
Grandmother Knight Consulting: Wisdom for Life's Transitions
Contact Connie Hill at gmnite@gmail.com
Connie's FaceBook Pages: Connie or Money Stories or Grandmother Knight Consulting
Contact Connie Hill at gmnite@gmail.com
Connie's FaceBook Pages: Connie or Money Stories or Grandmother Knight Consulting
December 31, 2009 -- Beginning a New Year
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. Carl Jung Hi Friends Each year on New Year's Day I spend at least part of the day in contemplation. What do I want this year to be about? I ask for a word to represent what I'm working on for the year. For a few years the work was balance, until I realized that balance was about working toward it, not the getting there. Other years the word was trust. I'm always working on this, and trust is a process as well. Other years have been about grounding or acceptance or allowing. Each has been a gift, teaching me new lessons I hadn't imagined at the beginning of the year. What will my word be this year? I don't know yet, but as I move out into 2010 I have a feeling it will be a word I haven't focused on before. As you begin 2010 take some time to see what you are being led to work on or with. Maybe for you, like me, it is a word. But it could also be an idea: are you needing to be kinder to yourself? Set aside a few minutes or hours or the entire day or the weekend to ask what your work, your path will be this year. Once you know what your year's focus is write it on cards and put it where you will see it often to remind you. May all your hopes and wishes come true for you in this new year. May spirit be with you on your path. Take care Connie November 29, 2009 Willingness If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things. Lao-tsu Hi Friends As I was thinking about what I wanted this newsletter to focus on I flipped open Wayne Dyer's book Excuses Begone. It opened to the chapter about Willingness. I wanted to pick another chapter! What is it about that word that makes me want to run the other way? My Oxford American Dictionary defines the word willing as: doing readily what is required, having no objection. What's so difficult about that? It stopped me until I realized that to me willingness means I have no choice but to say yes. My early "good girl" training brings up guilt feelings when I think I might want the option to say no. What if I'm not really willing or if I want to move in another direction? Just realizing this connection for the word and my past felt freeing, and the "ah ha" that came along with it felt big! So what happens for you when you are not willing? Can you take responsibility for saying no? Do you have to say yes or blame someone else when you want to make another choice? Maybe it's time to look at what you want to GROW in 2010. If you want to join me in being willing to be authentic make a list of what keeps you from being willing and burn or bury it on December 21, the Winter Solstice. Ask Spirit to transform the energy for you. Join me for a Full Moon Drumming Circle at New Renaissance Bookshop on Wednesday, 12/2 to help keep your holidays less stressful and begin your letting go process. I'd love to see you there! Check out my other upcoming classes in the section below. I'd love to see you at one of these. I wish you happiness, peace, and willingness through-out December. Take care on your path Connie October 28, 2009 What I Don't Look Forward To In the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect, whole and complete. You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. Hi Friends Do you have certain things that you don't look forward to? Mine is the changing from Day Light Savings time to Standard time each year. It is difficult for me, every year. First, we loose a whole hour of afternoon light, in one day! Second, the time change, to me, means higher heating bills, expenses of seasonal gift buying, rain and possibly snow and ice, to name a few. All things to worry about, right? A friend of mine, Maridel Bowes, decided a few years ago to stop worrying about money. After working with the notion she has been successful and now rarely has money worries. I decided to use Maridel's idea on the thing I don't look forward to, since all are simply worries. I decided to use my personal astrology to see if it could help me. Transiting Saturn and Pluto are causing some hard, and some might say "bad" aspects in my chart right now. But I have found these so called "bad" aspects are what usually turn my life around and help me make huge changes. First, I examined the difficult side: how Saturn is stopping everything and Pluto is ripping away what is masking it. Now what’s the other side? I tell my astrology clients that Saturn helps us manifest by forcing us to look at things that have always been there with new eyes. Pluto wants to transform everything. It seems to me that these two heavenly bodies, working together, can bring make magic for me. And you know what, this simple inquiry changed my point of view. Now I want to look forward instead of staying the same. This process gave me many ideas for my "Next Steps!" I'll let you know over the next few months what happens. In the mean time what are you not looking forward to? Make your list. Ask each what it's about and what are it’s lessons for you. You