Category: spirituality

2020 Update on my Level-10 Life. Reflections & future plans.

Sep

2020

All right, I realize that I haven’t posted a level-10 check-in since July of last year. I did do a level-10 check-in in December 2019, May 2020, and then this most recent one—beginning of September 2020; but two of those three were only in the journal.

So, just a quick reminder of what a Level-10 life check-in is:

There are 10 areas of life: family & friends, personal development, spirituality, finances, career (and I also include professional development here as well), social life, fun & recreation, giving & contribution, physical environment, and then finally health & fitness.

You then rank each area on a scale of 1-to-10, quickly and without thinking too hard on each one. Then you can compare your most recent Level-10 to the previous one and see how (or if) each area changed. Then depending on how you score them, and the change you can set up goals for each for the coming cycle.

Instead of doing three months, I stretched it into four months this year—because it’s 2020. Usually areas have been either staying constant, or just going up or down a little.

Though, with this check-in there were two areas that had slightly higher ups and downs.

Those two areas were finances, and the physical environment. My ‘happiness/appreciation’ of my finances went down 1.5—due largely to my impulsive e-book buying (and therefore a slightly larger than normal amazon bill). My ‘happiness/appreciation’ of my physical environment went up 1.5—due mainly to me keeping things better organized than I have in the past.

So what are my goals for the last four months of 2020? These goals are going to encompass basically seven out of the ten areas—leaving out family/friends, giving/contributions & social life. Not that I don’t care about those two—but 1) we’re still currently in a pandemic, so if I want to socialize with people, it will have to be online (or a minimum of 12 feet apart); 2) I try to keep in semi-touch with family/friends via social media; 3) there may be things to be donated or given away—just not sure on that particular point.

1) Finish the following workout programs:

Morning Meltdown 100—I should be finishing my first round of the program on 9/15/2020

Yoga Booty Ballet & LIIFT4—I should finish this combo by 11/15/2020 (marking the first finish for Yoga Booty Ballet-Abs & Butt Makeover & the 2^nd time through LIIFT4)

10 Rounds—I should then finish this program by Christmas (and it will be my first round of this program).

I will then start either Muscle Burns Fat & then Muscle Burns Fat Advance or another round of 21-Day Fix and 21-Day Fix Extreme (either of these will then carry me into 2021).

2) Finish the following professional development courses:

Data Science Syndicate (finish by the end of September; only 1 ½ modules left; actually finished this on 9/3/2020).

Medical Writers Organization (by the end of October)

Management Consultant Firm (by the end of November)

Project Management Consortium (by the end of December)

3) Start learning python (tied with #4 and #2)

4) Finish at least 6 other short e-courses

5) Read at least 8 personal/professional developments books and write short reviews

6) Daily mediation and tarot/oracle card readings (bi-weekly or monthly oracle card review on blog)

7) Learn a new hobby (try my hand at cross-stitching). Also get more yarn and start another afghan possibly.

8) Determine way(s) of earning extra money (or free-lancing options)

9) Start building up a varied portfolio for looking into free-lancing/remote/on-line job options.

10) Go to the storage unit and start repacking boxes that need it, plus maybe start seeing what I don’t need.

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Expanded Challenge: Now 150 goals to be completed in 2002 days

Jul

2020

100+ Goals to accomplish in 2002 Days

Start Date: July 19, 2020

End Date: January 10, 2026

Well I realized that since we’re over half way through July—that means there are less than six months left in 2020. I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to complete the 101 goals in 1001 days wasn’t going to work. For me it is due to the fact that I will only open the word document every so often—which makes it difficult to figure out which goal(s) I’m doing well on and which ones I’m not doing so well on meeting. Therefore, I am thinking of stretching out the time frame for this project and increasing the total number of goals to 150-200. There are numerous goals that are on hold (traveling), and will be at the bottom of the list. There are two reasons why the traveling goals are going to be at the bottom of the list: 1) we’re still in the middle of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Cases aren’t going down really in the US (though there are some states, where they are decreasing—OK isn’t one of them) and 2) several countries (namely the EU) have banned travelers from the US—in other words if you try to fly into any EU country, you may be put right back on a plane for the US, since they’re flattening their curves—they don’t want potential virus carriers showing up and spiking cases.

So the world has been in the grasp of the SARS-CoV2 virus for seven months (probably a little longer than that for the countries that are neighboring China), and we’re still learning about the virus each day. While there are several vaccines that are being pushed into various clinical trial phases—a real contender may still not be ready for another 6 to 18 months. Vaccine development is a slow and tedious process that the world is currently rushing because everyone wants to get back to ‘normal’. Hate to break it to everyone but the ‘old normal’ needs to be left in the past and we all need to work together to develop a ‘new normal’.

Truthfully, even if there is a vaccine out by the end of the year—I will probably still continue to shelter in place and wait at least an additional 8 to 12 months before I’m willing to get the vaccine (just to see how efficient the vaccine(s) are). Though based on the current news, we could end up with needing seasonal shots, as it has been shown that with people who “recover” from SARS-CoV2 the antibodies against the virus slowly disappear over time.

So I’ve been self-reflecting over the past six months (though maybe not that much during April—I was too pissed at the world for how bad the pandemic was getting, and now that we’re into July, I can say I’m still pissed but trying to get back into a routine of doing other things that I can control the outcomes of)) and have decided a few things:

Try to organize the challenge list into categories

If needing to restart (and I am)—any day of the week can become day 1 again

Balance is needed

I want to balance using my strengths (learner, intellection, input, achiever, deliberative/ideation/arranger) with working on my weaknesses (communication, self-regulation, bravery, zest, love)

The only person I should be competing with is who I was yesterday

Always strive for progress over perfection

So below are my goals—but broken up into different categories (such as professional development/career, personal development, both personal/professional development, travel, health & fitness to name a few categories). I’m going to extend the time frame to 2002 days (which is not quite 5 ½ years—but considering 2020 has started the decade off with a global pandemic—this a good time frame).

I’ve also decided that since I’m basically restarting the challenge (instead of just extending it), that some of the things I’ve accomplished so far this year probably shouldn’t count towards it (such as reading 12 personal/professional development books, and the fact that I would be on day 42 of Morning Meltdown 100, tomorrow—the last 59 days of the workout would count towards my 2000 days of Beachbody workouts-just not the first 41 days).

More goals may be added over the years as I re-evaluate this list and see what may need to be removed, what has been finished, and where I think I could possibly push myself more.

