Magic and Miracles. Letting Go and Allowing What Will

This week I had a quite a few cancellations/changes in appointments. Usually I'm pretty chill about it and know that it allows me to do things I was putting off, so I adjust pretty quickly. It was not the case on Thursday June 20th.

It was 8:30A and I had a cancel for 9:30A which was an 1.5 hr appointment. I decide to take a walk with Cosmo and feel the pulse of the day, asking God to guide me to the right people, places, and answers.  

As I was walking, I rationed I should flyer the new neighborhood I am now in with So You Boutique. I thought about getting a homeless person to do it because I pass several everyday going into work... maybe tomorrow if I saw one with a creative sign...I need one that is decent though...hmm.

I put out the intention to the Universe that I find one in which I can help and vice versa. I stopped into a coffee shop to grab a chai tea and relax into it.  As I turned the corner, with tea in hand one hand and Cosmo in the other, there was a homeless guy reading under a tree in front of the Montisori school.

I took a deep breathe and laughed thinking how the Universe always delivers. Casually I walk by him and made small talk. In a few minutes I knew it was safe because I can see the clarity and spark in his eyes. I asked him if he wanted to make $40 because I had 500 flyers at the studio. He accepted the offer. As we walked back to the studio I learned Travis was 31 and had been homeless for a year, a series of bad luck just hit him. At the studio I gave him the box of flyers, a cup of kefir to drink, a bottled water for the road, and $20. The other $20 would be given when he completed the job.

Before Travis left, I asked him if he believed in magic and miracles.  He said he believed in miracles but not magic. I said they are really the same, it's just a matter of thought. Just like LUCK.  I told Travis his luck is changing and today is his lucky day. Luck is what you make of it, when opportunity meets preparation.

An hour later, I get a call from a lady inquiring about eyelash extensions because she got a postcard on her car. She booked the appointment for next week. It's a $250 service.  I got another call from the Better Business Bureau because their office is 2 streets down from me. The lady wants me to join the bureau of course, but she also wanted an airbrush tan, appointment set for Monday.

I encourage you to let go of expectations, judgments, and control today. Surrender if things don't go your way and look to see what you can do. Ask what this is allowing you to experience and chose how you want to be. Relax into the intensity. Be the inspiration, and more magic and miracles will appear in your life.

As for Travis, that is to be continued...the empty box of flyers was at my door at 2P when I returned from lunch. I still owe him $20. I'm sure you'll read about him in a future writing...

Do You Believe in Magic and Miracles? I love MAGIC.

A Bronzed and Beautiful Summer awaits...Skin Cancer Awareness Summer

On the Light Side...

Much ado about weddings

Wedding season is upon us. Brides definitely look better in their dress bronzed...but so does everyone else! Don't regret it when you see the pics in your social media...don't show up pale or with tan lines to your events. Look more elegant dressed up, let us help you even out those lines.

One the SERIOUS side...  

SKIN CANCER AWARENESS SUMMER 

Since moving to the new studio in Golden Triangle, we have had so many new clients and returning clients. Unfortunately, some of the new clients found airbrush tanning because they had melanoma. One gal was only 17, I airbrushed her for prom.  

 

Although we need the sun, we do not need the over-exposure to UV rays! Skin cancer is no light matter and it is the silent killer. Since 1980s skin cancer has risen over 50% among women between the ages of 15-39. In Colorado alone, 19,000-22,000 are diagnosed with melanoma ever year.

We are dedicating this entire SUMMER to Skin Cancer Awareness and hope you join us. Bring a guy, I have disposable briefs for them! =)

 

Finding S.O.U.L

   

 

Last week I was asked to co-host a Mulungi Event for S.O.U.L. Foundation with my room-mate Tanya, (Supporting Opportunities for Ugandans to Learn). Tanya went to Uganda in February where she helped villagers learn to farm and do various crafts. Hearing her stories I was really touched on how S.O.U.L. teaches Ugandans ways to live. "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime."

I agreed to co-hosting this event in my new studio of So You Boutique in which

our goal is to raise $3000 to fund 30 sewing machines. After doing my lotus mudra meditation on Mother's Day, I could not get the image of my mom and aunts in a garage sewing til the wee hours of the night when we first immigrated to the US. This really hits home for me, especially on Mother's Day. 

