Category Archives: faith

Both Feet In

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I write a lot about faith. Having faith. Keeping the faith. Knowing when to let go and surrender to faith. I write about it because it’s so important. I write about it because without faith, we are filled with fear and uncertainty. I write about it because it’s something that doesn’t come easily for me – it’s not necessarily second nature to let go, trust, and be okay knowing that the universe has my back – that I will always be okay –  that things are always going exactly according to plan. And I like to remind myself that when I do surrender, things truly are magical. I have witnessed miracles that aren’t explainable without faith. And so I continue to write about it and continue to believe and continue to be more aware and conscious about stepping aside and allowing faith to enter my life completely.

 My life is on a very different path than it was on a year ago. Somewhere along the way I realized that things weren’t working – and I wasn’t sure if they were ever truly working. I realized that I had to make some choices and make some changes. I had to stop trying to hang on to the old and stay open to whatever was ahead.
When my mind steps in (which it definitely does) to tell me that this new path is unknown and it’s scary and different – when it tries to pull me back toward the known life that I used to have, I ask it to step aside. I now have both feet in and am open to the possibility.
This doesn’t mean that I am not in control – that I no longer have free will – that I can’t choose to say no if something doesn’t feel right that appears. What it does mean is that I am pushing myself and taking the biggest leap that I have ever taken into the unknown – into the possible – into faith. And I know that I will be caught and taken care of. I know that this is exactly what my soul needs me to do. I know that in order to grow and learn, I need to believe and have both feet in.
So the next time you are wavering between the known and the unknown – try taking a leap of faith and see how your life begins to change just by having both feet in.

Hearing Fear Out

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Have you ever embarked on a wonderful new adventure that you were super excited about, and just when you really started to get into it with both feet in – fear stepped up and started listing all of the reasons why it’s probably not a good idea for you to do this after all and tries to get you to see how much safer it would be for you to just step back into your comfort zone? 
When this happens, what if we took some time to listen to what fear has to say? 
It’s there to protect you – it doesn’t want you to get hurt or fail or be disappointed. 
So the next time this happens for you – take some time and write down everything that the fear inside of you wants you to know.
Get it all down on a piece of paper. Give yourself the time and space needed to go within and bring up any reason why your new adventure might not be a good idea or why it’s a scary place to be.
And then you can crumble it up and throw it away.
Or…
You can go through your list one by one and turn it around.
Fear is ego-based and faith is soul-based.
Give your soul a chance to counter each point that your fear brought up.
I think you will find that if you really dig deep and go within, you no longer need fear to protect you on this journey. Your old patterns of letting fear take over will no longer work in your new life.
In my own life, I am writing my first full-length book. It’s a very personal book for me to write, and it requires me going within and really looking at myself and my life with what feels like a magnifying glass. And this can be a hard process that my ego doesn’t want me to go through – it can be painful and yucky and sad to relive certain events or examine my patterns and habits that haven’t always served me. And yet my soul knows that in sharing my story – in putting it out into the world – it will not only help to heal myself, but hopefully others as well who are sharing similar experiences. 
So when my fear starts taking over (and boy is it strong!), I recognize it for what is is: a scared ego that just wants me to be comfortable. 
And I thank it and let it know that we can’t learn and grow if we always stay comfortable. 
And then I get back to writing.
So please take some time today and look at the role fear plays in your own life. Give it a voice – let it be heard. And then either crumble it up or counter what it had to say with all of the reasons why these fears and ways of sabotaging your spirit will no longer work in your new, soulful life.
And then get back to what you know you need to be doing to grow into the you that person you were meant to become.

Following Our Hearts

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As many of you know, Dan and I are about to do something that we’ve never done in the history of our company: stop production for one month to focus on our writing. 
This is a really big deal for us and a big lesson in faith. 
Our lives revolve around working with our wonderful customers, making products, and filling orders. Our livelihood depends on this.
And while we feel completely grateful that we have been able to live in this way, we have also realized that our lives are very much out of balance. 
We realized that we work for our business instead of having our business work for us. 
We wake up thinking about journals, make them throughout the day and late into the night, and then dream about making them while we sleep.
And so we knew needed to do something – to actively change the way we work – or things would always stay the same. 
So we are taking this month to be quiet, reflect, go within, and see what comes out in the form of words. 
We are getting back into the driver’s seat of our own lives.
And believe me, this transition hasn’t always been the smoothest. 
Even today there are lessons to be learned and little tests put in front of us where we have to really go within and think about how much we want and need this change. 
We are so used to reacting and saying yes to anyone who asks us to do something. 
The need to please runs very deep. 
And now we’ll turn that need to ourselves for one month and see how it feels.
I can’t wait to fill up my own tank.
And hopefully I will be able to give you all more of me when I return.
We are just waiting to tie up a few loose ends today, and then our shops and business will officially be in vacation mode for the next month. 
Our ebooks will all be available though (it’s an instant download), and they are all 1/2 off this entire month!
We are so grateful for all of your support.
Thank you for honoring us on this journey and encouraging us to follow our hearts.
I would encourage each of you to do the same and see where it leads…

Staying Open to the Possibility

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As many of you know, we’ve gone through a lot of loss over the last few months, which has allowed me to reflect on life a bit more than I normally would. I feel as though I am in two worlds – my everyday world and the spiritual world. Both existing side by side. 
Spending my days making journals and writing while at the same time grieving and contemplating the other side has been both exhausting and uplifting.  Realizing that there is so much more in this vast universe than I ever thought possible has revealed so many wonderful possibilities and has opened my heart and soul. 
And because I’m in this space, I thought it would be fitting to include a particular writing prompt from our Journaling Further Within book:
What do you think happens to your soul after you die? 
We each have our own beliefs about death, the universe, and the afterlife. And it’s possible for these beliefs to change as you go through life and have different experiences.
Over the past few months, I have experienced something truly magical, which I will write about once I have had a bit more time to process it. This experience has solidified my belief that life does go on, that the universe is neverending, and that our time here is just a tiny part of the whole. This experience has changed many of my beliefs as well – I have had to reevaluate many things that I thought I knew and start from scratch in many ways. 
Spend some time today thinking about your beliefs and your faith. 

Did your beliefs come from your own experiences or 
were they passed down from your family? 
Is there anything about your beliefs that you would like to change or modify in some way? 
Do your beliefs serve you today? Do they reflect the person you are right now?
What are your beliefs about death and the afterlife? 
Do you believe in signs from beyond and angels?
What do you think happens to your soul after you die? 
The beautiful part of being individuals who are each on our own journey is that we can each choose to believe what feels right for us. There is no right or wrong answer. 
There is only possibility. 
We will all experience the passing of our loved ones at some point in our lives. 
And taking time to reflect and staying open to the possibilities has made this an easier transition for me. 
I hope it will for you as well.