Undoubtedly, many or perhaps most of you have felt the huge energy shift recently and witnessed your mental and physical momentum picking up as a result. I have witnessed the energy growing and expanding here as well. It has been an incredibly busy spring with new projects, new clients, and new ideas budding daily. And while many of these ideas are wonderful and worthy I realize not all of them can come to fruition at once.

 When we feel responsible to birth them all at one time we can find ourselves exhausted and overtaxed. When we feel spent and yet expectant for things to come to fruition we can put a lot of extra pressure on ourselves about the outcome. We can find ourselves in a place where all the magic, wonder and joy about making our dreams come true is replaced with stipulations, ultimatums and self-imposed limitations. In this environment it can be hard to allow anything to come into being naturally.

We live in a world that is incredibly impatient and very product oriented. We tend to devalue anything we cannot make into a product. Many of us start to prepare our children for college when they are in diapers. We are taught to imagine a 6 figure salary before we’ve seen our first client. We rush through the potential joy in our lives. We don’t often honour the building and we sometimes find ourselves pressured to prop up an empty edifice.

We can internalize this pressure to perform and if we are unaware it can strip us of the joy that our creative process could and should offer. This is a road I’m sure many of you can relate to and one I have addressed before. It seems to have become an increasing by-product of our culture, especially now as so many of us are being asked to speed up throughout our lives.  

So while it is true that we all struggle to find balance and speak with authenticity, it is a place many of us our still navigating, and re-navigating. I know as an entrepreneur and business owner I am often coming back around this bend. Then I find myself tweaking my self- care routine as my outer responsibilities shift and change. And so I find I often have to set aside many of my big ideas for a later time.

Conversely, some of us may hold our biggest, boldest most brilliant ideas in our unconscious just under the surface of our awareness. Although it may be harder to recognize our manifestation abilities when they are held at arm’s length at least it assures us that we are not deluged by our expectations of ourselves. And so regardless of how we perceive our manifestation abilities we are often given very few tools to recognize how our dreams really enter into the world.

I believe one of the very best ways to ready a dream to grow wings in the world is to get super clear about the details and to revel in the joy of the building. Don’t get hung up on when or even if it will come to fruition. These details are less important and often worry us unnecessarily about outcome when we could be getting excited instead about the clarity of our vision. So I encourage you to honour divine timing while tending to the exciting details of your brilliant visions.

So how can we tell which visions are ready to be birthed and which can gestate longer? How do we know which are the seeds that will help our soul’s blossom and ready us for the next steps on our journey? How can we prepare these dreams for the world and know that they too are ready to live in it?

How do we help push our dreams through the soil of our imagination and into the world as a direct intention? And when do we know to stop pushing? How do we recognize and tend those projects, ideas and dreams that are not ready to be fully birthed yet?

Well, when we set an intention we do this on a conscious level. It is an imaginative process that then gathers energy and builds momentum in the outer world. And if it doesn’t and we find ourselves pushing with little momentum building around us we can let it go and pursue another venue and then return at another time. Our dreams can remain dormant and still be enriched by the rich soil of our ideas. However, it is when the universe starts mirroring back to us little pieces of our dream in the world that we know it is playing with bringing it into being. This happened to me in a very magical way that seemed undeniably fated to come true.

This month I’d love to share with you a story about what this divine guidance and timing looked and felt like for me… I have written about this magical journey before but not with a forward about manifestation. It is my desire that you can notice when in your own lives the universe has or had your back like this! Because it does, and when it does wonderful things are afoot!  Things you couldn’t have imagined giving such strong roots or broad full wings to without the universes help.  In these moments your job is simply to allow yourself to feel the wind and rise in the current.

My story begins at the end of graduate school in 2008. After applying myself in my program and completing my final thesis requirement I wanted to regroup, get back in touch with my inner self, and  celebrate a huge accomplishment before I figured out what my next move was.

I had imagined taking a grand trip to Greece and basking in the Mediterranean breezes, swimming in the Adriatic and eating Salty feta and drinking Retsina in one Villa after another. I planned on using a portion of my school loans to finance the trip but when the time got closer to make the arrangements I realized that I'd miscalculated funding and wouldn't have enough to take this trip of my dreams.

