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Always in the Moment


Kelly Rae Roberts has been inspiring 
my authentic being since 
May of 2009. 
She continues to touch my heart with the pieces she creates.

Her messages always ring true to what is going on in my life.

Kelly recently sent out an email with this inspirational painting including an important message from the universe.

Be present.
Her favorite moments were those when she let go 
of all expectations and worries 
and just simply 
celebrated the very moment she was living. 



You guys know I have tons of hobbies and 
I love so many things in life. 
You also know I get overwhelmed because 
I want to do everything. 
I want to create everything. 
I want to experience everything.

Well...I'm going to work at not overwhelming my schedule. I'm going to work on having more relax time for just me. I'm going to work on having quality time with my amazing boyfriend. 

I'm going to simply just be present.

Can you do the same?


Peace, Inspiration, & Love, 
 ~Amy
The Spirit Dancer

Guess who's boxing?


Guess who's boxing?
Clara Bow
While I was out of commission for gym activities due to 
a screwed up psoae muscle...
I gave great thought to many, many things.

Through my reflections, I discovered I didn't really care for my gym. I enjoyed the treadmill and strength training, but I have never felt completely comfortable there. The clientele is predominantly families and on top of that..."christian" families. 
Not the good type, either. 
The kind that make me feel like they are seconds away from forming a mob, chasing me down, 
and burning me at the stake.

I also discovered I wanted to take a boxing class. 

So, I broke up with the icky gym and 
joined a place that offers boxing.

 It's women only, so no penises. The sauna is much bigger. You have a private room to change clothes in, so no more naked old women walking around in the locker room for me. 

It is also less expensive. I'm saving $30 a month.

And I really, honestly am enjoying it.

I took my first class of beginner boxing Monday night 
and I am hooked.
I think I may have finally have found the activity for me.

Maybe I'm crazy...  
Tae-bo gave me a cyst. Zumba pulled a muscle. 

What will boxing do to me?
I don't know. But I'm going to find out.

I want to feel strong. 
I want to be strong on the outside 
as well as the inside.



So, anyway...I am digging the new gym...it's closer to home and has all the qualities I've been searching for...
like kicking ass!

Here is to yet 
another new beginning.


Peace, Inspiration, & Love, 
 ~Amy 
 The Spirit Dancer

Oracle of the Week~Plant~Nettle

Stinging Nettle

Irritation * Hidden Gifts * Transmutation

Nettles present a harsh exterior that conceals incredible goodness.

This card may reflect a situation or 
person with similar characteristics.
It is easy to dismiss "prickly" people as irritable, 
but this defense my conceal their true gifts.
If you try not to take their irritation personally, and seek 
to communicate more deeply with them,
you may be surprised by 
what they have to offer.

Likewise with a tricky situation, 
you need to work out
whether this is telling you to back away, 
or persevere - to "grasp the Nettle"
and put up with an initial discomfort 
in order to benefit later.

Nettles teach us that appearances can be
deceptive and that
first impressions can be wrong.

In the old days, alchemist sought to transmute lead into gold.

Nettles teach us the secret of transmutation, whereby an experience that is initially uncomfortable 
transforms into something treasured and valuable.

From the Druid Plant Oracle by Philip & Stephanie Carr-Gomm
Illustrated by Will Worthington


For more on Stinging Nettle, read my blog post.

For a harsh exterior, nettle is 
actually very nourishing on the inside!
It really is one of my favorite herbs.


Peace, Inspiration, & Love,
~Amy 
 The Spirit Dancer

This Week in The Spirit Dancer


This Week in 
The Spirit Dancer

Reading: Mists of Avalon & Flying Lessons online classes


Listening to: Pandora Vampire Weekend station


Watching: Charmed


Thinking about: Relaxing 


Learning: More and more about balance everyday


Doing: Having lots of alone time


Pet Peeves: Nothing comes to mind this week.


Happy Thoughts: Taking a boxing class tonight, date night Wednesday, Halloween is just around the corner!


Best Quote: Absence makes the heart grow fonder. 
(an oldie, but goodie...it's so true!)


Looking forward to: October, my favorite month, pumpkins, watching the leaves change, wearing hoodies, cuddling, blankets, cool crisp air...

