Tag Archives: blogging challenge

Completed! The Blogging Challenge Is Over

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completedCompleted! It still hasn’t sunk in that this is the end of an amazing journey. My last daily blog is under way. And I’m stuck for words. Really stuck!

So much has come out of this daily task. Dreams completed. Thousands of words that I never imagined I could write. Love and support from great people. And my own deeper understanding of what it means to live an intuitive life. Searching out my authentic self and giving her a voice. Understanding that I can be Marmite. Stripping away the masks. Working as part of a loving, supportive team with my Guides. The process of developing intuitive abilities and mediumship there to inform anyone who wants to dive into the posts. So many gains. Especially in showing me that I can do anything I set my mind to. Task completed and space for a new one to be disciplined and organised about.

A chance to fall in love with a whole new way of working for the Energy Beings. So now that it’s completed I have to be able to let my blogs go. There is a sadness in waving them goodbye. And a relief too. I’ve stuck at this much longer that I ever expected. My Spirit is itching for a new direction, new passion, new inspiration. My writing has to go on a new journey. So there is also excitement. I’ve looked back at my first tentative steps into this challenge and recognise that will be how I start the next one. I know I will be able to use the things I’ve learned about myself to keep me going. And I also have the evidence from this work that I can get to where I need to be.

If I have helped, I’m glad. If I have explained, I’m delighted. And if I have encouraged you to open to your own intuitive abilities then I am overjoyed. Because that has been a key part of my writing. Finally, what have you wanted to achieve? Have you completed your challenge? In fact, are you ready for the next intuitive leap in your life? Enjoy your journey. I’m sure I will enjoy mine.

Day 1001 of my blogging challenge

Vacant – When Nothing Is Coming Through

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vacantEvery now and again I find I’m vacant. My intuitive mind is blank. That doesn’t matter much when I’m relaxing and away from work. But not necessarily helpful when I’m trying to do a reading. Or a live broadcast.

It doesn’t happen very often. But I know it’s a matter of trust. When my intuitive mind goes vacant, when I’m empty of anything to say, I have to pay attention to the energy that is in and around me. Connecting to the Energy Beings relies on having positive energy feeds. If the energy is too ‘heavy’ or I am loaded down with issues there is likely to be a blank in my mind when I want to communicate. That’s why I have learned to explain what is happening. And to stop trying to connect until I am in a better energy. It may also be that my energy is too wobbly. That I am struggling to hold the flow well enough. Again I have to recognise why. And step back if necessary.

A vacant mind can be useful too. There is space for my Guides to drop new ideas in front of me. Sometimes that is what it’s about. My Guides want me to work on whatever is next. So they clear my mind of any connections. And work with me directly about me. Again it’s about trust. When my mind goes blank I recognise that the conversation might actually be going out in the very back of my brain. Out of my sight and hearing. So that what will eventually emerge will not be filtered out by my Ego mind way too soon. Actually I love the way the inspirations emerge fully formed. All possible arguments sorted and resolved. With no questions left to ask. So that I can get on with doing what is the best fir for my Spirit blueprint.

For the past few days I have been letting go of my blogging challenge. It’s nearly over. Yet there is still a vacant spot about what comes next. A blank. I’m trusting that the next new thing will emerge when it’s needed. I’m sure the Guides have got it covered!

Day 997 of my blogging challenge

Hitting The Wall: Finding The Will To Continue

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hitting wallIt was wild and windy outside so today I decided to stay inside. I read for a while. Then got out my artwork. A little while later I took out my notebook. But I couldn’t settle. So I got out my blog ideas to pick one. And that’s when I realised I was hitting the wall. My will to get things done had gone away.

Vanished overnight. Nowhere to be found. I was struggling to apply my focus to anything. Perhaps a little of it is because my holiday is almost over. Certainly some of it is about the routine stuff I need to do. But I also realised that hitting the wall is part of my letting go process. I’m on the eight hundred and sixty sixth day of my blog challenge. Like a marathon runner I’m experiencing fatigue and loss of energy. Yet the end is really close. Far more is behind me than in front of me. And that is the issue. I love new beginnings. But I’m a bit rubbish at endings.