might be surprised what answers come when you listen. Check out my upcoming classes in the section below. I'd love to see you at one of these. Take care on your path Connie September 29, 2009 Void of Course Moon The Moon in the Birthchart... Describes your ability to adjust emotionally to the changing situations of life. Spiritual Astrology, Jan Spiller & Karen McCoy. Hi Friends The Moon is important to all of us. Other than the sun, the moon is the most visible body in the heavens. We can see when it is full or new, many of us even "feel" these cycles. The Void of Course (VOC) cycle is one you may feel and not know what it is. They happen after the moon makes it's final aspect in a sign. Since I started putting VOC dates in my emails I've had several people ask for more information about what they means. Void of Course actually means "without a course". These cycles can last a few minutes to hours to a day or two. They can be a time of chaos and confusion and a feeling of being out of touch, or they can be a time of rest and introspection. In the past when I regularly drove in rush hour traffic I'd find that traffic problems were many times more pronounced when the moon was VOC. It's not a time to make large purchases or sign contracts. I even read an article on the web that talked about problems a person had with haircuts and hair coloring during a VOC moon. Sounds like a troubling time but I believe that everything in astrology has two sides. So, what should we be doing during these cycles? They are best for rest, sleep, meditation, cleaning, eating, studying, repairing things, using our intuition, visiting friends and doing tasks that don't have to be done at a scheduled time. In this world of speed and impatience we can't stop our lives every day or two but we can look at timing and do what is going to work best at a particular time. (See VOC dates below or get out your 2009 Maynard calendar for the exact times or email me for a session). Check out my upcoming classes in the section below. I'd love to see you at one of these. Take care on your path Connie September 1, 2009 I Love Fall! "Saying no is a potent force for good when you want to set a boundary or rise above a bad habit that's dragging you down. Just don't get stuck in no. Once you've said it, find your way back to yes" No Matter What by Lisa Nichols. Hi Friends Why do I like September and autumn so much? Well, I always feel a sense of energy and urgency. I'm like a squirrel gathering nuts to store for winter, focused on the task at hand. Fall is the best time for me to make changes, to complete undone tasks and to organize my mind and my life. How about you? What does fall usually bring your way? If you need a little help, check out the new book from Lisa Nichols of The Secret. Her book is No Matter What. It can help you begin to use the power of the Law of No Matter What to harness the power of the Law of Attraction. Also, check out Dawn Lianna's October 25th workshop at New Renaissance, Cracking the Prosperity Code. She'll help you transform your limiting beliefs into powerful core beliefs. Click here for more details.So, what's on my agenda this fall? 1. Start a blog. Done! Check it out at gmnite.wordpress.com. It's about abundance/prosperity/ money and spirituality. Please visit my blog and feel free to say hello and leave your comments.2. Classes. I have several classes coming up this fall. * Rattle Making at New Renaissance Bookshop on Saturday, 9/19, 12-4 pm. Click here to find out more about the workshop, we'll have lots of fun and you'll go home with a beautiful new rattle made by you * Monthly Astrology Evening. In this monthly session we will look at that months major and not so major transits and explore how they fit into each of our lives. Dates, time and location are still to be determined. Please email (gmnite@yahoo.com) for more information. * Introduction to Astrology. In these twice monthly sessions we will look at the basics of astrology and of course how it works for each you. Dates, time and location are still to be determined. Please email (gmnite@yahoo.com) for more information. * Full Moon Drumming Circle. We will drum and send healing energy out to the planet. Dates, time and location are still to be determined. Please email (gmnite@yahoo.com) for more information.3. Astrology Readings. I love doing astrology readings for people! Email me at gmnite@yahoo.com if you have questions or want to schedule a reading. I hope to hear from you. Take care on your path... Connie August 4, 2009 Put Some Aquarius in Your Life "There's nothing I'm unwilling to do (as long as it is aligned with my Source) in order to bring my dreams into reality." Excuses Begone! Wayne Dyer nother eclipse is coming this week. Wednesday, August 5th's lunar eclipse is in mid-Aquarius, the ruler of the unexpected and unpredictable, of humanity, volunteering, the internet, wanting to be unconventional, free and at times superficial. It also rules ankles so watch where you put your feet! I've been dealing with Aquarian influences for awhile now: I spent the last couple weeks, becoming a library volunteer AND putting together a website. Both came with a learning curve. Please check out my website which was so much fun to put together and is a work in progress! The address is