Abraham Hicks

"Why is it taking me so long to get what I want? It is not because you are not intelligent enough or worthy enough. The only reason you have not already gotten what you desire is because you are holding yourself in a vibrational pattern that does not match the vibration of your desire."

~Jerry & Esther

A few days ago I watched my first ever Abraham Hicks video clip on the timeline of a new Facebook friend. I'd seen quotes from Jerry & Esther Hicks on the Hay House Australia FB Page from time to time, but never really paid them that much attention. But then I got curious and watched a few more of their video clips on Youtube. And something inside just seemed to click. What I heard was just so, so pertinent to where I am at in my life right this very moment - and ties in perfectly with the vision boards I recently created. It's been a very long time since I have felt such a deep resonation with anything I have read or seen or watched. I heard the term 'vibrational escrow' for the first time yesterday. Suddenly so many things became so much clearer, and made so much more sense.

Jerry & Esther's work is entirely fascinating, and I am so grateful our paths have crossed as they have. As my beautiful Spirit friends keep reminding me - 'There is a timing and order to all things'.

Sacred Space

"That which can be seen with the conscious mind and physical eyes is but an illusion. That which can be seen and felt with the spiritual faculties is highest in fact and truth." ~Ra

I love this space. It's where I sleep. Meditate. Pray. Channel. Commune. Read. Write. Plan. Dream. It's where I am surrounded by vision boards - my whole dream life laid out before me, in words and images. It's where I've had many lengthy conversations with Spirit. Which, after four years of channeling, all still feels incredibly strange to me. It isn't something I've ever done for, or in front of anyone else. I think I still keep doubting my ability to do this thing. But I've gained some really amazing insights, guidance and perspectives in this way. I've had some fascinating conversations. Been able to help loved ones - without them even knowing it. And have received some pretty convincing validation along the way too. Not always, but very often.

"Make no assumptions about outcome, child. Remain deeply entrenched in the process." ~Ra

I have some beautiful divination tools now. This gorgeous Doreen Virtue Angel Guidance Board landed in my hands in late January - the way it came about, it was very much one of those 'meant to be mine' situations. For which I am grateful.

Lavender.

And I have a really great collection of tapes and CDs now too - chakra clearing, karmic release, healing, past life regression, manifesting, telepathic animal communications. Although as much as I love doing the guided work, I always find my own meditation methods to be the most powerful. And effective.

"Concentrate on what lies before you, child. As you complete each task surrender it, and know that it takes you closer to your dream realisation." ~Ra

I love this sacred space. It is a place I can come back to to balance, ground and realignment myself anytime I feel the need to. And never more so than since I created the vision boards. That is an exercise I would highly recommend anyone consider undertaking.

Love & light

Thomas Kinkade

Like so many others, I was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Thomas Kinkade. I was surprised at how deeply his passing has affected me. More deeply than I should have imagined it would. But I've found myself thinking about him and his work a lot lately.

I first learned of Thomas Kinkade when I went searching for a wall calendar, quite a number of years ago. From the moment I saw one of his calendars, I fell immediately in love with his work. And have loved it ever since. I've spent a lot of time browsing through his website, getting lost in his light-filled, whimsical world of fantasy. That he was blessed with a god-given talent was obvious.

I should imagine Thomas Kinkade will always be an artist whose work polarizes people - you either love it, or you hate it. I've read some of what the so-called 'art elite' have thought of him and his work over the years, and personally speaking, I don't care for anything they have to say - but far more importantly - clearly, nor did he. Long after the ink on their poison pens has dried and they have been forgotten, his legacy, his gift will live on. And he certainly did possess a gift - he had the undeniable ability to touch people at a soul level with his beautiful imagery. And that certainly isn't something that every artist can claim to do. It was obvious, too, that in more recent years, his personal life was troubled, and perhaps not as wholesome as it might once have been. But none of us are perfect - we all go through our ups and downs. Make choices that we might later regret. Behave in ways we wish we hadn't. Said and done things, that in hindsight, we probably shouldn't have. God knows, I have.

For many years Thomas Kinkade has been someone I have admired and respected not only for the beautiful art he has created, but for his charitable work, for the way in which he has used his gift for the benefit of others, and for the way in which he touched and affected souls.

In February 2010 I let my Flickr membership lapse, which meant that I lost access to most of my posts on that site. I've barely visited it since. But a few days after the passing of Thomas Kinkade I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to return to Flickr and renew my membership, mostly so that I could revisit this post. To reconnect with my own dream. Somehow along the way, it has become hazy and distant. I needed to be reminded. My last blog post related to a series of vision boards that I created a few weeks before his passing. He was, in part, the inspiration for some of what is on those boards.

"Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them." ~Thomas Kinkade (1958-2012)

Love or hate his work, wherever his journey takes him to next, he has left his mark on the world. My heart goes out to his family and friends. This must be an unimaginably difficult time for them.

Vision Boards - a Visual & Spiritual Anchor

A very close friend of mine has been doing vision boards for quite some time now. And has had a lot of success with them. She's been encouraging me for ages to give it a go. So after much procrastination, I finally decided that I would.

I'd never really given it much thought. I just assumed it would be merely a case of pinning a few pictures to a corkboard and placing it somewhere where you could look at it every day.

But as it's turned out, I've discovered there's so much more to it than that - a much deeper, more spiritual aspect.

A vision board acts as a visual and spiritual anchor. A clear and concise declaration to the universe of what it is that you wish to call into your life. Having that kind of visual clarity is, I'm finding, incredibly empowering and re-affirming.

I've ended up with 5 boards in all - each one focused on a very specific area of my life. There's no wrong or right way - that's just the way I've chosen to do it.