Professional development and career:

1. Transition into an industry position (probably remote/online or freelancing at this point to start); there will be several posts on this goal

2. Learn a programming language (python or R—ties in with #6)

3. Finish various e-courses that I’ve bought, but in particular:

4. Dream Job Hack

5. Medical Writers Organization

6. Data Scientist Syndicate

7. Project Management Consortium

8. Management Consulting Firm

9. All other courses—see additional lists in the journal.

10. More interacting on Linkedin

11. Sharing articles from various biotech pages, and other science pages

12. Commenting on posts

13. Giving/Asking for recommendations

14. Start writing my own posts

15. Creating monthly/weekly/daily calendars for above goals

16. Renew professional memberships

Both Personal and Professional Development

17. Become fluent in Spanish

18. Become fluent in German

19. Become proficient in French, Norwegian, or Swedish

20. Read at least 300 personal/professional development books

21. Finish the books on scientific writing

22. Start building up a portfolio of work (writing/data analysis/plus other ideas)

23. Develop a daily writing habit (tied with several goals below)

24. Write a letter to my future self

Personal development and hobbies

25. Paint and frame at least one original painting

26. More photography

27. 365-Day Challenge (aim for 365 different pictures)

28. Update photography pages on blog

29. Make my own jewelry

30. Learn to cross-stitch

31. Get a new sewing machine

32. Make a new quilt (or this may wait until I move)

33. Make a set of drapes for the bedroom (for backdrop for any zoom calls)

34. Start a new afghan (write a post on finishing the other)

35. Show case crafts on blog (possibly a weekly update?)

36. Start writing a book

37. Learn Photoshop

38. Write in journal daily (answer questions/prompts from journaling books and free thought)

39. Create my own coffee-table photography book

40. Learn basic sign language

41. Start a virtual book club

Finances

42. Create monthly budgets

43. Credit card debts down and hopefully paid off monthly

44. Declutter the house (way of earning extra cash)

45. Savings account up another 20K (hopefully)

46. Talk with financial person about short-term investment possibilities

47. Continue doing the small surveys as a way of earning a little extra cash

48. Finish the various financial e-courses, and decide when/how to start investing

Fitness & Health

49. Get into the best shape of my life

50. Multivitamin and supplements daily

51. Manage at least 2000 days of Beachbody workouts

Finish the following programs (some will probably be more than 1 or 2 times)

52. Morning Meltdown 100 (will probably do this 2-3 times, as I’m currently doing this program right now—07/19/2020)

53. Yoga Booty Ballet—Abs & Butt

54. 10 Rounds

55. Barre Blend

56. Insanity Max 30

57. LIIFT4–all three phases (have already done this program once)

58. 22 Minute Hard Corps

59. T20

60. Insanity

61. Insanity: Asylum 1

62. Insanity: Asylum 2

63. 4 weeks of Prep

64. 6 weeks of the work

65. T25 (have already done this program once)

66. Brazil Butt Lift

67. 21-Day Fix (Already done this program once)

68. 21-Day Fix Extreme (Already done this program once)

69. Country Heat (already done this program once)

70. CIZE

71. Muscle Burns Fat

72. Muscle Burns Fat Advanced

73. 30-Day Breakaway (this is a maybe—it’s running based)

74. 9-week control freak

75. Shawn Week

Plus any other possible Beachbody program that is coming out that I may want to add.

76. Manage 5 push-ups on my toes

77. Manage 10 push-ups on my toes

78. Hold a two-minute forearm plank

79. Hold a 90 second plank

80. Meditate nightly

81. Start jogging (as another way to try to keep my mental health up)—may tie this in with #73

82. 60-80 oz of water a day

83. Stretch daily

84. Go one weekend a month with no social media (no scrolling through social media pages; may still post on the sites)

85. Get at least 10,010,000 steps (breaks down to 5K/day)

Blog and Social Media

86. Finish YouTube for bosses course

87. Finish YouTube course creation for bosses course

88. Finish blog to biz course

89. Launch a YouTube channel

90. Launch an online course

91. Get blog traffic to 500+ views a day

92. Rebrand myself (?)

93. Get Instagram followers to constant 800+

94. Get pintrest followers to constant 400+

95. Get twitter followers to constant 1000+

96. Publish at least two blog series

97. Editorial calendars (monthly/weekly/daily)

98. Blog

99. Instagram

100. Facebook pages

101. Twitter

102. Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes/follows

103. Get becomingJessi (or new name if I change) to 1000+ likes/follows

104. Various top 10 author lists

105. Various top 10 book series lists

106. Launch a podcast

Spirituality

107. Full/New Moon Goals

108. Create my own altar (wicca/pagan)

109. Weekly (or daily) tarot/oracle card readings

110. 15 minutes outdoors in the morning (coffee only) weather permitting

Others

111. Keep at least 3 plants alive

112. Design a science based board game

113. Create and update digital vision board

114. Reorganize my storage unit

115. Put in at least one flower garden around the house (backyard, and/or front yard)

116. Help put up partial privacy fence in backyard

117. Start downsizing clothes and creating different “minimum” wardrobes (work/professional/casual; home/casual/working out)

118. Develop at least 10 different 100-day challenges

119. Start downsizing rest of my belongs as well—would like to probably be able to live comfortably in a smallish size apartment (or house) where ever I move for the next job.

TV shows to binge watch

120. Hawaii 5-0 (latest remake)

121. Grimm

122. The Librarians

123. Once Upon A Time

124. Blacklist

125. Numbers

Goals on hold due to the global coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak (either because they require traveling, going into a large store, and/or being around large groups of people):

126. Re-pierce my ears

127. Go to at least 1 scientific conference

128. Present at a scientific conference

129. Go to at least 2 professional networking events

130. Move to a new (or maybe not new) city for job

131. Visit at least 3 new countries

132. Visit at least one new national and/or state park

133. Visit at least one new national and/or state monument

134. Visit at least one new zoo

135. Visit at least one new aquarium

136. Fly out and/or land at 3 new (to me) airports

137. Visit at least one new city

138. Visit at least one new state

139. See the northern lights

140. Attend at least one blogging conference

141. Attend at least one author-reader conference

142. Swim with whale sharks

143. Parasailing

144. Run a 5K (connects back to goals #73 & #81)

Once I move:

145. Get fabric and foam and make new cushions for chairs

146. New couch & chair for living room

147. New dresser for bedroom

148. New mattress & box spring for bed and/or a new bed set

149. New TV & stand

150. New desk/craft workstation

So I now have roughly 150 goals to accomplish in 2002 days. Some of the goals may be accomplished well before the 2002 days are up—others may be up to the end (namely the fitness workouts and steps). So how will I accomplish these 150 goals??? Well, there are 25 goals that are “on-hold” until the virus is under control (goals #126-150)—so these may not be looked at for the first 500+ days (though I will probably be checking the stats on the pandemic more often).