www.gmnite.com. And if you're ever at the Tigard library on Tuesday afternoon look for me in the Local History room upstairs doing computer searches of books on hold! Another Aquarian moment: Sunday, while I was reading the paper, I was drawn to an article about Ashton Kutcher that ended with him saying he is often the subject of ridicule because of the movies he does. When talking about how he handles the criticism he said "I don't have anything that's too sacred to make fun of." That not taking yourself seriously is uniquely Aquarian. What a gift that could be for each of us! Maybe this month's eclipse will help us become less attached to that serious side. In the meantime here are five suggestions to help you take yourself less seriously:1. Don't be afraid to find something funny in your life, every day.2. Don't be afraid to let people know what you want.3. Don't be afraid to see things differently.4. Don't be afraid to get plenty of rest.5. Don't be afraid to act like a child and laugh at yourself. If I can help you see how to best use the energy of this Aquarius eclipse in your life, please email me to set up a reading. Take care on your path Connie July 3, 2009 Big Changes for Connie Last week I left my job of 15 years, to partially retire. For most of my life my calendar has been totally filled with work. When retirement arrived, though I have been trying to slow down for months, I was still used to filling my time and mind with stuff to do. Over the weekend a friend (and teacher!) commented that I was just like all the other retired people who were busier than they had been before retirement. Her comment felt really uncomfortable to me. My vision was that I would slow down and take time to center and be aware and present. But, I realized that now I was just busy in different ways. This constant busyness was not what I wanted with this transition. Filling up my time and energy was keeping me from being grounded and creative. I’m thankful for the reminder. It helped me quickly reevaluate! What a gift. A movie, many times, will help me center and slow down, so I rescheduled a couple of appointments and off to the movie theater I went. And those few hours away helped me get back on track. This busyness pattern has been with me for many years so I’m sure it’s not that easily dismissed, but I am dedicated to being the grounded, creative woman who is committed to finding her own wisdom and sharing it with others. And I love that my path is not straight but a series of curves and switch backs. Each step has value, even when it returns me to a pattern from the past. At these times I get to view that pattern from a new direction. Here are some suggestions that work for me in times of change (large and small):1. Don’t go directly from one large endeavor to another. Allow time between these to contemplate and center yourself. Allow yourself time to marinate in the old before you move on to the new.2. Remember: Stopping to center makes you more productive not less.3. Listen to your intuition about when to begin again. Listening is not procrastination, but following your guidance.4. Everyday affirm: “I am a grown-up, and I arrived here from nonbeing equipped with everything I need to fulfill my greatness.” (from Excuses Begone by Wayne Dyer) Take care on your path Connie June 1 2009 Making Changes Over the past few months I have begun making some big changes. I’m quitting my job of 15 years to partially retire and work at endeavors I have wanted to accomplish forever: more astrology readings, monthly classes, writing, helping people make changes in their lives. During the last few months I’ve looked at all kinds of symbols to give me direction. After watching Wayne Dyer on the Ellen Show recently I started reading his new book Excuses Begone! It fits right in with my process. Dyer (and I) have found that we are conditioned to believe that our situations are unchangeable: I’m too old or too young to do that; I can’t afford what I truly want; it would be difficult to do something different; I’ve always been this way and can’t change. Dyer says: Your beliefs, all those formless energy patterns that you’ve adopted as your self-image, have the ability to change dramatically and give you the power to conquer unwanted traits, or what you unhappily presume to be your fate. ...Excuses Begone! Dyer uses a series of principles and questions uncovered in his yearlong investigation of The Tao Te Ching to help us look, with clarity, at our excuses. Using these we can begin to move the excuses out of the way so true change occurs. Following these teachings can teach us stay aligned with Source and explore an excuse free life. If you are on the verge of changing your life and are finding it difficult to move forward, begin by making a list of all of your excuses. This awareness many times will be just the impetus to begin tackling the obstacles. I have also found that astrology (or other intuitive consultations) is a huge help. It can point out our what our most difficult and our most helpful traits are. It can also help us see when the timing is right in our lives to make changes. After looking at my own chart I see that many planetary forces are now aligned to give me the help I need to move easily and forcefully into new life experiences. Take care Connie |