Your Guide to the Life You Love - PD's Blog

Coming Out!

2010-12-03T07:32:00.005-05:00

Just a year ago I completed treatment on my Healing Journey through Stage III breast cancer, and a year out I'm free, FREE! And filled with gratitude, in my bliss cloud of life in the moment.

During these past 12 months of regaining health, strength, direction and focus, I asked myself over and over, "What do I REALLY want? What is the perfect life for me? What will keep me in this incredible state of joy, flow & happiness?"

(That is, AFTER I came out of a dark depression and feeling of worthlessness that Beau Joe tells me was chemo-induced). I honestly didn't know how I was going to get back into work mode.

My Self Responded: Don't let the Ego Mind seduce you into recreating old patterns of the high-intensity life with too much travel & too many seminars (whether I'm delivering or attending to get the next adrenaline rush), unnecessary spending, all the bells, whistles, "titsmanship" and stress.

A secret: I coined "titsmanship" more than 20 years ago when I was in the corporate world to describe destructive, competitive relationships among women, and there's a corresponding term for men. Can you guess what the masculine version is? ;-)

It was quite odd for me, the extravert whose career involves speaking to audiences, to experience the metamorphosis "back from the bald"-- after a full year of wigs & baseball caps! Rather like that old story from the Bible about Sampson & Delilah, when I lost my hair, I lost my mojo too.

Oddly, it took several months to regain my self-confidence, an attribute which has rarely been in short supply!

I owe a lot of that to my decision to be gentle with myself, and not to panic if things weren't operating on some whip/ride deadline I'd imposed arbitrarily.

For example, I had to wait until my hair was "right" for the new look photo shoot--that was July. The old straight blonde look is gone forever,and I'm relishing my new 30-second hair--which grew in dark brown, thick, fine and curly--a lot like my dad's when he was a kid.

And then months of working out the new tagline. Literally.
The new graphic design, new Ezine format--and of course
the new website, which was supposed to be ready to rock on
November 20th, but I'm not beating myself up over that either.

All Things in Divine Order.

So, although my newsletter is still "Your Guide to the Life You Love," I have changed my tag to "Your Best Life Coach" -- because I help Baby Boomer & Empty Nester Women leaving corporate or their profession get their Best Life and let their creative lights shine!

Ten years ago I had a vision of my best life-- and I am so grateful that I have stayed faithful to my own vision, not necessarily society's--and achieved it! I'm living it every day--living in that state of creative flow, joy and wonder that is our most important "job" in the world today.

What this means is that YOU CAN DO IT TOO.

So glad both you and I are here for my "coming out," the debut of my new 'do!

MAKE LIFE HEAVEN IN 2011! AN EXCLUSIVE GROUP COACHING EXPERIENCE for a select group of ONLY TEN PEOPLE in the Atlanta/Decatur metro area

If you've ever heard that old maxim,

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions,"
you may know what it's like to say one thing and do another.

Are you ready to get your best life? With the right environment,
the right encouragement, and the right activities, you can do it.

Get the details of MAKE LIFE HEAVEN IN 2011,
my private, affordable group coaching experience for seven
wonderful Wednesdays, and only ten wonderful people,
beginning on Wednesday, January 5, 2011!

This is a LIVE experience so you need to be within driving distance!

http://www.artofchange.org/makelifeheaven.html

Spaces are going fast and the Early Bird Solstice Special is good only until midnight, Tuesday, December 21--
so reserve your place now!

Sacred Journey of the Heart

Just before Thanksgiving, I engaged in a profound healing experience conducted by the founder of Radical Forgiveness, Colin Tipping, one of my mentors, and his wife JoAnn, recently returned from months of conducting RF seminars all over Europe.

Ronna Prince and Donald Backstrom, producers of Sacred Journey of the Heart, a film that's launching in 2011, sacredjourneyoftheheart.com
have benefited greatly from Radical Forgiveness (as I have, too), and
wanted to include one of Colin's ceremonies in the film.

What an exceptional gathering of 60 of Colin's followers came together at
The Open Mind Center in Roswell, GA, for the Gender Healing Ceremony!

We formed two circles--men on the outside at first, and women created
the inner circle. The men placed their hands on our shoulders to provide
energetic and symbolic support, which we needed to be open to receive.
Karen Taylor-Good's wonderful song about a woman being loved just for
being herself--not for her roles as caregiver, child-bearer, mother, etc.

I had no clue I'd be so profoundly moved--but with a full moon, the intention of love and acceptance was magnified.

My body frequently resonated as the men moved behind us, from woman to woman (as is typical, more women than men had gathered--but the men had brave and open hearts!
And we performed the same ceremony for the men, following ours).

A humbling gratitude washed over me as I realized the huge support I've received from my father all my life, even though as a younger person I'd been poisoned to that awareness by my mother, trapped by her
mental illness of resentment.

Thank God I've been able to shift that, to a great extent through Colin's online Forgive Your Parent program that I completed two years ago in this fall season of releasing the old.

I am so grateful that my father is still around for me to express my gratitude to him.

The woman next to me also had tears streaming down her face--as did many others receiving this delicious energetic bounty.

What a gift!

Colin told us this kind of heart opening ceremony impacts a 60 mile radius with its positive energy--raising the vibration of the planet.

Every time any of us experiences or expresses gratitude,
we are doing the same.

Gratitude to the max in the season of GivingThanks.

What are you grateful about, right now?

Lord, I want to thank you, because you been so good to me.
Lord, I want to thank you-- you made a way for me!
Woke up one mornin'--there was no food on the table.
But I found out my God was able.
I have so much to thank God for!

from an old Gospel song

Discover Yourself Through Nature

2010-11-08T19:19:00.002-05:00

Novelists have known it for hundreds of years — refocusing and finding yourself will not happen in a bustling city. The best place to go is right back to nature.

If you take the time to relax, clear your mind and surround yourself with the most basic and beautiful elements of life, you will find, almost automatically, how open you are to discovering yourself. We have to know who we are and be in touch with that person if we are to maintain successful relationships http://www.eharmony.co.uk/relationship-advice in life.

Tips for focusing on YOU through nature

Unplug...
Forget the phone, email, iPod and other electronics. This is time for you and your thoughts, and devices only distract from that focus.

Get physical...
Take a hike or go for a bike ride. You will be thinking about your next step or pedal and fall into a rhythm and start thinking about yourself. It is also a chance to remind yourself what your body is capable of and tap into the mind-body connection so essential to who we are.

Notice the details...
It is the little things in life that we often forget to appreciate, and getting back to nature is the perfect opportunity to do that. Analyze the lines on a leaf, feel the wind on your face or skim a stone. These details in nature also remind us of our own positive qualities, characteristics and details and provide the perfect fodder for introspection.

Relax...
Look around – breathe and just let your mind wander. Your thoughts will come back to you and whatever it is you are most concerned, excited or sad about in life. Focus on these emotions and why you are feeling them. Soon you will be realising things about yourself you might never have considered before.

Once you spend time on you, you will find you can be a better friend, family member and partner. Getting back to basics is the easiest way to focus on your thoughts and feelings, which will help you consider who you are as a whole. This knowledge is what brings you success in all your relationships, whether romantically with someone you found on dating sites http://www.eharmony.co.uk/, or a close childhood friend.

Deservability

2010-10-08T14:35:00.002-04:00

So much self-sabotage comes back to deservability.

It's the sabotage we wreak upon ourselves when we don't
HALT (discern whether we're Hungry, Angry, Lonely or
Tired), take our pulse and take care of what we need,
right now.

This well of undeservability springs from so many ancient
messages. Our families, schools and churches; the media
triggering our inner voices of "not good enough-ness" if
we're not wearing the right brand; or even the kids in
the schoolyard who laughed and pointed if we were
different in the slightest.

If we couldn't run as fast, or kick the ball the correct way;
even if we looked funny.

Deservability.

Why are we not able to demonstrate some generosity of
spirit to ourselves, and project it outward to others, as well?

Why this continuous whipping, beating, prodding and
flagellating ourselves with insane psychological torture?
Why the madness?

Whatever self-hatred we harbor within eventually spills out
onto the earth as blame, pollution, war, even annihilation
if we don't shift to self-awareness, self-acceptance,
self-respect and self-love. First one by one, and then by
the millions.

In the past, my non-deservability attacks often occurred
on vacations with my significant other. Can you envision
a better place for self-sabotage?

Did I really deserve to be in such a lovely environment with
someone who loved me, and cared very much for my
health and happiness?

Apparently not, because before too long I'd pick a fight,
make him wrong, manage to wreck the vacation and
sometimes even the relationship.

Invariably, each deservability blip would drive another
nail into the coffin of that romance. I hated myself
while I was engaged in this destructive mode.

However, because I had "gone unconscious" I had lost
contact with with my true self, and lost control.

Eventually I became more conscious and stopped that
relationship sabotage.

But it was only the process of learning to love myself
that permitted me to demonstrate love and acceptance
to others.

--excerpted from my multi-
award winning inspirational book
BACK TO THE GARDEN:
Getting from Shadow to Joy

Nature, Magic & Manifestation-Sun 10/24/10

2010-10-08T14:31:00.003-04:00

My retreat to the fabulous 52-acre private nature
preserve, The Cabin Path, happens Sunday, October 24.
NATURE, MAGIC & MANIFESTATION is an all-day
adventure and creative day with friends, faeries &
nature spirits! (near the Atlanta airport)

*Our magical day begins with Very Gentle Yoga;
*We'll take a nature stroll through the woods;
*Release our concerns at the Native American prayer circle;
*Enjoy a picnic lunch & have time for jounaling, photos, & more;
*Create our own Ethereal Guide or Manifestation Faerie;
*Lock in our good intentions in the Labyrinth walk by the lake!

Reserve your place online at http://bit.ly/adSiNU
$79 includes all Manifestation Materials, lunch and a
donation to The Cabin Path--a non-profit that teaches
children about nature!

ONLY A FEW SPACES LEFT--limited to 20. Register today!

Steady on the Path

2010-09-09T19:05:00.002-04:00

During Yoga Teacher Training eight years ago I learned
a tale of warrior Arjuna and Lord Krishna. Arjuna was
moaning and groaning that he didn't want to engage in
battle, and Krishna informed him that he must-- BUT
that he could choose the battle.

Of course we know the most major battles are the ones
that we wage in our own heads:

*Do I or Don't I take the plunge into something new?
*Is this good enough to send out the door, or do I polish
it with some more analysis/paralysis?
*Does it really matter what I do with my life?

Arjuna struggled mightily with his desire to BE AT
THE MOUNTAIN PEAK, and Lord Krishna gently
informed him, "We do not leap to the mountaintop;
we get there one step at a time."

While the great leaps forward occur in our minds,
it's the footwork here on the earth that gets us to the
mountaintop. Keep on putting one foot in front of the
other--steady on the path toward your dream.

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FEATURE ARTICLE
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STEADY ON THE PATH
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My mother killed herself by not manifesting her great gift,
which was aching to burst forth and be legitimized.

A brilliant teacher devoted to young children, she began
training to become a Montessori teacher at University
of Cincinnati when my sister and I were adolescents and
we lived in southwestern Ohio.

In 1969 we were transferred to Memphis, which saved my
life but cost my mother hers--at least her intellectual life.
She deemed the Montessori program in that area to be
inferior and decided not to continue with the training.
In essence, rather than going with the flow and accepting
what is, she "wrapped herself in her pride."

Even though she laughed about it when imitating her
starchy great aunt's use of this phrase, this was her customary
and classically rigid Germanic attitude toward life, which
ultimately does not serve well.

As a result, she had no legitimate means of channeling
her incredible gift with children and giving herself a new
reason for being as an empty nester; a refreshed purpose
in life. As her own children grew older and slipped away
she turned more and more to alcohol.

A ten-year slide into alcoholism led to her tragic fall and
physical paralysis as a quadriplegic at age 48. But really, she'd
been emotionally paralyzed for years and had no idea how
to get unstuck.

I remember the day we brought her back to their new home
in Buffalo, New York, from Strong Memorial Hospital in
Rochester, after five months of rehab following her accident.

A fresh college graduate, I was there trying to be helpful
until I could figure out my next step in life.

Although I loved my mother from the depths of my heart,
nothing I could do would save her from her plight--she
had fixed it so that physically, there was no way out. And
the alcohol had destroyed her spirit years before it
destroyed her body...

When my father rolled her into the living room in her
wheelchair for the first time, as gently as possible he
lifted her out of the chair and laid her broken body on
the couch for a rest.

She didn't cry, but as she turned her head and looked
across the room, her eyes conveyed a depth of sorrow
that shattered me.

Stumbling and fumbling, I sat at the piano with trembling
fingers and tears rolling down my face while making a muddled mess
of "You'll Never Walk Alone." My shell-shocked father,
seeing her in the house for the first time since her injury
and just beginning to grasp what it would mean to their
lives together, knelt by her side on the floor and wept.

I don't think I've ever seen him cry, before or since.

By denying her gift, she had denied herself--and the world.
Our gifts are not ours for keeping. They exist to be
given away.

--excerpted from my book
BACK TO THE GARDEN:
Getting from Shadow to Joy

Because of this, my own story,
my goal is to awaken possibility in YOU!
Currently I have a few openings for my
ideal coaching client:

* BABY BOOMER WOMEN IN TRANSITION AFTER A LOSS;
* EMPTY NESTERS CREATING NEW MEANING;
*WOMEN LEAVING CORPORATE OR A PROFESSION
TO LAUNCH YOUR BEST LIFE!

READY FOR REINVENTION?
Or just to get out of your rut?

Book a F REE 30 minute coaching session:
Together we will:

1. Create a crystal clear vision of your next steps.

2. Uncover hidden challenges that might sabotage success.

3. Get you inspired to move gracefully toward your Best Life!
404-294-9333 or
pdcom@mindspring.com and put coaching in the subject line.

Visit here for more information and bundles of testimonials:
http://www.therenewalexperience.com/reinvention.htm

Sunny Side, Huh?

2010-08-25T17:28:00.003-04:00

Reading friend & coaching client Rev. Jamie Saloff's
wonderful new book, Prayer Superchargers,
reminds me that we do always need to Remember
What is Most Important--and stay focused on it.

During times of turbulence, upset & miscommunication
it's so easy to let ourselves look through the Doom Glasses
and spiral off to the worst possible outcome.

Today, Sunny Side, Huh? gives some tips on cultivating
a positive outlook no matter what's happening in your world.

WHY SUFFER? ENJOY YOUR HEALING JOURNEY!
That's the title of my inspirational picture/tale of the complementary
techniques that helped me SAIL through 2009's year of treatment.

I'll be speaking at the monthly CHOICES event, where you'll
experience a variety of complementary healing techniques.

WHERE & WHEN: SUNDAY, August 29, 3-5pm at Decatur Healing Arts.

Chinese Healing Gong, Didgeridoo, Chinese Traditional Medicine
Monroe Institute Hemi-Sync and more! Only $10--
Here's the link to reserve your spot:
www.cancerchoices.wordpress.com

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FEATURE TIDBITS
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SUNNY SIDE, HUH?
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Optimism is the expectation that desirable things
will happen in life--abundantly. Pessimism is a belief
that bad events will last a long time--and they are the
responsibility of the individual.

One way to take a walk on the sunny side is to become
clear about your life vision. In a study mentioned in
The How of Happiness, people who wrote about their life
visions for 20 minutes a day over several days showed
increases in positive moods and were still happy several weeks
later! They also reported fewer physical ailments than
a control group.

Writing about your best possible self and the outcomes
you DO want to experience, five and ten years from now, helps
you flex your inner optimist.

Writing things down, because it carries the energy of heart
and mind into a tangible form, also tends to bring your vision to
life more readily. The process also offers the more left-brained
benefits of organizing and analyzing thoughts, which doesn't
occur when you're only day-dreaming about your best life.

If pessimistic thoughts appear, think back to a time
when you've succeeded in something-- then you'll look
beyond the Doom Glasses and see strengths and resources
you already have.

Love & Well Wishes,
Patrice Dickey
Your Guide to the Life You Love
Certified Wellness & Life Success Coach

Hope Manifesto!

2010-08-13T13:52:00.001-04:00

One year ago today was my LUCKY day-- the final chemo
session after five months of weekly "trips to the beach."
I'd wear my surfer girl pants and baseball wig hat,
load up my Atlantis beach bag with my Hemi-Sync
"Chemo Companion" CD & player,
snacks, water cooler & book, and go chill
out in the lounge chair for a few hours while envisioning
love & light stream into my body and convert all my
cells to light--while trusty fluffy & loving granny white cells hugged
and squeezed any unwanted elements right out of my body!

