"Go Talk to Mary" - Marianne Williamson 

Click on image to read the entire quote. It's wonderful! The photo I used in making this collage is of  a Madonna statue I have at home. She is a treasure that I found at an antique mall over 30 yrs ago.  My personal opinion is that we should all have a statue of Mary or a Madonna in our homes, and maybe even more than one! 

"Faith is a passionate intuition." - William Wordsworth

Dear Niece,

I can remember the day a friend told me that she sees a psychic to make all her decisions in her life. I was surprised that this person, whom I had thought to be confident and secure, felt anything but. I thought it was sad that she felt the need to turn to (and pay!!) someone outside herself to find out where to devote her energies in all matters of love, work and anything important to her. I couldn't help but be curious as to why my friend had lost touch with her own sense of self trust, as many people have. I recall thinking (and saying to her) "don't you want to be your own psychic?!" 

Trust your gut instinct, you really are your own psychic. It's true we are here to help each other, but advice and intuition from your own gut, or friends and family who love you is a far richer experience than hiring and putting your trust in a person who doesn't really know you at all.  A good rule of thumb is if someone has made a business out of trying to tell other people what to do through delving into the past or future you can be fairly certain that they just may have lacked the creative chutzpah to make more out of their life than that. Chances are that they just needed to come up with some clever way to make a living and that's all there is to it. If someone is greatly in tune with the Infinite and has something profound to share with you, they will do so freely, from their heart, without expecting anything in return. 

Sometimes I wonder if the title "life coach" isn't just a disguised version of "psychic". For example, just yesterday I met a lady who told me she relies on her life coach in all aspects of her life. For a minute, I thought there was some mistake, but then I realized she really meant ALL aspects of her life. She told me that she couldn't do anything or make any decisions without consulting her coach. I was dumb founded. And this is who I thought was a brilliant business woman! It was obvious that she was

out of touch with her own intuition, and that took me back. She had become scared to trust herself to

make her own decisions.

We all have an inner strength and wisdom that we can draw from. I believe when you need to know the answer for something it will come to you, sometimes in the form of something someone says to you, sometimes in something you see that gives you an idea, or sometimes it comes directly from your gut and you just "know" something. It helps to learn to become quiet and still and from there ask that which is within you for the answers. And then wait. The answer always comes.

With Love,

Auntie Thea  

"A light heart lives long." - Shakespeare


Dear Niece,


I bet you didn't know that I was such an expert at chasing away the blues!  Yes, I admit, this has become a hobby due to personal needs. In fact, I declare myself able to offer advice to those who are suffering from the blues simply because "I've been there, done that!" 


First, you have to distinguish the blues from depression. The blues are a cloudy, shallow sense of dread that doesn't last, where as depression feels like a deep, insurmountable dread that sticks around.  If you have the deep kind, call someone who is a professional, then call me, I'll be right over.  If kept in check the blues will likely never amount to depression, but you have to know what starves the blues, know what they don't like and create some kind of balance.


After you have figured out that you have the blues and not depression, thank God because it will be much easier to fight the blues than to fight depression.  And while we are on the subject, God really can chase away the blues better than any other 'formula' I am about to convey to you. God is Love and if Love can't fight the blues then I don't know what can!  Never under estimate the power of prayer, the power of Oneness and sweet surrender. You are never alone.


Okay. So, now that you know that God loves you, lives within you and offers 'Himself' to you no matter what, you can have fun with it!  "Huh? Fun with the blues?!", but YES, have fun with the blues, shake them up, rattle their cage.  I'm thinking chocolate (just a little bit), a funny movie (something really silly), some stand-up comedy (Comedy Central) and a dog (yes, my favorite way to chase the blues). The point is to lighten up!  Accept that you have the blues, and ease through it by introducing things that are their complete opposite.


* The biggest blues buster is to do something nice for someone else and watch them smile!
* Another good idea is to make something or do something creative. (for me it's cooking!)
* Grab your hat and take a walk in the early morning sun.  
* Check your vitamin D3 levels, and take more in the winter vs the summer (did you know that people in Seattle are known to suffer from the blues more than in other areas where there is more sunshine?) 
* Eat bitter greens; I'm talking salads, steamed chard or broccoli. There's something about these greens that really helps.
* Enjoy lots of fresh fruit, especially the sweet and juicy kind, it helps tremendously. 
* Back off of sugar (except for a little bit of chocolate), and eat some salmon or other protein. 
* If you feel sluggish have a cup of coffee or better yet, green tea.


