A Pinch of Magic

It's been just over a year since I began creating these crystal and gemstone headbands. In 2016, I created and sold over 100 of them to awakening seekers. Open Arise Creations has had a great first year and although I do not intend to pursue this as a full-time "career" in 2017, more of a fun, supportive hobby, I look forward to bringing smiles to some crystal lovers worldwide!

Here is the etsy shop link to browse the Open Arise Creations on Etsy

Also, I am thrilled to say that we just acquired our first ever retail location in BC! Woohoo! Spreading the beauty and the magic!

Photo of Kristin on Mushroom by Kim Yanick Portraits 

(more amazing work on FB here: Kim Yanick Portraits )

We both began the new year with a month of micro-dosing with psilocybin mushrooms. After our incredible experiences using larger doses in a ceremonial way last fall, we then did some reading about micro-dosing to shift one's overall perspective on life. Well, in the way we tend to do, we needed to try it for ourselves to know if it was a viable protocol to suggest to others. We regularly took a tiny amount of the magic, not enough to feel much, but in the way medicinal ingredients work, the experience was just...a hint different. The end result? We are still ourselves. No huge notable shifts. Still both mostly optimistic. Still both forging our own unique paths in the world. Still busy as ever with all kinds of interesting things. Still unsure or the purpose of life. Overall, we are happy and taking life moment by moment and day by day. It works for us! We continue to be amazed by the plants/fungi!

On the topic of medicinal things, we are excited to have a CACAO supply again! Tanner's mom, Cori, has returned to Vancouver Island with a heap of the good stuff after her journey to Mexico and Guatemala. 

Tanner and I will offer our first cacao ceremony of 2017 next weekend. We are in the midst of organizing a spring series of collaborative ceremonies with some sound healer friends. It's going to be so lovely! Here is our cacao ceremony page: Cacao Ceremonies by Cacao Connection!

Also, for your viewing/listening pleasure, here are new episodes #7 and #8 of Walking the Path. It's a series of conversations between myself and our lovely pal and intuitive spirit magician, Christine Yole. We discuss things like "what is my purpose?" and "getting into the flow of life" or "conscious communication". You know, stuff like that. Check it out if you feel inspired to hear our thoughts and experiences. We have a lot of fun recording these: Walking the Path: With Kristin and Christine!

I have begun studying my required reading list for the yoga teacher training program in June. Excellent stuff! Mind expanding content galore and so much beauty and truth within these pages. I am loving it. Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita, anatomy and more. Yum.

Where is my challenge lately? Social media. I'm being totally honest here. As always. I do not feel good about the entire concept. I am at a total loss for finding a marketing alternative that reaches as many humans. I'm wowed at how programmed humanity has become to rely on these things.

As each week passes by, I hear more and more people of all ages sharing their woes about the weird stuff happening through social media. I am thrilled, THRILLED, to be not using Facebook anymore for personal socialization, entertainment or things that aren't serving my ultimate wellbeing. The amount of true connection time with friends and loved ones has increased significantly. And so have my mental clarity and energy levels. I feel freer!! 

We just Skyped with a sweet young guy friend of ours who is far away from us tonight. He shared his experience of his first month of being Facebook-free.  He was bubbling with joy and said he is totally focused on his own life, not on what everyone else is up to. He is present for what life is showing to him each moment. He has been cooking more and socializing and doing what he loves. He said he feels freedom and peace of mind. 

Yes!!!! It IS possible. And he didn't go missing off the face of the earth. He's still himself. A more complete and present version, too! He reached out to us and asked for a Skype so we could laugh together and share good stories and remind each other that we love one another. That is the true heart of life, right?

Astaria Light, bright light sound healer at Light of Sound, and myself, sharing our booth at a wellness fair in Victoria, BC last weekend.