In terms of the other 125 goals—I already have some ‘habits’ in place—I have set up monthly calendar/check-ins for my steps, daily workouts, and spending, plus I do a monthly money check-in when I set up payments for various bills. So what I’m going to be doing is adding in additional trackers (e-courses, photography, tarot/oracle card readings) and seeing tracking that ways helps me move through things better. Also in terms of the e-courses, I’m going to be trying to take better notes so that I can post little recaps on the blog as well (all of this will also help me possibly finally design and keep up with editorial calendars as well).

But above else, I need to remember the following phrases: Aim for progress and not perfection, work hard in silence, let your success by your noise, and make it happen, shock everyone.

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Pisces New Moon Goals and acknowledging fears

Feb

2020

So I’m a few days late in posting—but over the weekend the moon moved through it’s second new moon transition for the year and it was through the Pisces constellation. I’ve realized one thing so far on my reboot break—I’m falling into the old habit of concentrating on one thing to the determent of everything else. While I did need to decompress after my job ended—I barely did anything else. I know that I need to start listening to my inner voice—but I’m truthfully finding that more difficult than I thought. This is due in part to letting all the other voices (you know the ones—your parents, family, teachers, bosses, even close friends) have more of a say in your life than you do.

So what does that have to do with the Pisces new moon and making goals? Pisces is about-facing both your dreams and your fears—and this is something that truthfully I haven’t been good at in recent years (facing either of them). It is hard to try to rewrite a dream, when you realize that the one you’ve held on to for years isn’t going to come about (say becoming a professor and having a marine biology/molecular biology/developmental biology research project going), and having to figure out what else you can do with your life.

Fears have been a little easier to acknowledge—at least my two biggest ones (and actually those are anxiety based issues than actual fears)—one is talking, both in front of large groups of people, and then just one-on-one with someone new. Why do I have the fear/anxiety issue—I’m “afraid” that they (if it is one-on-one) or someone in the audience is going to correct either my sentence structure or the pronunciation of the word(s)—and this stems from childhood. When I was just starting kindergarten, we moved from Massachusetts to Oklahoma, where I was enrolled in a new kindergarten class. Then the following issues arose—my speech (I learned to talk out in Massachusetts, and had a northeastern accent—where I didn’t pronounce my “r”. Now this would have taken care of itself over the years as I settled into things and the school—but the teachers and others thought it would be better if I was put in speech therapy to speed up the process. So I spent most of my elementary school career having to have speech therapy two to three days a week just to learn how to pronounce a single letter of the alphabet. On top of that, my kindergarten teacher would always correct my speech, to a point that I didn’t feel comfortable talking. I thought was the point if someone was going to just repeat it anyway—so I started just writing out what I wanted to say, and it was either passed around to everyone or the teacher would read it out loud.

So needless to say—I don’t have that many fond memories of being in public schools (from speech therapy to being bullied and ridiculed—I was very happy to graduate), and while I managed to work on the issue a little through college, it is still something that crops up from time to time as something I don’t like to do, but I know that I need to—so I’m going to be looking in finding different ways of coping with stress and anxiety of talking to others.

The other fear/anxiety that I have is actually being behind the wheel of a car—aka driving. I don’t mind being a passenger, for the most part I’ve gotten over the severe carsickness that I had as a child—it is now just a mild to moderate problem. Where did the anxiety of being behind the wheel come from? The answer simple answer is childhood—the more complex answer is an older sibling who decided it would be “cute” that when picking me up from the movies and driving home to remove their hands from the steering wheel and telling me either to steer the car, or that we’d swerve into the oncoming traffic. Looking back, I can see how they thought it would be “cute” and possibly instill wanting to be my own chaperone/driver in me, so that I would jump at the chance for signing up for drivers’ education, get my license, and never bug other people for a ride. But that isn’t what happened—instead it instilled a deep anxiety in me, that possibly someone is going to grab the wheel, or something will happen and I have no control over it. I’ve tried over the years to take lessons—but the fear is deep, and not something that one gets over quickly. So for now, I am more than willing to rely on public transportation, my bike, my feet, and occasionally asking someone for a ride somewhere. Also with the way the world is going—who knows how long vehicles are going to be around anyway.

So other than focus on your dreams and fears, what else can one focus on during the Pisces new moon?

Following your hunches/intuition—now this is something that I need to work on, as I’ve ignored my own gut instincts too often over the past several years.

Heal—focus on working though emotional or spiritual issues.

“Surrender”—practice yoga, meditation—and open yourself to the possibilities of the universe.

In addition, Pisces is also moving through my 5^th house—or my fun zone. So this is the area that is triggered by creativity, children, and romance. Now I’m good with the creativity portion—I don’t have kids (and I’m not around them all that much), and truthfully right now I’m not in the market for romance (especially since I’m still trying to figure out my life and where I want to be working/living within the next year).

So there are several different things that one can do during this sums up the 5^th house (or fun zone):

Taking up belly dancing.

Making a toy for a child.

Starting to date

Going on a trip with your significant other

Doing something creative (writing, painting, so forth)

Do something that typifies your idea of fun

Throw a party

So there are few things on the list that I can basically scratch off as not doing—starting to date, going on a trip with your significant other, making a toy for a child, and throwing a party. These are only crossed off the list because 1) I’m again not looking for a relationship, 2) I’d rather meet up with people for lunch or an afternoon walk than throw a party; and 3) I don’t have the accessories to make a toy for a child (as I would be leaning towards making stuff animals for children).

I’ve tried to belly dance in the past (had actually bought some workout DVDs), and I may actually try to find a free program to follow on-line. I found it fun and challenging (especially since I currently don’t have the coordination for it—not that I had the coordination in the past either).

So if I were to make goals for the next few weeks, they would be the following:

Get back into a meditation routine—preferably at night, but may try morning as well.

Start doodling again, and possibly turn one of the doodles into a cross-stitch pattern (and teach myself how to cross-stitch).