It is true I was disappointed but I quickly regrouped and planned instead to take a trip to Niches, a local sustainable campground in the area. I would put off my dream trip toward sometime in the future and I was okay with it.  Around the same time I responded to an invitation from my family to join them for a much needed belated Birthday celebration weekend. 

I traveled to meet them at the end of October and enjoyed several days of relaxation in which one of the high points was when they shared their photos of a recent trip to Turkey with me. When I saw their photos I realized in one sweeping moment that it was really Turkey with its whirling dervishes, alien stalagmite landforms, petroglyph caves and writings of Rumi that truly called most closely to my soul. As soon as I saw the photo's I began to clear a space in my mind, heart and life for this sojourn I felt so sure I was somehow destined to take. 

I began to look into ways that I could make this trip real in my life. I decided to open a bank account for the trip. I would refer to it as the Turkey trip fund. If I had to withdraw monies for other things that was fine but I would at least bring it into being in a practical way and do what I could to make it a more real possibility in my life. 

That magical weekend of deep listening I also investigated travel options. I found out that if I booked a trip for a group of nine Globus travel agency would let me fly for free. My dream was already feeling so much closer and more grounded inside of me as well. I was doing all I could to answer that feeling by bringing it into being in the external world too.

This process of entrainment meant that the spark of this dream already had life energy. The Free dictionary defines entrainment as 1. The ability to pull or drag along after itself. 2. To carry suspended particles along in a current. It was clear this possibility, this ambition already was being pulled along in something...A curiosity, a dream, a wish? Now what could make that more real...?

That night my father took me to see Loreena Mckennitt, the brilliant singer of sacred Songs from wisdom traditions for my birthday. Loreena giddily shared her travel stories and then punctuated the spoken pieces by sharing songs written from many of her destinations. To my delight she shared stories from her journeys in Turkey.  As I listened I let the music take me away to all these places I dreamed of seeing.

After a time of listening it became clear to me that Loreena herself had taken the same tour that my parents had. It was unmistakable as all the locations she visited were presented in the same order as my parents photos on the computer. The universe clearly had a brilliant sense of humor as it mirrored back to me with such exquisite detail the lyrics and then stories of all the places I’d dreamed of visiting.

At this point I could truly feel the energy tipping toward my dream and spreading itself out in the corners of my imagination. Now I had to admit it seemed more like a when not a whether I would embark on this magical journey.

I got back to C-Bus so excited about where this energy could lead. I started telling everybody about what happened on my weekend and checking to see too if anyone I knew had been to Turkey. It turned out the next door neighbor had been on a trip to Istanbul and shared her pictures with me. And then it happened…someone in the women's group I attended asked me, "Would you like to go to Turkey this December?" I said I most certainly did but doubted it would be possible so soon. She suggested I get more information and that a trip was being sponsored by a local interfaith organization that was two travelers short this December. I agreed to speak to the host, still assuming it would be well beyond my means. 

And that is just how closely the universe listens...The trip was 10 days, easily in my budget (which really was equivalent to a long luxurious weekend in a cabin). We had one flight in Country. We stayed in four star hotels which had lobbies nicer than any accommodations I had ever stayed in up until now. We were the recipients of beautiful traditional Turkish meals made especially for our group. We were invited into people's homes and gifted with art and sacred stories about their families.

We got to worship in Mosques bowing with humbleness to the wonder of the world, our personal God and the beauty of community. We were a traveling band of flute players, poets and yes, even someone who was on the board of Jung Haus back in C-bus. This trip was hand- picked by an intelligent magical universe just for me. 

I believe I seized upon it by being a willing participant to what the universe had so lovingly and clearly set into motion that weekend at my parent's house. As if that blissful universal gift weren't enough we had the happy accident of getting stranded in Amsterdam on our return flight. The Airline agreed to put us up and for three blissful days we got to see the beauty of Amsterdam spread out in crystalline wonder under a blanket of ice.