I grew up in southern California really poor because we are immigrants. My mother escaped from Vietnam with my brother Trung and I on a boat in 1983. She did whatever jobs she could find for my brother and I to have better lives and CHOICES. She didn't know any English. One of those jobs was sewing clothes. My aunts and mom would get sewing jobs of about 500 pieces of garments, each paying $0.50, in which they would have a week to accomplish. My aunt Rum's garage was like a sweat shop. The kids would play in the house and at times would have to rip out the seams of clothing if they made mistakes. At one time, I had a pile of 50 shirts to undo! I was as happy as can be helping and playing with my cousins though. They did this for a little over a year and then had other opportunities. My mother went to cosmetology school and eventually open up various nail salons.  

     

Fast forward almost 30 years later, all the kids are young professionals. We would not be where we are today had someone not given my mother a HAND UP. This is why I believe in this cause so much. I do not believe in giving a hand out, I do believe in giving a hand up. I believe in miracles and I do believe you can create any life you dream. 

S.O.U.L .Foundation is a non-profit organization and they work to foster sustainable and vibrant Ugandan communities through unique partnerships focused on education, women's empowerment, food security and health. The Village Business Cooperatives are designed to increase villager's incomes in a sustainable way, thus allowing the rural poor to meet their families' basic needs while creating additional income that brings the dream of education and upward mobility within reach. Ugandan women form the backbone of their communities, shouldering numerous responsibilities, the most important being the care of their children. Seeking to help these rural Ugandan women break the cycle of poverty, S.O.U.L. Foundation partnered with groups of women to create the Mulungi Collection of handbags, jewelry, embroidered headbands, and African baskets. The word "Mulungi" means beautiful in the local Lusoga language. The Mulungi collection unites sisterhood and feminine energy among women across the globe.

Please join Tanya and I on Tuesday May 28th for a Mulungi Party 6:30-8:30P. We will have food, music, and Mulungi merchandise for you to experience and buy. Because the slogan of my AiryFairy Airplants is "Believe things can grow out of the air" my air plant sales in May will go towards this cause. You can also donate by going on the S.O.U.L. Foundation website www.souluganda.org

You create your own weather

It snowed about 6-8 inches in Denver yesterday, May 1st...yes May 1st! Snow does mess up my day a bit for my services. I really can't control the outside weather, I just have to relax into in and ask what is this allowing me to do instead of being bummed or mad about it. The only control I have is my thoughts and my actions. Weather can determine lots of people's moods though, including my own. You just have to learn to wait out the storm and dance in the rain because you can really create your own weather.

Thank goodness my clients don't let weather stop them from getting their airbrush spray tans! As I was airbrush tanning I shared an awareness I had on weather...your reality is your weather and you make your weather on what you BELIEVE.

Earlier in the week, my room-mate told me it was going to snow on Wednesday. I checked the weather channel on my phone and had all 60s and sunny. I told her she was wrong, or maybe it changed since she last checked. Others told me throughout the day that snow was coming. I refused to believe it. In my world it was sunny and I was happy as can be. Monday night we were watching the VOICE and the news came on with snow...I checked my phone again and it still said sunny and clear all week...then I realized the automatic app update changed my settings, it was showing NYC weather! Reality busted my bubble. Then I quickly shifted the thought because in my world, it was going to be sunny damn-it!

At the new studio, I played tropical music, turned on the heat, and made believed I was in sunny climate. Lots of new clients came in Tuesday and Wednesday for their spray tans despite the weather. I had a ball of time connecting. We know that being tan makes us happier!

Some BUNNY wants a tan

Spring is in the air again, springing love and springing airbrush tans!!!!! There's been lots of new clients lately, all with wonderful stories. Luckily for me, I get to celebrate little and big moments of their lives in a kinda non-conventional way. (Names have been changed and I must keep this PG rated...)  

I love being part of weddings and also the excitement of new romances. It's not uncommon for a girl to come and get spray tan before a date, trip, etc. This past month I've had lots of male spray tanning virgins! One was spray tanning with his fiancé as a test run before their wedding. Another was spray tanning because he was going to rendezvous with a former love interest to RIO. My favorite this month is Dave. He's over 65 and came with his wife before their trip to Hawaii. He was so excited and was like a little kid doing muscle poises. Dark fat is better than white fat!   

It's a completely different energy and playfulness with guys. One of my best spray tanning adventures is when I did a spray tanning party at a ranch for a group going on a cruise. One husband made these John Deer cut-outs and asked if he could tan his butt with them. He showed his son and then he wanted to join in on the fun. Boys will always be boys.    