Daily workout (Beachbody or possibly see if I can find a free online belly dancing workout)

But overall remember: Progress not Perfection

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Take Three of the 101 goals in 1001 days

Nov

2019

So in one of my many self reflection periods this past month, I realized that I hadn’t been looking at my 101 goal list and seeing how close I was to any of the goals (with the exception of my step goal). I also realized looking at the list, it was all jumbled together and that made it hard to see which goals could “feed” off of each other in terms of the daily/weekly/monthly goals that I should be setting to reach them.

Therefore, I took the time and rewrote my list—this time grouping things into different categories. I’m going to be hitting restart on the time, to where if I start on November 2, 2019—I should then be finishing up around July 29, 2022.

Professional development and career:

1. Transition into an industry position (tied to latest self reflections post); there will be several posts on this goal

2. Learn a programming language

3. Finish various e-courses that I’ve bought, but in particular:

4. Dream Job Hack

5. Medical Writers Organization

6. More interacting on Linkedin

7. Sharing articles from various biotech pages, and other science pages

8. Commenting on posts

9. Giving/Asking for recommendations

10. Creating monthly/weekly/daily calendars for above goals

11. Go to at least 1 scientific conference

12. Present at a scientific conference

13. Go to at least 2 professional networking events

14. Renew professional memberships

15. Move to a new (or maybe not new) city for job

Both Personal and Professional Development

16. Become fluent in Spanish

17. Become fluent in German (or maybe French)

18. Read at least 100 personal/professional development books

19. Finish the books on scientific writing

Personal development and hobbies

20. Paint and frame at least one original painting

21. More photography

22. 365-Day Challenge (aim for 365 different pictures)

23. Update photography pages on blog

24. Make my own jewelry

25. Learn to cross-stitch

26. Finish my latest afghan

27. Show case crafts on blog (possibly a weekly update?)

28. Start writing a book

29. Learn Photoshop

30. Write in journal daily (answer questions/prompts from journaling books and free thought)

31. Create my own coffee-table photography book

32. Learn basic sign language

Finances

33. Create monthly budgets

34. Credit card debts down and hopefully paid off monthly

35. Declutter the house (way of earning extra cash)

36. Savings account up another 20K (hopefully)

37. Talk with financial person about short-term investment possibilities

Travel

38. Visit at least 3 new countries

39. Visit at least one new national and/or state park

40. Visit at least one new national and/or state monument

41. Visit at least one new zoo

42. Visit at least one new aquarium

43. Fly out and/or land at 3 new (to me) airports

44. Visit at least one new city

45. Visit at least one new state

46. See the northern lights

47. Attend at least one blogging conference

48. Attend at least one author-reader conference

49. Attend Beachbody Coach Summit 2020

Fitness & Health

50. Get into the best shape of my life

51. Multivitamin and supplements daily

52. Manage at least 250 days of Beachbody workouts

53. Manage 5 push-ups on my toes

54. Manage 10 push-ups on my toes

55. Hold a two-minute forearm plank

56. Hold a 90 second plank

57. Meditate nightly

58. 30-day Zumba challenge

59. 60-80 oz of water a day

60. Stretch daily

61. Go one weekend a month with no social media (no scrolling through social media pages; may still post on the sites)

62. Get at least 14,014,000 steps (breaks down to 14K/day)

Blog and Social Media

63. Finish YouTube for bosses course

64. Finish YouTube course creation for bosses course

65. Finish blog to biz course

66. Launch a YouTube channel

67. Launch an online course

68. Get blog traffic to 500+ views a day

69. Rebrand myself (?)

70. Get Instagram followers to constant 800+

71. Get pintrest followers to constant 400+

72. Get twitter followers to constant 1000+

73. Publish at least two blog series

74. Editorial calendars (monthly/weekly/daily)

75. Blog

76. Instagram

77. Facebook pages

78. Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes/follows

79. Get becomingJessi (or new name if I change) to 1000+ likes/follows

80. Various top 10 author lists

81. Various top 10 book series lists

Spirituality

82. Full/New Moon Goals

83. Create my own altar (wicca/pagan)

84. Weekly tarot/oracle card readings

Others

85. Keep at least 3 plants alive

86. Design a science based board game

87. Create and update a digital vision board

88. Re-pierce my ears

89. Reorganize my storage unit

Once I move:

90. Get a new sewing machine

91. Make a new quilt

92. Get fabric and foam and make new cushions for chairs

93. New couch & chair for living room

94. New dresser for bedroom

95. New mattress & box spring for bed

96. New TV & stand

TV shows to binge watch

97. Hawaii 5-0 (latest remake)

98. Grimm

99. The Librarians

100. Once Upon A Time

101. Blacklist

So that is my update and “organized” 101 goals in 1001 days. This time I’m trying to balance things out—personal and professional development, career and then just odds and ends. Hopefully with it being organized, I will be better at tracking how close I am to completing certain items and which items when completed will flow into another one being started.

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Aquarius Full Moon Goals, a few days late…..

Aug

2019

So the moon has transitioned into its full moon stage (either last night or the night before last—depending on where you live in the world). This means that we’re half way through August, and pretty soon we’re going to be entering the last few months of the year. I’ll be happy when the temperatures cool down—I’m getting tired of the triple digits combined with the high humidity.

So the moon has transitioned into Aquarius, and there are questions that one can ask themselves during this time (again, all questions come from “Moonology: Working with the magic of lunar cycles by Yasmin Boland).

Have I been pragmatic to the point of losing the romance of life?

Have I been living too much in my head and not enough in my heart?

Have I been trying to do things my way, just for the sake of it?

Have I been trying too hard to befriend people, and for the wrong reasons?

Have I allowed myself to move forwards this month?

So if I were to number the above questions 1-5, I think that my answers would be as follows:

Have I been too down to earth or rational lately? It depends on what one is talking about—how I see the world? Yes, I’m way to pragmatic in seeing that the world is going to hell in a hand basket right now. I’m sure that there are people who say that I’m not being rational in how I’m handling my career transition (taking a reboot break), especially since there are signs that a recession could be coming. But I’ve always been a rational person, who likes to have an idea of any and all outcomes before deciding on doing something (hence why I’m still at home and working at my alma mater—I overthink and become paralyzed and stuck).
This is a toss up—I’m usually over cautious (being in my head), but at the same time I’m trying to do more things that I enjoy (and that currently don’t pay the bills—photography, reading, being outdoors).
This depends again on context—what are we talking about. With my job—I do things as written in the protocols. With my life—everything is up in the air, and it’s hard to do something a certain way if you have no idea of what you’re doing.
I’m not someone who makes friends quickly, so I can safely say that I haven’t been trying to befriend people for any reason lately. I know that networking is an important part of job searching and career advancement. While I have an extensive network, I know that I need to actually start putting the work into those relationships—and this something that I’m going to focus on during my reboot break (though I will start doing a little more daily beforehand).
I am slowly making progress on planning my reboot break, and am proud that I’m sticking firm with stating that I’m not signing an extension contract for my current position. I know that there is something more out there, I just have to be willing to move forward to find it—and the best way to move forward is to intentionally “close” a door—that way you have no choice but to move forward.