Since what we resist, persists (disease), I figured I'd rather
embrace the messenger, get the message and move on.

The message that cancer brings is to release resentment &
anger, and practice radical forgiveness (an understanding
that all is perfect and there is really nothing to forgive--
because every life circumstance is a lesson and a blessing,
even if we can't see it that way at its occurrence).

Well, it worked.

I KNOW a lot of that is mindset and our approach to challenges.

This is how I help people move forward in my classes and
with individual coaching -- with fresh perspectives and hope.

Please enjoy my Hope Manifesto as the feature article.
It's what I hope for you, and everyone.

Love & Well Wishes,

Patrice Dickey
Your Guide to the Life You Love
Wellness & Life Success Coach

PS--Experience a variety of complementary healing techniques
SUNDAY, August 29, 3-5 pm at Decatur Healing Arts!
(mark your calendar now)

I will deliver my empowering talk,
"Why Suffer? Enjoy Your Healing Journey!"
Diane Waybright of The Monroe Institute will explain "How
Hemi-Sync Helps Your Healing" and we'll enjoy a Dijeridoo
Meditation, info on Chinese Medicine & Energy Healing, & a
Chinese Healing Gong Bath, Only $10--
Here's the link:
www.cancerchoices.wordpress.com

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FEATURE ARTICLE
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HOPE MANIFESTO
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Hope for my Wellness, Personal & Professional Success Clients--
and EVERYONE !

*Hope that you will live a richer & more fulfilling life,
both personally and professionally, with the increased
confidence & skill sets that you will gain on our journey
together;

*Hope that you will contribute to the wellbeing of others
in meaningful ways, which will lift up your spirit as you
lift up theirs;

*Hope that your physical body will feel good, be strong,
and support you well in all your endeavors, with realistic
behavioral goals to get you there;

*Hope that you will create & nurture supportive, enduring
relationships with friends, relatives & your community,
because open systems nurture each other, whereas closed
systems stifle everyone;

*Hope that your spiritual growth & self-awareness serve as
an example for others, inspiring them to BE who they really ARE;

*Hope that how you live on earth may actually help to heal it--
and yourself in the process as you contribute;

*Hope that your ongoing energetic output & presence raises
the vibration of all around you in the earth's transformation
to higher consciousness;

*Hope that incremental expansions of your comfort zone, and
mini-successes every day will increase your boldness & optimism,
and that yours will mirror and expand others';

*Hope that perseverance, persistence & self-discipline will shape
your life & the lives of others to keep on keeping on, despite
obstacles, adversity, heartbreaks and perceived failures--
that you will give your whole heart to a cause greater than
yourself!

HEAT UP YOUR INTUITION

2010-07-16T18:21:00.002-04:00

What do you get when it's 95 degrees &
the garden is going gonzo?

HOT TOMATOES!

I'm excited to report that my very first homegrown
expressed itself as tangy, juicy & tart--the perfect flavor--
right from the plant to my plate. What a great way to
lift your mood, literally experiencing the fruits of
your labor!

Feeling lots of gratitude lately over "being in the flow."
A few weeks ago half my electricity went out and the
electrician discovered some chewed wires in the attic--
Squirrels! (It could have caused a fire, but thankfully, no.
I got the message just in time).

In my Values, Vision & Good Vibrations class that ends
this evening, we've focused on ways to increase our
intuition and keep our vibration, attitude & energy high.

With a garden, I experience plenty of ways.

From the screened porch, inhaling the fragrance of mimosa, magnolia,
gardenia, tea olive and winter daphne, each in her season.

Strolling along the Path of Possibility and noting the
profusion of summer blooms-- black-eyed Susan, yarrow,
purple coneflower, lemon lilies.

And most of all, pulling weeds. With each weed I pull,
I extract some of the poisonous thoughts of my inner critic,
keep on doing the work, and appreciate the moment even if
only very little progress is evident.

I just saw this Chinese proverb on Sarah Crutchfield's blog for
www.thecabinpath.com "Tension is who you think
you should be. Relaxation is who you are."

Experience some relaxation this summer-- and
extract some of those weeds from your mind.

Love & Well Wishes,

Patrice Dickey
Your Guide to the Life You Love
Wellness & Life Success Coach

PS--Class is filling ALERT!
Ready to GET THE LIFE YOU LOVE?
My life-enriching class at Evening at Emory,
now in its 11th popular year, begins Tuesday, July 27.
Spaces extremely limited-- you can register or get info here:
www.artofchange.org/classes.shtml

-- WSB-TV featured me in a newscast on July 4th as keynote
speaker at "A Celebration of You!"
www.wsbtv.com/community/index.html
Go to Top Stories (on the right) and scroll to P2P Cancer Survivors--
What a high vibe event!
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FEATURE TIDBITS
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HEAT UP YOUR INTUITION!
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Paying attention to signs is so extremely important in going
with the flow of life. Here are some specific things you can
do to develop intuition:

1. Become aware of repetitive patterns or potent images,
either dreaming or waking. For example, I have had some
powerful dreams of long ago beau-friends lately. Hmmmm!

2. Dialogue with the pattern or image through journal writing
and Active Imagination. Begin a conversation with your
image or guides and ask simple questions, switching the written
dialogue from you to "it."
OR
Paint, draw, play music, write a story, or any other form of
artistic expression that you love. Set an intention for greater
insight, and then enjoy your art.

3. Devise a healthy & safe ceremony or act that allows you
to interact with your insights--write or draw something and
burn it in a flame; create an altar or small space where you can
honor the archetypal symbol; make an outdoor mandala out of
rocks, sticks, sand or anything you find.

(One of my coaching clients recently created a powerful mandala
of rocks & sticks at her cabin in the mountains--it's magical!)

4. Express self-love. Honor yourself with a small but significant
gesture, embracing your wholeness. (A pedicure works for me).

Obviously I should take my own advice, create a dialogue journal
with some of those past flames & see what insights appear!

Intuition is light and airy--not heavy & plodding. Most important
of all--have fun with it!

Yay for NOOBS & C-CHAMPS!

2010-07-01T12:50:00.001-04:00

This is a big week for coining new terms.

This past Sunday when I delivered the keynote address
for Northside Hospital's "Celebration of You"--a gathering
of volunteers & cancer "survivors"(to use old terminology) and their
care-givers--they loved my NEW TERM: C-CHAMPS!

Harriet Hoskyns-Abrahall of WABE chimed in to my Ezine last week:
"Survivors conjures up a vision of a person who has spent too
long on a desert island of disease, rather than celebrating our
return to health." I quoted her verbatim in my speech,
thank you very much!

I'll share one of my healing secrets that I conveyed to the audience in
"EXPERIENCE, STRENGTH & HOPE: More Meaning, More Healing"
in the Feature Tidbits below.

Also want to thank ALL OF YOU who sent love & healing light
yesterday for my implant placement surgery -- I now have NOOBS!
(the second term I coined this week New + Boobs = Noobs).

Everything went smoothly--I arrived at 6am and was home by 11:30am,
put in a full day and zipping along today. Love that Northside team!

Ironically, one of my biggest emotional challenges has been getting
my hair right. Can't have that new professional photography
until it's just the right length. Talk about learning acceptance of
what is. So, while you're waiting to see the new me, join me in
the practice of patience, trust & surrender.

Love & Well Wishes,
Patrice Dickey
Your Guide to the Life You Love
Wellness & Life Coach

PS-- Two great, life-changing classes coming up!
My class, GET THE LIFE YOU LOVE at Evening at Emory,
now in its 11th popular year, begins Tuesday, July 27.
Spaces extremely limited-- get the information here:
http://www.artofchange.org/classes.shtml

And, my dear friend Katie Weber, Master Feng Shui consultant,
is teaching How to Start a Feng Shui Consulting Business. She's
going to reveal ALL her feng shui secrets at her Master Consulting
class this fall. Her syndicated Feng Shui column covers the US!
http://bit.ly/RedLotus

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FEATURE TIDBITS
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EXPERIENCE, STRENGTH & HOPE
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What we resist, persists. And what we focus on, especially
with strong emotions, we attract.

So it's going to be interesting to shift the paradigm of how
most people view challenges like dis-ease.

In my talk for Northside C-CHAMPS I described how I gave
thanks for the continuing shrinkage of "Lumpy" (what I
named the 7x3cm tumor in my right breast, diagnosed
March 2009). I'd decided that rather than fighting it, I would
LOVE it right out of my body--just like Aunt Bea on
"Andy Griffith" might hug you so hard it'd squeeze the
stuffing out of you.

Every day I listened to one of the Monroe Institute's
Cancer Support Series, and with the T-Cell Journey CD I
envisioned big fluffy white cells like big ole dearheart grannies just
squeezing Lumpy and loving it right on out of me.

Kind of like Jesus' admonition to "turn the other cheek"
and the notion that a soft answer turns away wrath.

My objective was to maintain a high vibration of love & joy,
forgiveness and acceptance, rather than succumb to fear.

All thoughts stimulate neurotransmitters that alter the chemical
composition of our bodies, and create either positive or
negative environments for disease to take hold.

That's why it's important to let our thoughts rise up like
wings of eagles, and not faint.

The message really resonated with people who have been
slugging it out and fighting the enemy. Why not just "get
the message and release the messenger" in the flow of life?

Get the Life You Love Begins Tuesday 7/27!

2010-06-24T17:08:00.000-04:00

My class, GET THE LIFE YOU LOVE at Evening at Emory,
now in its 11th popular year, begins Tuesday, July 27.
Spaces extremely limited-- get the information here:
http://www.artofchange.org/classes.shtml

What is Fear, Really?

2010-06-24T17:07:00.001-04:00

More than 20 years ago, I embarked upon my spiritual
journey, receiving sustenance from Al-Anon meetings
(for family & friends of alcoholics) every Tuesday night for
SIX YEARS. Their philosophies pulled me back from the
brink more than once.

Fear looms large in the lives of people dealing with addicts
and addiction--I never knew when the phone would yield
the latest tidbit of doom about loved one(s), including
my mother, so I was constantly on alert.

One of those tidbits of Al-Anon wisdom that STUCK was their
acronym for FEAR-- False Evidence Appearing Real.

Think about it. We become fearless in this life when we
finally understand we're made for whatever happens to us--
in fact, it's all part of our soul's plan for growth.

We have a number of options to deal with FEAR.

We can Flee Everything And React.
Or Face Everything And Recover.
Best of all, we can Focus Energy, Accept Responsibility.

Accept responsibility for your thoughts, your actions,
and the unfolding of your life, rather than continually
pointing the finger of blame.

The next time you label something as "bad" ask yourself,
"If this were happening for a higher purpose, what would
that be?"

Finding Yourself in Transitioin

2010-06-08T14:04:00.002-04:00

Remember that lovely poem by Emily Dickinson about hope?

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the Soul
And sings the tune-- without the words
And never stops at all..."

The poem continues, as we do in our 3-dimensional world
filled with gut-wrenching challenges as well as good times.

And one of our biggest challenges is discerning
how to unite what brings us joy, with our strengths,
to birth our gifts & share them with the world.

Then once again to step out on the Faith Walk;
keep moving forward on the Path of Possibility;
keep taking Action toward a chosen vision.

Just a year ago I was lying on the chaise lounge
on my screened porch, bald as a stone, low energy
from chemo, and happy as could be, because I had
ONE FOCUS, one objective-- HEALING.

Everything I did and every thought I focused on contributed
to my healing journey. I eliminated virtually all stressors
from my life. I indulged myself completely with
reading, writing and thinking, and my so-called
Netflix junkie adventure--great films every night.

This year as I'm in the process of complete
Personal Reinvention and Transformation, slowly
emerging from The Void, I've gotta tell you, it's
been a lot more difficult.

"More difficult than 5 months of chemo, the surgery
and the radiation, then physical rehabilitation--
more than a year of treatments?" (And still not finished).

You might be thinking I'm nuts, but I believe that
the Place of Not-Knowing (where we all live, really)
is more challenging than having a single focus--to HEAL.

I find myself alternating between hope and despair,
wondering how to satisfy my soul, support my life,
keep things simple and make a difference.

I want to thank those many of you who have reached
out to me via this Ezine, Facebook & LinkedIn,
sharing how MUCH my book BACK TO THE GARDEN:
Getting from Shadow to Joy, along with various writings, classes and
workshops have helped you push yourself back into the
mainstream when you've been stuck in the eddy, out of the flow.

Your faith in me has given me the impetus to begin
writing in earnest on my next book. THANK YOU!
And that's a compelling force.

Thoughts on Transition

Life really feels as though I've been in heavy duty transition
for at least the past 10 years--during which I've written 3 books
and published one; become a Life Coach & Registered Yoga
Teacher, Radical Manifestation Coach and now Wellness Coach,
taught thousands of people the principles that help them through
major life changes -- and believe me, I'm drawing on everything
I know to pull myself up through THIS one.

How about You?

It's important to remember the stages of moving forward
and creative change in life so we don't beat ourselves up:

1. Detect that the current situation no longer fits or works--
(sometimes it takes a major health breakdown to get the point--
or possibly being downsized or fired).

2. Enter a state of confusion, dissatisfaction, frustration and
transition. The Void can last a long time--and we Americans
tend to want to snap our fingers and "change the channel"
immediately. But at times it's important to accept & acknowledge
the winter of the Soul--with the awareness that spring will come
again--it always does. And then, lush & lovely summer!

3. Move into a more satisfying way of being. What I've been
doing is exploring various paths which might be the right fit--
including a full throttle focus on professional speaking. And
then I think, "Do I really want to spend my life in airplanes
and away from The Enchanted Forest?" I don't think so!

My Point? Exploratory forays into areas that intrigue you are
helpful! Take a class; get a coach; talk to others in that field;
learn about their peaks & pitfalls; volunteer!

One woman volunteered for a high end Atlanta gallery for several
months and was ultimately hired as their marketing director.
Because she took action, the Universe responded with a solution.

Most important: BEGIN.
http://www.therenewalexperience.com/reinvention.htm

Virgin No More!

2010-05-27T07:48:00.001-04:00

Several days ago I lost my virginity-- again!

It happened in a public place; lots of people
milling around and talking, and I wasn't concerned
in the least.

My hairstylist and the L'Oreal color wizard lovingly
stroked my short, now curly, VIRGIN hair--FINALLY
long enough to add some red with bright blonde highlights.

After 16 rounds of chemo last year, what a welcome change from
being solid bald, sporting snazzy wigs & my pink
baseball wig-hat with the velcro'd-in blonde pageboy
since April a year ago.

And so funny to hear them ooh & ahh over an adult
female's hair that's never been colored! (At least not
on this go-round of hair growth).

What a blessed relief!

Wigs are a pretty good disguise, so for awhile I felt a bit
gawky and gangly, like a newborn colt acclimating
to the world, gaining my footing as this "short & sassy"
version of me. (And curly! My hair has been bone-straight
all my life!)

All this hair angst in preparation for presenting at the
International Speakers Network convention last weekend,
where I was greeted enthusiastically, presented
"Sinfully Simple Secrets to De-Stress for Lifelong Success,"
and was re-introduced to a GREAT formula for
setting realistic, attainable goals.

The 3% of the population with written goals will out-income
everyone else by 10 to 100 times.

For those of you who are in the process of complete
Personal Reinvention and you want to discern whether
a goal is really right for you, as I am, read on!

Love & Well Wishes,
Patrice Dickey
Your Guide to the Life You Love

PS-- Soon, very soon, you'll see the new look, I promise!

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FEATURE ARTICLE

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SEVEN STEP GOAL SETTING

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1. Write down everything you've ever wanted to do, and
choose one goal with which to engage in this process.

2. Ask yourself, "Where am I now? What strengths do I have?
What experiences, skills, support, networks, belief systems
and foundation will support me in achieving this?"

3. Write down the obstacles to the goal.

4. Write down the steps & paths to overcome the obstacles.

5. Write down WHEN you want to get there.
Create mini-deadlines. (Even though I'm the farthest from
a football junkie, this made sense to me-- on a
football field, every 10 yards the players get a new life--
plus they can even mess up twice in that process and
get three downs). Mini-deadlines are easier to achieve.