When I asked the universe to provide the perfect trip for me I had single pointed focus and an enthusiasm that made my cheeks hurt from smiling. The universe was smiling too and I believe we just became so intimately aware of each other… Like a call and response we listened with patience and anticipation and so we told each piece to the other with brilliant clarity. 

It was this alchemical quickening that grew wings which rose more easily than each dream in isolation could. I know both the universe and I witnessed the dream rise on buoyant winds until it burst forth and told itself what to be....

I believe when we are ready to let our dreams take flight and ask them too clearly-- with unabashed vigor, joy and curiosity and we get excited as much about the possibility as the promise then such amazing things can come to pass. Do you have a dream like this? Is it a special dream just for you? Perhaps it is a dream you have held dormant just under the surface of awareness for a long time. Or perhaps it is one you have sought help with, been tending for awhile or even set an active intention about. Either way, let’s watch it rise together on buoyant wings!

So April’s affirmation Gem is Citrine. If you are drawn to join us pick up a piece at your metaphysical shop or online. I believe doing this together can help us co-create the life of our dreams. We are more powerful creators when we hold the space and light of one another’s visions in community.  

Citrine is a translucent golden stone of manifestation, imagination, and personal will. It carries within it the passionate power of the sun. It is warm and comforting, energizing and life giving. It stimulates the 3rd chakra like the sunlight of spring, clearing the mind and stirring the soul to action. Its frequency awakens creativity and imagination. It sustains the process of transforming dreams and wishes into tangible form. With its pure yellow energy, Citrine encourages fullness of life, fresh beginnings and new pursuits.

And April’s Affirmation Gem is: I feel the energy of my dream (s) growing and becoming more clear to me daily. I enjoy working and tending to all the aspects of this expression. I can see each piece easily and I enjoy my connection to it. I am witnessing a more active radiant divine expression of source energy opening before my eyes.

Until next month may all your most closely held dreams of abundance and joy follow you home!

Bio: Jenny’s work draws heavily from the depth psychology schools of C.G. Jung and Joseph Campbell. By utilizing and refining your unique intuition she hopes to help you achieve a more peaceful, and authentic response to life no matter where you find yourself on the human journey. Jenny brings her gifts of insight, vision, depth and a non-judgmental presence to the work. She looks forward to helping you help your inner Self shine! She may be reached at:[email protected] or on her website: http://www.innervoiceintuitive.com to schedule intuitive tarot readings and counseling work.    

All of us have no doubt been feeling the overgrown energy of a harsh winter and are looking forward to warmer weather. We are anticipating time to be outdoors, enjoy nature and feel the innate nature in ourselves with more ease and fluidity instead of slogging through cold fronts and polar vortex’s. The energy it takes to go back into yet another storm can really make us brace against ourselves and feel that what looks like forward movement is more of an unending circle back to the beginning—another cold front. With the decreased light chilly moods can begin to replace more sunny hopeful and helpful responses.

If you are feeling overwhelmed either by outer stressors or inner ones this month’s article is specifically meant for you! It will offer you ways to raise your spiritual vibration as well as suggest a practice of actively focusing on noticing positive experiences and opportunities in your life. This can be imperative especially when many of us are feeling some of the harsher realities that weather and the denser astrological aspects may be demanding of us.

If any of you read last month’s Jenny’s Gems article you know that it was about choosing not to pick up or take on things that were too heavy to easily sort out. I often tell my clients the same, not to over burden themselves with decisions that need to be felt through instead of thought out. Because we live in a culture that expects us to always know what to do at every moment, when we’re not sure we can put great amounts of pressure on ourselves and feel undue and unnecessary guilt and shame when we are processing choices. If we can learn instead to “sit down” or temporarily “set aside” the big stuff in our lives, usually the heart-felt soul spoken answers of our inner voice becomes self-evident.

