This past week I took a HUGE leap of faith, and spent the rest of the week vacillating between gasping for air wondering if I made the right decision, and watching the Universe collude to provide me plenty of opportunities to see what living in Love and Faith instead of Fear can do.

IN this light, it was a banner week of serendipity. I found 3 Four Leaf clovers. The perfect book, with the contents inside to shift my fears to love drop off the library shelf to my feet, and friends showing up at just the right moment to offer words of wisdom, some much needed guidance and offer loving support.

One of the biggest lessons I kept hearing again and again was that we don’t need to know the HOW. We just need to know our Why and What. The Universe puts the rest together for us.

What happened? Well.. truth be told, I started to listen to people instead of to my own inner guidance. I took on what others were saying to be true for them, and the way they saw Me, instead of looking at what Spirit thought of me, or where I was going. Oohh.. I gotta say. That just was the WRONG direction.

Have you ever done that? Listened to the guidance from outside of you which did not feel ‘right’. Why do we do that to ourselves?!

Some great things have happened because of that sideways step. I have learned some great lessons about where to place my focus and energy. And who and what to listen to.

Here are some tips to staying on the path that is leading you to all that you want to be, do and have…

1. Pay attention to how you are feeling. If what you feeling is positive and light, and feels really good, you are heading the right way! If what you are feeling is heavy, and gives you anxiety, or fear, then these feelings are indicating you are pointing in the wrong direction.

2. IF you are pointing in the wrong direction( as I was for the last couple of weeks!) try to find some small ways to bring you joy… in small increments if it too big of a leap to get happy right away. Take a walk, listen to music that uplifts you, read a book, play outside, blow bubble, or watch a funny movie.

3. Be gentle with yourself. It does not do any good to bash ourselves over the head when we are already down. Know that things will get better !

4. Ask for Spirit to guide you,  then listen and watch for clues that show up in your life. They may be very subtle nudges to do something or go somewhere… but listen to them. (only if they are nudging you to do positive things though.. not if they suggest you do things that will hurt others or yourself.)

5. This one is important!! Although we have friends and family members who love us and mean well…..taking what they say at full value all the time(even if it seems like they are only looking out for us) can throw us off our course at times. Be clear about what YOU need to do. Especially when you are growing spiritually, in your biz, or in your personal life. If we change, then our relationships change. This can be scary for our friends and loved ones, and it is easier to keep you in a familiar ‘place’ than see you grow.

© Ian MacKenzie – flickr bravenewtraveler

Our Downtown Main Library has a very wide and varied selection of Magazines. Many of which I have not heard of before. It is so fun to just peruse the aisles then sit and read through a few of them just for fun.

I thought in this post I would make a list of the different Magazines I have in my own house.. some of which I have found as ‘treasures’ in give away piles ( ones that I have yet to see in stores.. so they were very much a treasure!) and many of the mainstream ones that are easy to find.

Magazines for me are just for fun. They are a light read. I love good design and photographs that just pop off the pages.

So.. with that in mind.. here are some you can find in my own Magazine Library….

Food Magazines

Gourmet  ( www. gourmet.com)

Bon Appetit  (www.bonappetit.com)

VegNews  ( www.vegnews.com)

Lifestyle Magazines

YAM Magazine ( www.yammagazine.com)

Donna Hay ( www.donnahay.com.au)  ( great photos, fantastic design, amazing food).

Martha Stewart Living  ( www.marthastewart.com) ( I love the light and airy design, and easy on the eye photos.)

Real Simple  ( www.realsimple.com)  Again.. light and airy design, and easy on the eyes photos.. plus great tips on living easy!

O Magazine ( www.oprah.com) Lots of great articles. Fun stuff to look at inside!

Misc. Magazines

Natural Solutions ( used to be Alternative Medicine) (www.naturalsolutionsmag.com) Lots of great articles on healthy living.

Alive Magazine ( www.alive.com)  Canada’s Wellness Magazine. A mag full of health and healthy beauty articles. All Canadian.. I love that!

Good  ( www.goodmagazine.com) ‘ Good is for people who give a damn. It’s an entertaining mag about things that matter.’  Yup.. that about sums it up!

Mark another ( www.mark-magazine.com) an Very Large Architectural magazine with amazing buildings.. one of my great treasure finds!