6. Write down what rewards you expect--and bring them
to life with a picture involving your five senses.

7. Ask yourself, and write down the answer:
"Am I willing to do whatever it takes? Is it worth it?"

*********************************************
*********************************************

CURRENTLY ACCEPTING
A LIMITED NUMBER OF VIP COACHING CLIENTS

If you're interested in having me work with you as a confidante,
cheerleader, resource, accountability czar and trusted friend on
the journey, please contact me at 404-294-9333 or
pdcom@mindspring.com and put coaching in the subject line.
I'll send you the application form and we'll see if we click!

http://www.therenewalexperience.com/reinvention.htm

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Consider the caterpillar crawling across an oriental carpet.
At times we may feel like that caterpillar as we crawl across
a large dark area of the rug, and mistakenly assume that our
life is destined to be bleak forever.

Imagine ... if we put ourselves in the caterpillar's place:
When we enter the chrysalis we must go into a time of
complete isolation and total darkness, away from the
distractions of the world. It's only when we emerge from
the chrysalis and are able to spread our gauzy wings that
we can fly over that oriental carpet and see the amazing
pattern of the big picture....

In that time of seeming stillness with its inactive appearance,
the deep wellsprings of creativity are tapped and our next
new beginning germinates.

--BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy
by yours truly! from the chapter "Avoiding the Void"
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MOVE YOUR TOMATOES!

2010-05-12T19:47:00.003-04:00

I love the lessons & metaphors that come with gardening.

My first tomatoes are a great one.

It's easy to love a vine-ripe, luscious, juicy red tomato
that's warmed by the sun and fresh off the vine.
CRAVE them, in fact.

But, believe it or not, I've never grown them. Too paranoid.

Up until this year.

I didn't have the right soil in a sunny spot.
I felt like it would be too frustrating -- and painful--
if they didn't produce.

They'd mess up my floral motif (mostly perennials requiring
little or no care) with their careful tending needs.

My neighbors both grew tomatoes and I'd get their occasional
offerings, so why bother.

But this year, I had what seemed like the perfect spot--
heavily amended dirt at the back of the garden, where
nothing else was planted after a new camellia didn't make
it through our very harsh winter.

And so I planted them. Three Better Boy tomatoes. Got directions
from my neighbor, the tomato expert.

About a week later I noticed that they really weren't getting
the proper hours of sun way back there--shaded from the
east by the tall hollies and from the west by the giant magnolia.

And so I started stressing about it. For at least three days.

If I moved them, I'd have to move some flowers around. My
well-entrenched pink perennials, busting loose all over, would
have to relinquish their sunny spot.

What a relief when I finally admitted that it was OKAY to
shift things around.... to make way for bigger fruits with the
changes that I was so tentative to make. Glory, hallelujah!

Why do we do these things to ourselves?
Preventing forward movement and better outcomes
by stubbornly clinging on to "the way it is?"

As one of my sheroes, Susan Jeffers, says,
"Don't protect, correct."

She's right.

If you're ready to move your tomatoes, but
don't exactly know what or how to do it,
contact me about my proven
Personal Reinvention & Renewal, Life Transformational Process
at www.therenewalexperience.com/reinvention.htm

What's it All About?

2010-04-29T11:49:00.001-04:00

Enchanted April, it is!

After all the study, preparation and excitement leading up to
my inaugural Wellbeing Weekend April 9-11 in Highlands, NC--
The Renewal Experience at Old Edwards Inn & Spa...

The entire weekend created an EXPLOSION of LOVE,
INCREASED CONFIDENCE and PERSPECTIVE SHIFTS that brought
all the amazing women a NEW VISION of themselves
and what they are contributing to the world.

And IT IS POWERFUL!

Even a few weeks later, after processing the wonderfulness
of our joyful and hopeful weekend together,
descriptive words like soul-enriching,
mind-blowing, energy-expanding and heart-opening
barely express what happened for us all--

We tapped in. We experienced the ineffable.
Pure Grace, Love, Hope and Joy. The Pulse of the Universe.

It was profound. Indescribable. Knock-your-socks-off.

Everyone let the tough shells of our egos fall away--
and with all the highly accomplished over-achievers
in the room, all these women who carry the weight of
the world on their shoulders, supporting families,
running organizations and businesses, keeping all
the plates spinning at once--this is quite a feat!

We allowed ourselves to be REAL.

Hearts opened, tears flowed.

"We came together as strangers and parted as confidantes
eager to see each other realize the dreams that we all saw
slowly take shape as the weekend unfolded," said Merrill Rose,
who trekked to the Smokies from New York City for the event.

And from this new understanding and experience of
Self-Awareness, Self-Acceptance, Self-Respect and
Self-Love, we grew exponentially, raised the vibe to its heights!

As Thommi Odom said (our scholarship recipient--thanks to
Old Edwards Inn & Spa and my Certified Financial Planner,
Fred Akers, who sponsored her on this wonderful adventure),
"I left the retreat with a huge smile on my heart knowing that I
was ready and fully equipped for the next chapter in my life.
WATCH OUT WORLD!!"

Today's feature touches on some of the techniques we used to tap
this incredible high vibration energy. Enjoy!

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FEATURE ARTICLE
******************************************
WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?
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Conventional Wisdom: Set goals
New Wisdom: Set intentions and take action. Be specific
about what you intend to create; take action, and stay open
to much, much more.

Conventional Wisdom: Get in shape
New Wisdom: Get into what brings you vitality and joy!
Do what feels great, not just what you know works; i.e.
take long walks and observe nature. Schedule blocks of time
for physical activity and relaxation every day.

Conventional Wisdom: Give up a bad habit
New Wisdom: Love yourself more. When you're nice to yourself,
you treat your body with tender loving care.

Conventional Wisdom: Work harder
New Wisdom: Have more fun! More hard work yields
diminishing returns when it wears you down and burns you out.
Do only what really makes a difference to the desired outcomes.
Learn to delegate. Good is good enough.

Conventional Wisdom: Get more done through multi-tasking
New Wisdom: Focus only on the thing at hand and be
completely present with it. Block in time for the un-scheduled
and experience diminished stress.

Conventional Wisdom: Do more toward "the dream"
New Wisdom: Get quiet more often so the dream can find you.
Scheduled silence, thinking time and/or meditation is a great
way to focus action.

Conventional Wisdom: Make more money
New Wisdom: Make more meaning. When you create meaning
for others and live a meaningful life, you'll attract more abundance--
which shows up as wealth in many wonderful ways!

LIVE Q&A Thurs 4/1/10-The Renewal Experience

2010-03-31T12:00:00.001-04:00

FINALLY spring is bursting forth in Atlanta!

Pansies and daffodils, tulips & cherry blossoms,
and a giant Japanese magnolia which stretches
its arms around both bedroom windows, hugging
my home in luscious pink blooms.

After all our rain it's absolutely radiant!

I'm also excited that those attending have received the details
for THE RENEWAL EXPERIENCE, April 9-11, at
Old Edwards Inn & Spa in Highlands, NC.

As I wrote yesterday, I thought about the fun we'll be having in
this safe, confidential environment for personal growth,
a Wellbeing Weekend for Body & Soul.

And it occurs to me that others may have questions,
so I'm hosting a LIVE Q&A on Thursday, April 1
at 7pm EST www.therenewalexperience.com/QA.htm

Why might you want to join us for The Renewal Experience?

What possibilities might open up for you on a weekend
retreat in the gorgeous western North Carolina mountains
in spring?

Maybe you need a boost to move forward in life. Perhaps
you're reinventing yourself either personally or professionally.

Or possibly you feel that it's time you "fill your own well"
so you have more to share with others who depend upon
your wellbeing.

The Renewal Experience could be just the right time for you
to refresh, rejuvenate and renew!

Join me on Thursday, April 1, 2010, at 7pm EST, as I share what
a retreat like The Renewal Experience can do for you as you
reconnect with your values, vision and dreams.

ON THE LIVE CALL I WILL BE SHARING A SECRET
PASSWORD FOR A SPECIAL $150 DISCOUNT ON
YOUR ENROLLMENT, GOOD ONLY UNTIL MONDAY,
APRIL 5 AT MIDNIGHT, so you will definitely want to listen.

(It'll be recorded if you need to listen later).

On this Open Q&A Call, I will be delighted to answer
any questions you may have.

You'll discover how the weekend will unfold, and
learn about others who have embarked on this magical journey
of transformation with me, manifesting much more magic
in their lives!

PLEASE REGISTER FOR THE CALL HERE:
www.therenewalexperience.com/QA.htm

OUR LOCATION
Conde Nast Traveler reports that, for the FIRST TIME EVER,
one spa received Perfect 100 ratings for all three criteria--
treatments, staff and facilities. Spectacular!

The Renewal Experience, a Wellbeing Weekend
for Body & Soul April 9-11, 2010, is at Old Edwards Inn & Spa
which was ranked #1 Spa in the magazine's 2010 Readers' Poll--
over places like the Four Seasons, Bellagio, & Ritz Carlton.

http://www.therenewalexperience.com

We literally have room for only SIX MORE at The Renewal Experience,
with high caliber participants gathering from all over the
East Coast-- from New York to Tennessee to Tybee Island.

If you've wanted a reason to visit a Four Star, Four Diamond Spa
for both personal & professional enrichment -- journey into yourself
in the majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in budding spring.

Love & Well Wishes,
Patrice Dickey
Your Guide to the Life You Love

P.S. Email back to this note, or call me with questions at 404-294-9333.

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What if life were always peaches? We'd have no basis
for comparison--no true awareness of how far we've
been able to bring ourselves. No sense of victory.

Every triumph is hollow when it appears as a hand-off,
especially if it hasn't involved your own hard work with
shovel, hoe and rake. So get in there and start chopping
the clods!

--from BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from
Shadow to Joy by Patrice Dickey

http://www.patricedickey.com

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Scholarship to The Renewal Experience!

2010-03-04T19:22:00.001-05:00

Lots of good things bubbling this week as I have completed my
Wellcoach training (EXCELLENT course) and I'll be sharing
one of the most important ideas from that in my Feature: Rule #6!

I'm also excited that Condace Pressley's "Perspectives" radio
show will air a 30 minute interview of me about our scholarship opportunity
for The Renewal Experience, my inaugural Wellbeing Weekend
for Body & Soul, April 9-11, 2010, in Highlands, NC.

The lovely Old Edwards Inn & Spa, an anonymous donor
and I are granting a $1000 scholarship to an outstanding
executive or professional woman who, as a volunteer, gives a
great deal to her community but rarely takes time to recharge
herself. To nominate someone, please visit for info:
http://www.therenewalexperience.com

If you want to tune into "Perspectives" it's airing Sunday 3/7
at several different times:
6am & midnight on WSB-AM750
7am on 97.1 The River
5:30am on B98.5FM

Surely LOTS of Early Birds are awake & chirping at those hours!

Which reminds me-- you only have until Wed, March 17 at midnight
to snag the Early Bird Special for The Renewal Experience-- and
spots are disappearing fast. Excitement's building and we have guests
from all over the Southeast!

If you've wanted a reason to visit a Four Star, Four Diamond Spa
for both personal & professional enrichment -- journey into yourself
in the majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in budding spring.
Spectacular!

http://www.therenewalexperience.com

Love & Well Wishes,
Patrice Dickey
Your Guide to the Life You Love

P.S. Talking to Dad this morning I mentioned that I'm going
to the Atlanta Opera AIDA this weekend, and we sang a few
bars of the Triumphal March together. So fun & uplifting
to sing with my father--we sang together as a family a lot,
and I was so proud to hear him sing with the Buffalo
Philharmonic Chorus several times.

He asked, "Didn't we see that in Memphis?"

"Not exactly-- but we did hear the Triumphal March when I
walked up the aisle of Idlewild Presbyterian Church for
high school graduation!"

Ah, how innocent and triumphant we were. March Forth!

*********************************************
FEATURE ARTICLE --RULE NUMBER 6
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Two prime ministers were sitting in a room discussing
affairs of state. Suddenly a man bursts in, apoplectic with fury,
shouting & stomping and banging his fist on the desk.

The resident prime minister admonishes him: "Peter, kindly
remember Rule Number 6," whereupon Peter is instantly
restored to complete calm, apologizes, and withdraws.

The politicians returned to their conversation, only to be
interrupted yet again 20 minutes later by an hysterical
woman gesticulating wildly, her hair flying. Again the
intruder is greeted with the words, "Marie, please remember
Rule Number 6." Complete calm descends once more, and
she too withdraws with a bow and an apology.

When the scene is repeated for a third time, the visiting prime
minister addresses his colleague: "My dear friend, I've seen
many things in my life, but never anything as remarkable
as this. Would you be willing to share with me the secret of
Rule Number 6?"

"Very simple," replies the resident prime minister. "Rule Number
6 is: Don't take yourself so g--damn seriously."

"Ah," says his visitor, "that is a fine rule."

After a moment of pondering, he inquires, "And what, may I ask,
are the other rules?"

"There aren't any."

Zander, R.S. & Zander, B. (2000) The art of possibility.
New York: Penguin Putnam

How to Make Love to Your Inner Critic!

2010-02-18T16:44:00.001-05:00

Just yesterday my dad (who turned 84 last week) and I
were chuckling over an email from one of those mysterious
British lawyers (Boylston Hawking-Thorpe, Esq) who
informed me that Luciano Pavarotti had named me (ME!)
as recipient of 34 million from his estate.

Well, Luciano and I have been great friends over the years, but
mainly as I was swept away by his powerful tenor in stereo!

Of course in order to receive that happy fortune, I would
have to render up bits of information that I wasn't quite
willing to share (account numbers, anyone?)

I chose not to do that...even though the addition of his fortune
to mine would make a bit of a difference.

Laughter & humor ARE the best medicines--and
I'm so grateful for my dad's sense of humor, which has kept
him ticking despite crushing health issues and incredible
challenges with my mother (when she was alive--bless
her heart!) all these years.

We can CHOOSE to view life as one big game -- and
DECIDE how we'll play it-- or let ourselves be swept
under by the FUD Factor-- Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt--
which show up as that mental chatter that's hard to shake.

In today's feature and in next week's complimentary
teleseminar, "How to Make Love To Your Inner Critic"
I'll offer some tips on how to keep laughing and put the kabosh
on the Voice of Doom in your head.

Love & Well Wishes,

Patrice Dickey
Your Guide to the Life You Love

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
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HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR INNER CRITIC!*
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*Get Over Your Bad Self & Move Into Peaceful Action--
COMPLIMENTARY TELESEMINAR Thursday 2/25/10, 2-3pm
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Just imagine the peaceful, easy feeling inside when you learn how to:

*Get inspired rather than intimidated by your Inner Critic
*Groove rather than grapple with your Gremlin
*Chill out with the Chatterbox
*Soothe the Stressmaker
*Void the Voice of Doom in your head
*Make Peace (not war) with your Monkey Mind!

That's a lot of voices (and old tapes) running in our heads,
telling us things (usually bad & DIRE) that simply are not true!

Sick of listening to the Voice of Doom?
Over it with the Stressmaker and all those other gremlins
that destroy your peace of mind, create fear and prevent
you from enjoying life?

Register now for my complimentary teleseminar,
HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR INNER CRITIC!
Get Over Your Bad Self & Move Into Peaceful Action
http://www.therenewalexperience.com/critic.html

Thursday, 2/25/10, 2-3pm--If you have to miss it, the
recording will be available afterward!

You'll learn:

*Three surefire techniques to liberate yourself NOW

*Simple physical tricks that anyone can do to feel better FAST

*Immediate access to your optimal state of being that generates
ABUNDANCE, NOW & ALWAYS!

http://www.therenewalexperience.com/critic.html

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THE RENEWAL EXPERIENCE--
A Wellbeing Weekend for Body & Soul
April 9-11, 2010
Refresh, Rejuvenate, Renew!

Get all the details about THE RENEWAL EXPERIENCE,
my inaugural Wellbeing Weekend for Body & Soul,
April 9-11, 2010, at the spectacular Old Edwards Inn & Spa
in Highlands, NC, in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.

http://www.therenewalexperience.com

Spaces are going fast! Register before March 17 for the
Early Bird discount and easy three-pay option.

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FEATURE ARTICLE--3 SIMPLE TIPS ON
HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR INNER CRITIC

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What we resist, persists. That's why war doesn't work.

But there's often a battle raging inside our heads--the
nasty jabs from the Jackal; the dismal view of the Voice
of Doom; the hissing of the Stressmaker telling us that
no matter what we do, it's not enough; that our paltry
effort doesn't make a difference; that so-and-so over there
is doing it so much better, so what's the use?

Last week I heard the doom voices more strongly than usual.
Could be it's a February thing. The weather, even in
"Hot-lanta" has not been helpful this winter.

