The Times They Are A Changing

Last week there was an article in our newspaper about a rush of people purchasing baby chicks. No, it wasn’t the Easter rush. According to an Oregon State University Horticulture agent, Amy Jo Detweiler, more and more people, both nationally and in Oregon, are inquiring about growing their own food. Apparently, in early spring when the chicks become available, a lot of people had the same idea. On various delivery days, as many as 50 people waited for chicks. The Big R store, in Redmond, Oregon, had to give out tickets, much like the DMV. One ticket, one chick.

Some towns in our general area (within the city limits) actually allowed chickens, while others did not and still others had no restrictions regarding the animals. Are people starting gardens and raising chickens in desperation, because they believe the economy and their lifestyles will suffer even further? Or are they wanting to be more independent as they see food prices rise every time they hit the grocery store? Maybe some of both. However, in my opinion as I’ve state before, we are moving into a new realm here on planet earth. Almost everyone will be growing food or be part of a community garden some time soon. They will find ways to help each other, barter what they have for what they need and become more independent. And, less dependent on “the” government and the country’s economy.

Perhaps, right now, people are scared. Change can be a scary thing. When we get to the other side of this “crisis,” or is it a “blessing,” we will be a stronger, happier, more enlightened people.

Can color make a difference in your life? Do you feel differently when you where different colors? Have you ever wondered why you prefer some colors over others and really dislike other colors? Colors also have vibrational value. The study of color is called chomatology and someone who studies and uses color is a chomatologist. It is believed that color can heal the body, mind and spirit.

By bringing needed positive color vibrations into your energy field your aura and chakras becomes balanced. Colored light, colored crystals and colored cloth can be used, as well as visualization.

Dr. Max Luscher studied how color affected behavior and mood in the early 1900s. Some of the world’s largest companies have used his findings. Try this quiz, based on Dr. Luscher’s findings. I have to tell you, I took this test and was amazed at the insight it revealed. Just do it for fun and see what you get.

The meaning of colors in color healing is related to the energy of the chakra system of the body.

Red is related to the root (or first or base) chakra, located at the base of the spine. Red exhibit’s the qualities of vitality and physical energy. It is related to the sex-drive. There is a need for the color red in the environment when a person is feeling jealousy, anxiety, fear, frustration, anger or resentment. It means the root chakra has blockage. Start with small amounts of red as too much, too soon can cause agitation, anger and even violence.

Orange is related to the sacral (or second) chakra, located in the lower abdomen. Orange is the color of joy and creativity. If there is a need for more orange in the environment, a person would be feeling an attachment to material items, distrust and a have a lack of compassion. A balance of orange will help a person handle ups and downs of life. It will make life more cheerful and bright. It’s a good color to have in a room where you are working on creative endeavors.

Yellow is related to the solar plexus (or third, chakra, just above the navel. It symbolizes wisdom and intellect. As the sun, the color yellow, makes us feel optimistic. You may need more yellow in your environment if you are having trouble judging situations, low concentration or procrastinating about finishing a project. Too much yellow can make it hard to focus with demanding and critical personality traits.

Green is related to the heart (or fourth) chakra, located in the center of the chest at heart level. It is the color of peace, harmony and balance. It is also the color of prosperity. This color helps with personal relationships. More green is needed if a person feels their happiness depends on someone or something outside of themselves. If there is too much green in the environment, people can feel lazy, lethargic, even moody or depressed.

Blue is related to the throat (or fifth) chakra. It is the color of communication and self expression. Light blue relating more towards creative expression and darker blues more for communication. A great color to wear when having to express yourself through communication, as in a job interview, working out a relational problem.

Indigo (a mix of blue and violet) is related to the third eye (or sixth) chakra. It’s located at the center of the forehead. It is the color of higher understanding and awareness. It is the color of intuition and psychic ability. If a person feels confused, full of indecision and unable to look outside of the box or see the bigger picture of a situation, they may need more indigo in their environment. It’s a good color to use when seeking a higher guidance on a situation or problem.