The Adjustment Bureau

I am relaxing on a balcony overlooking the ocean from West Vancouver as the sun sets over my right shoulder. Cruise ships and cargo barges are floating back and forth across the bay. I thought I would have been crossing back over to Vancouver Island to go home to my own bed, but the universe said otherwise. Just as we were literally moments from boarding the ferry this afternoon, there was a "POP!", followed by a cloud of steam billowing from underneath the hood and a greenish stream of coolant flowing down the loading ramp. Yikes. I shut the car off immediately and turned to my passenger, which was my friend/mother in law. "Adjustment Bureau", I said. And we had a laugh. If you haven't seen that movie, it's one of only a few mainstream movies that I highly recommend watching. There is a higher power and master planner at work in every single moment. At least that's what my experience has been. We just never know what the next minute or the next second will present us with. Gotta be ready to respond. Like a light, flexible, fluid ninja.

We sat in the cool shade in a stairwell nearby our disabled car. While we sat, many folks strolled up and down the steps. At one point a very small girl with her parents came by and I noticed her little pink tee shirt just simply said "DETOUR". Funny. And odd...

Jim, with BCAA (like AAA for non-Canadians) picked us up and towed our little Jetta to a repair shop. He said he really enjoyed our bumper stickers and especially the one that says "THIS IS A GOOD SIGN". So I happened to have a stack of cardboard GOOD SIGNS, of which I passed him a couple. He was pretty excited! I also gave one to the auto insurance agent last week when we renewed our insurance, as I discovered them hiding in the insurance envelope after half a year. She appreciated it also.

So after an entertaining drive to the auto shop with a super tow truck driver, we were rescued by a lovely family member who happens to reside in close proximity to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry. And here I sit. I believe I partially manifested this exact scenario, as earlier today while we were weaving south along the edge of the Pacific Ocean from an amazing weekend festival, I had the thought "I have a blog to write. When will I find the time?"  Hahaha!!! Whamo. Like magic. I have been forced to take the time. A gift. Time, to write it all down. 

Photo of cacao circle by Tammra Broughton at The Conscious Goddess Festival 2016!

The festival was called The Conscious Goddess Festival and it was so beautiful. It's a newer festival, only in its second year. So it was small with about 150 people or so. Mostly women. A few loving men were invited to be supporters of their goddesses. One man was the sacred fire keeper all weekend. What a sacred fire it was!

I had come across an ad on Facebook back in February for this festival. As soon as I saw the name, I knew I was going to apply to offer a cacao workshop and also offer my Open Arise Creations headbands as a vendor. I was warmly welcomed to do both. It was a lot to juggle, but well worth every minute. I was so happy to see most of my headbands find loving homes and shining goddesses to adorn. The cacao workshop was wonderful also. Part way through the cacao session, a yellow swallowtail butterfly flew into our tent and around our circle of chairs and swooped by my face to remind me that I'm on the perfect path. The festival was truly magical and encouraged deep healing and transformations in so many participants.  

Cori and I on the last day of the festival at the Open Arise Creations booth.  

I could write the entire blog about the festival but I have more to share. Where are we living now? Where's home? For the summer months we have agreed to return to a parcel of fruity paradise on Vancouver Island. The property owner asked for our assistance with the place while he trials 90 days at a nearby ecovillage to see if it's a fit for him. So we have returned to this small retreat in the cedars and maples for a few months, which we had called home for most of 2014. 

We really love this spot and are so grateful to have another opportunity to enjoy the forest and gardens on this slice of earth. September will bring a change of location for us once again...

For now, Tanner has been offered a part time position as a taxi driver/spiritual guide. Haha! He truly enjoys it and for 3 days each week he drives to inspire his passengers. It's quite a different career path for him, but a welcome change of pace for a little while. I have been keeping my hands very busy creating the gemstone headbands. I have recently been asked to wholesale them to a vegan cafe in Miami Beach, Florida, and have had numerous other requests too- some yes's, some no's. I need more hands soon. Octopus spirit animal, answer my call! It's going really well and that's what matters. 

Meditation and sound bath time at one of our cacao ceremonies. 

We have also hosted cacao ceremonies for nearly 200 people in the first half of 2016. We have hosted them at many locations across the southern part of Vancouver Island. A new friend who's family hosted us in May at the full moon, created this amazing smudging fan for us. 