The wonderful thing is that, until I began employing
some of these tips myself (and I have a treasure chest of them),
the Inner Critic, Chatterbox, Monkey Mind or whatever
you want to call it could dominate my mind and my
life for weeks, instead of days, hours, or mere minutes.

Don't you want to pare down your time lost in pessimism?

So, here's how we DO make love with our Inner Critic:

1. First, we liberate ourselves by becoming aware.
Begin to recognize the chattering of the Monkey Mind as it
becomes obvious through tension in the neck & shoulders,
a headache, or perhaps a knot in the stomach.

And say to it, Ah, it's you again! (greet it; yes)

Notice what it's saying through the physical constrictions,
limiting beliefs and emotional blockages.

Receive these messages in a spirit of gratitude, rather
than resistance. These voices are NOT REALLY YOU!

They are your Ego Mind, which exists to create a false
sense of separation between you and everything (thus
making you miserable & grasping for external relief).

(How do YOU spell relief? Remember that Alka-Seltzer ad?)

You begin to make love to your Inner Critic when you are
able to say, "I'm telling myself ...." (that I won't make a
difference; or whatever other negatives are running through
your mind).

Acknowledgment is the beginning of a conversation in your mind between
your REAL self (the Soothing Self, the Non-Ego Amigo)
and the Inner Critic. At a certain point in this conversation,
you're able to CHOOSE whether you want to pay
attention to the vicious Voice of Doom any longer.

2. Take care of your body. One of the best ways to shake
off the Chatterbox is literally by shaking it off!

I teach yoga at Core Body gym in Decatur and when I
see folks streaming in there after work with those grim
expressions on their faces--READY to churn up some
endorphins with Body Pump or the treadmill or weights
--I get OUT of the way!

I remember far too well what it's like to "work for the man"--
but guess what--we all carry "the man" in our own heads
and that's often far worse! (Just watched "School of Rock"
for the first time last night--Jack Black teaching those kids
to "stick it to the man" with rock 'n' roll--what a riot!)

We too must learn to stick it to the man with physical
movement--it doesn't have to be a triathlon--just a quick
walk around the block will do it.

And if you're tired, exhausted, burned out, then REST.
Remember, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all."

3. Keep a journal. I cannot tell you how many rounds of
angst I have poured out onto the pages of my "cheap
psychiatrist" over the years.... and most of the woes never
came into being.

The great news is that when we keep a gratitude journal,
writing down five things each day for which we're grateful,
that does make us happier, and raises our vibration to attract our good.

It's also been proven by the psychologists of happiness
(Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania) that keeping
a gratitude journal and FEELING the emotions of gratitude
are one of the best ways to stave off depression.

Okay--you've probably heard some of these things numerous
times-- are you practicing them yet?

My challenge to you: write to me about how YOU
Chill the Chatterbox and Void the Voice of Doom--
I'd love to hear from you!

P.S. I'll be talking about this topic in much greater depth
with a lot more tips in next Thursday's teleseminar, 2/25/10,
2-3pm. Scroll up to register!

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*********************************************

CURRENTLY ACCEPTING
A LIMITED NUMBER OF VIP COACHING CLIENTS

If you're interested in having me work with you as a confidante,
cheerleader, resource, accountability czar and trusted friend on
the journey, please contact me at 404-294-9333 or
pdcom@mindspring.com and put coaching in the subject line.

We'll schedule a 20-minute laser coaching session to
shed some insights on your issues!

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COOL MIND CANDY
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It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Work is healthy...
Worry is rust upon the blade. It is not the revolution that
destroys the blade, but the friction. Fear secretes acids,
but love and trust are sweet juices.
-Henry Ward Beecher
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The Renewal Experience!

2010-02-10T18:12:00.002-05:00

Just a few years ago I put a photo of a fabulous resort spa on my Vision Board or Treasure Map with the headline "A Spa Odyssey."

I'd gotten the notion that I REALLY wanted to visit some of the top spas in the world as a complimentary, invited guest.

Had absolutely NO idea how this was going to happen--but I really wanted it! And, having enjoyed a few on British Airways PR junkets (I used to represent that fabulous airline in Atlanta), I knew what these spas offered-- complete luxury-- so I could easily put myself in the scene with rich imaginings and heartfelt emotions.

Fast forward a few years and I've now reviewed a couple dozen fabulous spas--all comped!-- and the February issue of les nouvelles esthetiques & spa, for whom I write the Spa of the Month--features the Old Edwards Inn & Spa in picturesque resort town of Highlands, NC, just 2.5 hours north of Atlanta. This pristine area is one of my favorite places in the world! Here's the link http://www.lneonline.com/spa_of_the_month

Even better-- Old Edwards is the locale for The Renewal Experience! My inaugural Wellbeing Weekend, April 9-11, 2010, guides participants to reconnect with their Inner Guide, tap into their vision and learn tools to bring it forth--in the same way I brought forth my own vision, years ago, of visiting all these top spas.

I'm excited!

All this, combined with award-winning dining, optional yoga classes and spa treatments, and deluxe suites at a sweetheart rate. Old Edwards wants us to have a really good time.

Find out more here: http://www.therenewalexperience.com

Spaces are limited and going fast-- DECIDE that you too want to be Rejuvenated, Refreshed and Renewed at The Renewal Experience!

Love & well wishes,
Patrice

How to Get Your MOJO Back!

2010-01-08T18:44:00.008-05:00

It was the darkest days of World War II--
the Battle of Britain--
London was strafed and bombed nightly by
Hitler's Luftwaffe--
and the people were sore afraid.

But history was about to experience
the major, world-changing impact
of one individual who saw the possibilities,
even in the most desperate of times.

Isaiah Berlin describes Sir Winston Churchill's ferocious
idealization of the British people.
In 1940, their stalwart Prime Minister gave them such
a strong image to live up to that they began to see
themselves as he saw them:

"the bouyant and imperturbable temper of Britain
which I had the honour to express"--

The irony was
that Churchill himself had the
lion's share in creating it!

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FOCUS ON THE POSSIBILITIES
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The force of his words was so hypnotic; his faith was
so strong, that by sheer intensity of his eloquence
they were spellbound as he seemed to speak what was
in their hearts and minds.

He stirred the greatness that was dormant inside them.
The heroic mood that he had awakened
turned the fortunes of the Battle of Britain--
not by slipping into the depressing mood
of his surroundings, but by being imperious to it.

And that's what we either need to do for ourselves,
or find a coach, mentor or uplifting community
to help us experience it.

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FOUR EASY STEPS
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Along with imagining yourself at your highest & best,
as Winston Churchill did for the British in their darkest hours,
and being gentle with yourself if you stumble
a bit along the way (2 steps forward, one back--
isn't that the rhumba?)...

Here's the easy acronym for
getting your MOJO back:

M--Mobilize the helpful powers, both visible & invisible,
which surround and inhabit you always.
You can do this through prayer, ritual, meditation,
forgiveness, visualization and intention.
(Operators are standing by! All you need to do is ASK!)

O--Open your mind & heart to accept your highest good--
and remember, you may have NO IDEA what it's
going to look like! One spiritual mentor used to ask,
"A Niagara Falls of good is pouring down around you--
What's the size of the receptacle you're holding out for it?
A thimble? A teacup? A cistern? A lake? An ocean?
How much good are you willing to accept?"

J--Jump out into the Flow and see where it takes you!
Use energy management techniques like breathing,
yoga and exercise (earlier, I took a brisk walk in the snow--
talk about Mojo!) You'll get more comfortable with the flow
of life. Use intuition and common sense as your rudders.

O--Outshine perceived obstacles--and watch them disappear.
Let go of the struggle with shadows and transcend them.
Remember, the seeming adversity is really the ally, here to
help you learn that particular lesson with love, and move on.

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Do these ideas resonate with you? Here's my exciting

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

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JOIN ME FOR MY INAUGURAL WELLBEING WEEKEND!
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THE RENEWAL EXPERIENCE
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Fall in Love with Your Life!

Come with me on April 9-11, 2010, to the Four Star, Four Diamond
freshly renovated Old Edwards Inn and Spa in the
charming resort town of Highlands, North Carolina.

Join me for a weekend of comfy and fun exploration on your
own Path of Possibility, with an extremely affordable room and
dining package (their chef is outstanding; an award-winner),
optional yoga and spa treatments, and more!

On The Renewal Experience, you will:

*Re-Envision Your Life/Create Your Own Vision Board
*Greet Your Inner Guide
*Reconnect with Your Values
*Roll with New Vision and Focus on the Wheel of Life
*Engage Active Imagination through Journaling
*Raise Your Vibration to Attract Your Good
*Emerge Refreshed, Rejuvenated and Renewed
*Get Your MOJO Back!

Relish small group interactions and guided, reflective time
to get to know the best friend you'll ever have-- YOU!

For all the juicy details, and to learn about some great
gifts you'll receive just for signing in at this site, please visit
http://www.therenewalexperience.com/index3.shtml

Pssst! I'm GIVING AWAY (to U.S. residents) my
inspirational CD, 21 Selected Chapters from
Back to the Garden: Getting from Shadow to Joy--

It's more than a $15 value--and it comes when you register
via actual snail mail.

Imagine something uplifting in your mailbox!

PLUS, those who register will have access to my
complimentary teleseminar on Wednesday, 1/20/10:

How to Get Your Mojo Back!

(you'll get the details in another email closer to the date).

Spaces are EXTREMELY LIMITED at
The Renewal Experience, and this Life-Changing
weekend will fill up fast--so visit today!

http://www.therenewalexperience.com/index3.shtml

Tree-Huggin' & California Dreamin'

2009-03-05T19:16:00.010-05:00

Make sure to tune in to my interview with Jean Adrienne, renowned throughout Europe & the US for her intuitive strengths, at 8pm EST on Tuesday, March 10, at http://www.7thWaveNetwork.com

A wintry tree alongside the highway through Sonoma Valley, luscious wine country getting its first drenching in quite awhile during our visit--and springing to life! The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa was dreamy and the food at Sante spectacular.

En route to San Francisco we hiked through Muir Woods and I was reminded by all the charred tree trunks that we may all be burned & scarred at times in our lives, but we do survive--sometimes for eons, like these fabulous redwoods.

Famous comedian Yakov Smirnoff attended Brendon Burchard's partnering seminar and several of us enjoyed the art shows in Union Square, downtown San Francisco.

Then, believe it or not, a big snow back home in Georgia on March 1! Here's the lacy, graceful Japanese maple and stone lantern at the center of my power circle, way in the back of my yard.

The next day, as is the custom with snow in Georgia, it had pretty much disappeared, except for the remaining snow-folk around town. My dear friends Faye & Bob Boyd and Joe Allen helped load up a couple of truckloads of home furnishings for my young friends Tia & Kesha. Tia has 3 young sons age 5 & under--and when they had to leave their last apartment, they lost everything.

So here we are--me, Kesha, Bob Boyd, Davon, Davonte & DeAngelo at their freshly furnished apartment. Talk about stepping out on faith, every moment and every breath! The sole money earner for a family of five works at a Mrs. Winner's--and her sister provides childcare. This is what we're all being asked to do-- step out on faith-- with courage, optimism, trust and hope!

BREATHE THRU YOUR HEART ON VALENTINE'S DAY

2009-02-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

In Honor of Valentine’s Day, Honor Your Heart—
Learn from your heart’s wisdom and let its answers lift you up!

1. Recognize a stressful feeling then Freeze-Frame it--take a time out.
2. Pretend you’re breathing through your heart.
3. Recall a positive feeling you’ve had in life and try to re-experience it.
4. Sincerely ask your heart, “What would be a more efficient response to this situation?”
5. Listen to your heart’s answer.

STOP WORRYING! KICK THE STRESS OUTTA YOUR MESS!

2009-02-12T16:53:00.009-05:00

Yesterday I addressed the metro Atlanta YMCA management team on Stress Resilience-- some Sinfully Simple Secrets to Stress Down in Chaotic Times. Believe it or not, a calm facial expression and deep breathing down into the abdomen are two techniques you can IMMEDIATELY implement to feel better. By shifting your physiology, you shift your emotions-- and the world looks like a more friendly place.

For AN HOUR's worth of tips on how to Stop Worrying & Get the Life You Love, simply register here
http://www.artofchange.org/gtl and you'll be sent a link to my free teleseminar audio download! Do it asap because I have a special Valentine's offer that ends at midnight on Sunday 2/15!

Tree lovers of the Enchanted Forest of Avondale Estates united with Trees Atlanta for a big planting recently-- I'm here with neighbors Rick, Tami & little Jess (in the pink) helping to install a linden tree on the verge of N. Clarendon Avenue. Most of our trees are in their 80s and we love our verdant canopy. More trees, please!

It's always great to visit Sarah Crutchfield and her wonderful brood at The Cabin Path, their 52 acre retreat just south of Atlanta http://www.thecabinpath.com
In January she hosted a brain-storming session and labyrinth walk to celebrate her birthday, and several of us re-united after our WONDERFUL Nature, Magic & Manifestation Fun-Day there last spring.

Free Teleseminar-How to Get the Life You Love!

2009-01-29T16:03:00.001-05:00

It's okay! Don't fret!
So many requests have come in from
folks who missed my complimentary
teleseminar to kick off Chinese New Year
on Monday-- that I'm offering it to you NOW!

It's jammed with great tools & tips on
How to Get the Life You Love!

(I decided to host the complimentary
call to celebrate my TENTH YEAR
of teaching Get the Life You Love
for Emory University in Atlanta.

Here's where to register and you'll
get right to the mp3 download--
for some fun & inspiration!
http://www.artofchange.org/gtl

You'll learn:
*7 Secrets Blocking People from
Getting the Life They Love
(after all, defining a problem is 50%
of its solution!)

*The ONE MOST IMPORTANT THING
you need to do to get the life you love
(it's so do-able, what a gift);

*Simple tips & exercises to generate that
good juju for yourself;

*A life-enriching exploration of YOU that
may really open your eyes!

If you're feeling a bit low right
now over the economy or anything else--
this call will BRING YOU UP!

http://www.artofchange.org/gtl

Check it out!

Love & Well Wishes,

Patrice

PS--Here's what Kelly Czack of Athens, Ohio, said about
the call:

"I'm so burned out from reaching and researching
a new path for myself that I don't have much "kick" left.
Or at least I didn't think so until tonight....your teleseminar
hit a chord with me!
http://www.artofchange.org/gtl

SELFLESS SERVICE EXTRAORDINAIRE

2009-01-16T17:38:00.006-05:00

Dr. Nancy Robinson (here in her doctoral robes) and I met when I keynoted the Soroptimists Awards Banquet in March 2007--when she was just embarking on her dream of creating TechKnowledge Learning Centers, Inc, a 501c3 charitable organization with a goal of "bridging the digital divide."
http://www.techlearnit.org

Nancy, who didn't begin her own higher education until age 48, completed undergraduate & masters degrees in five years, and then a doctorate in computer science three years later. That's FOCUS. And she's focused on giving it back.

Her structured after-school programs will provide one-on-one instruction to underprivileged and underserved youth -- and she wants to keep the light in their eyes by offering all state-of-the-art technology.

As she pointed out, kids can go to the library, wait in line two hours to get on the computer for their 30 minute time slot, and get dulled out by antiquated technology before they even begin.

Go for it, Nancy! Currently they need more mice, keyboards & workstations. And donations! She has provided virtually everything else from her own pocket. Wow.

DALE WOULD BE PROUD OF HIS PEEPS
Here's a motley crew! Dallas resident & leadership trainer Mary Beth May, Blaise Dismer, my former next door neighbor who now lives on St. Simons Island, Georgia, and represents Bx-Dx pathology testing labs, and Ned Webb, a high level trainer for AT&T are gathered with me at the memorial service for Nedly's mother, Lillian Webb.

What a great Carnegie family! We four enjoyed the rigors of Dale Carnegie Sales Course Instructor Training in 1986--it was intense! Not only that, but I was kicking the cigarette habit at the time (can you say "nerves on edge?") But it was perfect. Blaise and Ned usually kept us laughing hysterically --at least during breaks from instruction.

Everyone and every aspect of my radical comfort zone expansion through affiliation with Dale Carnegie organization was a blessing. I ended up instructing the Sales Course for 15 years--and earned many "Outstanding Instruction" plaques along the way.

EMERGING FROM THE HOLIDAZE

2009-01-09T13:57:00.010-05:00

The Philly family visit was most delightful at Christmas, with my sister Sue (on right) and I enjoying SPECTACULAR Longwood Gardens with my father. We timed it so that we experienced the DuPonts' party houses & ballrooms (now the endlessly-winding acres of greenhouses) both during daylight and after the fairy lights transformed everything. It was JAMMED--and for good reason.