Violet (purples) is related to the crown (or seventh) chakra. It’s located at the top of the head. The color is the symbol of our connection to the higher realms (God). It is the color of spirituality. If a person is having trouble with coordination (physically) or lacking interest in their spiritual journey, they may benefit from more violet in their environment.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Bach Flower Essences. There are plenty of places on the web that can give you the history and general information on these remedies. Bach were the first known remedies that used individual and mixtures of flowers to produce a sort of elixir or infusion that contained their vibrational energy. It seems there are more things in nature than we ever knew that could help us on our way through this life.

Since flower essences have first been discovered, by Edward Bach in the 1930s, others have found that the same procedure to extract flower energies could also be done with gemstones and other plants. It seems that these essences work on healing the emotional and mental areas of a person. Of course, we know that many illnesses can be tracked back to emotional and mental problems. Homeopathic remedies also work with the vibration of an essence.

Using flower essences does not require that you do anything special other than to take the essence. However, if you are serious about making improvements and changes in your life, you may want to meditate or think introspectively about the condition you are working on. This is a good site for more information.

Let’s talk about some of the flower (and other) essences and what they are used for:

Eucalyptus: Learning to take life in and letting it go. Opens and expands the chest. Help for the lungs and reparatory system.

Acacia: Helps to learn how to give and receive gracefully. Helps to move a person into the vibrational frequency of forgiveness. Helps to relieve allergies.

Lavender: Full moon vibrational energy. This is good for any female cyclical problems.

Rosemary: Remembering. Helps with memory and clarity.

Oregano: Learn to let go of attachments that no longer serve you. It creates a space for new things and experiences to take place.

Blue Lace Agate (stone): Works on the throat chakra, helping with self expression. It strengthens a positive attitude.

What if everything we needed to live and be well was right here on earth in easy access? What if we didn’t have to remortgage our homes to pay for medical bills? What if we could be self-sufficient with our only outside needs coming from others just like us that we could learn from or trade (barter) for? Let’s all start working on ways to make this kind of life a reality.

Today, I want to talk about the vibration of gemstones and what they can do for our lives. We know that everything has a vibrational energy (atoms) in it’s makeup. It is not any different for stones. Certainly, if you went outside and picked up a stone, it most likely would have a low vibration. This particular rock would not do much unless you could make it into a decorative pet rock. However, there are some gemstones that have a much higher vibration that can offer assistance to our lives.

How Does It Work

Everything is made of the same stuff, it’s just the rate of vibration that makes it appear differently to us. Some things have a negative vibration such as junk food. It’s not good for us and when we ingest it, it causes harm to our bodies. Other things have a good or higher vibration and will benefit you. Everything around you influences you in some way, your living environment, your working environment, food, friends, clothing, atmosphere, the water you drink - everything. When you keep a stone with a certain (higher) vibration close to you, it will affect your vibration. Let’s look at a few stones and see how they work. Just remember, you must give them time to work. They are not instantaneous as taking a drug.

Amethyst: It carries the purple color ray and is, therefore, a stone that works on the 6th chakra (or third eye). It opens the bearer to his/her psychic abilities. However, it has such a high vibration that it can be used for removing blockage in any part of the body. It enhances clarity and insight. It wards off nightmares and is a good stone to give a child with these problems, to sleep with or put in their pillow case.

Citrine: The abundance stone. It helps you manifest your desires. It’s the stone to put in a business cash register or into your wallet. It melds it’s vibration with yours, helping you to reach your goals and generate personal power. This stone can help you to solve problems and restore your memory. A good stone to carry when taking tests or going for a job interview.

Rose Quartz: This is an inexpensive stone and widely found. It is a “heart” stone. The vibration of the soft pink quartz offers health to the heart area. It’s vibration tends to make the one who carries it more loving and heart-centered. It works to heal matters of the heart, such as caused by a broken relationship or family matters. Most importantly, it teaches you to love yourself, which is a problem with a large part of society.