Wildwood Earth Art on Facebook 

We have been blessed to co-facilitate with several gifted sound healers. Our crystal singing bowls have mingled their vibrations with didjeridoos, drums, chimes, rattles, lots of other crystal and Tibetan bowls and most importantly, open hearts and the voices of many. The voice of ONE. 

Our new friend and crystal bowl whisperer, Tara. 

Moving into July we have decided to take a hiatus from the ceremonies. Time to rest and regroup and take care of ourselves is of utmost importance. The second half of this year is likely to be just as event-full!

Hiking trip. This was at the start. You should have seen us 6 hours later. 

Visions of fall travel are brewing in both our waking and dreaming hours. The where part isn't quite clear yet. Or the how. Trusting that it will all be shown in perfect and divine time is what we continue to practice.

PS. Oh. And the other prominent components that keep presenting themselves in 2016 have been the need for conscious communication and firm boundary setting. It's not glamorous work, but it sure feels good to speak my truth and ask for what I need. Try it for yourself. Say what you need to feel your best. Stand in your own power. Love thy neighbour, but love thyself first.

Humanity needs this now. 

PPS. I made a drum. Finally! It was a very special experience. The flesh of deer and maple that melded together to express the rhythms of life are held in deep gratitude within my heart and soul. Healing of many hearts is her mission. I named her Luna. 

Swept Up in a Rainbow LOVE Tornado

It's seems that the less we travel, the less time I take to write about life in between. It's been two months now since I took a timeout to write down all of the incredible things that we have been experiencing. 

It has been a chilly and wet 6 weeks since we retuned to Vancouver Island. The frequent rainbows and majestic eagles floating overhead make it all ok. Fine, it's more than ok. This island is a magical place! We are so grateful to call it our home base.

It's a beautiful sunny day today as I sit on the back deck typing. It's still fairly chilly. The spring flowers are all coming up with optimism. I can hear a happy tree frog chirping in the swaying cedars nearby. 

We were asked by our friend to housesit for her for 3 weeks in January. Then several other housesitting opportunities aligned themselves in front of us. So here we are now on a little organic farm. There is a fun flock of laying hens to care for and a couple of crazy cats too. It's a beautiful place to hunker down and do some writing and resting. The crackling woodstove is my good friend. 

We have noticed a big shift in the consciousness of the general public in 2016. We found it tricky at times to fill up our Cacao Ceremonies in 2015. It was also challenging to  secure a venue, often feeling like we were trying too hard to convince anyone that this was something good and useful for the people and the planet. When the calendar flipped (literally on New Year's Eve) something also flipped in the consciousness of humans.

Probably not ALL humans, but a good number of us. We are now getting such huge responses to these gatherings that we often have a waiting list. People are suggesting venues and offering us their spaces weekly. 2016 is numerologically a 9 year, which is a year of completion. It seems that many many people are ready to face their worst fears, forgive past grievances, and just start to love themselves and one another. That's what cacao promotes. Love. Inner Peace. And joy!

If you don't know about our Cacao blog it's www.cacaoconnection.blogspot.com or our Facebook page is Cacao Connection. 

Speaking of joy, I was invited to participate in a photo shoot on the weekend. It was 5 hours of fun and laughter, wild makeup and big hair. We modeled some of my Open Arise Creations headbands. I also played with some cacao and got some fun shots with a drink and some of the beans. So far this is the first image that the amazing Kim Yanick has shared with me, but I know there is more beautiful stuff coming. Check out Kim's work at www.kimyanick.com or follow her on Facebook at Kim Yanik Portraits to see her magical work unfold. 

These headbands are so powerful and so many people are scooping them up. I have been taking them to local fairs and events and it's been a ton of fun. This is what I love to do!

Photo by Gord Griffiths

Tanner entered into the British Columbia Open for pool, which is a passion of his. A lot of our acquaintances aren't aware that he's a pool player because he doesn't speak about it much. Earlier this week, he won 4th place in his division of nearly 100 players. He enjoyed a 5-day getaway with the guys and I also enjoyed some "me" time.

We sure are grateful to have each other though. We cherish each day of adventure together. Life is beautiful.