On We Go, Trusting the Way

I had to laugh when I drew ‘The Fairy of Trusting the Way’ because I just wrote about it two postings ago! 

 But, really, I’m not surprised.  As many of you who also use the Bluebird Fairy Deck daily know, you get the cards you need.  And, sometimes you need to hear the same message over and over for a while.

This fairy is beloved to many.  During my Fairy Card Readings at the traveling Fairy Booth people take home the card that resonates with them the most.  “Trusting the Way” goes home with lots of people.

That resonates nicely with me because I created the fairies to help me trust I would find my way when I was in the middle of making big changes in my life. And they’ve been lighting my way ever since.

We can’t, however, depend on the fairies alone.  ‘The Fairy of Trusting the Way’ requires assistance from us.  The Reverend Al Sharpton exclaimed several years ago at a Martin Luther King Day event: 

“IF YOU DON’T HAVE A GOAL IN MIND TO HEAD TOWARDS HOW ARE YOU GOING TO KNOW WHEN YOU’VE ARRIVED?”  

When we allow ourselves the opportunity to think about what we want, light, however dim, starts growing in the dark distance of our minds.

What do you want?  A change? A new skill to grow? A new place to live? A new opportunity to experience? Something new????

Once the wish is made, however vague and unhinged from your current reality, relax and see how it unfolds.

Here’s a nice example.  This picture of me as a mermaid delights me and the people who see it which allows me to know it has resonance and it’s not even clear why. And now I know.

I’ve been very excited about a Paddleboard Yoga Class I signed up for this summer.  It just started yesterday.  As I lay on my tummy and paddled out into the sun-lit evening on the bay I realized I was living the reality the picture had allowed to grow.  

And, now, folk, off we go.  Sit and Manifest

Move and Dream and Let the Magic Happen.

Onward and upward!

Fondly,

Emily and the Bluebird Fairies

Bluebird Fairies has a home! It’s on 4 Howard Street, 3rd Floor in Burlington, Vermont.  We’re having an opening on Friday August 5th.  

Weekly Food from the Farm

Ah, here she is. 

And this is what she meant to me when I drew her.

A few years ago I took two years off from full-time employment.  I had some income coming in and a savings account that held a VERY, VERY thin cushion of comfort for me.

I’d moved to a house out in the country and, it turned out, I knew the farmers around the corner who had a big organic farm and a weekly CSA.  (Community supported agriculture program)

For three summers (and two winters) I bought shares from Full Moon Farm. Every time I gathered together the hundreds of dollars to pay them up front it hurt a little.  Afterwards, though, I felt a great and comforting relief that I had food coming soon and that it would keep coming every week for a bunch of months.

What does this fairy mean now? Well, a friend got this fairy one day and said “I don’t get food from a farm but I totally get her.  She reminds me to accept my ‘lot in life’.” 

It’s true, with a CSA you don’t know what you’re going to get. One week there might be lots of carrots. And, yes, you might have to get inventive with all the rutabagas you start to accumulate.

That’s the challenge of this fairy. 

How can you move forward embracing all that you have?  The good, wonderful stuff and the big, monthly car payment.  Or the difficult family situation. Or personal ailment.

 You play an instrument.  Draw a little picture.  Take a walk in nature. 

And allow yourself time to become unworried and unhurried and released from doing into being.

Go on, enjoy being you!

Have Fun!

Emily and the Bluebird Fairies

Join us on July 1 from 5:30-7:30 for an “Opening Toast” for the Made in BTV Shop at 4 Howard Street (At corner near pine. Enter through the door near the loading dock). Artists from the building have wonderful things in this store owned by Vermont Singing Drum. Free Fairy Card readings for all!

Trusting the Way

"In each life there comes at least one moment which, if recognized and seized, transforms the course of that life forever.  Rely, therefore, on radical trust, even though the moment may call for you to leap empty-handed into the void."

                        - The Book of Runes by Ralph H. Blum

Last year, as many of you know, I had my Fairy Booth up at the Arts Riot Truck Stop every Friday night for 25 weeks and I gave people “Fairy Card Readings”.  After each of these short, down-to-earth, light hearted, practical conversation a person would get to pick the fairy that resonated most strongly with them.  The one that headed home most often with people was this remarkable and much-needed fairy.

I've been recalling a moment in which my inner self said 'yes!' to something I instinctively knew would irrevocably change my life.  I was already aware I could no longer live the life I had been living so I seized it.