When we are going through life-changes and have already committed to slowly processing the big stuff in our lives it can help to raise the overall energy around our day to day activities as well. I had to do this in January. I hit a wall where it felt like some of the everyday stuff was outweighing my sense of well-being and daily joyfulness. I made an agreement with myself that no matter what I was dealing with in my everyday life I was determined to only focus or hold onto the positive for 21 days. At the time I have to admit this felt somewhat reckless. However even though my head was thinking overtime, I could still feel a flickering of light warming toward the potential to shift my energy to a place of new awareness, growth and rebirth.

Deepak Chopra has offered a brilliant awareness regarding the idea that it takes 21 days to change a habit. That is it takes 21 days for our bio-chemistry to realign and set in motion a new awareness and con-current reality. This means that if we can replace our habitual thinking and lingering belief system with another possibility we can see great changes in the areas of our life that need addressing. This can work for anyone. I know when I reach a dead-end and find myself battling in a closed loop, often what helps me recognize a new direction is to just say to myself in that very moment, “What if something else were true?”. Or try this variation, “What if something else we’re possible?”

This seemingly small but very powerful shift is enough to jumpstart us out of our routine and can be accompanied by a lightening in our overall feeling about ourselves’. If we can replace this idea and use it as a mantra; that is, say it daily when we feel overwhelmed or stuck it can help us to replace some of the more rigid ideas about who we are and what our life holds for us. The trick is to remember to do it. This takes practice so if you are remembering be gentle on yourself…know that changing a behaviour takes time and that with patience and love this little side shift can become a daily practice.

Another idea that has really helped me to purposefully bring in positive vibrations is something that was going around many social media sites for the past several months. This is to create a manifestation jar. The basic suggestion is to write on little slips of paper all the good things that come into your life. Put them in the jar and on New Year’s take them out and read them and start fresh for the next year.

I tweaked this idea so it would be more meaningful as a pro-active daily practice. I use this variation with many of my clients to help them escape limiting beliefs about themselves and their lives.   I use it myself as well.  

The brilliant documentary “Happiness” has shown that those who do not rely on outside sources of happiness but instead are able to go to a feel good place internally are across the board the happiest throughout the course of their lives. This is because what they rely on for happiness is internal. That is it cannot be given or taken away from them.  If this idea seems foreign to you I really suggest you watch this amazing movie and explore the idea with yourself further.

So with that said, instead of focusing on just monetary manifesting, which I call the “bigger, better, faster, more variety; consider focusing instead on good feelings and noticing good happenings in your life. It is okay to have some of these be things, but I definitely encourage you to stretch your definition of this and extend your vision and awareness to expressions of joy that are less tangible..

So when you get your jar what should it be like? Well, a jar that is beautiful and meaningful is going to capture your attention and interest more than the jar you ate your pickles out of last week. Imagine your jar…what colour is the glass? What shape is the Jar? How big is the jar? Where is the most meaningful place in your house to put the jar? Where will it easily becomes a practice—a go too every day?

I found our jar at the thrift store. I purchased it because it was oversized only to realize later that it had holes poked in the top of the metal lid. It was undoubtedly a child’s bug jar. My jar clearly held perhaps the first door open to a new world of observation and discovery for a child. I like to imagine that it was a lightening bug jar. In this rendition of the story the jar also held the magic of everything a lightening bug evokes for a child. First the adventure and forbidden joy of staying up late, and of course being able to go out and lose yourself in catching dizzying swirls of light. Then placing the jar by the bedside in your room and seeing the light flicker on and off as you close one eye and then the other with the knowledge that the light will follow you into the dreamtime tracking you there with the safety of its beacon. All of these details add to my experience of the jar and the wishes I see made manifest there. What is the story of your jar?

Next, what do you put in this manifestation jar? First, I encourage you to imagine what it will hold. See yourself putting all these little slips of brightly coloured paper in your jar with the wishes that have already come true. So what amazing things have shown up in your world? What are you grateful for?

Perhaps it is the peaceful morning breeze where everything feels magical for a moment. And right then an ark of birds crosses the sky at just the same moment you are feeling that indescribable opening and greater awareness of oneness and deep connection with everything. Perhaps feeling that deep gratitude will invite you to surrender to that precious moment a little further? Or perhaps it is the realization that your mother has agreed to take the kids each Tuesday evening so you can go to a yoga class uninterrupted and so you are feeling deep gratitude for the gift of that time. And perhaps too you are grateful for the ability to buy a new laptop…Here though try to make it about the feelings that accompany the purchase.

