You’ve heard me say it before… balance is an ongoing process. And all of us find ourselves a little out of kilter every now and then.

Lately, I’ve definitely been riding the rapids! I’ve overbooked myself and I haven’t been prioritizing well. And as I crowd more and more “stuff” into my day, the less time I have to honor myself by spending time on the truly important things ~ things like hot baths and long walks and watching goofy TV shows with my teenage son and making dinner with my husband.

But hosting Thursday’s Reclaiming Your Life: Body, Mind & Spirit teleseminar reminded me of just how easy it is to slide into that dark place ~ the place where you’re running ragged reacting to your world instead of flowing through it like a gentle river.

Putting together the content for this call also gave me the opportunity to pull out some of my favorite tools and to start using them again in my own life. And, not surprisingly, I'm already seeing results! (BTW, these are the same tools I share with you in the free teleseminar and the ones we’ll explore more deeply in the 3-week virtual retreat that’s coming up soon!)

Maybe the thing I love most about being a teacher is that you can always learn from your own lessons. And that’s exactly what I’m doing now ~ taking my own advice.

If you haven’t heard the call recording from my Reclaiming Your Life: Body, Mind & Spirit teleseminar, you can listen or download it for FREE until this Monday, May 17th. Just click here to register.
 
 
Hello Mercury (we sure have missed you). Our old friend Mercury goes direct this evening around 6:30. Oh thank the Gods!

Normally the retreating presence of this God/Planet doesn’t get me too flustered, but lately… oy!

I’ve screwed up workshop dates, lost documents on my computer (and I usually hit the save button obsessively) and put off writing and workshop projects until the last possible moment.

So after a house blessing for a friend tonight, I’m coming home around 8, pouring myself a glass of pino and asking my buddy Mercury to come out and play.

I’ve got a few projects that need finishing touches, and an exciting new virtual VIP day in the works (juicy stuff), and I can’t wait to see what inspired ideas flow into my work.

The funk is finally lifting and the New Moon and Mercury are moving me forward. Wanna come along for the ride?

Click here to check out my workshops and other cool stuff.
 
 
I love being a mom. And so you'd think that it would follow that Mother's Day would be one of my favorite holidays. I mean, what could be better than a day to celebrate the magic of life and the unique love of a mother? How much more "Goddess" can you get... right?

But 7 years ago on Mother's Day morning I got a phone call that changed who I was forever. When the phone rang, waking me up from fitful dreams, I already knew.
 
The voice on the line was soft and comforting, but the news, however, was not. It was one of the nurses from Hospice calling to let me know that my dad has passed away in the wee hours of the morning.

My range of emotions were like a pendulum, swinging from sadness for myself and my sister and joy that our dad's struggle was finally over. It would be years before that pendulum found its balance again.

But the hardest part of that morning was knowing that I had to call my little sister and greet her with the same news I'd just come to know. No breakfast in bed from her sweet little girls, no day at the beach picking up sea shells, no Mother's Day brunch at her favorite restaurant. Just the harsh reality of life and death and grief. And as hard as it was for me, I knew it would be worse for her. 

I met my sister at Hospice that day and we cried together. We refused to let anyone even say the words "Mother's Day" for years because it would send us into a spiral of grief and tears we still couldn't get a grip on. In fact, I don't even think we called our own mother (who'd divorced our dad more than 10 years earlier) on Mother's Day for many years after that (sorry mom).

Seven years later though, I'm finally starting to enjoy Mother's Day again. I'm sitting here in bed this morning without the heavy heart I had back then. My son just brought me a cup of coffee and I can smell bacon wafting up from the kitchen.

My dad is certainly on my mind today, and I miss him like crazy, but in some ways that makes me want to celebrate even more, to honor the parts of him that are still alive in me. Yeah, today's gonna be a good day. It's Mother's Day afterall.
 
 
Today I let my tears flow as freely as the morning rain. Perhaps there is some sadness in these tears, but they are mostly tears of letting go.

Letting go of who I was, of expectation and of disappointment. Letting go of the illusions of helplessness and control simultaneously. Letting go of the questions that cannot be answered and the burdens that cannot be lightened.

It's a bittersweet letting go. It's painful and scary and ugly. And yet it's liberating and filled with a vulnerable beauty that can neither be described nor ignored for its rawness and its truth.

I don’t know what will be left of me when the tears all fall away to find the sea. Perhaps there will only be shell of a woman left behind...

A beautiful shell, less fragile than she might appear. An empty vessel waiting to be filled again with laughter and tears and the wisdom of both. 
 
In Between 04/19/2010
 
I’m in that funny little “in between” space that exists at the crossroad of apathy and adventure. And the choice is mine.

Somewhere deep inside me I already know the answer. It’s the only answer really. I will, ultimately choose adventure. But not until I’ve flirted with apathy just enough to know that he makes a poor lover.

I will toy with the idea of letting apathy seduce me into believing that it’s just not worth it. I will allow myself to be tempted by the freedom of not giving a shit. And then I will run away in the night, knowing that the trap lies in the acceptance of this seduction.

There is truly no freedom in apathy. Freedom isn’t about not caring, it’s about being able to affect change with the things you do care about. And therein lies the adventure.

To learn more about Michele's next adventures, click here. 
 
Leggo My Ego 04/15/2010
 
Lately I’ve had lots of people ask me, “How do I get rid of my ego when doing spiritual work.” And the honest answer is… You don’t!