The Aquarius full moon is a time to find balance between having a few real relationships and being the super person of the month. It is also the time to reflect on things, and figure out how to let go of the things that are no longer helpful or nurturing.

In addition to being within Aquarius, it is also important to see what house the moon is passing through as well. Currently it is moving though my sixth house, or my daily work and health zone. Again, it will be time to reflect on things and figure out how to strike a balance that will bring some peace to one’s life.

Things that one can contemplate during this time:

Giving up bad habits.

Restarting an exercise routine.

Going slow and steady at work.

Fix the habits/routines that are no longer working for you.

Start meditating.

Take up yoga.

So it is fitting that I’m passing through the daily work and health zone—I know that I’ve let my fitness and health routine fall short a lot (I know I’m eating way to many sweets), and I know that there are a million other things I need to be working on as well. If I were to make a small list of goals for the Aquarius full moon they would include:

Evening meditations—I’ve been good at managing at least two to three minutes. I’d like to work back up to doing five to ten minutes. Also I should try to figure out a way of meditating during the day (instead of going for a walk to buy chocolate, I should try to find a quiet spot to just sit and be for awhile).

Getting back into a workout routine. While I may not be able to manage a daily workout—I’ll aim for trying to workout two or three days a week, and work up to doing a daily workout.

Work on my reboot break and transition plans—journal any and all ideas. I have to remember that this is my path to walk, and what may seem strange to others may just work out perfectly for me.

jessimatts No Comments AstrologyFitness ChallengesFull Moon GoalsLifestyle ChallengesPersonal Developmentprofessional developmentspirituality AquariusFullMoonAugustFullMoonFullMoonGoalslittlebylittleMoonologyprogressnotperfectionsmallstepsbetterthanlargeleaps

Check-in on 101 goals

Jul

2019

So we’re officially a little over halfway through 2019, which means that there are 815 days left in this challenge (as today is July 5^th 2019). So I decided that I should probably do a check-in on the goals and see where I’m at with them. Updates are in bold.

The dates for my 101 goal challenges are:

So my original start and finish dates were:

Start Date: January 1 2018

Finish Date: September 28 2020

My new start and finish dates:

Start Date: January 1, 2019

Finish Date: September 28, 2021

Here are my 101 goals for the next 1001 days (random and non-grouped):

Transition into a biotech or biopharma company as a research scientist
Become fluent in Spanish
Become fluent in German
Learn to program (R and maybe python)
Visit at least three new countries (0/3)
Finish the various other e-course bundles that I bought (list out later)
Move to a new(ish) city for #1
Make it through at least 250 days of beachbody workouts (share on twitter?) (0/250) *Luckily it doesn’t have to be consecutive days (though I would like that)—I haven’t done a Beachbody workout in awhile (I also can’t remember how many I’d done before I hit my slump).
Paint & frame at least one original painting (0/1)
Finish the Dream Job Hack program
Finish the Youtube for bosses course
Finish the Youtube course creation for bosses course
Launch a youtube channel
Launch a online course
Get blog traffic to 500+ views/day
Publish 5-10 scientific blog posts (0/10)
Practice more photography (1-2 posts a week) I’ve managed to stick with the photography challenge so far, so at least on the blog there have been new pictures post on a semi-constant basis (at least for the past three-four months).
Get instagram followers to 800+
Showcase crafts on blog (afghans, artwork, jewelry)
Learn to make my own jewelry
Re-pierce my ears
Finish at least 200 personal/professional development books (and post reviews) (35/200) *So out of the 274 books I have on my book reading list for both personal and professional development (and this number is growing)—I’ve read 20 in 2018, and 15 so far in 2019—that means I only have another 238 books to read to finish the list (and that is only if I don’t add anymore books to the list).
Interact more on Linkedin (actually network with connections) (at least 4 a week) (0/140)
Reach at least 14,014,000 steps (0/14,014,000); though if I add in the steps from 2018—this could actually be closer to 20,000,000 steps (goal—19,124,000 by Sept 28 2021 (as of yesterday (07/04/19) 8,047,645/19,124,000).
Visit at least one new national (or state) park (0/1)
Visit at least one new national (or state) monument (0/1)
5 pushups on toes (0/5)
10 pushups on toes (0/10)
Fly/land at least 3 new airports
Visit one new city & state (US) (0/1; 0/1)
Go to one or more scientific conferences (0/1)
Go to a blogging conference (0/1)
See the Northern Lights
Present at a scientific conference (0/1)
Post free monthly challenges in facebook groups
Write (or start) a book
Complete a 365 day photography challenge (137/365) I started the challenge a little late this year, or more accurately it took me awhile to build momentum to continue posting a daily picture.
Learn to cross-stitch
Reach 400+ followers on pintrest
Reach 1000+ followers on twitter
Publish at least two blog series (0/2)
Mediate at least 5 minutes a day (0/1001) This one has been an off and on success—there have been at least one or two weeks when I didn’t feel like meditating nightly, and therefore I didn’t—but I’m slowly getting back into the routine.
No extra snacks at work (i.e. no hitting the coffee shop for cookies in the morning) This one is a work in progress, there are some days when I’m really good at not getting extra snacks at work, and there are other days when I cave and get chocolate.
Declutter the movies in the house
Create an editorial calendar for blog (0/33) Well I’m slowly starting to try creating editorial calendars, but have only been really good at posting certain topics (new/full moon goals & updates, monthly updates & photography challenge). This is something I still need to work on.
Credit card debt down to less than $500 a month (and getting paid off monthly in full) This is almost happening—I do have my debt at a level that I can pay off monthly, though some bills get a little higher than planned.
Monthly budget (plus list of monthly recurring charges on credit cards) (0/33) I’ve been doing this, though not listing the recurring charges on my credit cards.
~~Learn to give mani/pedi and give myself one a month (0/33)~~ This one is off the list—because I have yet to do it, and while I might in the future I don’t see me doing it quite yet.
Get a new sewing machine and make a new quilt for bed. This one is on hold until I move and then I’ll be buying a new sewing machine.
Make my new moon & full moon goals (0/66) I’ve been keeping up with this one. Though I may not hit all the goals for both the new moon & the full moon—I’m at least putting my intentions out there for the universe to hear.
Buy a new couch and chair for my living room. This one and #s 52-54 are dependent on success with #1 & #7
Buy a new dresser for my bedroom
Buy a new mattress & box-spring for my bed
Buy a new TV & stand for living room
Reorganize my storage unit
Buy fabric & foam and make new cushions for rocking chair
Create a posting schedule (editorial calendar) for facebook pages (0/66) I’m behind on this.
Generate at least three months of memes for facebook pages (0/3)
Create posting schedule (editorial calendar) for instagram (0/33) Behind on this.
Learn to use photoshop for memes & posts
Make a 30-day Zumba schedule & stick with it (0/30) Haven’t done this yet.
Visit one or more new zoos (0/1)
Visit one or more new aquariums (0/1)
Make a top 10 favorite author list (for different genera; romance, fantasy/sci-fi, mystery/thriller, non-fiction) for blog
Write and share at least two posts on linkedin every two months (0/32) Behind on this as well.
Ask for endorsements from 6 well known connections on linkedin (0/6) Behind on this well.
Endorse 3 to 5 people on linkedin every four months (0/40) Behind on this.
Renew professional memberships (0/6) Need to do this soon.
Get into the “best shape” of my life. This is one of the things I’m going to try to focus on more, and maybe should be moved higher in the list.
Finish reading books on scientific writing (review and post) (0/7)
Take a multivitamin & supplements daily (0/1001). There have been several days (going on to a week) that I’ve missed taking my multivitamin & supplements.
Design a logo for my blog/website
Finish 3 hidden object games without using hints, or the strategy guide
Go to a author-reader conference and meet authors
Write in journal daily (0/1001). There have been several weeks that I didn’t do this (mainly due to my current mood—even though I know when I’m feeling down or in a funk that is actually a good time to journal).
Complete my book of Sudoku puzzles (minus the ones crossed out)
Drink 70 oz of water a day (0/1001). There have been quite a few days when this hasn’t happened.
Color in two coloring books (0/2) (pictures on blog/instagram)
Knit another afghan (diamond pattern) This has been started, and hopefully will be finished this coming winter.
Watch all the episodes of Hawaii 5-0
Go to at least 2 professional networking events (0/2)
Update Linkedin profile (0/2)
Watch all the episodes of Grimm
Design a science based board game
Hold a two minute plank (on forearms)
Hold a 90 second plank (full)
Go at least one weekend a month without social media (0/33) This hasn’t happened yet, though with the way the world is going I might start doing it.
Create (and update) a vision board. I’ve created and updated a digital vision board, and will probably try to update it at least every two to three months.
Create my own altar (wiccan/pagan)
Learn basic sign language
Create job searching/networking editorial calendar (0/12)
Get an additional external hard drive to back up the laptop & external DVD drive for installing printer program on laptop
Create my own coffee table photography book
Touch base with friends that I haven’t talked to lately
Savings up another 20K (0/20K)
Get at least three plants and keep them alive (0/3)
Stretch daily (0/1001)
Watch all the episodes of The Librarians
Watch all the episodes of Once Upon A Time
Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes
Get BecomingJessi to 1000+ likes