One day Soeurx (my pet name for my sis, sortof a combo between French for sister (soeur) plus Siouxie (of the Banshees fame), and I trekked across Temple U.'s Ambler campus into the woods for a lovely, brisk woodland jaunt through the mists.

Among other things we encountered a confederacy of asses. The two with their heads together reminded me of the Kurt Vonnegut tale--I think it was Slapstick-- where two idiots put their heads together and became the president of the United States. Vonnegut had obviously envisioned the future! Thank God that era is passing, in just a few days. Hooray!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Tricia Gallagher, Creator of Team of Angels http://www.teamofangels.com. What a dynamo! She's currently developing a "Friendship House" for women experiencing depression and that empty-nester aimless feeling. I donated a copy of my award-winning inspirational book, BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy http://www.artofchange.org/april08 as well as the CD of Selected Chapters to her library for Friendship House, and here's what she had to say about it: "I was driving to Princeton right after our meeting and was so engrossed in listening to the CD that I went to Trenton... I kept thinking of how I wanted each of my kids to listen to it, and my friends too. I have listened to Wayne Dyer and all the big wigs for years and honestly, I got more out of this than anybody else. And then the book... I love every bit of it...the story, the message, the beautiful design, colors, photos, everything..." Thanks, Tricia! She is currently looking for funding for Friendship House, so please contact her if you have suggestions.

A day before my trip my new best friend and I visited my young friends with a Santa load. I have to tell you, even in the most dire years they've had up a Christmas tree--even when they were living in that dumpy little motel room in December 2006. Well, this year, no tree, no gifts wrapped, nothing. This was the day before Christmas. And the two teenage girls with their 3 little boys (pictured here with me are Aunt Kesha with her nephews DeAngelo on my lap, Davon & Davonte) had just been kicked out into their own apartment again--after moving back in with mom and the slew of other relatives living in their little house six months ago. The boys' mother works at Mrs. Winner's. At least she has a job.

Yes, it does take a village...I'm glad to be of the small service that I am to these kids & this little family... It's going to be a long road.... I hope some of the new social programs can help keep families like this on the road to recovery.

SEX SELLS--AND SO DOES HUMOR

2008-12-17T16:35:00.008-05:00

BLEACHY-HAIRED HONKY BITCH author Hollis Gillespie is clowning around with me at the Atlanta Press Club Holiday Authors Party & Fundraiser recently-- actually she's the one on the right even though the arrow points in my direction. She is a HOOT (I just watched her Tonight Show interview with Jay Leno on her site http://www.hollisgillespie.com
She's now flogging her latest book TRAILER TRASHED: My Dubious Efforts Toward Upward Mobility.

Like Hollis, my friend Sydney Biddle Barrows (The Mayflower Madam) is also flogging her new book UNCENSORED SALES STRATEGIES, XXX-RATED SECRETS A Radical New Approach to Selling Your Customers What They Really Want--No Matter What Business You're In. Sydney's book (co-authored with marketing maven Dan Kennedy) features one of my PR success stories. Here are Sydney (on the left) and I pictured with Feng Shui expert Katie Weber at Loews Lake Las Vegas last May, one of our Platinum Marketing Mastermind retreats.

The link-- they both use BIG HUMOR to make their points!

At a recent talk on "How to Get the Life You Love" for Chris Morris' CMA Financial Group holiday shindig, to close I called up Chris (on the left) and Anthony Seal, a friend who took Dale Carnegie Sales Training with me nearly 20 years ago! So far by that point I'd collected the keys to a new sports car, an AMEX Platinum card, a $100 bill and two good-looking guys, simply by asking for them. Hey, you gotta ask if you want to get! This applies to asking the Universe for what you want, as well.

Happy Holidays!

Woman's Field Guide to Exceptional Women

2008-11-06T16:30:00.001-05:00

Last week I was honored to learn that I was chosen to be featured in SPOTLIGHT ON EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN, http://www.womansfieldguide.com/expert-women

It’s a conglomerate of women making a difference through their “just in time” sharing of ideas & inspiration. Corrie Woods, the very cool North Carolinian who orchestrates this inspirational site, is the author of “The Woman’s Field Guide to Exceptional Living” –I totally resonate to her nature metaphors.

Thank you, Corrie, the original Exceptional Woman!

In My Mind I'm Goin' to Carolina!

2008-10-30T14:23:00.010-04:00

Wow! Last week in Chapel Hill, NC, hometown of singer James Taylor, I enjoyed a stroll across campus and a brunch catch-up with my favorite professor ever, Dr. Christopher M. Armitage, from whom I took EIGHT English literature, drama & poetry classes during my undergrad degree in Journalism/English there. (One of my faves was 17th Century British Lit, which we nicknamed "Sex & Death" since those were the two major topics of that era). Of course the "Study Theatre in London" program was BEYOND fantastic. One of my roommates on that program, Betsy Brantley, became an actress herself and starred with Sean Connery in "Five Days One Summer" a few eons ago!

Dr. Armitage (it feels too odd to call him Chris, despite his insistence) has always been a bit of a rebel--and always at the top of his game. Had to shoot a photo of his slogan, which loosely translates, "Don't let the bastards get you down." (One of my own father's faves, as well).

An Oxford graduate, he described his oral exams being quizzed by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein and others: "Miss Dickey,it was the most STIMULATING three hours of my LIFE!"
Can you imagine? Now even the non-English majors know who THEY are because of the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia films!

Part of my trek in the land where "You Can't Go Home Again" (all Thomas Wolfe fans will get the insider joke here) was to walk up to the Kappa Kappa Gamma house--and The Little House where I lived with two other Kappa sisters --it was idyllic-- sitting on a big old couch on the front porch and whiling away the hours in a book or with friends.

Ironically, EVERYTHING about the main campus seemed so TINY. The two main quadrangles where I used to toss frisbee endlessly seem to have shrunk. And the Davie Poplar (planted in 1745 I believe) is wired up so it won't topple.

Hang in there, beautiful tree! I photographed my true love Robin Clark under that tree and he's now one of my angel guides, featured in my multi-award winning book, BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy.
http://www.artofchange.org/april08

The occasion of my visit was the memorial service for Mike Ellis, the WONDERFUL 90 year old stepfather of my college roommate Merrill Rose. What a big, rich life he led as a Broadway producer, magician and human being. I think all would agree that what made him stand out was his big heart. Merrill & her entire family live that way.

Take care, Mike, and God Bless. We're all lucky to have known you.

Get the Life You Love with Radical Manifestation!

2008-10-21T21:42:00.006-04:00

At my live event last Sunday, I revealed that one of the key blocks to manifesting what we DO want is letting our energy be tied up in Victim or Perpetrator stories from the past (two sides of a coin, there)-- or obsessing with our "what if?" stories of doom about the future. These ideas come from Carolyn Myss' work "Why People Don't Heal and How They Can."

And, Colin Tipping has created a tool which creates an "energy interrupt" -- the Radical Forgiveness worksheet. The great thing is, you don't even have to believe in it for it to work. Just like you don't have to believe in the laws of physics for them to work--because his tool is based on the laws of physics and energy flow. When we interrupt the energy around the old stories and future worries, we're able to channel more of our energy (or perhaps even ALL of it) to creating what we DO want in the present. YES!

When learning all this heady material, a great way to integrate it into our cells and really "incorporate" it is through dancing. We kept our vibration high and sync'd in a mountain of important concepts throughout the day.

Another great friend who is also a yoga teacher like me, Kim Saunders, led us in Dahn yoga tapping to stimulate our lymphatic systems and really keep the mojo working. As a cancer survivor (who just staged a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen Foundation) Kim is a MAJOR proponent of keeping the energy flowing.

One of the day's many surprises (just like LIFE!) was the presentation of BIG CHECKS that came to all of us, directly from the BANK OF THE UNIVERSE. One participant emailed me that a big (for real) check showed up in her mailbox the next day!

Bottom line: Operators are standing by. When we know what to ask for, and how to ask, they are ready to deliver our order. I LOVE teaching this information to my coaching clients and workshop attendees!

Author 101!

2008-10-17T07:46:00.006-04:00

Keynote speaker at Author 101 and co-author of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series Mark Victor Hansen inspired all of the authors & wannabes in the room with these bits of wisdom.

Blockbuster novelist Nora Roberts was a bored housewife who said to herself, "I can do that!" and now writes longhand 55,000 words a week without editing. She creates major collaborations with products like Diet Coke to sell millions of books. (Did you know that Diet Coke drinkers read books, but Coke people don't?) Hmmmm.... maybe their brains are too sugared-up to think!

Hansen, whose father was illiterate in Danish, reminded us that we must be RELENTLESS MARKETERS -- and that Real Wealth = Ideas (Inspiration) + Energy. "Write the title and the information will show up," he said. "Success is the result of hard work over time." 144 publishers turned him and Jack Canfield down when they launched their Chicken Soup series, and yet they prevailed.

As authors & idea people, he encouraged everyone in the room to "Create new Thinkware" to get our nation & world out of its current fix. 89% of books are sold to women. We can make things happen with the right attitude, vision and focus!

Darling Rick Frishman, the wizard behind the Author 101 events, shared tips on Guerilla Marketing, Guerilla Publicity and Where's Your Wow? -- some of the numerous books he's co-authored in his 32 year career as a publicist. An important tip from Rick: Grab the URLs of any books you're even THINKING about writing.

The two days I spent in the room with all those experts were phenomenal. Now, onward to implementation! As Mark Victor Hansen reminds us, in an info-saturated world we need to be nearly monomaniacal in our quest to get our message out there.

Here's a success in "Getting the Life You Love!" My friend Rita MacCallon, who took my class at Evening at Emory a few years ago, experienced some major life transitions and then did private coaching with me, has launched her dream-- The Park Pet Care-- a deluxe doggy & small pet paradise on Lawrenceville Hwy just outside I-285 in Atlanta. Here she is with some of her staff and some of the happiest pooches I've ever seen. That place is posh!

And On a Patriotic Note
Election Day is just days away, and as you know, this election season is like no other. The stakes are extraordinarily high and EVERY VOTE COUNTS! That’s why my friend Kyle Young at Multi-TaskingWoman.com launched www.NeverTooBusyToVote.com, to ask everyone we know across the country to make time to GO VOTE!

My Hutchison High School Reunion!

2008-09-30T20:53:00.006-04:00

Memphis is a huge romantic draw for folks from all over the world. Elvis the King, the mighty Mississippi, Beale Street & its blues, even Mud Island and "GonerFest" (which was happening this past weekend, unbeknownst to me until I sat on the plane next to an Aussie coming specifically for this music blast) all pull people to this lush green city that never seems to change. Sprinklers whoosh artesian well water over the perfectly manicured lawns of "Trust Fund Alley" depicted in the movie of John Grisham's book, The Firm.

Here I am with Mary Jehl Kenner, one of my best friends from Hutchison, now in a high powered communications position with FedEx. Back in 10th grade we'd watch Mary Tyler Moore every Friday night and plot how we'd model ourselves after this dynamic career woman. And we did!

(As a joke, on Friday night at the "girls only cocktail party" I wore my Hutch Glee Club gold corduroy jumper from junior & senior years...just because I still could! It had unearthed itself from a wardrobe & storage unit this summer. Gotta give my Memphis pals something to gossip about).

Although everyone thought I'd be the true renegade and lobby for smoking on campus when I headed student government, my focus then as now was natural beauty. The major legacy of my time there was convincing the school to move forward on landscaping the courtyard where we danced in May Day celebrations (how pagan!) Here's the result a few decades later-- a lush oasis.

I loved that school. The brilliant teachers and structured, supportive environment gave girls a chance to discover their strengths and grow into them. At the time, I was a Yankee interloper, fresh from Ohio entering 9th grade, and awed by the honest-to-goodness gothic flavor of the place. I'm so grateful to my parents for giving me that education--and all the great friendships that evolved.

As my high school biography stated, "Patty has fallen in love with our men, our English & history departments." All true. And so great to spend time with the "MUS Boys"--now the local titans of business & real estate, the roles their fathers and grandfathers held awhile back. Cotton may have started it all, but real estate development seems to be king these days.

Memphis artist Janet Smith with two of her three Brussels Griffons (Gunny & Wally) hosted me at her Justine Place home-- on the land where she used to keep her horse, Red. We'd run around those 10 acres where her parents, Justine & Dayton Smith, grew fresh vegetables & roses for Justine's, the first fine dining establishment in the Mid-South. Her home is the perfect gallery of her spectacular art. How I admire my artist friends, Janet Smith and Stephen Hudson, always stepping out on faith!

Ali Brown's Platinum Mastermind in Santa Monica

2008-09-21T17:56:00.008-04:00

Another dynamic masterminding session with Alexandria Brown and the other members of the 2008 Platinums--this time at the posh Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica. Here's Ali & me -- love our blonde hair/brown eyed sympatico -- she envisions me as her free spirit sister and I see her as a Very "Cool Girl!"

Rich, Happy & Hot Marie Forleo from New York and Red Hot Copy Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero from LA as we are just ready to step out as a group to Monsoon for a fusion feast. Dinner conversations ranged far and wide--lots of great vibes & laughter. Napoleon for dessert, eh?

Our Platinums hail from all over the US and Canada, from Feng Shui specialist Katie Weber in Cuero, TX (who, thankfully, was unscathed by Hurricane Ike) to Bonnie Hutchinson's Soul Power Wisdom in Edmonton, Alberta, to James Roche (The Info Product Guy) in Miami and Sandy-licious Grason in Ft. Lauderdale. I am so proud of what so many have created this year and sprinting to keep up!

Here's my little happy dance under the gigantic century-old fig tree -- I'm reviewing the new exhale spa at the Fairmont and had just enjoyed one of the most exquisite massages I've ever experienced--after reviewing spas around the world for les nouvelles esthetiques & spa, the leading skin care & spa trade publication in the U.S.
The therapist Kerry Lorimer used Seikufujitsu--a fantastic Asian energetic technique. WOW!

It was GREAT getting together with my cousins Bruce & Kat Allison-- Bluce (Asian pronunciation) as we fondly call him runs Malibu Export Service (exotic auto & race car parts) from their "compound" in Calabasas. When they bought out there 20 years ago, it was affordable; now Will Smith lives across the road, if that tells you anything. He only sells to people outside the US-- and says that now whenever he's shipping to Austria, he puts "Austria, EUROPE" on the address because too many things were shipped to Australia by mistake. Hey, are YOU smarter than a fifth grader????

When I told Bruce I wanted seafood for lunch he suggested a great outdoor shack where you sit at picnic tables with your feast and watch the surf--spectacular! Here he is at Malibu Seafood high-fiving the Rock Lobster. We reminisced about our amazing back-packing trek around all the islands of Hawaii nearly 30 years ago! And his lovely wife Kat (who rides her motorcycle through the canyons to work) obligingly got out my travel journal titled "Bali Hai?" about that magical camping trip with me, my sis and Bruce when we were all a lot more carefree. What a great trip.

What's New At Millennium Gate

2008-09-13T17:04:00.003-04:00

Basil Haslett of Glass Craft USA, Rodney Cook, Jr., president of the National Monuments Foundation and I stand in the restored "Rhodes-Robinson Sitting Room" at the Millennium Gate, an 82 foot monument in Atlantic Station, midtown Atlanta. Its 12,000 square foot museum offers a tribute to many of Atlanta's pioneer families, and Rodney conceived the monument.

The Virtues Gallery honors some of Atlanta’s most prolific philanthropists such as Arthur Blank and Ted Turner. Included in this area is a bust of President George Washington. For the Millennium Gate, GLASS CRAFT USA created three stunning pieces to surround and focus attention on the central bust of President Washington. The US Presidential Seal is etched and inlaid with 23 1/2 carat gold, along with the Washington family Coat of Arms and Washington’s family crest, all in full color.

SEPTEMBER'S SPECTACULAR START

2008-09-06T12:46:00.011-04:00

The Decatur Book Festival over Labor Day Weekend was a blast, as always, with 75,000 attendees and a FABU "Meet 'n' Greet on the Street" as I sold oodles of copies of my multi-award-winning inspirational book BACK TO THE GARDEN: GETTING FROM SHADOW TO JOY and its CD audiobook, Selected Chapters. If you want to order your own copy of the book & CD, please visit this link--and I'll send it to you autographed to you if you want. I have a web special going right now!
http://www.artofchange.org/april08

Later in the week I gave an inspirational talk for Skyland Trail's Community Education Series-- "How to Get the Life You Love" --which is a lot about achieving balance in an off-kilter world. Here I'm displaying one of my many Treasure Maps with its many "dreams come true!" I emphasize the importance of discovering your creative gift and sharing it with the world-- I honestly believe that when we allow the energy of our creativity to flow through us and manifest as WHATEVER it is, that we bring a higher vibration to ourselves and the entire planet.