I have them all lined up around my bedroom - they are the last thing I see before I drift off to sleep each night, and the very first thing I see when I wake up in the morning.

Now I have my whole dream life laid out before me, in a series of beautiful images and empowering words and affirmations. I'm finding I'm spending a lot of time just sitting - looking at them - dreaming...

I'm very grateful to Shazz for the initial encouragement.

And through the spiritual journey that this whole project has become, I've discovered some wonderful people who I now have immense respect for - people like Christine Kane (Christine has a very good clip on youtube about vision boards and an excellent ebook which is available for free from her website - for which, I am truly grateful), Lilou Mace, Marc Allen, and Sonia Choquette.

It's turned out to be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding exercises I've undertaken.

I'd been losing sight of the dream - but now that dream is very much alive again.

It's an exercise I would certainly recommend anyone going through.

Love & light

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EDIT (6 march 12):

I've never really actively promoted this blog in any way, and it would be fair to say that up until now it has been infrequently used, but I've had such a beautiful journey with these vision boards that I want to encourage and inspire anyone else who might find their way here to consider doing their own boards. So I've decided to create a link to a public album that I recently created on my Facebook account. You will also need to have a Facebook account in order to view them as I have posted them to my personal albums, not on my Photography Page. Just log in and the link will take you directly there. :)

Perhaps it will inspire you too...

Sunday

"I do not like football, which I think of as a game in which two tractors approach each other from opposite directions and collide. Besides, I have contempt for a game in which players have to wear so much equipment. Men play basketball in their underwear, which seems just right to me."

~Anna Quindlen, Living Out Loud, 1988

Can't quite believe it's Summer again already. And Christmas is just around the corner. How did that happen?

New website (old links lost)

I've just redirected my domain name to a brand new website I have been tinkering with over the past couple of weeks, and now all of the links to my old site have been broken (it's still up and running, for now, but I should think I'll close it down soon). Knew that was going to happen. Bit of a pain to have to now go through and fix them all, but well worth the effort of making the move. I am loving my new home at Zenfolio! It's an awesome site, and so easy to customise. They have some really fantastic features, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone who is considering making the move. Only wish I'd done it much sooner.



I'm on the homestretch now and very keen to get all of the galleries across to the new site, and have it up and running properly as soon as possible. :)

11.11.11

Seems the whole 11.11.11 thing is causing quite a stir around the world. And I couldn't possible let a date like this pass without marking it in some small, but personally significant way. So here it is...

Boots. Hiking boots in fact. My hiking boots. Nothing really to do with photography but nevertheless. We've been together more years than I can possibly count. We've traveled a lot miles and seen a lot of things during our years together. I've loved these boots. It would be more than fair to say that they have been my very favourite footwear for many a year.

But a few months ago, the sole busted in one of them. I got it fixed. It busted again. I was devastated when the boot repairer told me it was beyond repair this time. The other one is still in near perfect condition - even after all these years of use. But sadly, one boot isn't going to do me much good. Without the other, it's useless.

It got me thinking. I began to see it as a metaphor more than anything else. I didn't want the boot repairer to tell me that my boot was beyond saving. That would mean that I would have to let go of something that was near and dear to me (yes, I know how silly that sounds!), something that had been a part of my life for longer than many of the people I know. Something that was a part of me.

Well, I guess I don't do 'letting go' very well, because that was a few months ago - and they're still sitting in my laundry! I've been hoping the magic boot fairies might come in the night and do a quickie repair job for me. But that isn't going to happen. And sometimes, we just have to let go of our attachments to things. No matter how special the memories they might hold for us. I had these boots way back when I was still with my beautiful English boyfriend, Simon. We parted ways many years ago. They will always have an association with that part of my life.

But holding on to old 'stuff' means new 'stuff' can't come in. Old energies need to be let go of and space needs to be cleared before anything new can arrive in our lives. And that's what these boots represent to me. Duality. One in perfect condition, the other, beyond repair. Wanting to hold onto that past part of my life, but needing to let go and allow new energies in. I've always struggled with that part - the letting go.

Thank you old boots. You've taught me a valuable life lesson. Now it's time to say goodbye.

'The Vicarage' series - 2012 Calendars

I've been very busy over the last couple of weeks, with an old friend visiting for a few days, working on setting up new website shops, starting to overhaul old ones, and working on designs for the 'Vicarage' series calendars. Still so much to do, but I'm loving the creative process again. It seems stepping away from the photography for such a long time has turned out to be a very positive thing. I'm reinspired and right back in the swing of things.

I love designing calendars! It's a heap of fun. The design of the calendar above is one that I did a number of years ago, way back when I was working in a digital printroom, within one of Melbourne' universities. I never really did anything with it then. It's been gathering dust in my mac's archives ever since. Thought it might be time to dust it off, tweak it a little, and make good use of it. I'm so very thankful for all the years I have had working as a desktop publisher. It gave me skills and knowledge I will always be grateful for. As a photographer, it comes in incredibly handy. (Lulu and Redbubble, of course, own the designs for the dates part of the calendars.)



Big, beautiful, high quality 2012 'Vicarage' Calendars now available for purchase via Lulu and Redbubble. Other calendars to come soon.

I've set up a separate gallery on my website to display all of the months much larger than they can be viewed on Redbubble (which unfortunately doesn't allow large previews on calendars for some reason).

Ada Cambridge & the Holy Trinity Vicarage - 2012 Calendar (#1)

I couldn't possibly have passed up the opportunity of turning this photoshoot into a calendar. Large format, premium quality 2012 'Vicarage' Calendars now available through Lulu.com (US-based), with a slightly smaller version available shortly through RedBubble (Melbourne-based).