All Good Gifts

Spent last weekend in San Jose, California at an event that I will forever remember as a milestone in my personal growth and development. I promised myself that if I ever had the money, I would participate in a Tony Robbins event - and I had the money, so I did. What this powerful weekend did for me was jettison me out of whatever was left of the comfort zones in my life and motivate me to reach for the stars! So many of my breakthroughs were from things in my life that I thought were over and done, but now, they really are!

For me, it was all about taking action! First, I celebrated the many successes that I have achieved in my life in this past year - the negative things that I gave up and all the blessings that came to pass. Second, I forgave myself for all the time and energy I spent giving my power away to all those things that were detrimental to my personal health, wealth, power and wisdom. And then, the realization that it's never too late to begin again came to me like the burst of a camera flash.  

So here I am, at the beginning. There are products to create, websites to develop and wisdom to share. There are relationships to cultivate that are long past due in my life - both friends and lovers. And there is much to pay forward for all the blessings that I realize have come to pass in my life.

The Truth About Me

I have been resisting. I wanted my life to be glamorous, and then I settled for behind the scenes, and then I settled for obscurity. That's just not right. I was born to shine. I was born to make a mark in this world. I am a unique wonder of the Universe. My purpose in life used to be to share, to make everyone I came into contact with happy, and to create peace. Today, my purpose is to create opportunities, to be a positive influence, to be a blessing where I can and to share love and wisdom.

I wanted to be a dancer, and then I was happy being a producer, now I'm in a dead-end job with no chance of making a difference. That is what I believed.
The truth is, I am a writer. I have ALWAYS been a writer. The only thing that I have done from the minute I had pen in hand to this day, is write. Toni Morrison said that if I had not read a story that was MY story, then I was obliged to tell it. 

So here I am to tell my story. I will post chapters and stories on my new blog. In the end, I will put them altogether as a legacy for my children and what's left of my family. Much of this story will be my family's story. They are entwined in all the pages of my memories. But I don't have to get their permission and I don't have to please them either. After all, in the end, this is  still about me. So I hope you will join me on this journey. 

I have created a new website, samelasunshine.com for this purpose. This site will continue to be reflections on the Spiritual side of my life, but stop on over to SamelaSunshine.com when you can and see where it all began.

"My only purpose for being on the planet is to awaken to my God Self!  To celebrate life!  And to do what brings me joy!"Rev Michael Bernard Beckwith

One Love

As soon as I realized that I was blocking my own abundance and subsequently opened up to the Universe – not only do I have money in the bank (two paychecks in a row!) Money is starting to come from everywhere! In lieu of my past mindset of blowing the money by gambling it away at the bar, I have used the money to pay off a bill here and there and to buy stuff I could actually use. Now I see where the Universe has brought me these same opportunities in the past and I have called them serendipity yet in the same breath I have gone out and BLOWN the money creating an even deeper hole than before! It’s not like that anymore. As my relationship to the One Spirit, One Universe, One Divine Presence blossoms, I see that there is no going back. I have been changed for good…

No Coincidence

I mentioned once before that during one week at school I had a class in Journalism where we were studying a certain style of writing and the story we were reading was about a tribe, that, it turns out, we were also studying in my Earth Science class as an example of sustainable living and, coincidentally, a paper about this tribe was one of the options in my Philosophy class! My cousin tells me that ‘it’s all connected, if you can just see the connections.' In all of my adult life, it was the first time I had ever thought about it - the connections. 

And just as a series of diverse subjects can be addressing the same story from different angles; my life reflects an opportunity to look at every situation from a different perspective.  My aunt (who was the Mother of my wise cousin) said – there are three sides to every story, your version, my version and what really happened. I now like to call it ‘God’s version’ because it is the Truth of every situation and circumstance subject to interpretation.

How do I see this? How does GOD see this? And if I AM GOD, how do I reconcile the observer from the observation? Is God within and without at the same time? Since God is everywhere at once, what am I discovering/revealing in this situation where God is omnipresent? It’s crazy to me that I’m even writing these words because there is so much that I have never thought about or considered that I have just taken for granted, but now I know that I know. And what I don’t know I am learning, revealing, and discovering from without AND within. And I am open to the information and the knowledge that is revealing itself to me in this moment – and in this moment, and this moment…

It's Time

It is June 2012. As I celebrate how long it has been since I've indulged in my vices (10 months), how recently I've traveled (this past weekend) and how motivated I am to be about 'Arts Managing' (NOW!) I take this moment to give great gratitude for how far I have come. I have come from the depths of despair and I have risen like the Phoenix. It is time for a NEW adventure. It is time to 'Release the Kracken' (or however you spell it.)

My friend said to me, 'If you're not working on your art, what are you doing?' Which was the straw that motivated me to get 'Kracken' (couldn't resist.)

So WATCH THIS SPACE - in just a few days I will begin to log the adventure of my journey back into the Performing Arts...And I will again share my Spirit and my Muse. I am learning - consistency.

I am so sorry that I have left you all lingering here as I got my life on track. Many wonderful things have happened and all of which I would share with you here, but it seems to me that the best thing to do is begin with NOW. Right now I am working in a department downstairs - which I've wanted to do since I started working in this job. It's easy, it's comfortable and I'm happy. Alas, it's only temporary, but it's long enough for me to make friends with all the supervisors and let them know that if there's ever an opening they should think of me.

Options however include the realization that I am an Arts Manager and it makes sense to me that I need to get out there and get 'managing.' So I have taken it upon myself to create a high-functioning arts organizations out of a couple of my friends' companies that are currently floundering. I'll keep you posted.

This blog may be changing direction and focus in a very short period of time as I might need it for many or any of my new ventures. Come back and visit. More will be revealed...

Long time no see.

It has been quite a while since I have been here. My life has taken several very amazing turns...until I get them sorted out, however, I hesitate to post about it. My kids have a blog now, too! All in the family. Speaking of family, next time I'm here, I'll post pictures...