Now, nicely woven into the new life I’ve been stitching I can marvel at the ability I had then to 'Dare Greatly' as Brene' Brown calls it in her book titled with the same words.  This new life continues to be full of opportunities to do this as I move forward in cultivating what Brene' Brown's work supports;

“ wholehearted living.” 

Brene’ Brown has made a list of 10 'guideposts’ that assist us in achieving this.  The one I’m thinking of a lot lately is "Cultivating Intuition and Trusting Faith' so I was delighted that the fairy I drew from my deck to write about today was “Trusting the Way”. Each guidepost has a complementary aspect and this fairy assists with that as well; “Let go of the need for certainty”.

I’m back at the Truck Stop again twice a month.  Please stop in or write me.

Soon, as I “Dare Greatly” by moving into my new, lovely studio space, you’ll find me there doing workshops and retreats.

Be strong and bold and soft and real!

Fondly,

Emily and the Bluebird Fairies

Uncle Energy

“Oh, no you can’t!!”

Do you ever have that nasty old thought living in your head and sometimes even curled around your heart?

Well, guess what?! The “Fairy of Uncle Energy” can transform that thought into some pretty powerful words.  And when he shows up, and for all of us reading this, that's NOW!

Uncle Energy is not interested hearing what's not working now and how things not going to work in the future.  Uncle Energy is interested in taking ignitable sparks from beneath the “I can’ts” and “It won’t works” and blowing them into life-giving flames. 

Uncle Energy needs to be focused.  My uncles really like me but they don't really know me.  They just know they like where I'm from- my family, my heritage, our shared stories and people. Their energy is strong and good but to use it well I need to focus it.

The practical side of Uncle Energy suggests:

1.    Write down 3 things you’re grateful for.

2.    List all you have to do to make your life happen.

3.    Prioritize it and move through it!' 

Oh, yes, you can!'

Onward and into your good future you go.

Fondly, 

Emily and Bluebird Fairies 

Bluebird Fairies is moving into a new home!

A beautiful studio space on the 3rd floor of the building on the corner of Pine and Howard streets.  Here we’ll have a good base for art making and moving Bluebird Fairies out into the world.  Stay tuned for our opening events and upcoming workshops and mini retreats and MORE.

Fairy of Love for Your Way

“Everyone should sit quietly each day and feel what makes them tick.” 

This quote was said by my friend, Mark Utter.  I thought of it as soon as I picked at random from my Bluebird Fairy Deck this wonderful fairy:

I love her fun, easy demeanor and that big heart in her chest gives a big hint to the secret of finding one’s own, unique way of being human.

Yesterday, I was doing something I love which is to forage for food near where I live.  Brian and I have most recently been feasting on Fiddlehead Fern Tacos, Dandelion Fritters and drinking Nettle tea. 

Filled with the excitement of foraging I opened a book a friend turned us on to last year, “The Wild Wisdom of Weeds” written by Katrina Blair. She’s an amazing woman who LOVES plants and feels the ones we need most are right around us. In her preface she shares a creation myth in which all sentient earth life explodes from the inside of a giant spider. 

“Every creature was born with a unique and special gift to share with the world.  The gift revealed itself when each creature followed the passionate feeling of joy found deep within its heart.  This passion was a guide for living in health and happiness”

Last week the Bridging Program students I work with at Champlain Community Services had a GALA to culminate the formal programming of this year’s “new and improved” program.  In it, their individual and group successes, of which there were many, were shared with a large audience in our beautiful, grand hallway.

In these exciting and wonderful moments of presentational sharing I am reminded that what allows this work I do with people to happen is love.  It starts when I first meet them, accept them and provide a safe places for them to feel who they are.  And then I do this again and again, every time I see them.  Once comfortable with who they are, they can then share their gifts with the world. 

Can you sit still today and get comfortable and still enough to hear your heart tick? 

Try it.  Seek no answers. Just the ease to be you.

Then go outside and find something to eat.

Fondly,

Emily and the Bluebird Fairies

Bluebird Fairies is going to have “store hours” on Wednesday Nights starting in June (though not on the 15th) in “The Made in BTV Shop” in the Howard Building at 4 Howard street (near its intersection with Pine street).  If you’d like a fairy card reading or have another “Fairy” related idea please contact me or just stop in. 

Also, we’re at Arts Riot's Truck Stop in Burlington twice a month.  Take note of our dates and stop on it for a Fairy Card reading and more.