I’ve only removed one goal from the list—giving myself a mani/pedi monthly. I’ve never been the type to fuss with their nails (though I know with job searching, I do need to start taking better care of my nails, and this does include painting them every so often). I’ve realized that I have fallen behind on some of the daily goals (taking my multivitamins, drinking a certain amount of water a day, and writing in my journal every day)—but at least I do start back up, even if it tampers off, and then starts again.

I also know that there are goals that I haven’t started on, and others that require another goal to be accomplished before they are looked at. I know where I need to try to focus for the next few months (personal care—mental and physical health, and slowly figuring out my career objectives), and once these are on track, I think the others will follow suit.

jessimatts No Comments 101 GoalsBooksCraftsfinancesfitnessHealthjob searchingLifestyle Challengesmoney saving challengesno spend challengesPersonal Developmentprofessional developmentspiritualitytravel 101goalsupdateadultingsucksattimesbookstoreadfitnesshealthjobsearchingpersonaldevelopmentprofessionaldevelopmentselfcaretransitionplantomaketravelplanstomake

Level 10 life check-in

Jul

2019

July marks the start of the second half of the year, and the start of the third quarter. That also means that it is time to take a look at my level 10 life, and see what changes have occurred since April (when I did my last level 10 life check-in).

Level 10 life check-in. Starting the third quarter of the year.

In case you haven’t heard of Level 10 life, basically what it is–you take ten different areas of your life (friends & family, personal development, spirituality, finances, social life, career, fun & recreation, giving & contributions, physical environment, and finally health & fitness) and you rate them on a scale of 1 to 10.

When you rate them, you’re not suppose to spend a lot of time thinking about it–you rate them as how are they are–not how you would like them to be.

I started doing this last year (when I first read about it), and I will admit that there really hasn’t been any huge changes in any given area. I’m lucky if I can get things up to a five or a six. There are some areas that have held constant at around a five (namely family and friends), and my lowest has been at a one (social life).

My long term goal is to try to get things up to a seven or an eight, and I’d prefer if I could also maybe get my social life up to a four or a five. Every area needs work, as this check-in has shown that things have slipped backwards just a little compared to my April check-in.

While I could try to focus on little things for all ten different areas, I’m thinking that I’m going to try to focus on just three or four areas. Therefore my goals will be:

In terms of personal development: Continue reading different non-fiction books and working through different e-courses.

In terms of spirituality: Meditating daily, and doing a daily tarot/oracle card reading (even if I don’t share them right away).

In terms of career: Working on my “reboot break”, my transition plan, and trying to network more.

In terms of health and fitness: Trying to get back into a workout routine (either doing a program all the way through, or creating my own hybrid calendar).