If you want to learn more about how to bring your vision to life through Radical Manifestation, I'm leading Get the Life You Love RADICAL MANIFESTATION ACTION WORKSHOP on Sunday, October 19, inside the Atlanta perimeter. Find out more here! http://www.artofchange.org/RMWorkshop

How to Get the Life You Love!

2008-08-28T14:13:00.003-04:00

Full throttle delivery here, giving the talk that I'll deliver as part of Skyland Trail's Community Education Series next Thursday, September 4, 6-8pm. I really appreciate what this wonderful organization is all about: helping adults recover from serious mental illness including major depression, bipolar illness and schizophrenia.

All are welcome, but seating is limited so make a reservation at communityeducationseries@skylandtrail.org or call 678-686-5901.

Their adjunctive therapies especially appeal to me, because that's the message I deliver in my talk-- tap into your creative core and bring your gifts to the world. I honestly believe that much mental illness stems from people's inability to express their creative gifts.

Skyland Trail offers horticulture, art, music, drama & recreation therapies to help them re-engage and connect -- to improve their social, psychological and overall health. Some of the client artworks on display are spectacular!

Think of the many artistic masters who have struggled with depression and mental illness--among them Samuel Johnson, Vincent Van Gogh, Robert Schumann. The list could go on and on.

What's your creative gift? When are you going to share it with the world?

GOOD VIBRATIONS!

2008-08-22T10:30:00.003-04:00

Several of my new friends from the most recently graduated "Get the Life You Love" class at Evening at Emory enjoyed my signature "Potluck at PD's" this week. I fixed a smoked turkey breast on the Green Egg (so moist & juicy--the Egg is idiot-proof outdoor cooking, which I love!) Here we are in all our glory after our Dessert Bar sugar high--fruit tarts, brownies, strawberry cake, homemade pound cake-- it was a feast!

What a great group-- each group over the past nine years as wonderful as the last. I've discovered a major shift in the groups since The Secret, and since Oprah has brought a lot of people to conscious living through advocating Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth-- even the left brain linear thinkers (such as the accountant among us) are open to experiencing the things that can't be seen-- using my techniques to strengthen intuition and be on the alert for synchronicities which lead us in the flow.

Janet Bivens, MD, a beautiful general practitioner who has run a successful clinic for decades, rarely allowing herself any time to express the real Janet, is delighted to have created a path to her "next life" where she'll share her gifts in other ways.

The simple awareness that WE ARE ENOUGH as we are-- without being in constant whip/ride and PRODUCE, PRODUCE mode, is huge to most of the overachievers who show up in my class. It takes one to know one, yes, I get this!

Just yesterday I allowed myself to slip into the most profound savasana (deep relaxation) on the yoga mat in my office. We forget that the restorative poses and lots of rest are key to a balanced life and happy living. Obviously, I needed it.

Radical Manifestation with Colin Tipping

2008-08-11T16:30:00.003-04:00

What a spectacular five days with Colin & JoAnn Tipping and the others who congregated from around the world for his Radical Manifestation workshop and coach training!

Here's the big secret that I think very few people have "gotten" when they're doing their utmost to manifest like gods and goddesses when they're stuck in the clay:

"Nothing lowers your vibration more than refusing to let go of your victim story about things that have happened in the past about which you have resentment, regret, disappointment, anger, sadness, grief and so on. It is one of the main tenets of Radical Manifestation... that Radical Forgiveness must come first. That means totally transforming your victim story by being willing to recognize the perfection in what happened and realizing that there was nothing to forgive." p. 100 of Colin Tipping's excellent book Radical Manifestation.

Having participated in two of Colin's Radical Forgiveness workshops over the past ten years since he developed them, I know their technology is amazing. I also confess to a WHOLE LOT MORE RADICAL FORGIVENESS that needs to occur in my life.

It's not hard. In fact, his technology makes it simple. Just go to
and check out the free downloads for the forms. They walk you right through the old hurts and help you clean yourself up and raise your vibration, simply by becoming willing. Fascinating spiritual intelligence at work!

Love & well wishes, Patrice

Make 'Em Cry; Make 'Em Laugh

2008-07-31T21:12:00.002-04:00

It was so exciting to deliver my presentation "How to Get the Life You Love--Patrice Dickey's Lessons from Tuesdays With Morrie" for the "Fayette on the Page" inaugural event! My hosts at the Fayette County Library had this to say:

"Lady, you are purpose driven by a higher force! It shows through your movements and your presentation. You are a star! Several customers commented on how you delivered your work of art. Love it! Love it! One woman said yesterday that she was totally into your presentation and wants to have you back. Keep shining..."

Christeen Snell, Public Library Director

"Patrice demonstrates a great passion for her topic, and conveys her message with boundless joy, energy and style."

Sarah Trowbridge, Public Services Librarian

I tell ya, that group warmed the cockles of my heart!

TIME FOR OUR POWER!

2008-06-28T16:30:00.002-04:00

The Time For Our Power: Women Bringing Change to the World conference I attended in Asheville last weekend was spectacular! Speakers like Starhawk (a feminist and environmental activist who has been on the front lines of advocacy since the 60s) reminded us to keep plugging away. When consciousness about destroying the planet FINALLY shifts, it will be profound. When we direct our energy, investment and brilliance toward health and wellbeing for all living beings, no one will ever believe we could have ever been so blind!

For example, when apartheid fell in S. Africa, within a matter of weeks a cultural amnesia occurred, and people couldn't fathom that they had once felt it was THE ABSOLUTE RIGHT WAY TO LIVE. Suddenly the veil was ripped from their eyes.

Here are Julia Butterfly Hill (left, wearing black) and Starhawk singing & dancing at the close of the event. Julia is the activist who lived on a tiny platform 200 feet above the ground in the giant redwood tree, Luna, for 2 years & 8 days to protest the decimation of these ancient forests (now more than 97% plundered). She described her great pain at hearing the trees around her being destroyed by the logging companies-- but ultimately she prevailed and logging ceased in that part of the forest.

Her advice to us: "Know that it is painful to care, but we MUST care." Every intention and action for the wellbeing of the planet counts.

She also laughed that it's important not to be "Granol-ier than Thou." Ri-i-i-ght. What a great way to turn people off!

Photographer Phil Borges, commissioned by CARE to document third world people who have made a difference (bridgesweb.org) described his changing opinion of missionaries when he learned they'd taught headhunters in New Guinea that they no longer needed to kill a warrior from another tribe whenever one of their own warriors was killed. (They believed the other guy's head would help their deceased get into heaven). Nor did the women have to chop off a finger any longer when a male relative died. Think of all the fingers and heads spared by this slight shift in thinking!

Yes, it's possible. We can have peace in the valley, one day. Here's proof: my cousins' place in Burnsville,NC-- Sweet Hollow, home of Selena Glass & Metal.

The Millennium Gate

2008-06-21T10:15:00.005-04:00

For the Millennium Gate,opening in midtown Atlanta at Atlantic Station on July 4th, my client GLASS CRAFT USA has created three stunning pieces to surround and focus attention on the central bust of President George Washington in the main gallery. The US Presidential Seal is etched and inlaid with 23 1/2 carat gold, along with the Washington family Coat of Arms and Washington’s family crest, all in full color.

Here are Basil Haslett of Glass Craft USA and Rodney Cook, who conceived the Millennium Gate, holding the Presidential Seal.

With its unique, US-patented portable etching process, GLASS CRAFT USA engraves designs onto all types of glass, including tempered. This 'deep cut' etching permits engraved designs to be painted or inlaid for spectacular full color and precious metal finishes. Basil Haslett, artist and inventor of the process, derives his technique from a family monument business founded in Ireland in 1745. www.glasscraftusa.com

HER MAJESTY'S LOYAL SUBJECTS

2008-06-13T18:05:00.005-04:00

Toasts all 'round during the British American Business Group's annual Garden Party at the home of Her Majesty's Consul General Martin Rickard, here shown congratulating Basil Haslett, businessman and inventor, who established the US headquarters of Glass Craft USA in Atlanta. Haslett's US patent was granted in January 2008 for his process of etching and engraving tempered glass.

Past president Sarah Gilbert of the British American Business Group and I toast Basil with Pimm's--an exotic gin-based liquor made in England from dry gin, liqueur, fruit juices and spices. It was created in 1859 by the English oyster bar owner James Pimm. The recipe is still a secret, and only six persons know exactly how it is made. I never knew it existed, but the Brits and I all thrived on it in Atlanta's heatwave!

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of Bushmills -- established in 1608 in County Antrim (Basil's home turf) when King James I granted a license to produce whisky--here at FADO in Buckhead, Atlanta, Basil displays the etched and gilded Bushmills logo-- just a small portion of the entire work he completed using the Glass Craft process at the Bushmills Distillery in Northern Ireland.

The Campaign Tail

2008-06-05T12:05:00.007-04:00

Hillary Rodham Kitten, inveterate campaigner, has curled up in exhaustion on the porch. Certainly a great way to tolerate a hot June day!

I'm also thrilled to be invited to be interviewed by Jean Adrienne on her 7th Wave Network "InnerSpeak Soul Adventures" on www.VoiceAmerica.com
next Tuesday, June 10, 8pm EST. I'll be talking about "How to Convert Your Chaos to Cash"-- the Simple Recipe for Right Brain Entrepreneurs to start making money with their gifts. Tune in!

Convert Your Chaos to Cash!

2008-05-26T20:27:00.009-04:00

I'm so excited about the reception to my very first teleseminar last week-- a lifetime of preparation went into it-- and now it's edited and up for the world to enjoy--
CONVERT YOUR CHAOS TO CASH-- The Simple Right Brain Recipe for Intuitive Wealth!

http://www.artofchange.org/audio/chaos-to-cash-teleseminar.mp3

Tune in to this mp3 and learn:

* The Seven Secrets Blocking Creative Entrepreneurs from Getting the Life They Love;
(and how to dance through those blocks easily and forever!)

* The Power of the 8-Fold Path to Prosperity;
(and it's probably not what you think!)

* The Time-Tested Principles to Bring Your Vision to Life and Convert Your Chaos to Cash (whether you're just starting out or well along your path--these still apply).

OR, if you want to find out more about my Four Week Teleseminar of the same name, go to

http://www.artofchange.org/chaos-to-cash

and snap up one of the registrations! Space is limited though, so find out today!

Love & well wishes, Patrice

Mitch Albom--or Patrice Dickey?

2008-05-26T18:10:00.003-04:00

Can you guess why I'm smiling so big?

Imagine my pleased surprise on Friday (the beginning of a spectacular Memorial Weekend!) when I was invited to lead the INAUGURAL program for Fayette County, Georgia's "Fayette On the Page," a "One Book, One Community" program encouraging all of Fayette County (here in Atlanta metro), to read the same book and talk about it!

Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie is the chosen book; and the program finale includes a gala affair with free food on Saturday, July 26, 2008, at 1 pm on the lawn. My talk (which starts at 2pm) will be inside in the air conditioning!!

Fayette County Public Library
1821 Heritage Park Way
Fayetteville, GA 30214
http://www.fayettecountyga.gov/public_library/

Guess what-- Mitch Albom wasn't available to speak so the officials contacted me!

"I see you everywhere," said the librarian who'd met me at Decatur Book Festival last year--and had seen lots of continuing media about my multi-award winning book, BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy.

BACK TO THE GARDEN is on the same themes as "Tuesdays With Morrie"
*Staying focused on "the good" despite life's tragedies, twists & turns;
*Finding a universe in a drop of dew (or learning to focus & be present;
*Knowing that the external trappings will never satisfy an inner longing;
*Re-connecting with the people who mean or have meant something to us;
*Discovering that all we ever needed or wanted was love, after all.

What an honor to be #2 on their speaker list! Hey, as the old advertising slogan says,
"We're Number 2-- we try harder!"

Come out and see me -- timeless wisdom from Your Guide to the Life You Love, and free food for dessert!

IT DOESN'T GET MUCH GRANDER THAN THIS!

2008-05-16T20:33:00.012-04:00

Less than a week ago I faced one of my big fears, which was based mainly on the mistaken perception that flying in a helicopter down into the Grand Canyon would be like squeezing through the eye of a needle. As you can see here, there's plenty of breathing space on the western rim. It was spectacular.

When asked, our Chinese pontoon boat guide down below on the Colorado River said he'd come here because Hurricane Katrina took away his restaurant in New Orleans. Las Vegas and environs draw every walk of people from everywhere in the world.

I loved the peace of the Grand Canyon-- it absorbed even the clatter of 'copters & buses, gawkers & talkers galore in its vastness.

At Loews on the Lake Las Vegas we enjoyed a patio luncheon. I'm with two members of the Platinum Mastermind, myself in red between Sydney Biddle Barrows on the left and Katie Weber the Feng Shui expert (RedLotusLetter.com) on the right.

Even though the photo is a bit distant, I get a kick that the "Mayflower Madam" (whose book on her classic entrepreneurial endeavor was required reading by Harvard Business School) is reinventing herself through Ali Brown's Platinum Marketing Mastermind-- as we all are!

A champagne toast with Alexandria Brown, our fearless leader, after day two of our intense brainstorming sessions. We're all helping each other and lifting each other up. She is a hoot! Very fun-loving and quite brilliant with her marketing ideas, language and tactics.

Another Small World Connection-- Imagine our surprise when I suggested to Joe & Shari Criso of The Birth Boutique in New Jersey and YourBabyExperts.com (Shari is an RN and lactation consultant, and the milk of human kindness literally flows from BOTH of them)that I would like to introduce them to my sister Susan Dickey, PhD RN, who is a professor of pediatric nursing at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Shari said, "Your sister is Susan Dickey? The one who wrote the book--Guide to the Nursing of Children?" YES! Turns out Susan was Shari's professor 18 or so years ago --and she remembers my sister's dedication and creativity for all these years. I can't wait until I reconnect them via this blog!

Nature, Magic & Manifestation at The Cabin Path

2008-05-08T15:28:00.005-04:00

We began with gentle yoga, then ventured out into the woods to explore the Native American Prayer Circle where we offered up our intentions of what we want to create in our lives. We hunted for treasures from which to create our own Manifestation Fairies (Ethereal Guides) and Fairy Abodes (from Grottoes to Feast Tables to Fairy Aeries), and closed with a silent walk around the labyrinth at the lake shore.

What a brilliant and alive group ventured forth into the woods last Sunday, our FUNDay at the Cabin Path! We included psychologists, writers, landscape designers, marketers and teachers, artists and true believers (in the Fairy Folk, of course!) And also in the power of manifestation through intention and vision.

Here's what one friend, Danna Cain, said about her experience:

Thanks for a wonderful, magical day that filled my needs perfectly! I needed some time to escape into nature, discover a new place, be energized and be creative. Since I tend to be a loner, it was also a good thing to have interaction with others, yet, in a way that I felt that I was comfortably helping (without being sucked of energy), yet energized because I was helping. It's a tough balance and situation to find balance in .. yet I found it at this gathering.

The group of women gathered there were so balanced and we all "fit" together so perfectly. I was a part of many exchanges that uplifted many and observed other communications among others that did the same.

Most just from the heart, yet so serendipitous.

I think the greatest beauty of the group was the way that everyone felt the freedom to present themselves from wherever their place and issues were ..... yet everyone had the intention to go forward, to grow.

This kept everything in a positive dynamic.

Sure that your writings, your seminars, your books had a tremendous influence on that and that was all a part of your manifestations.

You are doing wonderful things and I'm so happy to be a part of it all.

Thank you Danna! You are a beautiful spirit, as were all who gathered that day! Thanks again to Sarah Crutchfield for her fantastic facilities at The Cabin Path!

And here's what Sarah wrote to us about the magic we left behind:

Dear All,
I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed meeting all of you, and I wanted to thank you for the fairies and fairy homes! I had 3 workshops this week for children.. including a school for special needs...and they absolutely LOVED the fairies...the MAGIC continues! They brought smiles and laughter to all of the groups, but one autistic girl was spellbound by them! She laughed and jumped and pointed to every one of them. It confirmed my belief in fairies and everyone else that witnessed this miracle.