Peace, Inspiration, & Love, 
 ~Amy 
 The Spirit Dancer

Overwhelmed...again

I am exhausted

I have so many things I love to do in life...things I enjoy doing...things I want to do...
but I just can't seem to ever find the balance.

I'm in a never-ending quest for balance. 

Yesterday I wrote out my "new" schedule for myself wondering if I have taken on too much.

I wanted to see it all out on paper. Have I taken on too much? 
Is there something I can let go?
I discovered I am crazy. 

Way too much.

And the only thing I want to let go is my job. 
I mean that takes up much more than 40 hours a week...
it consumes my life.

However, I'm not in a place financially where I can give that up just yet.

So...I try to live my life around the 40 hour work week...
and I'm flippin tired.

This week I started a new gym and a 5 week e-course on getting your creative biz soaring. 

I absolutely love both of my new endeavors...however getting back into the gym routine seriously takes away from my crafting time in the evening. 

Plus, I'm getting up an hour earlier Monday-Friday now so I can work on the e-course and my blogging and anything I need to do with my side business Spirit Dancer Creations.

So...if I work Monday-Friday, go to the gym after work Monday-Thursday, vend my wares on Saturdays, and in between craft, blog, study, promote, watch Netflix, try to have a life....

I haven't been spending any time in the garden. 
I feel I've barely spent time with my boyfriend. 
And how much time am I spending with just me?

Tomorrow I'm vending in Swannanoa
I am really looking forward to it...afterwards I think I'll take a week off from crafts and vending. 

A little break.
 It's obvious I need it.

And that's okay.



Peace, Inspiration, & Love, 
 ~Amy 
 The Spirit Dancer

Come by my booth this Saturday!

I'm vending this Saturday at 
The Mill Around the Village Festival!


The 6th Annual Mill Around the Village Festival is this Saturday, September 22 from 11am-5pm.

It will take place right over where I used to live at Hestia on the streets of downtown Swannanoa.

What can you expect?

Local musicians playing throughout the day!

Contra dancing!

Food like Okie Dokies Smokehouse and more!

Many, many craft vendors..like me!

Come see me. Eat some BBQ. 
Go grocery shopping 
at Amazing Savings. 

Support local.

and 
enjoy the first day of fall!


Peace, Inspiration, & Love,
 ~Amy
 The Spirit Dancer

Oracle of the Week~Faerie~The Lady of Joy

The Lady of Joy

Joy in the Moment/Sharing/True Gift

From The Heart of Faerie Oracle
by Brian & Wendy Froud

From the book:
To choose the Lady of Joy is to receive a true gift for yourself. 
She is such an important being. 
To know her touch is to know pure joy. 
She comes to remind you that 
joy can be found everywhere at ay moment. 
It has no size limits, no sell-by dates, no conditions attached. 

It just is. 

So accept this gift. 
Find joy in the moment and pass it on to others. 
It is infinitely large, so if you give some away, you will always have more than enough for yourself-a good thing to remember in a world that can seem joyless much of the time. 
Faerie is a joyous place. By finding joy in the everyday, you help to make the veil between the worlds thinner and the probability of faerie contact much more likely. 

So do your duty for the cause of interworld communications and be joyful!
*******************
*******************
I love this card. She looks so happy. She looks like pure joy!
I am feeling quite joyful this week myself.
I feel happier than I have for quite some time. 
Things are going well.
I plan on keeping The Lady of Joy in my life. 


Peace, Inspiration, & Love, 
 ~Amy 
 The Spirit Dancer

This Week in The Spirit Dancer


This Week in 
The Spirit Dancer

Reading: All the information for my Flying Lessons e-course from Kelly Rae Roberts.


Listening to: Various tunes that get me moving. 


Watching: Charmed. It helps me craft. 


Thinking about: The future...my next home...where I will have a room for all of my crafting...


Learning: Last week I took a course on pricing and budgeting your crafty business. That was eye opening. I spent a couple of hours yesterday re-pricing my jewelry and cigar box purses. Whew. 


Doing: Crafting like crazy!


Pet Peeves: Football, politics, blah blah blah 


Happy Thoughts: New Moon=New gym, new money (raise), new knowledge (Flying Lessons e-course), new inspirations 


Best Quote: Be inventive! 


Looking forward to: Delving into my Flying Lessons e-course...and fall....oh fall...



Peace, Inspiration, & Love, 
 ~Amy 
 The Spirit Dancer

I'm taking an e-course and I'm flippin' excited.