There are many good books on the market that can tell you about the energy properties of other gemstones as well as how to clean and care for them. A good beginner book is Gemstone Journeys by Shelley Kaehr, Ph.D. The books shown below are also good informational sources.

The vibrational value of different numbers has probably been with us since the beginning of time. But, history tells us that Pythagoras discovered vibrational ratios of musical notes. He was a brilliant man, living in the 400s who’s (Pythagoras) theorem is still used in geometry classes today. He believed that mathematics was at the core of reality. He also is the father of numerology with the theory that all numbers possess different vibrations.

We are all made up of a combination of numbers that are derived from our birthday and original name. It doesn’t stop there as you can be influenced by your house number, license plate number, work address - really anyplace or number in which you spend a great deal of time around. Your most driving number in numerology is your Life Path Number which is the sum total of your birth date. But, remember it is not the sum total of who you are and how you deal with life. It is only the beginning.

To come up with your Life Path Number you will start with three columns until you come up with a single digit for each column. For example if your birthday was April 16, 1980:

4 16 1980 = 4 7 9

Then you would add the three digits together, which in this case totals 20. Adding the 2 and 0, the life path for this person would be 2.

The only time you don’t add 2 numbers together is if you have an 11, 22 or 33, which are called master numbers. So, if the birth date was April 11, 1980, you would add 4+11+9 as your final numbers, not breaking down the 11 to a 2. You would come up with 24 and then add the 2 and 4 for a Life Path number of 6.

What Your Life Path Number Means

This is a simplistic meaning for each number. If you have an interest in learning more about the vibration of numbers and what the other numbers in your life mean you should purchase a good book and do some research.

One: is the number of independence, the ego and a natural leader. A person born under the number one, is probably goal-oriented and ambitious.

Two: is a very gentle number. A person born under this number most likely does not like strife, is tactful and diplomatic. This is the peacemaker.

Three: is the number of communication. It is a very playful vibration. The person born under the three is probably enthusiastic and optimistic.

Four: is the number of practicality. A four person is honest, dependable and orderly.

Five: is the traveler. A five person loves to explore and they make great sales people. They are smart and quick witted.

Six: is the domestic number. This person is family oriented with nurturing and commitment there main mantra.

Seven: is the spiritual number. A seven person is mental and contemplative. It is the number of the hermit and most times this person is on a life journey of discovery, discovery of themselves.

Eight: is the result-oriented number. Eight is the number of money. An eight is usually a business person or head of a company with both their aim at making more money. However, they can also be very generous people.

Nine: is the number of the humanitarian. In a way this person takes on the consciousness of the world. They are the meticulous recycler, green energy, saving the world and mankind kind of person.

Eleven: is the first of the master numbers. If your birthday adds up to eleven you are most likely more intuitive than most others. You can feel the vibrational mood when you walk in a room. It’s important for this person to be focused upon a goal outside of themselves.

Twenty-two: is the master builder. This person finds a way to construct his most ambitious dreams into reality. Inspirational and intuitive with a get-it-done nature.

Thirty-three: is the master teacher. His focus is towards the upliftment of humankind.

I have a feeling deep in by heart, at the core of my being. I believe we are on the verge of a huge change, not just in our country, but in the entire world. I’m not a psychic person, so I haven’t had a vision, where I can say what the change will look like on the other side of all of this. But, I do think we will all be living differently and looking at ourselves, our lives and each other differently.

I’m not without a job or homeless right now. But, I have been nearly homeless and without a job before. So, I know how scary that is. It’s difficult to look for the emerald in the coal - make lemon out of lemon aid - be grateful for what you have, when your whole life has been pulled out from under you. However, maybe it is at that particular time that it’s most important to take a deep look at those euphemisms. Perhaps it’s the opportunity to look at your life in a different way than you ever would have if you weren’t in the situation you are in.