Thanks again for coming, for sharing, and for believing!
Take care... Sarah

www.thecabinpath.com
A journey to touch your soul.

Tra La, It's May! The Lusty Month of May

2008-05-01T08:13:00.004-04:00

What could be more magical than the first of May-- deep spring, here in the South, with the trees already in full leaf and the Fairies obviously ready for FUNday at The Cabin Path this weekend, where we'll enjoy Nature, Magic & Manifestation! Not only will we create our own Ethereal Guides (Manifestation Fairy) but also houses for them to live comfortably along the wooded path.

The Native American Creeks and Cherokees knew this land was a power spot-- this Twisted Tree where Sarah Crutchfield stands with her sister served as a guide for people walking the trails to reach the Sacred Prayer Circle on higher ground overlooking their lake. Just below, the Crutchfields have constructed a labyrinth on the lakeshore, where people release the old and rejuvenate with new thought on their contemplative walk under the trees.

Celebrating 20 Years!

2008-04-24T20:00:00.004-04:00

My financial planner Fred Akers and I first met when I was presenting a workshop about sales training, back in the day, and he was selling office equipment. He thought I came across pretty well, and put the course on his credit card that day! Now he's one of the top financial planners in the US-- my CFP! Here we are celebrating his 20 years with the company...

Only a very select few of his "Number One Clients" were invited to a gourmet lunch at Prime in Atlanta. Congratulations, Fred, and thanks for all your great moola-making strategies over the years!

KITTIES IN THE LABYRINTH AT THE CABIN PATH

These Zen kitties know just how to get into the meditative space on the Labyrinth Walk alongside the lake shore a the Cabin Path. Can't wait for our Nature, Magic & Manifestation retreat day next weekend!

Nature, Magic & Manifestation at The Cabin Path

2008-04-18T11:36:00.003-04:00

I'm really excited about the upcoming "Nature, Magic & Manifestation" FUNday at The Cabin Path, Sunday 5/4-- I totally resonate to this magical 52 acres just outside the Atlanta perimeter, and so do the fairies! As you can see, here's a fairy house. For more info contact me or Sarah Crutchfield at www.thecabinpath.com

Also enjoyed speaking to the Women's Affordable Housing Network at the Ansley Golf Club recently. Here I'm pictured with Shelly Patton, of Progressive Redevelopment Inc., and Ann Cone, director of Prudential Financial.

What is Politics, Really?

2008-04-10T20:47:00.002-04:00

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics?'

Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way:
I am the head of the family, so call me The President.
Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the Government.
We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People.
The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class.
And your baby brother, we will call him the Future.
Now think about that and see if it makes sense.'

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.
Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him.
He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper.

So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother asleep.
Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room.

Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, 'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now.

'The father says, 'Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.'

The little boy replies, 'The President is screwing the Working Class while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the Future is in deep doo-doo.'

Sounds like this kid is a candidate for chief of the Federal Reserve!

SPRING BREAKTHROUGH

2008-03-28T17:16:00.009-04:00

How long has it been since you've stepped out on the Path of Possibility? Here's where it begins in my back yard in the Enchanted Forest of Avondale Estates. The giant magnolia tree beside the tumbling Carolina Jasmine on the pergola is at least 80 years
old-- "magnificent dirty tree--how I love its flawed perfection!" (as I describe my friendly stalwart tree in my book BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy).

The stone pathway leads beneath the Spirit Gate (a Shinto-styled Torii gate), and curves around to a Power Spot in the back yard, where my groups stand, holding hands, visualizing and sending skyward our powerful energetic intentions for our unfoldment, where they are multiplied a thousand-fold-- it's exciting!

The Japanese Magnolia is a symphony in pink.

And the pansies in their baskets on my back porch absolutely exude joy!

Several members of Get the Life You Love, my popular Evening at Emory class that's run since 1999, joined me at home this week for a celebratory dinner. It's so gratifying when people say that simple shifts in perspective they've learned in the class have changed their lives. I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to share my insights with such wonderful people, and watch them immediately begin implementing plans to get the lives they love. Whether it's new hairdos, new attitudes, new jobs, better ways of conducting their business or new fitness programs demonstrating self-love, they're doing it!

VALIDATION FOR AN OPEN MIND

2008-03-18T16:34:00.001-04:00

Ten years ago I delivered the keynote to the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL, a prestigious organization of minimally invasive GYN surgeons) at their 1998 International Convention in Miami. The topic of my talk was “What Do Women Want? A Patient’s Perspective.”

I led 120 surgeons from around the world through some exercises intended to open their minds to new possibilities, because, believe it or not, most surgeons take a L-O-O-N-G time to adopt new ideas or procedures, even those on the leading edge like these innovative laparoscopic surgeons who operate through tiny incisions the size of a keyhole.

Many surgeons would rather stick with the old, tried & true methods, unlike my longtime public relations client, surgeon and friend, Thomas L. Lyons, MD, who had introduced me to the AAGL. He is a true innovator and has developed procedures that he teaches surgeons globally. www.thomasllyons.com Discerning patients also come to him in Atlanta from everywhere in the world.

In our litigious society, you can hardly blame those who hesitate to try the new—but medicine constantly advances and as patients we’re often stuck with “the way it’s always been done”—unless we know how to advocate for ourselves.

The tried and true methods are often easier on the surgeon and harder on the patient—ie large abdominal incisions with coy names like “bikini incisions” which make patients believe they couldn’t take THAT long to heal.

Caveat Emptor! (Let the buyer beware!)

BEDSIDE MANNER

During my recent office dredging & reorganizing I discovered my very carefully researched AAGL speech manuscript from 1998. In it I cited historical developments like the discovery of anesthesia in 1770 (nitrous oxide) and ether (1818), which weren’t put into practice until 1846.

Why the delay in using anesthesia? It was an idea before its time.

Some historians have suggested that the delay occurred because patients didn’t need relief from their pain. This was especially deemed true in the case of women, who like savages were regarded as a lower evolutionary order than men, and so perhaps they felt pain less acutely! (Ann Dally, MD, Women Under the Knife: A History of Surgery, Routledge).

In describing “What do women want” I tried to steer surgeons to the notion that women want it ALL from their surgeon—someone to provide emotional support, to compassionately witness and validate the female problems they are enduring—as well as fix the problem.

Some surgeons are not known for their soothing presence— many are male, and they’re technicians, after all, who perform much of their work while the patient is out cold. So the notion of being a counselor may fall into the “not my job” mindset for some.

PRECOGNITION

I also suggested that within a matter of years that much surgery would be “out of business” because of the use of energy healing techniques that would eliminate the need for cutting people open to deal with problems.

Several attendees thought my talk was the most important (ie mind-boggling) hour that weekend, and at least one thought it was the biggest crock of BS he’d ever heard!

Actually, what good is a talk to leading medical people in the world if it doesn’t stir up controversy?

One female surgeon asked me what she should do to prepare for this sea change involving energy medicine. NAFTA was just coming into play and plants were closing everywhere as “hands-on” jobs began shifting overseas.

I suggested that she continually learn and refine new skills, like all of us need to do.

VALIDATION TO DREAM BIG DREAMS

Although I had absolutely no clue how this energy medicine would work, I had read and studied enough about Reiki and other forms of hands-on healing to believe in its refinement and expanded use.

Then, just a few weeks ago, February 2008, my PR consulting firm was contracted to help with public relations and marketing by SightLine Health, the leading company in the US performing MRI-guided focused ultrasound ablation or MRgFUS. www.sightlinehealth.com

This is a state-of-the-art, non-surgical treatment that uses ultrasound energy to treat and eliminate uterine fibroids (one of the leading causes of abnormal bleeding and hysterectomy).

In essence, they are using energy medicine to eliminate fibroids in a way that I, a non-technical person, predicted to surgeons ten years ago!

WHAT’S MY POINT

What’s the point of this tale?

1. Listen compassionately to all and really HEAR what is being said, emotionally, spiritually and through your ears!

2. Keep growing, learning and changing. Be swept up on the current and flow with it.

3. Dream your big dreams; think your big thoughts; let your imagination soar!

As Shakespeare said, “There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy.”

Who can only guess what your dream or notion of a better world will yield tomorrow?

"DOGWOOD SUNRISE"

2008-03-07T16:03:00.005-05:00

My client from Northern Ireland, Basil Haslett, is back in Atlanta establishing his US headquarters for Glass Craft USA-- a system of etching or engraving tempered glass that received its US patent in Jan 2008!

To celebrate, he donated a lovely etched glass titled "Dogwood Sunrise" to the volunteer chairman of the Atlanta Dogwood Festival 2008, who also happens to be president of Sunrise Bank of Atlanta. Get it? "Dogwood Sunrise" combines the best of both. Pictured here are Basil's US team (L-R) Ron & Gwen Marshall, and standing in front of them Marilyn Pearlman of Pearlman Associates, Basil Haslett, Patrice Dickey and Patrick Brennan.

And Voila! On the left is the large etched tempered glass, "Dogwood Sunrise." Standing to Basil's left is Charles H. Green, president of Sunrise Bank.

Basil is visiting in part to attend the GreenPrints convention of green architects and builders from throughout the Southeast.

The glass industry knows that, up until Glass Craft USA's patented process, it was impossible to etch tempered glass because it shattered. The truly interesting quality about this to the green industry is that etched tempered glass also reduces heat transference by more than 25%--thus lowering energy costs. For more information visit www.glasscraftusa.com

Platinum Mastermind at Miramonte Resort & Spa

2008-02-04T09:48:00.003-05:00

Hey, if you notice a silvery glow around this ebullient group overlooked by the Santa Rosa mountains, it's all the great energy we experienced in synergy--helping lift each other up! Led by Alexandria Brown, this is a really high-powered group of Solo-preneurs, from a Feng Shui specialist (RedLotusLetter.com) to a copy-writing queen (RedHotCopy.com). You can tell I'm into red! Fifteen of us met--extraordinary insights and great juju! Here we are pictured holding copies of my multi-award winning inspirational book, Back to the Garden: Getting from Shadow to Joy. I gave each of them a copy to share the wealth. Ali Brown is in the center wearing a black & white top, and I'm next to her in the lavender sweater/jacket.

One of my favorite boondoggles is always the complimentary spa visit--this time at The Well, where I experienced the Foot Ritual (pictured here--a ceremonial cleansing of the feet in rose water--accompanied by wonderful releasing massage--) and followed by the Mediterranean Veggie Wrap (no, it was not the lunch menu--but a deeply relaxing treatment). Check soon for my article in les nouvelles esthetiques & spa, the leading skin care & spa trade publication in the US, to whom I contribute spa insights regularly.

2008-01-24T15:07:00.000-05:00

MAKE '08 GREAT! Sponsored by DeKalb Medical Center and Wordsmiths Books

Russ Marshalek of Wordsmiths Books brainstormed a great kick-off to the new year and invited three Atlanta authors & speakers to hold forth at the Women's Pavilion of DeKalb Medical Center at Make '08 Great! Pictured are Russ, Patrice Dickey, Darlene Wofford, author of Edgewise: An Assignment to Remember, and dietician Carolyn O'Neil, whose slogan is "the more you know, the more you can eat." For example, did you know that chickpeas are oh-so-great for you and low in calories? High energy without the guilt.

My talk, "How to Get the Life You Love--And Afford It!" had eight points (imagine that) on empowering yourself--including The Power of the Peaceful Heart (and how to get it) and the Power of the Picture (and putting yourself in it). Here I'm holding up a Treasure map or Vision Board that I created a few years ago and last October manifested a free trip to ATLANTIS, Paradise Island Bahamas, where I received the royal treatment at Mandara Spa as a complimentary invited guest! This is what I've been teaching at Evening at Emory since 1999,
and recently decided that everybody wants to get the life they love--and in order to do that they need to afford it! So that's what I'm developing in my home study course to roll out soon.

The Power of Persuasion
I also discussed that mortifying job interview (back in the day) when the high powered executive held up his Mont Blanc and said, "Sell me this pen," and I sat there absolutely speechless, wishing the floor would open for me to drop through it. Sometimes it's those painful moments that teach us the most powerful lessons--and it was then that I decided I needed to learn the fine arts of persuasion--which morphed into 15 years as an instructor of Dale Carnegie Sales Training!

At this very moment the talk is being edited into a DVD that will be available separately, and I'll also include in my home study course on How to Get the Life You Love--And Afford It!

CONTEST AT POLKA DOT BANNER (We Can All Win!)
The lovely and talented Jamie Saloff, who formatted my multi- award winning book BACK TO THE GARDEN: Getting from Shadow to Joy, has also created her own author promotion website, which anyone can join--authors, readers, tire-kickers...

Jamie says, "The Polka Dot Banner continues to grow and change. We expect to have 100,000 hits in January 08. If you haven't stopped by recently, please do.

"It is very simple to list your book with the PDB. Just register, then login and fill out the different fields with your book's information. If you need help, or want us to do it for you, we have upgraded listings that offer those features. Those who are listed are telling me they are seeing a tremendous increase in traffic on their personal web sites, so if you want to increase your book's exposure, list it on the PDB." Check it out! http://www.polkadotbanner.com

When you check out MY profile (which will help me become Featured Author next month) remember to register as Book Friends so you are eligible for PDB's monthly giveaways. This month PDB is giving away a $25 Amazon.com gift card.

And if you want to hear more about Jamie's services as a book formatter, please email me and we'll discuss!

Introducing Our Next President

2008-01-09T17:58:00.000-05:00

Hey, if you're disenchanted with the current crop of presidential candidates, here's a canny feline ready to jump into the ring. She appeared on my scene about 12 years ago--1996--when I stopped at a crossroads store in Cherry Log, GA, up near the Pink Pig Restaurant (it's a hillside show stopper).

As people are fond of doing in the country, someone had dropped off this kitten at the country store. It was about 16 degrees out (today it's in the 60s in January, hmmmm)and since I couldn't tolerate the smoke that was choking the store, I went outside along with the little kitten, who promptly climbed up my arm and glommed onto my head, which was the warmest thing around.

The proprietor said, "You can take that damn cat with you too!" and I said I might be back in a couple of days to pick her up. "She ain't gonna be here in a couple days."

I knew what that meant.

At that moment, as yet unnamed, the kit decided to ride back to Atlanta with me-- she sat on my shoulder the whole two hours south. As my beau-friend said, "That's the most spontaneous thing I've ever seen you do!" (Little did the kitten know she'd have to contend with Boog, my 18 year old deaf, blind and tiny bonsai cat at home, who ran the show!)

TRAINED BY A MASTER

Now, years after her master trainer Boog has gone to the Happy Hunting Ground, my little kitty has grown shrewd from years of hunting impertinent chipmunks and perfecting her stump speech.

She knows her way along the Path of Possibilty.

Although she's tough on the campaign trail (watch out you varmints) she also knows how to relax like a Zen Master.

She knows her way around the stars and big shots, and she will always be a contender -- and yet she's one of the happiest creatures I've ever met!

But probably most important of all, she's had plenty of experience and feels extremely comfortable in the Oval Office. Introducing HILLARY RODHAM KITTEN!

Let me know if she gets your vote too! XO, Patrice Dickey

ONTO 2008 LIKE A RUNAWAY TRAIN!

2008-01-04T13:29:00.000-05:00

Just off the phone with my Wellness Coach in Pebble Beach, CA, Jo Perron (fondly known as YogaJo since our Peachtree Yoga Center's Yoga Teacher Training in 2002).

Talk about transforming HER life-- she's been an OB/GYN for years, and then when a mastectomy for cancer prevented her from using her arms for her medical practice, she dusted herself off, changed directions, got new training and is creating her new
life. Go YogaJo!

One great thing about working with Wellness Coaches is that they teach you about the flexibility of goals for your own wellness path and plan.

She was the one who suggested that rather than beating myself up for not being a "perfect meditator" that I just try to capture several five minute snippets of contemplation or relaxed mind each day--12 snippets adds up to 60 minutes. I can manage that--and leave the guilt behind.

UPBEAT AFTER THE HOLIDAZE

I am delighted to report that a lot of my stress has lifted post-holiday and visiting the family in Philly. Here's Grand Dad (my father Joe), sister Sue with her arm in a sling, niece Elizabeth and me celebrating on Christmas Eve a couple days before Soeurx had her broken wing spliced back together in surgery. Even with a pack of frozen broccoli on her arm she managed to muster a smile. I don't know how these nurses do it (she's a PhD RN--professor at Temple University), whipping around and staging Christmas for us. But she did--more power to my sis!