I'm taking an e-course! 

Sunday, I begin Flying Lessons
the e-course from Kelly Rae Roberts

It is a 5 week course that sounds 
over-inspiring and chock-full of crafty tidbits. 
********************

From Kelly Rae Robert's website...
Week 1 & 2
We’ll focus on creating an effective online presence via blogs, websites, social networking, and more. We’ll talk specifically about the ins and outs of these resources including how to create, how to improve, and the secret ingredients to using them effectively. We also talk about networking and the importance of creating community and how to build long lasting creative allies. We’ll discuss all the fears that we’ll inevitably come up against as we push the boundaries of our horizons and how to effectively push through them.

Week 3 & 4
We’ll focus on selling strategies (both online and offline). I’ll give specific strategies for selling on etsy and other online marketplaces. We’ll discuss effective ways of styling, photographing, packaging, and pricing our products and/or services. We’ll also focus on a number of effective marketing strategies to get the word out about our businesses, including print media, newsletters, advertising, blogging, and more. We’ll also discuss in detail all the ins and out of getting press and getting published. Finally, we’ll discuss the actualizing of goals, creating schedules, and time management.

Week 5
We’ll focus on recharging our souls, handling compettion as well as overwhelm and burnout. We’ll talk about creating other creative ways of income such as teaching, licensing, blog sponsorships, affiliate programs, and more. We’ll discuss an overview of money, and when it’s time to ask for help (interns, etc). Finally, we’ll wrap up what we’ve learned together and celebrate taking flight into our creative dreams!

********************
I'm soooooooooooo looking forward to this. 
Kelly Rae Roberts has been inspiring me since
 I moved to North Carolina and found 
a piece of her artwork, 
"She was on a journey back to her wings." 

Obviously, it is one of my favorite pieces ever. 
I have it hanging above my desk in my bedroom. 
You can read my blog about it, here


I'm ready for my wings. 
Let's go!


Peace, Inspiration, & Love, 
 ~Amy 
 The Spirit Dancer

convalescence

World English Dictionary

convalescence (ˌkɒnvəˈlɛsəns)
— n 
1. gradual return to health after illness, injury, or an operation,esp through rest
2. the period during which such recovery occurs 

I hurt myself. Really hurt. 
Was it from zumba? 
Was it from all of the moving and 
lifting that goes along with vending?

Probably a combination. 

I'm not really sure what happened. I had just finished packing up my Spirit Dancer Creations wares at the market. I bent over to pick something up and I felt something move under my rib. I swore I heard something pop. I don't really know. Snap. Something tore. Something was wrong. My legs were trying to give out from under me and I felt like I was about to vomit. 

Somehow I got all my stuff in the car and made it home. I was in tears with sharp pains throbbing under my right ribcage.
When I got home Chris told me
I had black circles under my eyes. 

I was wiped. 

I woke up screaming in terror in the middle of the night. I could not move. Sharp pains all under my right ribs crippled me. Turning in bed was not happening.
Getting out of bed was not happening. 

I was scared. Very rare for me. 

Sometimes the universe sends you a break from your life
in the form of 
a pulled psoas muscle

No one really talks about your psoas. 
No one has really heard of it.
Let me tell you, it can be a real bitch.

I've never experienced such excruciating pain. The psoas connects from your spine to your thigh. If it is messed up, major pain shoots everywhere. 

I couldn't walk, or sit down, or drive, or do anything it seemed.

I don't have health insurance and I couldn't see the doctor because I didn't have $250.00 for a copay.
I was turned away from Sisters of Mercy.

An ace bandage, ice, pain meds, and the couch helped immensely. 

If I had been seen by the doctor all they would have done was wrapped me and given me drugs anyway...

It has taken about 5 weeks to heal. 
During that time, I had no choice but to have a break.
No gym for me, certainly no zumba!

As painful and scary as it was,
the break from my usual routine gave me time to think.

I re-evaluated my life and figured out what 
changes I want to implement. 

I have dove deeper into the crafting world. 

I journaled, created a vision board, and 
began manifesting much needed changes. 

Another transformation in the life of The Spirit Dancer. 

I feel things moving forward. 
I feel a significant shift in my life. 

Life is good. 

The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
― Rumi


Peace, Inspiration, & Love,
 ~Amy
 The Spirit Dancer