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!