While she was in the hospital for a couple daze, Eliz & I bonded over nature walks on which we caught the whoosh of deer through the forest (at first I thought it was a group of cyclists, silently whizzing down the trail). We also baked a WEL-COM cake, and enjoyed the Polar Express. Yes, I BELIEVE! As Wayne Dyer says, "Believe it and you'll SEE it!"

HOLIDAY VISIT

Last week I also dropped some gifts and the mini-basketball hoop with my young friend Tiawanna and her brood-- 4-year-old Davon, 2-year old Davonte (Tay-Tay), & little DeAngelo. They are the cutest! Somehow (working as a waitress at Pizza Hut) she's managed to wrestle herself out of the old apartment complex (we agreed there was a bit too much "action" on the streets)--and everybody feels safer. She plans to get into Georgia Perimeter College and start making something of herself. I've known her since she was six and Oakhurst Presbyterian Church was helping raise her and her younger sister, who also lives with them and helps with child care.

We all had a big time with the nerf balls & the basketball hoop, and Davon shot a pretty decent photo for a little tyke. Amazingly, she had a bunch of gifts stacked up under a little tree. They don't have a car and surely no credit card. Last year at this time the two teenage girls and Tia's two little boys were living in one room at an extended stay motel--what a dump, and so expensive!

"You've come a long way, baby!" I told her. Now she needs to concentrate on raising these kids and leaving the Baby Daddies alone. Although I certainly understand teenage hormones, I'm also a big advocate of Planned Parenthood.

WHO NOSE? / DOC HOLLYWOOD

New Year's Day brought two great soirees-- a Polar Bear Plunge at one friend's pool, followed by a bonfire and walk through the woods at David Moscovitz & Nancy Gaddy's spread in Stone Mountain. All kinds of film people, writers and creatives attended, including Neil Shulman, author of DOC HOLLYWOOD, with whom I'm pictured.... along with his co-star in WHO NOSE? the beautiful Zoe Huaga and their darling son, Myles.

WHO NOSE? from Wet Sock Productions is a romantic comedy from "the real Doc Hollywood," author of the book on which the hit movie starring Michael J. Fox was based. Neil Shulman, who plays himself in this quirky Woody Allenish feature film, is a middle-aged doctor / author / comedian who considers himself a failure --no kids, no wife, no life!

Conspiring to capture love, he lures a young theater student (co-director/actor Zoe Huago) into co-starring in a romantic film with him in which SHE pursues HIM. But the plan doesn't run as smoothly as he hoped, so he takes to the streets for romantic advice from a broad spectrum of everyday Americans. What happens when the merging of fiction and reality causes a silly old man and a serious young woman to stumble into the generation gap and fall in love? Who Nose? An unexpected and surprising voyage of love!

It's a very sweet film--go to www.whonose.com and check it out!

Happy New Year-- and I know you've heard it before--2008 is gonna be GREAT!

A Woman's Spirit Radio Podcast-Wed 1/2/08, 2-3pm

2007-12-20T13:42:00.000-05:00

Tune in to A Woman's Spirit™, a radio show honoring women, on Wednesday, January 2, 2-3pm at www.radiosandysprings.com/womansspirit.php to hear the discussion between me and Vanecia Willis-Leufroy, life facilitator and spiritual practitioner (pictured)about the Universal Laws and how to tap into them. Just like gravity, they always work! It's just a matter of knowing how to work them. The show will also be posted for 48 hours following the webcast. Xee you Xoon! XO, Patrice

Holiday Ho-Ho-Ho

2007-12-13T11:55:00.000-05:00

The British American Business Group Holiday Luncheon last Friday at Atlanta's Capital City Club was the classic British hoot! Ever up for holiday folly, the Brits staged a
"Sing-Song" of "The 12 Days of Christmas" which had the Lords a-leaping, the Ladies dancing, the Maids a-milking etc, as each table over-acted our particular verse to win a prize, while the waitstaff looked on in amazement at those stolid subjects of the Queen (and their willing American cohorts in revelry).

Pictured L-R are my sales & marketing client Basil Haslett, visiting Atlanta from Northern Ireland to establish his Glass Craft USA headquarters here. We're partying down with a whip-wielding Ms. Ho-Ho-Ho and Santa himself, Bill Lind of British Airways. A lucky attendee won Club World (business class) round trip seats to London from British Airways, one of my former PR/marketing clients. British Airways gets my vote for international travel--they are top notch!

WHO YA GONNA CALL-- PRO WOMEN!
The next day was the first annual Fundraiser and Awards Luncheon for ProWomen.org, Professional Women's Anonymous, which provides support, education and media management to women (or men) harassed in the workplace. This new non-profit, founded in 2007, provides a non-legal alternative to people who have been harassed.

Pictured (L-R) are Advisory Board members Marjorie Singley-Hall and Patrice Dickey (I also served as Emcee at the event), speaker Karyn Pettigrew and founder/president Sandi Aigoro.

"Harassment has many faces. We define it as any unwanted action, gesture, or word that causes an individual or group to feel uncomfortable and/or at a disadvantage," said founder and president Sandi Aigoro.

ProWomen.org provides a great service for people who feel that their HR departments are in place to protect the corporation more than the harassed individual. Before this, the question loomed: Who ya gonna call? Now we have an answer: Pro Women!

I left corporate behind in 1989 for some of the same reasons, and have been a happy solo-preneur ever since... as Your Guide to the Life You Love, teaching people how to get the life they love and afford it!

Thanksgiving Trauma Trifecta....

2007-11-29T21:41:00.004-05:00

href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rrJDZzpjOgg/R0-Dyqx1RhI/AAAAAAAAAAw/Iob91Pal_6Q/s1600-R/IMG_5207.JPG">

And How I Breathed Through It.

Last time I talked about how the greatest gift we can give friends or family is our attention--well, the venerable Dad, now 81 and getting around on a walker and gumption, visited for a week at Thanksgiving and it was chock full of tender moments.

Dad, Norba (my great friend since 9th grade; they're pictured above) and I drove up to the Asheville, NC, area where my artist cousins Deana & Chuck create their award winning stained glass & metal art at Selena Glass and Metal. Their place off Hwy 19 on Sweet Hollow Road is a bucolic green valley paradise, surrounded by lavender hills.

Picture Norma crammed in the back seat with Dad's potty chair (skillfully draped with a windbreaker)as we drove through the Blue Ridge, singing "Over the river & through the woods..."

The feast, at a purple & white gingerbread Victorian on J.R. Pate (which they pronounce Junior Pa-tay, as in goose liver paste) was a potluck populated by poets, artists and madmen, and we contributed the 24 lb. organic turkey.

Chuck shook up some mean martinis.

Deana enjoyed catering to her cousin Joe, my father, last in our family's "Greatest Generation."

And when we got back to Atlanta, Dad and I attended the "Frogmore Stew and Bonfire" party of "Writers In Focus" TV host James Taylor and his lovely, lively wife Lynn Myers, while Dad sat next to liberal talk radio personality Mike Molloy and they agreed to disagree about Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter (two of Dad's faves).

I hosted a SingAlong Soiree for several "graduates" of "Get the Life You Love" and singer/songwriter Julie Austin led us in great old standards like "Down by the Old Mill Stream," "If I Had A Hammer"and "You Are My Sunshine." It was a hoot--and heartwarming too!

The next day, Dad's last on this visit, we were headed for the very uplifting "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" (a perfect holiday film about several ways to kill off your family members-- but Roger Ebert had given it Two Thumbs)came the Trifecta.

Within the span of 1/2 hour, I got word on the cancellation of a major project that had been perking for six months; opened my email to discover that not one but three friends from Garden Club plus one other friend had lost loved ones that very week; and then, the house began to clank and clatter like the Titanic going down!

Pipes rattled, twitched and shuddered--the garbage disposal gurgled--things clanged in the basement--the place sounded possessed! (Dad was reading the paper).

Thank God it was actually raining (in the midst of Atlanta's horrible drought). When I heard a strange noise and rushed outside, I saw something the likes of which I've never seen in ten years of life in the Enchanted Forest-- an air vent was spewing water and debris out onto the Lido Deck (the lower deck of my screened porch, where the hot tub lives--thank goodness the tub was covered). It was wild! Every 30 seconds a fresh gusher, until it finally spent itself--and the sump pump cut off. And the rain was helping wash it away.

Mercy!

Of course it took a plumber's visit to figure out what happened--the air vent had been clogged with the nest of some little critters that we screened out last winter-- but as it was, the pipes WEREN'T BREATHING PROPERLY-- and so the whole thing exploded!

This is when I got to practice my three-part yogic breathing, and managed not to explode too.

Moral of the story--breathe deeply all the way into your abdomen, and keep those pipes cleared out!

Kicking It Up Another Notch!

2007-11-16T16:31:00.001-05:00

Last week was huge! I attended Alexandria Brown's (The EZine Queen)
Online Success Blueprint Workshop in Los Angeles and connected
with people who are converting their BIG DREAMS to BIG REALITY.
They are DEFINITELY Getting the Life They Love!

Here's James Malinchak, renowned for his Big Money Speaker Tips,
with whom I felt like an old friend because I've enjoyed his online
tips and free reports for months. He's better looking in person than
in his photos, but still a cutie-pie here!

And I JUST got word from Ali Brown's team that I am one of only
TWELVE people invited to join her Platinum Mastermind 2008!
(There are only 15 spaces total and three were already claimed).
Here's Ali Brown holding my book, BACK TO THE GARDEN:
Getting from Shadow to Joy, and still smiling after three days
in spike heels, while keeping a roomful of 200 well-paying workshop
attendees on the edges of our seats. As Your Guide to the Life You Love,
I'll be sharing a lot of ideas on how to ramp up your success throughout the year.
I'm totally psyched! It's going to be a wild ride!

THIS THANKSGIVING, INSTEAD OF COUNTING YOUR BLESSINGS, COUNT THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE BLESSED—

2007-11-16T12:33:00.000-05:00

It’s kind of like paying it forward.

I was so blown away yesterday when a lovely man who’s been taking yoga with me for a few years at the Decatur/DeKalb YMCA walked up after class and handed me an envelope. I jived with him that it was comp tickets to one of the theaters where he ushers on a regular basis—but it was something even more special:

Dear Patrice,
With Thanksgiving approaching, I wanted to say a quick thank you. A little over three years ago, I was diagnosed with early stage Multiple Myeloma. Without knowing it, you (and Yoga) have been part of my health team. Yoga helps my body stay limber, helps strengthen my bones, and helps relax me mentally, all of which are essential. (Along with a lot of meds….) I recently achieved a partial remission. Thank you for being a great yoga instructor, and part of the reason for my good news! Sincerely, V.M.

What a special way to express his gratitude. And you’re right; I never would have known it. All the cockles of my heart were warmed.

Here’s the thing—if someone has impacted you in a similar way, isn’t it a nice time to write them a note about it?

TURN BACK TIME WITH TURKEY TALES

To be honest, I dreaded holidays—going back to my family in Buffalo (where I had never lived; my parents had moved there when I was out of the nest; so I didn’t even have a network of friends to support me when venturing back into the CRAZY ZONE).

In a drunken rage several years earlier, at age 48 my mother had fallen down the basement steps and paralyzed herself at C-5. She was an alcoholic and a quadriplegic—and somewhere along the way she had morphed from the Mary Poppins-like mother of young children, a brilliant one she was, to someone more like Norman Bates’ mom in Psycho. I’d always wanted to help her; I loved her so much. But the energy drain was intense, especially during times of high expectations like the holidays. It was an impossible set-up and it seemed to get harder every year.

One year at Instructor Training for all the Dale Carnegie instructors (I taught the Sales Course for fifteen years, and it was outstanding!), we were challenged to invite our family members to share a time when we were all happy together.

“Impossible!” I said. “We won’t be able to do it.” In fact the very notion caused my stomach to churn. We were all so hardened into tough little knots, trying to protect ourselves from each other.

But someone had to take the lead.

That’s why I threw down the challenge to the family a full day ahead of time so we could all come up with something. I’d already been racking my brains for days, so I had the advantage.

And I was amazed at the results.

THAT PRE-VERBAL THING

At the Thanksgiving table as we went around sharing our tales, it dawned on me that all of their happy times occurred when I was pre-verbal—and my happy time occurred when I felt like a young lady—more of a grown-up!

Although I didn’t take this as a total reflection on ME (after all, their happy times involved our summer vacations with the extended family at Ocean City, New Jersey, when my mother was relaxed and surrounded by the stimulating, flamboyant great aunts & uncles and her own delightful parents), I did find it interesting that they enjoyed life together more when I was a baby and I enjoyed being treated like an adult. “You’re a young lady now…” (remember that slogan from that era, ladies?

My happy time was at the Rivermont in downtown Memphis, overlooking the mighty Mississippi at a Mothers Day celebration, where my father (voted Best Boy Dancer in his high school in Cambridge Springs, PA) took each of us individually onto the dance floor for our own swing around the room. He was pretty mellow about it—even though he kept reminding me to let him lead!

What’s my point? That was one of the few times I felt like I had his attention.

Maybe sharing some attention and intention with my loved ones at Turkey Time is the best way to express thanks for what they’ve given. This is something I need to remind myself!

The wonders of Nature go WAY beyond our own back yards!

2007-09-30T21:52:00.001-04:00

Click each image to enlarge

I certainly thought this was enlightening. Beyond our sun... it's a big universe.

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky.
It is more than 1000 light years away.

Now try to wrap your mind around this........

This is a hubble telescope ultra deep field infrared view of countless
'entire' galaxies billions of light-years away.

Below is a close up of one of the darkest regions of the photo above.

How big are the things that upset you today? Keep life in perspective, and always stay focused on the things you do want in life, while letting go of outcomes. You may be surprised!

PD's CD Release Soiree at SILK Benefits Park Pride

2007-09-30T21:17:00.000-04:00

Abigail Paine, Development Director of Park Pride,
chats with me before the hordes arrived at SILK in Midtown Atlanta.

Software entrepreneur Billy Quinn and Jenny Stevenson

Lisa Haverty, owner of Haverty Hollow, a wonderland for
children; videographer Ted Rubenstein; executive coach
Jim Withers; and Dr. Robert Dallas of The Dallas Center

The Three Graces: Cecie Ingraham, Norma Poindexter & Sara Thackston

Novia Lytle, Charles H. Green, Chair of the Atlanta Dogwood Festival,
Kay Kenimer

Cortne Pappas extols the wonders of nature--much later in the evening!

A portion of the proceeds from all CD, DVD &
book sales goes to Park Pride-- so BACK TO THE GARDEN
gives back to parks & nature!

Some of the late night revelers in full roar!

What a great group! Marina Costarides, Margaret Davis,
Vivian Macks, Dr. Rick Thode, Denise Cunningham, Bill Solomon,
Cortne Pappas, and Brad & Pamela Campbell,
major supporters of Murphey Candler Park.

Wordsmiths Keynote Event Photos

2007-08-30T14:39:00.000-04:00

View the photos from my Wordsmiths event on 06/17/07

Hooray for bored graphic designers!

2007-06-24T18:16:00.001-04:00

Driftwood Horses

2007-05-30T19:27:00.000-04:00

Beauty is everywhere! These women build horses of driftwood,
Nature's bounty on the beach. Imagine--all it takes is a slight
shift of perspective to see natural wonders in entirely different
ways.

Watermelons & Eggs

2007-04-05T20:34:00.000-04:00

Melons, squash & eggshells expressed in new ways = Artistry in full bloom! What's ready to burst into bloom in your life?

These eggshells were cut with a high intensity precision laser beam, giving a very good idea of what can be achieved with lasers, including the most delicate eye surgeries.

What will our collective creative genius come up with next? How about a world of peace?

It's your turn.... Dare to find your highest & best creative expression!

2007-02-28T16:10:00.000-05:00

A shift in thinking is being demonstrated in this situation. May cool heads prevail!

2007-02-01T21:08:00.000-05:00

A herd of 100 horses was trapped for 3 days on a tiny piece of land that became an island in wind and rain in the Netherlands in November. Their natural instincts kept them from swimming to solid land.

The Dutch nation was mesmerized, watching this drama, as 18 of the horses perished, while others were slowly weakening, even though food was dropped in from above. First the fire department, then the Dutch army tried to rescue them - both efforts were unsuccessful. Then, with a break in the weather the water level went down and four women decided to try to rescue them by luring the horses into the water. Once the horses were able to witness how it was done, they easily crossed the now chest-high water back to safe ground. It was fantastic!

"Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom."
— Merry Browne