Wouldn’t it be a good thing to find a way to throw out the arrogant, greedy, power hungry people who have created the mess we are in. We, I say that loosely, are only prolonging what needs to be done to take a different road, now that we are at this fork in the road. The powers that be, that should be representing us, blatantly chose to bail out these companies, these people, even though most of us out here didn’t want them to.

I believe we will eventually take that different road. The one that no longer allows us to give up our power, the way we have. I think we will start taking care of ourselves. But, better yet, I think we will start taking care of each other. We will find ways to be more self sufficient. We will look to more natural ways of healing ourselves rather than use a medical system that only spends money on drugs that make us sicker in the end. Hospitals and doctors that take everything we have, if we don’t have insurance. They are nothing but big business as well. We need to find a better way. We need to learn how to heal ourselves and then teach others how.

Actually, we took a step on that different road when we changed the way history could have gone. We elected, not only an African-American to lead us, but we chose someone who has a heart, who is really smart and one who is half white, raised in a white home. It is as though a piece of each one of us is represented in him. I believe he will do the best he can. I also believe that he has less power than most of us think.

Economists tell us, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. They see “worse” as huge companies failing, the stock market going down and all that is tied into these things (including Joe citizen) falling also. They see “better” as all of those things going back to business as usual. I think they are wrong. For us to move in this new direction, all of those things must come tumbling down, so we can learn to live in another way.

I feel the change coming. It is nearly here. Stand back from your life and take another look. Start figuring out how you can start to move in this new direction. If you do, I predict that your life will not be so scary anymore. You will not be so desperate anymore. And you will no longer make decisions out of that desperation.

Maybe, just maybe this really is “the best of times and the worst of times.”

Even though you may have planned and saved for retirement, when that magic 65th birthday comes around, you may find you don’t have the funds anymore. With the Wall Street drop and current economic downturn, things are costing more and a big chunk of your 401K or other retirement plans may be short a big chunk of money. Even those who had planned to retire early are having to rethink their choices. Than means that retirement may mean part time or seasonal employment, at least for a few years. So, who’s going to hire an older worker, when they can have perky 20 something Cindy?

* Walmart - Everyone knows that Walmart hires older workers. You especially see them as “greeters” inside the front door of the store. It seems to be pretty easy work if you don’t get bored easily. The plus side is that you will be able to supply your family with health insurance, no small thing.

* Handy Person - If over the years you’ve acquired some helpful home skills, this may be the choice for you, especially if you live in a small to medium sized town. Go into business for your self and advertise that no job is too small. Decide on an hourly rate and mileage for those far out locations. With those two items set, you should have no problem estimating cost for your clients.

* Non Profit Agencies - The paycheck may not be as large as you once brought home, but you might just find the right niche where you can bring home some extra cash and feel as though you are making an important contribution.

* Healthcare - The need for healthcare workers is not likely to go away anytime soon. If you are already in the healthcare sector, find a part time position. Perhaps some additional classes plus you past experience is just what is needed to get into a position with less stress and time required as your previous position.

* Childcare - For heavens sake, didn’t you raise your own family. What was previously called “babysitting” is a perfect opportunity to offer a service in your neighborhood while socking away a few extra dollars. Who wouldn’t have an experienced older person caring for their children, once in a while, than a scatterbrained teenager?

* Retail Sales - Holiday help is always needed at retail locations. It gives several nice paychecks that could be just enough to take care of Christmas and not deplete your monthly pension.

* Consulting - You have a lot of knowledge from years of working in a particular field. Become a consultant. It’s your own business, so you can take or turn down jobs as they work for you. Most importantly get you advertising out to those can use your service.

* Tutoring - If you are a retired teacher or individual from an education background, offer your services for tutoring children. If math is your forte, you could have more clients than you can take on.