I think that these are the basically the three big areas I need to focus: health (physical and mental), career (figuring out the next step), and just working on becoming the best me possible. Once I have these headed in the proper direction, everything else should also head in the proper direction.

jessimatts No Comments bullet journalLevel 10 LifePersonal Developmentprofessional developmentspirituality 2019ishalfwayoveralwaystimetoplanpersonaldevelopmentprofessionaldevelopmentselfcarethirdquarterof2019startedtimetoreviewgoalsupdateonlevel10life

Cancer New Moon Goals

Jul

2019

So the moon is entering the first new moon phase for July and is transitioning through the Leo constellation today and tomorrow. July has officially started, and there are only 183 days left in the year (I’d personally like to know where February and March went).

So what are some of the things that one can focus on during the Cancer new moon?

Family time (check in with relatives)

Banish insecurity

Get in touch with your caring and nurturing side

Review your goals

Take a hot bath

I also need to look to see what house the Cancer moon is moving through over the course of the new moon. Looking at things, Cancer is going through my ninth house (or my big picture zone). This is about adventure, travel, and personal development.

So what are some of the things that one can do during this time in regards to the ninth house?

Find a way to explore the world.

Read those books you know you should be reading.

Do a personal development course.

Manifest a new spiritual teacher.

Think about what you have faith in—and what you don’t.

Make a cyber pal on the other side of the world.

Have something you’ve written published.

I think that it’s fitting that the universe is nudging me to continue to do personal development. I’ve realized over the past few weeks that one of my biggest roadblocks to doing anything is that I don’t like confrontations. I usually go out of my way to be a team player, and to fly under the radar. This could be from childhood, where I decided it was better to keep quiet than have a teacher correct my pronunciation of words (and I’ve realized that this is a massive trigger for me now as an adult). I know that I’m not happy with my position, and that change is needed—but at the same time I don’t want to rock any boats on my way out either.

So in terms of the things that one can do during this time in regards to the ninth house:

I am trying to plan a solo vacation abroad for the fall (possibly around my birthday). But I’ve only gotten as far as thinking about it. I would like to try to brush up on a foreign language (that way I can possibly travel somewhere where English isn’t the main language).

I am slowly working my way through my huge to-be-read list of books that cover both personal and professional development.

I have several different e-courses that I am going to slowly be working through (some are personal development areas, and others are professional development).

In terms of spirituality and what I have faith in—currently on hold.

Making a cyber pal on the other side of the world—I’m in several different groups that have people all over the world, so I think I’m good on this one.

Having a blog counts for publishing right?

Therefore my goals for the Cancer New Moon period are going to be:

1) Review, edit, and update my 12-month goals/plans for the different areas that I set out back under the Aries new moon.

2) Meditate nightly (even if it’s only for a couple of minutes).

3) Do a daily tarot/oracle card reading (even if I don’t share on social media right away).

4) Read at least one more non-fiction book (two-three would be great)

5) Start working through some of the different e-courses that I’ve bought over the past two years.

jessimatts No Comments AstrologyNew Moon GoalsPersonal Developmentspirituality AstrologyCancerNewMoonmentalhealthMoonologynewmoongoalspersonaldevelopmentreviewofgoalsselfcaretimetoplanavacationwanttotravelmore

Weekend Reflections: where I’m at in terms of my new twelve month plans.

May

2019

**Disclaimer** I am not in the healthcare profession, if you are in need of medical (or mental) help—please see a licensed healthcare professional. The following are just my thoughts, feelings, and ways I think I can deal with my issues. Again—if you have issues, please see a licensed healthcare professional**.

Spent part of the weekend doing some serious reflection, and have come to the realization of several things:

I need to get better at time management (especially on the weekends, when I really don’t have my day structured that much). I realize that I could have the traffic coming to the blog higher, if I actually got posts written and posted on a regular schedule—instead of the semi-regular, sporadic schedule I’ve been doing.

Also having better time management, means that I could probably also be looking at different career tracks that are in the free-lancing and consulting areas (instead of looking for the just general nine-to-five jobs).

I would also have the time to dedicate to crafts and other projects or things I want to get accomplished.

I have also become my own worse enemy in terms of getting into the best shape of my life. I have allowed myself to use just about any excuse for not doing my workouts in the evenings, and before anyone comments that I could be doing them in the mornings—right now I’m barely getting my seven and a half hours of sleep, and therefore I’m not sacrificing that just to get a workout in first thing in the morning.

This one is also tied into the time management need as well—there are only so many hours in the evening before heading to bed, that I probably could be making better use of them, then how I’ve been using them.

I also need to find better ways of dealing with my stress and anxiety. I have found myself going to the little market on campus and buying several different sweets and candy bars (that will either last me the day, or a couple of days depending on my stress/anxiety levels).

The stress and anxiety have been issues that I really should have been dealing with years ago. I have a pretty good idea where a lot of my anxiety issues (tests, driving, and to some extent social) have come from (childhood can suck at times), and the stress is due in part to internalizing how I feel instead of just letting it out (probably would have had more issues in school if I vocalized how I felt at times). So those two issues have probably lead to some health issues (indigestion and upset stomach) that I also need to find better ways of dealing with (then taking over the counter medications and trying to ignore them).

So how can I start to address and manage these issues (I won’t say overcome and get rid of—because I know that having that mindset can set me up for failure)?

In terms of time management—I need to ask myself what tasks/items am I doing (or can I be doing) that are (or can be considered) beneficial for the future me.

Also I probably should look into the different apps/web pages that allow you to block certain pages to help increase productivity (I know that I do spend way to much time on social media).

Also I should ask myself—what tasks am I doing during the day at work that are actually going to be helping me move forward (and not actually helping move someone else forward). This might be a little more problematic, as I’m sure that there are at least one or two people that won’t be happy if I start to figure out other things to do that I deem more important then they do. In other words—I really need to start working on my individualized development plan (or my reboot break/transition plan).

In terms of getting back on track in terms of fitness and nutrition—there are several things that I can do:

Have my bedroom clean and the workout equipment off to the side. That way once I’m done with a few evening chores, I can put on my workout clothes, stream the workout program and get it done.

Not compare myself to others. This has been a hard one for me (especially the last few years that I’ve gained the weight back and the negative mind set).

If I need to take a walk at lunch (due to stress or anxiety), I will try to have my small digital camera on me so that I can practice my photography skills (instead of going to spend money on candy).

Also when needed—take my journal and go for a walk; then find a quiet area where I can sit and reflect on what is potentially causing my anxiety or stress to occur. Sit and try to write for at least five to ten minutes and then head back to the lab. Hopefully this will help me get a handle on the stress and anxiety.

Get back into the habit of trying to mediate for at least three to five minutes every night before reading.