Letting go means stopping doing something. Putting it in the past. Completely in the past. I recognise that is the point that is hitting a nerve. When something is good I want it to continue endlessly. Even when it’s getting less good it can still be hard for me to stop. I feel that I’m not alone in this pattern. Most of us are reluctant to change. So I know that lots of us will be hitting walls all the time. Trying to find the energy to complete one thing before we move onto the next. But ending up carrying everything forward instead. Instead of sitting excitedly at my computer finishing another blog I dragged my feet today.

Other things got left too. But I know that I will have to push forward once again instead of hanging on. Hitting the ground still running. Making sure I complete the outstanding work so new things have a space to get my focus. It’s ok to take time to recognise the fatigue feeling. I know understanding that feeling will motivate me to keep going. Here’s to another 135 blogs!

Day 866 of my blogging challenge

Walking At My Side Making Sure I’m Never Alone

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walking alongsideSometimes I have a topic I want to write my blog about. I know what it is early in the day. But I always wait to see who is walking by my side before I use that topic. Often I write about a completely different thing. Because whoever is with me helps me to notice something else more important.

I’ve said before that I enjoy writing my blog for me. It’s a great way to clear my mind and get me paying attention to what happens in my day. I’m also aware that my Guides and Inspirers use my blog as a way to put words out to others. To send messages to people the loved ones are struggling to reach directly. So sometimes I have Spirit people at my side with me as I draft my blog. They also walk with me when I’m giving messages. I feel their presence and enjoy finding out about them. Today my topic has changed because of one very determined lady in Spirit who started walking along with me an hour before her loved one rang me to ask for a reading.

I love this contact from those in the afterlife. The way they get us to make the connection and make it work. The loved one had been prompted to ring me. Pointed in my direction so to speak. And my day had casually been rearranged so that I had time to fit in a reading. I don’t stress when something gets cancelled or rearranged. I know it is for the right reasons. And I also know that my blog turns into different things because it’s also for the right reasons. That’s the power of the love our departed family and friends feel. The power of our Guides to get us to pay attention. Because knowing someone is walking through something with you gives you hope.

It’s also true that when I know someone is walking along with me in the tough times I feel less alone. There is a strength I can draw on when I need it. And a listening ear to tell my troubles to. Even more special, I can feel the waves of love and encouragement they bring me. The reminder that everything will turn out for the best. That I can do what’s in front of me. And that I am safe. Thank you for being there today.

Day 853 of my bogging challenge

Reaching the Half Way Point

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Way back when I started a challenge. Now I find myself half way to completing that challenge. It’s a strange feeling. A mixture of yippee and who me.

I’m not sure I can put into words what getting half way feels like. I started out on a 30 day challenge but realised I wanted to push myself more. So I set myself a thousand and one day blogging challenge. I knew it would take nearly three years to complete. But I wanted to encourage myself to keep writing. I suppose a part of it was about whether I could write every day. Another part of it was to see if I really enjoyed writing. Then there way the bit of me that likes to dare herself to do the impossible. It certainly seemed like the impossible back at the start. Because I had the most massive writer’s block. Yet here I am. Half way along and looking forward to the finishing line. Even if it’s many months away yet.

I’ve proved to myself that I can write every day. I’ve accepted I’m a writer and I’ve shifted my writer’s block. But I’m still a little bit in disbelief that I’ve done it. I guess most of us have felt that too. Not quite certain that we can do something then rather shocked when we do. What I’ve realised is that I thought I would fail. All through there has been a nagging doubt that I’m too half hearted to complete a big challenge. That particular doubt has prompted potential self sabotage. The times when I was tired and had to insist I wrote. Occasions when I left it so late I was certain I would miss the deadline I’d set and then what would be the point in continuing. Moments when my mind was blank even though I knew I had lots to say.