We all have our preference of what type of town we’d like to live in, small, medium or large. But, do you ever wonder where are the best places to live? If you could move to any place on earth, where would it be and why? Let’s take a look at some of the places rated the best and worst places to live.

London Based Livability Ranking

They took a look at 40 different areas of ranking, Canada came out on top. It has low crime, low terrorism threat with a highly developed infrastructure. According to their study, Pittsburgh and Cleveland were the top U.S. cities, both rated 26th. The top four cities ranked in order:

1. Vancouver, Canada
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Toronto, Canada

Forbes and Sterling

The 10 safest places to live in the U.S. They felt safety to be an obvious concern to people and slanted their study in this direction. Here’s the top 4.

1. Honolulu, Hawaii
2. Boise, Idaho
3. Santa Fe, New Mexico
4. Yakima, Washington

Child Magazine

They searched for the top cities in America for families. Here are the top picks.

1. Denver, Colorado
2. Virginia (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News)
3. Minnesota (Minneapolis, St. Paul)
4. Miami, Florida

Most Dangerous Cities

1. Detroit, Michigan
2. Atlanta, Georgia
3. Camden, New Jersey
4. Baltimore, Maryland
5. St. Luis, Missouri

We’ve all heard that we need a college degree to have a good career that will make you a good living. But, not all of us had parents to pay or had our own money for a college education. Yes, there are student loans. It makes me cringe, however, to think of starting out your life with huge education bills to pay off. Are there careers that will make a good living, yet only require a training period?

1. Air Traffic Controller - Believe it or not, this career requires no college education. However, you do need to pass a test. This course and test are given by the FAA, Federal Aviation Administration. The median pay for Air Traffic Controllers is $54.29/hour.

2. Nuclear Power Reactor Operators - This position does require extensive training (thank goodness) and employers generally prefer than their employees have had some college classes. You may not be able to jump into the $33.00/hr. position, but working your way up to the position by starting at a lower level might be a good goal.

3. Elevator Installer/Repairer - Escalators, chair lifts and moving walkways are all installed and maintained by Elevator Installers. An apprenticeship program in this line would be the place to start and work towards the $32.00/hr. job.

Lower Paying, but Fastest Growing Careers

1. Home and Personal Health Aids - This is one of the fastest growing jobs around. In fact, you can’t go wrong with any health care profession. After all, there will always be elderly or disabled individuals needing this kind of service.

2. Pharmacy Technician - It is expected within the next several years that this profession will rise by 32%. There is training and certification for this type of work.

3. Dental Assistant - is expected to have a 29% growth within the next few years.

COOL CAREERS

I just thought of this new home business. Take your best talents and offer them for one day at a time. This is especially enticing if you are the kind of person who hates doing the same thing over and over again every day of your life. Ugh! Of course, you could also be someone’s personal assistant for a week or a month, etc. Sometimes people could really use a personal assistant for a short time.

Step 1: Start by listing all of your skills and talents. Decide which ones of those are marketable and would fit into the new definition of Personal Assistant for a Day. Could you organize a space for someone, do errands, be a nanny for a day, pickup someone at the airport.

Step 2: Print out business cards. Don’t go to a great expense, be frugal and buy those tear apart business cards that you can print on your computer.

Step 3: Marketing/advertising can be expensive. Purchase some colorful paper (the same place you got the business card stock) and print out flyers. Distribute them where you see a lot of cars parked that are most likely local residents. Post them anyplace on bulletin board where they are allowed. Tell everyone you know what your doing.

Step 4: Consider ahead of time some basic prices. Consider if you will need to use your vehicle and pay for gas to complete the task. In other words, don’t forget about your own expenses, not just your time when deciding on a price. Be careful not to over price. If your help is going to be too expensive, people won’t use your service.

Step5: Get started by offering a discount on your first week of customers. Be willing to work for half-price until you get some regular customers. When times get slow, offer the discount again during a certain period of time - with another poster and mailing to past customers. Yes, always keep a file of your customers with name, address, and specific information.