I just want to take a minute to set the record straight here. Ego is not a bad thing. Ego is a part of you as vital and necessary as your liver. Within your ego is the seed of your individuality, your survival instinct and your personal drive and ambition.

That said, you’ve also gotta understand that the ego is limited within its function. Just as the liver can’t do the job of the heart, neither can the ego do the job of the spirit.

The bottom line is this… stop trying to force the ego out and instead let it do its job. Allow your ego to be moved by spirit to bring your personal and unique expression of divinity in the world. In other words, let the ego be in service to the spirit and not the other way around.

Wanna hear more from Michele? Sign up for the Wake Up Goddess E-zine here.
 
What the Funk? 04/13/2010
 
Yesterday a familiar old feeling snuck up on me, seemingly from out of nowhere. It’s a feeling that I’ve come to know as “the Funk.”

Not to be confused with the Red Hot Chili Peppers bass guitar kinda funk; there’s nothing cool, outrageous or even remotely awesome about this funk. No, this is the kinda funk that’ll have you eating Chunky Monkey straight out of the Ben & Jerry’s container if you’re not careful.

It’s the kinda funk that used to really throw me off my game and have me questioning my life, my purpose and (in cases of extreme funk) my sanity. But lately, I’ve learned to just let these emotions of funkiness roll over me like a fog that’ll soon lift.

I’ve learned that not every day is full of bright sunshine, but that doesn’t mean the sun doesn’t exist. Eventually, the sun will break through to burn off the funkified fog that’s temporarily taken up residence in my brain. Until then, I just dim my lights a little bit, slow down the car, and keep on driving.
 
 
As a tarot reader and spiritual counselor, I've had many a woman open up and allow me the honor of witnessing her tears. From a single, silent tear rolling down a somber cheek, to a waterfall of emotional cleansing, I've seen it all. And far too often these tears have been accompanied by an apology.

Why, I wonder, do women feel we need to apologize for something as beautiful and as honest as our tears? Why do we feel shame when we purge ourselves of pent up emotions and allow the natural cleansing energy of our tears to wash over us?

Is it because we've been conditioned to believe that our tears make us vulnerable? Or are we fearful that we'll be judged as weak or emotional if we allow our tears to be shed in front of others, and so we shamefully hide them away?

Well let me just set the record straight by saying that although your tears may be a sign of compassion, empathy, frustration, sadness, pain or even anger… they are NOT a sign of weakness.

In fact, the tears of a woman (or any human being for that matter!) are a cleansing, healing force in the world and should never be a seen as a source of shame.

The Norse Goddess Freya knew this secret, and so did her followers. In fact, Freya’s tears were so honored by her people that they were said to turn to gold before making their way to the sea. Now these folks knew the value of a woman's tears.

And believe me when I tell you that your tears are no less sacred than those of the ancient Goddess. Your tears are made of the same powerful stuff that the oceans are made of ~ the oceans that cover 2/3 of the Earth, whose depths hold some of the planet’s greatest secrets, and whose waters provide life for countless sea creatures.

So let your golden tears flow freely to the ocean, just as Freya did. Because a true Goddess knows the depths of her own emotions, recognizes the transformational power of expressing them, and never needs to apologize for her tears!

To book your intuitive tarot session with Michele, click here.
 
 
We always hear folks, especially busy, dynamic women, talk about the importance of balance... “I need to find some balance,” or “I’m so out of balance,” or “I don’t know how to balance all of this.”

But what exactly does it mean to be balanced?

I sometimes think of myself as that clown at the circus who’s got a bunch of plates precariously perched on spinning sticks trying to keep them all perfectly balanced so they don’t come crashing down around me. But in this scenario, although the plates may be balanced, the clown (me) is frazzled and, frankly, completely unable to relax because to stop for even a minute would mean disaster.

So I’ve had to rethink what the term balance means to me. Now I like to think of myself as the graceful tightrope walker who occasionally throws a few aerial tricks into the show just for fun and a little adventure. And despite the fact that the world around me is, well… a 3-ring circus, I’m focused, balanced and above the fray.

In this sense, balance isn’t something that’s achieved or accomplished because balance is a work in progress. Once minute you’re up there without a worry and the next moment you’re teetering a bit as you make your way from one end of the rope to the other. After all, the tightrope wouldn’t be any fun if you just stood in one spot trying not to fall.

And when you really think about it, what’s the worst thing that can happen? You actually DO fall. So what? This is when it pays to have a good safety net beneath you. For me, that safety net comes in the form of my loving Diva Sisters who are always willing to catch me when I fall and help me get back on my feet to claim my rightful place as an aerial ballerina above clowns, the crowds and the chaos.

Click here to learn more about Michele, her services and her programs.
 
 
This is a true story...

So this weekend I spoke at an all girl event surrounded by radiant women. The energy was fabulous! We danced, we talked and we played together. It was a true gathering of Goddesses!

And then, at the end of the night as I was walking off the stage, one of the male staff members approached me. And this is what he said (and I am NOT kidding):

"Oh wow, you women are so powerful. I mean, I'm just in awe of you. I really wish that there were no men here at all so you could just take your shirts off and dance together like that with your breasts out. There's just so much power in women's breasts, you know?"

Really? I mean it... Really?

Okay men, I know this may come as a bit of a shock to some of you, but contrary to your ridiculous fantasies we do not (at least as a general rule) strip off our shirts and dance around naked, have topless pillow fights, or make out with each other just because we're bored.

And, for this you should be grateful... Because if we did, we'd have little need for you. Silly boys.