Half way through I can see how much I’ve grown from taking this challenge. I love writing and have confidence in what I say.

So much so that I have run three mini writing challenges to help other people find their writing voices. I have pushed through the fear, worry and doubt and found a way of writing about myself that is comfortable. I would love other people to find that comfort with expressing themselves too. Because there is something else important about the challenge I set myself. I have proof of my determination, focus and commitment to myself. To honouring one of my abilities. It’s not about being the greatest writer in the world. What I have been able to do is listen to the true me. The voice inside that is often shouted down by the Ego mind. Or other people.

Now I’m determined to have my say. Because it’s me talking to me. If anyone listening to that conversation is prompted to think about what is being said that is an added bonus. I know I wIll finish my challenge. I want to listen to myself a lot more. Not in any half hearted way. But with full attention to what I’m saying to me. I often say to people that the heart is always the best guide. I ask them to check what they feel about their choices. But I know we have forgotten how to access the heart’s voice. For me writing has been the path to listening to my heart. It’s easy to give advice and much harder to take it. My writing challenge is me taking my own advice. And finding that I enjoy what I hear.

When you are half way through it’s tempting to stop. But I won’t be doing that. My writing is changing my life for the better. And I want more of it.

Day 500 of my blogging challenge 

Comments Widen the Debate

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img_2354One of the things I really enjoy is debating. People who know me know I will discuss on and on and on. I want to understand how someone else sees the world. So I love the comments and questions of a good conversation.

When I opened my website to do tonight’s blog I found some comments waiting for me. It’s funny how sometimes the comments form a thread of their own. So I have decided to share a couple of the comments – from Emma and Paul – because my reply was inspired by thinking about what both of them said.

Dear Annie,
It was great chatting with you. I hope we can talk next week some more about what you do and what I do, and how we can mesh that together perhaps in a new blogging challenge.
I find it extremely difficult to write on daily basis under my own pressure to complete whatever I set out to do.
The group challenges help with the support and a lot more. I met so many friends from different walks of life on Bradley’s 30 Day Content Challenge.
Today, as we approach Thanksgiving in the USA, I am grateful for the challenge and the people that I have met; like you Annie. You have enriched my life and you have fueled my inspiration.
You are my moral support when I struggle to write and that is not even having a writer’s block.
It feels like a huge commitment putting your thoughts out, but it is important to keep on doing that.
I keep telling my husband that 100 years from now we will be known as a generation of bloggers and posters and texters…and on and on.
Maybe there is a benefit to all of this that I fail to see immediately as I am bombarded by materialism from all sides.
More later. Thank you, Annie for writing.
Emma

Hi Emma, thank you for commenting so honestly about writers block and the purpose of blogs. I believe that the internet has opened us up to the opportunity to listen to new voices and be exposed to new ideas. Learning about each other through our blogs removes the idea of us and them. It shows us that people the world over have the same issues and concerns. The skill is in putting out your authentic voice. And in being able to screen the endless chatter by locking in on those voices that feel authentic. I skip blogs where the subject matter is false, selling me something or shouting out ‘look at me’. Because there are some fab bloggers who tell it how it is for them. They make me think. They make me feel. I open my mind and discover interesting stories. That’s why a blogging challenge is such a good idea. Those who might not have a voice get a voice. Those who are struggling might feel inspired. And those who find their true voice can help us change minds, which changes hearts and eventually the world.

Another comment on Peacefully Painting Angels , from Paul, is “it’s very sad to my way of thinking, that creative activities we do naturally as children, are seen as a luxury rather than essential for our Wellbeing.” I agree with Paul. Writing is also such a powerfully creative activity. As children we use our imagination to explore or view the world in a very different way from the way adults see the world. As we fit into the social framework we stop looking at the world as a magical place full of possibilities. We end up in a world of rules and fear. Yet if we can return to writing we are once again allowing ourselves to be creative beings. Journals, blogs, diaries, stories, poems, songs. So many ways to explore both our inner and outer world. To share things with others and help all of us to see that we are inside the Matrix trying to free ourselves and get out. I hope that in a hundred years people see blogging as the beginning of a creative shift. A way of bringing writing back to ordinary people so that they can play, create, inspire. Writing is not about a classic story. It’s about your story. It has value to those who read it and can identify with it or be challenged by it. Who knows what marvellous voices there will be in a hundred years time. But perhaps our efforts to create meaningful communication between each other will be the start of a whole better way of talking to one another.

