Running on Fumes ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

On Monday I work up sick, and spent the first day walking around in amazement. I never get sick so I don't know what to do. If I have a headache or a sprained ankle, I forget to take aspirin.

The second day I asked someone what you do when you get sick.  They said 'rest,' a novel idea since I'd usually power through it.

The third day I drank ginger tea, which helped, and was tremendously productive.  Yesterday I was 100% better, but today I'm drinking ginger tea again.

You Are Loved, Lovable and Worthy of Love ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I am sitting in a downtown Starbucks. It is not designed to hang out in. It has hard metal seats and tiny row tables. It's across from a city park, where city denizens live.

A woman comes in with a huge stroller and a tiny toddler.  Her daughter has a grey T-shirt with a big strawberry on it. She is a bright spark of light amongst beings who have accumulated many shades of gray.

I see a lot of diversity, but not a lot of happiness.  There's a lot of pain on the streets outside of Starbucks.

Real World Manifesting ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

Think about all the things, people, and situations that you've created in your life. Some you can validate that you created - you graduated from high school, you got into college, you chose that (even if it wasn't the college of your choice, you made it happen).  If you got married, you chose that (even if you chose to get divorced later - and you chose that, too).

It's harder to validate that you chose being born, and you chose the family that you were born into.

Pure And Simple Happiness ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

Whole Foods opened it's very first store in Tacoma yesterday and I was unbelievably happy.  We've lived here for 18 months and I've been trekking to Seattle almost weekly for my organic fruits and veggies.

I could rave on about the store - it's enormous, it's bigger than the one in Rockville in the DC area where I'd shop when caring for my mom - but it isn't about the store, it's about the feeling.

It was pure and simple, childlike joy.

Values and Worth ©2015 Joan Newcomb

What's most important in life for you?  Where do you focus 90% of your attention? What do you spend most of your money on? Do you feel satisfied with your life?

The answer to these questions may - or may *not* give you a clue about your core values.

Effortless Inner Manifesting: Boots ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

Ten days ago I was in Stockholm, for the first time since 1978.  My main
focus was to take my Mom's ashes to the house my family lived in back then.
 I didn't really have any other agenda.  It was the last part of a
sixteen day trip, four countries, four languages, three currencies.

In the back of my head, though, I thought about Laplander boots.

Relaxing Into Discomfort (c)2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I'm in Germany, and it's been one roller coaster ride since we got here.  There
were 32mph winds when we landed (which should have been a clue for the rest
of the trip).

We came from Madrid, where it was nearly 80 degrees, and in Germany it was
in the 30s.  We've been rained on, lightening'd over and pelted with hail
pellets.  Our artist's apartment in Madrid was warm and inviting.  Our
flat in Kreuzberg is a flophouse for grunge-rebels.

How To Have A Rich Life (c)2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I'm in Madrid, visiting my son.  Spain is a great place to recover from jet lag. Their sense of time is totally different than the US.  Their workday starts at 9am, their lunch break is from 3-5pm, then everyone goes back to work until 7:30 or 8pm.  Dinner is at 9pm or later. They get 26 days of holiday/vacation per year.

Compare that to the US where the average workday is 8am-5pm, with a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks. And, if they're lucky, 14 days of holiday/vacation annually.

This has been a powerful week.  We've had the last of 7th Pluto/Uranus Squares, which began in 2012,  I've heard that the astrology is similar to 1928-1932 and the late 1960's, but even more powerful.  And today was both a New Moon Solar Eclipse *and* the Equinox.

An eclipse has 3x the power of a regular moon, and brings sudden changes, setting in motion a new phase of growth that can last for 6 months to 2 years.