Try to pack my shakeology (and supplements) to take to work and have it as either part of lunch or a snack. This will help me work back up to having it as part of breakfast.

So I know what I need to do in order to get myself back on the correct trail—patch some things that weren’t working, and rework some other things. I’m now going to picture my journey moving forward in one of two ways: I’m hiking and I will need to look for things to help me on my way; or I’m on a boat at sea, and I need to find unique ways of patching little holes in the boat to ensure that I can make it to the next island/land formation.

jessimatts No Comments fitnessHealthLifestyle Challengesmoney saving challengesPersonal Developmentprofessional developmentspirituality beingtruthfulwithmyselfgettingbackontrackPersonalDevelopmentInProgressProfessionalDevelopmentinProgressRebootBreakInPlanningweekendreflections

Oracle Card Review: Sacred Rebels Deck

Mar

2019

So during the month of February I decided that I was going to use the Sacred Rebels Oracle deck (I also got this deck out in Salem last October, along with the unicorn deck). This is a deck that will take a little bit more time to get use to using, as it doesn’t just address the emotions, but also a little bit of the mindset behind certain behaviors. So I will admit that there were times that I kept shuffling the cards and drawing until I felt comfortable with the message—I know that I should have worked with the first message, and this is something that I’m going to be working on in the future. Possibly by doing two different readings (ones that I post, which will come from possibly a different deck; and then another reading from the sacred rebels deck) and working on incorporating the messages from both in my life.

So the Sacred Rebels Oracle deck has forty-five different cards that cover a wide range of thoughts and emotions. Out of those forty-five cards, there were seven that I either didn’t pull or I reshuffled on (without making note of them). With the remaining thirty-eight cards, the number of times they showed up ranged from once up to six times. The cards that showed up the most were:

Inner Trust (4 times)

Inspiration (6 times)

Follow your own rhythm (4 times)

Shock of the new (6 times)

Diving for light (4 times)

Going beyond normal (4 times)

Dream a beautiful dream (5 times)

Seeing the true you (5 times) The other thirty cards showed up one to three times throughout the month. So lets look at some of the readings that I did during February.

On the second, I did a simple three-card spread. Sometimes people use this as a past, present, future read or asking about a certain question. For the most part during February I was doing a three to four-card spread to have an idea of what the following day might be bringing.

The three cards that were drawn on the second were: 14) going beyond normal, 23) defend to the end, the worthwhile, and 29) seeing the true you. So as many may know—I’m also starting to look at transitioning from academia to industry, and that is one thing that the card could be referring to—the safe would be staying in my position, or finding another academic position (that probably doesn’t pay all that well, and the duration is questionable as well) or step out of my safety zone and go into industry (or some other direction other than what I’m currently doing). The second card refers to standing your ground for what you believe in (and that is especially important in today’s society with the way the world is going). The final card is a gentle reminder that while it is important what others think of us—those reflections don’t define who we are—we define who we are and that we need to start looking at our own mirrors and not the mirrors that others hold up to us.

On the thirteenth, I did another three-card spread and those three cards that were drawn were: 38) restore and replenish; 3) inspiration; and 6) shock of the new. With the restore & replenish card, basically the universe is telling you that you need to a change. The same routine is only going to give the same results. It also lets us know that at times we’re going to fast and hard that it is also time to slow down and listen to our bodies and inner voices. Inspiration is almost self-explanatory. There are so many ideas and thoughts that bounce around in our heads that we need to take time daily and write them down. Some may be good, some may be bad—but if we don’t write them down we will probably forget about them all by the end of the day. This is one thing that I’m trying to do daily—write down both ideas and things that I’m grateful for (no matter how silly they would probably seem to other people). The final card is a reminder that nothing really stays the same, and new opportunities could present themselves in unexpected ways

On the seventeenth, I did a four-card spread, and the cards drawn were: 18) spirals of manifestation; 42) the word wants to be written; 39) free from judgment, free to love; and 16) what you want, wants you. So the spirals of manifestation reminds us that we may be closer to our goals/dreams than we think we are and that we should continue working towards them. “The word wants to be written” card is a little deceiving when one pulls it for the first time—it’s message is to be true to yourself, and uncover your path by remembering who you are (not who others think you should be). While it can also resonate with creative projects, the biggest project is listening to the inner voice and remembering what makes you smile, happy, and figuring out how to incorporate all of that into the crazy world we live in today. The free from judgment, free to love reminds us that self love/care is important, and that it is perfectly fine to be in tune with our emotions and wanting to help others, but at the same time we should guard against those who want to take advantage of that. The final card states that we should trust in what we truly want, and if we’re unsure of what we truly want we should enjoy the process of exploring the things we enjoy. Only by either truly knowing what we want, or exploring different areas of ourselves can we actually find ourselves on the correct path.

Then on the twentieth I did a five-card spread in the pattern of a cross (and that is only because that is how the cards talked to me that night). The cards that I drew included: 6) shock of the new; 14) going beyond normal; 17) what is already with you; 15) big bold vision; and 44) visions of life beyond death. So two of the cards I’ve already talked about a bit (shock of the new and going beyond normal), though in the combination with the other cards, they can take on a slightly different meaning. In terms of “what is already with you”—we (usually) have what we need to make a change in our lives—we can change our major, move, start looking for a new job, or whatever—we just have to believe in ourselves (as not believing in ourselves is usually the biggest obstacle to overcome). This is still something that I struggle with in terms of my job search—I know that I have it within me to make the transition, but at times I let the negative voices have a bigger voice than what I should (and this is something that I try to work on conquering on a daily basis). The “visions of life beyond death” is another card that can be a little deceiving when one pulls it for the first time—it’s message is to take another look at things/situations and try to truly see what they mean to you (see what is actually there instead of what you perceive to be there). Also to remember that it’s easier to look through joyful, happy emotions than it is through fear, anger and darker emotions.

One of the things that I’ve noticed this month in using the cards is that I’m being reminded that I’m here to live life for myself and not others. It is time to start being true to myself (in terms of both spirituality and life in general), and that my “perfect 9-5” job is out there, and I just need to find some calm and quiet time to get in touch with my inner self and voice to be able to hear what that position is. This will be a deck that I use again this year (possibly as early as September or October) and I’m sure I will get more comfortable with the interpretations and readings the more often I use the deck.

jessimatts No Comments Astrologyoracle cardsPersonal DevelopmentPhotographyprofessional developmentspirituality oraclecardreadingpaganpersonaldevelopmentSacredRebelsOracleSpirtuality