Ladies, introduce guys to the wonderful world of airbrush spray tanning! They just don't know that they will love it! In our new tanning studio, it will be much more fun with couples tanning. (We will be in our new space April 21st!) Shoot, bring the whole family or have us come to you for a spray tanning party. I got disposable undies for them....hahaha!

Have a fabulous EASTER Weekend and may you be bronze in your Easter outfits.

Dissolving fear process

It seems like things happen in clusters, good things or bad. When perceived bad things happen to us we often try to figure out why, but sometimes you don't need to know the deeper meaning of everything that happens in our lives. Life will always give you weeds. It's a continual process to keep a beautiful garden. All of us who seek to be conscious and aware regard our experiences as teachers, and we try to discern what lessons we are learning from the things that happen in our lives. 

Sometimes the lesson is very clear and other times we have to really search to for the lesson. While this search often yields results, there comes a point we really need to accept it and just move forward. We are all part of a complex system of being. Things work themselves out in the system as a whole. Sometimes it is easier to see it in terms of karma, a past debt we have been able to repay in this way, or as the clearing of energy. We can simply thank the event for being part of our experience and let it go. 

As I've gotten older, I've learned to incorporate rituals and meditation to help letting go easier. Rituals make things official, it anchors the emotion or thought, enabling you to feel in control again. I've been struggling a lot in the last couple of weeks, with fears and doubts, moving in anger and frustration. In my break-downs I was able to cross over to break-throughs with this fear dissolving process I made up. It is so powerful seeing it on a transparent paper and then physically dissolve away. 

I hope it liberates you from your self defeating thoughts to move in COURAGE and LOVE. All you need is rice paper and a marker! Enjoy the home made video below and share it with others if it helps you. Do it right away and don't complicate it. Would love to hear your break-throughs with it! 

Playing with your shadow

In January I did a series on the 12 Days of Beauty & Light which I hope you made some shifts for your personal empowerment. This month, I will connect you to the dark, your shadow; in honor of one of my favorite teachers Debbie Ford.  

Debbie Ford past away February 17th, 2013 and is a New York Times best-selling author, founder of The Ford Institute for Integrative Coaching, and a pioneering force in the study and integration of the shadow into modern psychological and spiritual practices. My favorite works from Debbie Ford are

Courage: Overcoming Fear and Igniting Self-Confidence, The Shadow Effect, The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, The Secret of the Shadow, Why Good People Do Bad Things, and the 21 Day Consciousness Cleanse. After the 3rd time I did the Consciousness Cleanse, I produced my Lotus Mudra Meditation. After readingWhy Good People Do Bad Things I was able to uncover my masks of the Over-Achiever and the Martyr. Her work is absolutely transforming. 

 

"You cannot know the light without knowing the dark. So many times we shame our shadow, but it is a part of our ego that must be satisfied. It is the gatekeeper of true freedom. The shadow holds the truth of all the authentic parts of being human -- your vulnerability, your discontent, your jealousy, or an experience from the past that you haven't digested. The only way to invite them out of the shadow is to bring them into the light. The light is a new perspective in which you see that everything that's happening is happening to help you develop your soul. Then you're free -- free to be who you are most authentically, free to ask for what you need, free to find your joy and bliss, free to share your gifts.

The first step is seeing what you don't want to be. Look at who you don't like and the qualities they have, not their behaviors but the qualities inside of them that you don't like. Start with the ones closest to you. You can always see these qualities in your brothers, sisters, parents, or children." For example, some of my friends babble a lot, do the same sabotaging things repeatedly, or don't really listen. I would get frustrated and get on them about it. But the truth is, I need to listen more: I should be

interested instead of interesting.I was trying to change them because I need to look at it in myself. It's always a mirror reflection.

"Every time you grow and evolve, you find new versions of your shadow. Once you understand shadow work, it's actually not something you want to be done with. Every time you embrace a shadow, you open up a new pathway for your life. Your shadow is actually very playful, your inner child, your creative soul." For example, Peter Pan found Wendy and the kids because he followed his shadow. 

"Ultimately, all of this work is about learning to love one's self, one's flaws, one's shortcomings, and one's past; and when you accept that it is possible -- that that is your spiritual journey here on earth -- you have a foundation for setting yourself up to live a life beyond your wildest dreams." (Welcome to Shadowland, an example of how your shadow wants to help you.)