That’s my list.. varied and eclectic. Like me! What about you.. have you got any cool magazines hanging around your house that you love ? Please do share which ones you love.

We have all grown up with a work ethic that says if we want to get ahead, we have to work hard at it. Nose to the grindstone kinda deal.

Today, as I was putting tremendous effort into creating the content for my website,, I sat back and thought about all the times that words, ideas and people just flowed to me. Did I work really hard to make those things happen? Hmm.. Nope.

I actually did quite the opposite. I Let go and Let Goddess. I released all the tension and frustration,  and allowed myself to be guided.  And each time I did that.. magic would happen.

I love calling it magic, because that is truly what it feels like. Relaxing myself and undoing the knots in my stomache from so much uphill effort, I let the Universe guide me to what I need to know, or do next. So in that state of being.. in that open allowing state.. the words just flowed. Just like when I write these blog posts. ( Somehow, it is an easier process to let go for writing the blog than it has seemed for the website up until today!)

This is how my book Uncomplicated Raw, Simple Everyday Raw Recipes started off. I was swinging in the rope swing under the walnut tree.. and all of a sudden.. I was ‘hearing’ all the recipes for the recipe book I had been trying to think so hard to put together prior to relaxing in the swing. In less than 30 min, I had all 55 recipes written down.  It took a year to put the book together after that, and if I just let the rest of it flow as the recipes came,, I bet it would have come together in just a couple of months.. or less!!

How can you let go of working so hard and just start allowing.. just for a little while each day. It is indeed a process.. and the more you do it the more you are willing to let go and see the magic happen!

We have everything we need inside ourselves.. everything we need to know. We just need to tap into this knowledge and stop looking out for external knowingness.

Ok. Truth? Indeed we do have everything we need inside. However, that does not seem to stop many people (including myself) in reaching outside themselves to get the next product or activity or thing that is going to reveal THE answer.

WOW!!!! As I wrote those words down.. my computer went into spontaneous singing and music .. I don’t know where it is coming from.. but the words were this…

“I woke up this morning with the spirit on my mind” .. now some lovely music without words is playing. Amazing!!!

Well.. I did not need to look outside of me, however, the words did indeed just come to me.

Sitting here in awe. wow.

Playing again.. very cool gospel music! Ha ha !! Loving all the messages that are coming through.. and fun sharing them with you. Wish I could share the music with you too.

“Woke up this morning with My mind on the Spirit Halleluja!!’

Don’t think I can top that one… spirit spoke. It is done.  : )

Intention is EVERYTHING….

Saw this video recently.. and wanted to share it with you.

What do you think of it?

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

The other day I posted my very first success at doing the monkey bars all the way across. It was a great moment!  My little daughter cheering my on as I went across.. I felt awesome as I finished the last one.. blisters to prove my ‘work’.

Each day since then, I have gone back to the park to do it again. And each time I succeed I get a rush of the YES!!! inside me.  I am not always successful as I cross.. sometimes my hands slip off and I try again. More ‘spit, grit and duct tape’ would work well.. Just as the Penguins on Madagascar 2 talk about. ( I adore that movie! Wait for more quotes from it in upcoming blog posts! )

There have been moments that my reaching the end bar has been but a fleeting moment of happiness as I think of my friend Anne Gobby Berryhill. She is a Personal Trainer based out of California. She is so strong, and amazing. A super powerhouse of muscles. She is also sweet and nurturing, kind and compassionate and has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. And I love her. I also admire her dedication to training in creating such a fantastic body.

When  I think of Anne zipping across the monkey bars in two seconds flat, with such ease and grace. It totally deflates me when I think of that.. as I had to put so much energy into it! I think..

‘ Sure.. Elissa Joy.. you barely got across Once.. Anne could do so much better’.

I realize that kind of self talk is totally and absolutely not going to get me anywhere.. and instead of Slamming myself.. and comparing myself to her.. I needed to celebrate both her and I .

When I took the time to celebrate my friend, and truly appreciate her, it elevated me! When I celebrated myself again for my accomplishment of my own goal.. that also brought me up to a really happy place!

What a lesson to be learned. To celebrate each other.. and ourselves helps us focus on what is RIGHT with the world.. and ourselves. It empowers us all.

Two of the courses came as downloads to my inbox, which meant I could take my time in doing them.. and recently, I just finished one. I decided to take some affirmative action and do most of it in ONE weekend. ( umm. ok. Don’t try to do ALL 24 weeks of a program in one weekend. Whew!! )

Well… now..I am a Certified Helpingpreneur!  TADA!!