Exercise is going to be important, and so is blissful sleep. Getting just the right amount of both for your body type will work wonders. Don't over do the exercise, just a brisk 30 minute walk in nature will do you a lot of good, more than that just might make you edgy. At bedtime put the light out early so that your body has a chance to benefit from the melatonin being made while you snooze. Wake up with the sun (oh, didn't you know? unless you are a bear, Mother Nature never intended for you to sleep past sunrise!). And if you wake with dread try to say (or write it down) "Hello New Day! I am going to fill you with all things beautiful!" 


Spend time with friends and people who love you, especially seek out the ones who make you laugh or who can put a smile on your face. Read something uplifting, but avoid the news and newspaper because the blues will feed off of that and make your task to feel better that much harder. Save the news for better days and remember that if something happens that you need to know about there will be plenty of people around to tell you about it!


Another favorite way to bust the blues is to quiet the mind. Find something, whether it is yoga, tai chi, prayer, or meditation, that can still the mind from all the incessant chatter. It's the chatter that is creating the blues, you are overwhelmed, and your mind wants to relax. Practice present minded awareness. Be aware of the now, the moment you are in. This will free you to enjoy what you are doing and that will stop the blues right in its track.


I leave you with this wonderful quote for beating the blues:  


"Learn to thrill yourself. Make everything bright and beautiful about you. Cultivate a sense of humor. Enjoy the sunshine." - Baird T. Spalding


With Love, 
Auntie Thea

"Love liberates". - Maya Angelou

Dear Niece,


You will feel safe in the presence of true friends. You will be able to open your heart to them, do something nice for them, act silly around them, tell them a secret, count on them. A true friend will never ignore your efforts or put you down in any way. A true friend will have your back. That person will value your time and the time you spend together. If you are not certain if someone is a true friend, first be certain that you are being a true friend to them!  Because, what goes around comes around. Then give them a chance, because people aren't perfect, they can have a bad day or moment. But they must be kind if they are to be your friend.  And if they acknowledge they made a mistake, be quick to forgive, for forgiveness is the cornerstone of all true friendships.  It takes a big person to admit their mistake, so we must honor it with our presence and acceptance. Never fester and stew, never hold a grudge, and never allow someone to be that way with you.


You will either send them love and move on quietly, or you will be happy knowing that your friendship is a healthy one. Toxic friends will be the most important thing to limit in your life. I say limit because people aren't perfect (we are all a work in progress!). There can be jealousy, insecurities, problems that have nothing to do with you. But if this is a lasting thing in the friendship, or if being with that person leaves you feeling sad, drained, confused or overwhelmed, then this is not a healthy friendship. Healthy friendships and relationships are paramount in being healthy yourself!


But of course, you still love that toxic friend, and you may have deemed them special in one way or another. If this is the case, you may still be able to have them in your life. In order to know if you can do this you will need to get clear and write down all the good things about this person. Get really clear about it. After you have made the list, perhaps this is someone who you love to go shopping with? or can grab a coffee with? or you love their sense of humor? Point is, you don't have to spend hours and hours with that person to love them and have them in your life!  


My mother (Grandma Tena) always told me "there are certain kind of friends" and it has taken me all of 50 years to really figure out what she meant!  And it can be a beautiful thing. My sister (hey, she's your mom!) has her "antiquing" friend who she sees just once a year when they go to the Antique Fair.  They reserve that day for each other, and they probably only see each other one more time that entire year, if that!  We may have travel friends, restaurant friends, book friends, clubbing friends, running partners, hiking buddies, classmates, study partners. There are friends who make us laugh, our male friends, and many zany characters in our life. 


There's just one thing to ask yourself about a friend: does contact with your friend or being with them feel liberating or confining? Love liberates, that's the best way to know if your friendship is mostly healthy rather than toxic. But remember your love can liberate them too! We are all on a journey. The question then becomes whether someone journeys with you or not. Their journey through love will continue whether you remain friends or not.


With Love,
Auntie Thea