Does this purchase help you feel more committed to projects you have undertaken? Does it help you feel more adult by being able to provide for yourself? It is fine to make some of these slips of paper about the stuff you buy, but I encourage you as much as you can to stay and play in the place of non-tangibles while filling your jar.

Now I have shared with you the active way to use your jar…You can continue to fill it with all these magical moments whenever they happen for you. Ours sits on the rail at the bottom of the landing so it is the first thing that catches my eye as I head downstairs in the morning. It is beautiful-- filled with a bevy of green, red, blue, purple, yellow and orange papers. It evokes my curiosity and stirs an innate desire for beauty and colour and magic in my life. However the jar doesn’t just have this primary purpose. It has a secondary grounding purpose as well.

On those days where you are really feeling overwhelmed, or you are too stuck in your back story- notice your jar and all the amazing fulfilled wishes piling up in it. On those days where you are still playing those old tapes with more veracity and energy then they deserve look over and remember all those amazing moments represented by each tiny square of folded coloured paper. Those moments are as real as the energy which is taking your power and pulling you away from your center in this moment.

Choose instead to move into the shift energy the “What if something else we’re true” place we talked about at the beginning of the article. This choosing is like a muscle, it will become stronger if you flex it more often. Breathe deeply during this process and you should start to feel that weighted energy abate. Allow yourself to move into this powerful possible moment.

And on those days where it is still not quiet working, those really stuck days where it is all flooding in far too fast and you feel like you are losing your footing and getting lost in the sliding. Those days where all the shoulds and ought tos feel like they are piling up around you and the colors seem dull and murky and even the most vibrant shade of orchid pales to a dull aged rose…

Well especially on those days dear friend I invite you to slow down. Set down the expectations you have of yourself and pull your powerful wonderful already manifested wishes one by one out of your magic jar. Now read each one back to yourself slowly. Allow yourself to move beyond the head knowledge that it has manifested to the heart place that hold the deeper feeling of fulfillment inside. There now. That’s it. Allow this feeling to rise to the surface again in the present moment. Invite yourself to relive it. See it in the present, re-member it with all your senses.I encourage you to close your eyes while you do this with each wish in your jar.

Now check in. Don’t you feel more centered, more at peace, more present, more magical then before? Finally set down the last vestiges of your previous hour’s story, it does you no good. You have a brilliant brand new moment to set into motion. Fly!

So March’s affirmation Gem is celestite. I invite you to pick up a piece of this heavenly stone to add to your collection of inner tools. This will help you raise your vibration in preparation to participate in this 21 day shift with the manifestation jar. In healing celestite contains some unique properties that will aid you on your journey. Celestite can help you to replace pain with loving angelic light. It attracts luck, reveals truth, brings balance, and within this stone one can discover the softening energy of peace.

And March’s affirmation Gem is: I have abundant support from my guides and the heaven’s to notice the shift presently occurring within me. This shift will help me to deeply notice and savor all that is good and possible as I grow toward and easily embrace the powerful light and truth of my brightest life.

I encourage you to employ these practices and tools for 21 days diligently. I am certain you will be thoroughly delighted and deeply renewed by the shifts you experience as well as what you are able to manifest. Please feel free to share aspects and highlights of your experience in the comments following this article. I can’t wait to read what you bring into clearer focus and through your gratitude, clarity and appreciation of beauty what you invite into the new and brightest places of your being….

Bio: Jenny’s work draws heavily from the depth psychology schools of C.G. Jung and Joseph     Campbell. By utilizing and refining your unique intuition she hopes to help you achieve a more peaceful, and authentic response to life no matter where you find yourself on the human journey. Jenny brings her gifts of insight, vision, depth and a non-judgmental presence to our work. She looks forward to helping you help your inner Self shine! She may be reached at :[email protected]  or at her website: http://www.innervoiceintuitive.com to schedule intuitive tarot readings and counseling work.