Ok.. I am also certified in Heart2Heart Energy Healing, and a Certified Raw Food Personal Chef, Certified Raw Personal Coach, Certified Unschooler ( ok.. I just threw that one in to test you.. see if you were listening)!   And have so many other certificates that would take up half the page.!!! ( So much for my Anti- Certification stance.. and ‘who needs a piece of paper to really show people that are good at what you do’ . hmm.. ) Still.. the Certifications don’t really tell you who I am. Only that somebody else said I did their course.

WOW!! What a surprise to feel all those non-credential  needing sentiments come up. Acceptance. Whether I have the official documents or not. I love what I do. And I really DO help people. And that is the only credentials I feel I really need.  ( I could carry on.. but.. this is a blog post.. so I will just let it go, and meditate on it instead. )

What are your thoughts on certifications ?

When we started teaching there, it was the right fit for us. We were really wanting to reach out to more people about the benefits of Raw Food, and bring awareness to the community. We thought that maybe we would even find some people who were interested in Raw Food, but needed some help making the food for their families, and so would hire us because they knew us from the class.

Funny thing was.. although we had classes upwards of 40 people at times, we seemed to attract people who were interested in learning about Raw Food but not too much about hiring a Personal Chef.

So,, as our raw food demo’s come to a close,, here are some lessons we have learned along the way….

1. It is possible to create delicious, easy to make raw food dishes for 40 people on a 3 ft by 2 ft rolling demo table. With 2 people side by side and dangerous kitchen tools, and food all around.

2. Students are not daunted by flying plastic or metal spoons in their direction. Lesson to students.. don’t sit in the front row.

3. It is much harder to talk and follow a recipe than you think. Even if you know the recipe inside out, backwards and upside down. You are still going to forget something.

4. Students.. ( and co-teacher) often who are reading along as you make the recipe.. DON”T tell you that you have forgotten to add the salt, or any other very important ingredient!

5. The bigger the group, the better the questions the students ask.

6. Just because somebody LOOKS like they are not listening ( ie with eyes closed and head tilted back, arms and legs crossed), doesn’t mean they aren’t.  We have had very animated conversations with people who took it all in.. ( I think they must have used their imagination as to what we were actually doing up at the front! )

7. Trying to talk over the noise of fridges, freezers, and other store noise really takes a BIG voice. ( working on that one!) Or a mic.

8. To be ourselves.. people really appreciate more when you are yourself.. then when you try to be ‘perfect’.

9. Dani learned to speak in front of groups of people.. and at 19 is teaching on her own now!

10 And Finally…. You don’t need to have all the answers. That’s what Wikipedia is for.

And as a BONUS lesson…the MOST important one..

HAVE FUN and PLAY!! Food is FUN. We love food. We also love teaching.. put the two together and shazam.. loads of fun,, and plenty of mistakes to laugh about along the way.

Onwards to new and exciting adventures us and happily leaving the space open for new teachers to show off their talents and skills at the Health Food store.

Yes indeed.. Let’s DO have a conversation.

In the last few weeks in particular I have been ‘feeling it’ big time. I need community. I need people who are going to support me, and love me. And I am ready and able to support and love them back.

As a matter of fact.. I am hearing from other people that they too are craving community. From young children to older adults, men, women, boys and girls. All have been wanting.. no .. Really ASKING for more community.

Sure.. Facebook and twitter are fine for some community building, but I want to use the phone, or see people in person. And more than once every 3 or 4 months. How can you build a relationship, a friendship that way?

And.. here’s the clincher… I don’t want to have to pay anything to go to connect. Yup.. you heard me. I want it to be free.  Paying to connect with other people builds more walls, more barriers than it does a sense of coming together. Which is why Facebook probably works so well.. anybody can come to it.

So, the next question is.. what am I doing to create this community? Well… I’m starting the conversation.  I am in need of some great kick ass ideas to create a local community, and an online community in a world where everyone craves it, yet says they are ‘too busy’ to come.

Today, I am looking more for suggestions from you than answers from me..

• How have you created community in your life ?
• What has been the most successful way to find the people you want to create your community with?
• How do you know where to start looking?

Looking foward to your answers.. and really appreciate you for taking part in this conversation!