21 days till 21 secrets and 21 secrets about me!!

Guys!! It's 21 days till 21 Secrets launches on 1st April. 

You can still enter my giveaway (details at the end of this post)...

Just for fun I thought I would let you in on 21 secrets you (probably) don't know about me: 

1. I'm writing my own ecourse - to be kept in the loop, sign up here
2. My favourite food is marmalade on GF toast (I'm in good company - this is Mary Berry's favourite food!)
3. I lived in Toulouse, France for a year when I was in my twenties
4. I started a post grad course in Fine Art but didn't finish it (again in my twenties)
5. I'm 57 years on this planet (!!) who knows how many years on numerous others...
6. I love to swim, especially in warm sea water
7. I am a trained Aromatherapist and have a highly sensitive 'nose' - my favourite essential oil is Rose
8. I practice self healing every day using Angelic Reiki
9. My favourite flowers are sweet peas
10. I love peppermint tea but don't like green tea
11. The book I'm reading at the moment is 'Game of Thrones' - I haven't seen the TV series, but my son insisted I read the books (I love it)
12. I'm an Apple fangirl but have a pc not a Mac
13. I was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire but have lived most of my live in the north east of England
14. I long to live by the sea (but you knew that already)
15. I used to teach aromatherapy and art to adults with learning difficulties - what a fantastic job that was
16. My favourite artist is Matisse
17. I'm a magazine junkie
18. My favourite colours are turquoise and magenta (but you probably guessed that)
19. I love all sorts of music but my favourite listening at the moment is the Lumineers
20. I run my own training business
21. I live with my soul mate

Like I said, just for fun...If you'd like to share some secrets about you - please leave me a note in the comments or contact me here.

To enter my giveaway to win a free place go to last week's blog and leave  a comment telling me why you want to take part in 21 Secrets 

From my heart to yours

Rachel xox

ps sign up here to be kept in the loop about my upcoming ecourse  

pps sign up here for blog updates and other news in your inbox and receive some downloadable art as a gift from me to you

Transformation and transmutation

I've been journaling about letting go. Again. All this year it seems, I've been letting go of fear; letting go of old, deep seated anxieties of not being good enough; letting go of the fear of being my true self.

But in the letting go there is always something new ready to rush in. If we let go of something we create a vacuum and a vacuum cannot exist; nature abhors a vacuum - it needs to be filled. So, my journaling is not just about the letting go, it's about the new states of my being that are flowing in to replace the old skin I am shedding, the skin that no longer fits.

As I journal on my pages, the positive energy comes in on a gentle wave. The process is one of marvellous transformation. The writing transmutes the dark feelings as fear becomes excitement, the uncertainty a knowing and the hidden emerging into the light.

This is a process which works for me every time. Sure, I need to come back to it again and again. My patterns are old and I need time to change them (and the opportunity to work on them again and again) - there are layers and layers of change to sift through. But each time I sit with my paint and pens I find that joy, I find that light.

As I write my Glorious Goddess course for 21 Secrets 2014 I have to face my dread of seeing myself on video (eek!) and hearing my own voice (meh). Connie's invitation has forced me to confront these issues of self acceptance. It's big stuff...and requires lots of journaling...

Are you transmuting some dark matter as we move towards the winter months? How are you dealing with your own transformation? Perhaps the shifts are gentle, maybe they're pretty seismic like mine :-)

Whatever is in your alchemist's crucible, let it be there, let it transform, let yourself transform dear one...

From my heart to yours
Rachel xox

ps there are two more days of my Etsy birthday sale and you can sign up for 21 Secrets 2014 here

dancing with the gremlins

Oh dearest ones - I've got something big coming up, something huge (for me), something I can't share with you yet. But what I will share is my crisis of confidence. It's a while since this happened quite this badly, but apparently it seems the bigger the challenge, the bigger the crisis. Have you found this to be so?

The gremlins are HUGE, the critic's voice so LOUD...what to do in order to step out of the paralysing fear they induce?

My favoured method to deal with the gremlins (or critics or whatever you want to call them) is the good old art journal. How did I get through my life crises before I knew art journaling?!!

There are lots of ways to do this but I like to start with a coloured paint surface and then, using a nice glittery pen, write a letter to my gremlins telling them exactly what I think of them. How dare they treat me like this? Calling me small and telling me not to get too excited, not to mention questioning my very existence!

Once I've done journaling and my gremlins have left the building I invite my goddesses in and let the page become their own.

How do you deal with your gremlins? What do you do when your critic starts whispering in you ear?

I would love to know because I might use your method next time!  Please do leave me a message below.

From my (now) positive heart to yours

Rachel xox

ps If you liked this post, don't forget to share, just click on 'share this article' to find the usual icons...