As always Emma, your comments have given me food for thought ❤️

I enjoy reading your comments. They are our debate. When you find a blog you enjoy, here or on another site, please take the time to comment. If you do you may find that you are taking your first steps into creativity. Into finding your own voice. Who knows – you might even want to join the next blogging challenge ❤️️

Day 373 of my blogging challenge.

Almost – But Not Quite!

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img_2337I’m ready to celebrate. I’ve almost been a blogger for a full year. Something I started for thirty days has grown into over three hundred.

So I wanted to be sure that I had achieved the second part of the challenge I set myself. Part way through the thirty days I almost gave up. A regular daily blog was a hard pattern to get into. Finding the best time to write and what to write about gave me a lot to think through. However, as I got closer to the end of the challenge I realised that I was getting settled into a pattern. I found I enjoyed writing. So I decided I would continue. I’ve set myself a challenge to blog for 1001 days. And tomorrow I will have got to 365 days. A whole year!

As I approached the end of my year I started to worry over the day count. Had I actually done a whole year? It was a reasonable question. I don’t want to celebrate something I’ve almost done as if I’d actually done it. So there has been a count check going on. Much like a vote recount, I’ve gone back over the blogs to confirm that my year will be complete tomorrow. Not today, as I originally thought. But I’m not upset. The bubbly is still on ice. It just won’t get drunk until tomorrow’s blog has been finished. My achievement still stands whenever it happens.

I do feel that it is a good point to celebrate what I’ve nearly done too.

It’s easy to forget how much has been achieved even when it’s an almost not an actual. I know there have been many things in my life that I set out to do. They never quite happened. Usually because life got in the way. Occasionally because I got in my own way. What matters is to keep trying. To keep setting goals and giving myself a chance to try to achieve them. Failure is a normal part of life. Not everything works out the way I think it should. It’s how I keep enthusiastic about having another go that matters. Tonight I’m delighted to have three hundred and sixty four blogs to my credit. That works out, with an estimated average of 600 words per day, to 218,400 words.

That’s probably a couple of books. And that’s another achievement from my blogs. It got me writing my own book. Soon I will see it in print and have a new reason to celebrate. Thinking about how I almost gave up, about the times when finding the words was hard, the days when I ran out of steam, it’s wonderful to be this close to a year. Nothing can take away from me what I’ve already done. So when I get stuck, feel things are impossible or I want to give up I’m going to remind myself of all the things I’ve nearly done. They count just as much as goals I’ve achieved. Because they show I can persevere, persist and progress!

Day 364 of my blogging challenge. 

Giving birth to another dream

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imageWhat a frantic few days! Church services, a Centre to run and PartyLite candles to find out about. All alongside the deadline for my first manuscript to be completed. Also how exciting! I get to do all sorts of things that I enjoy and call it work.

I’m always amazed at the way my life has shaped itself around things that I’ve finally realised I am good at. It’s like living a dream come true. When I gave birth to my daughter I though my biggest dream had finally happened. However, I’ve been lucky enough to dream more dreams. And to watch them manifest in the world. There are more dreams to birth in the next few weeks and I’m so excited yet full of butterflies at the same time.

Today one of the most personally rewarding dreams was born. Those of you who have followed my blog will know that I started all those days ago because I wanted to help myself overcome writers block. I was sure that if I stuck with a blog a day I would find enough words to make a book. Hopefully one of the ones I’ve had stuck in my head for years. Now it’s a reality. I have sent the first draft of my manuscript off to my editor. I know it’s not the finished article yet. There will be a lot of polishing to do. Yet I’m sure that at the end I will have what I wanted. My words will be out of my head to be shared with others.

