
Be Purposeful: have clarity and intention
Being Real: learn from other decision makers
Resources: tap into extra help when need
Special offers

Newsletter articleJenn Shallvey7 May 2009

Be a tourist in your own life

Stepping outside and getting into nature can create joy and pleasure in our daily lives. We all know the refreshing power in a good dose of clean air, sunshine, trees and grass. We often have familiar spots - known, sure bets for our relaxing and re-energizing to occur.

Yet, the regularity of routine visits to ‘favorite places’ can sometimes dull our senses to the inherent beauty of nature. We may even lose our curiosity, forget to notice what is around us out of boredom, distraction or assumption.

So it is with great excitement when the explorer in us takes us to discover a new place, especially when in your own town.

Letting the inner explorer out

My inner explorer led me on just such a diversion the other day. The experience so affected me that I am now sharing some insights. If you were on this walk you may have already been subjected to my child like enthusiastic sharing as I stopped you for conversation. If no

Personal journeyJenn Shallvey6 May 2009

Being me means being free to be me

As part of our search and quest in life to be who we really are we encounter many questions about our work and life. At work we struggle to find an identity within the sea of roles, cultural mores and group pressure.

In our personal life we experience growth and change that constantly force us to reevaluate our way of living and who we are in the world in which we orbit.

So with your permission may I be a bit more direct with you in this post? If so then please keep reading.

Let me ask you THE question then

Are you being who you really are in life and work?

Jenn Shallvey23 March 2009

Fake it until you make it might just be why you lose it

Fake it until you make it is one of those catch cries that gets my back up. For me this expression goes against everything I stand for, in particular being real, authentic and who you are at all times and in all contexts.

For years I have heard this phrase mentioned in numerous situations. Most often this phrase is a suggestion for psyching people up to get out and try to be someone that they want to be but just don’t have the experience or guts to do yet. The phrase is meant to be a bit of positive thinking, visualisation and manifestation wrapped up in one. I know this as I have even been on the receiving end of such advice from well respected coaches.

Yet for me using the 'fake it' phrase teaches people that you can get by in life if you pretend to be someone you are not.

Currency and relevance for now

Right now society’s big topic of conversation is how the current economic crisis affects people and business. The double whammy, depending on your perspective, is the rising unemployment combined with business downturn. Whether you are an employee or a business owner the world is changing as we get up and do whatever we do to earn a living and create the flow of money to fund our choice of lifestyle.

Career transitionJenn Shallvey10 March 2009

Meaningful twitter

A social phenomenon is spreading across the globe – at least the technically connected part. Reading this blog means that you are at least part of the 1,463,632,361 million people (21.9% of the global population) with internet access. However, are you one of the estimated 3.4 million users now using Twitter? If so then keep reading. If not, then after reading this post, go to www.twitter.com, get an account and see what all this growth is about.

The purpose of this posting is to have a fun and humorous comment (actually thought piece/essay!) on Twitter from a new person’s point of view. Ultimately I would like you to consider the deeper more meaningful aspects of this powerful social network. I also would like to acknowledge the amazing network of experts in the Twitter universe who dedicate themselves to helping people like me learn how to navigate in this new world. When engaged appropriately a social network can be valuable for whatever you intend it to do for you.

Web/TechJenn Shallvey8 February 2009

Out with the old, in with the new

I have noticed lately how easy it is to hold onto the old. By old I mean old ways, old thoughts, old memories, old experiences, old customs, etc. By holding on so tightly to what we have from the past we leave neither opening nor room for future growth or evolution.

I have great respect for traditions so this post is not about knocking them. What it is about is posing the question whether you are stuck in a rut of old you or expanding and opening up and growing into the new you. You choose where you live through the thoughts related to both old and new and what meaning you attribute. So its worth taking the time to see whether your in a rut or evolving.

How to know when you are holding onto the old

Holding on is the energetic equivalent of wrapping something up in knots and ropes so you can’t escape. The trick here is you do it to yourself and often don’t realise you did. You can hold onto the past in just a few areas or be completely trapped. The areas that you might notice old and dominant include:

Jenn Shallvey27 January 2009

I feel alive - I choose life

In light of the various events taking place in the world at the moment it is possible for many to see only the negative, doom and gloom of the day. It is not unreasonable to feel this way given the bombardment of negative press and stories of people losing jobs, companies going down and the general state of the economy being unpredictable. So in this context I share a bit more of a personal perspective and some wisdom from the insight.

A dip in life

A year ago I wrote in my diary the opposite to I feel alive. The diary heading stated “I feel depressed”. The entry still sits on my computer, reminding me that life has its ups and downs. I was mildly depressed. I was also self aware of my state and able to be in it knowing eventually I would come back out of it. (It helps having learned so much being a self help motivational book and course junkie). I was not so much in a “dark night of the soul”, more a dim lighted twilight.

Either way the time was not fun, nor a pleasant experience for my family. The circumstances that lead to the state were an accumulation of business and personal experiences that I chose to see the negative and downside in rather than the opportunity. I was trying too hard, making decisions that were drastic and doing a lot of what I thought I ‘should do’ or rebelliously wanted to do. Ultimately it became a battle of control over my life when life did not seem to be playing fair.

Jenn Shallvey16 January 2009