I have always written this blog with two aims. One, to help me reflect on my day. I like to take my experiences and explore what they are all about. The second has been to let people see what a psychic life is like.

A psychic, or as I prefer, intuitive life is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Extraordinary in the sense that not everyone is doing them yet. I’m sure that when cars first appeared people thought that their drivers were extraordinary. After all horses, feet and carts had got us all from place to place for hundreds of years. Why use a contraption to get around that was noisy, fast and dangerous? Nowadays we don’t bat an eye at all the cars on the road. Driving is seen as an ordinary thing. People do it for a job. Everyone wants to be able to do it. And most of us can.

I am certain that one day we will all use our intuition to connect with one another. It will  seem odd not to. It will be an ordinary thing. I’m also certain that one day we will all use our intuitive ability to connect directly with our loved ones in the Spirit World. There will be no need to visit a church or a medium. It will be an ordinary thing to chat with out Guides, family and friends in the Afterlife. It’s all about getting over our connection block.

Having finished my book it’s time to birth another writing dream. I’m looking forward to  another two books. They are in my head and need to be on the page. It’s also time to start manifesting the biggest dream of my mediumship so far.

I’m about to launch the Earth’s ArchAngels Mystery School. Three years of hard work, going forward then into reverse, has delivered the ArchAngel’s Wysdom Odessy online training course. It’s also brough forwards Parashiel’s Balm energy healing and waves of support from the rest of the ArchAngels. Now it’s time to teach their mysteries. Students have been coming forward one by one to take up the opportunity to immerse themselves in ancient knowledge. Soon I’m off to visit the Dragon Tree on Tenerife to pick up another set of energy vibrations for the school.

The Seekers and Custodians who join the Mystery School are the people who will help to birth that acceptance of intuition. They are the designers of our next model of working with Energy Beings. They are like the drivers of the first cars. People who like to develop, test and push the boundaries of what we think can be done. I know it’s going to be an exciting, challenging time. It’s also going to be frustrating, irritating and hard to wait for this vision of Earth to finally manifest. My Guides tell me I will see it happen whilst I’m alive. How wonderful that will be.

Please dream your dreams. Make them extraordinary. Believe in them, in yourself and in the support around you. Stick at it. Keep sticking at it. Your life can change so that you give birth to your dream too. I know it can ?

Day 280 of my blogging challenge. 

 

Short and Sweet

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imageToday I’ve been tying up loose ends so that I can go away for a writing break. My blogs are expanding into a book so I can’t wait to start more writing. Quite a turn around from when I began blogging every day. Some of the blogs have been short because I wanted people to get main points without getting lost in lots of side explanations. Some of the blogs seemed to magically double in words as I wrote them. As ever, my Guides were quick to put in their views so no surprise the pieces were longer than expected. I also felt that cutting things short wasn’t as satisfying. I have loads of notes about other questions, points and explanations that spun off the blogs too.

It’s sweet to realise how much enjoyment I have had from my diary blog. When I began I was aiming to do thirty days but tomorrow I will have done 190 days. For over six months I have been able to give voice to my thoughts and feelings. That feels sweet too. I have a sense of achievement. The blocks that had kept me quiet for many years have disappeared. I am proud to say I am a writer. Sometimes we stop ourselves from doing things by thinking it’s something we will never be able to do. We find lots of reasons not to make a start, to try and step out of our comfort zone. If we’re not careful we get to the end of our life having stayed safe but unfulfilled. Then we wonder what it’s all been about. I believe that we go back to the Spirit World, ask what was that all about and promptly get sent back here to try again. Anything we haven’t done is carried forward. It’s worth thinking about that possibility if you are holding back from doing something you feel you might not succeed at. If you don’t try you will never know. If you do try you might end up doing it.

So I will still be blogging on holiday whilst I’m writing the other bits of my book. Is it time for you to take up the challenge and get doing something that you might find you really love? Take that short step!

Day 188 of my blogging challenge.