The Foot Angel from Vietnam

The Foot Angel from Vietnam by Guest Writer, RuthAnn Dickinson

Okay, I broke down today and had a pedicure...alright alright, I went for it and had the mani/pedi combo pack. It used to be that my feet were naturally polished and shiny from being a beach bum at the Jersey shore in the summertime. Now that I live in the Midwest, the broken seashells and sand are impossible to come by.

My daughter is my Thursday Pamper-Self-Partner-in-Crime and we were after the perfect summer color for our feet and there it was - Flamingo Pink! Heather and I stood in front of the color counter, barely able to contain our shrills of happiness at finding the perfect color at the exact same time.

We eagerly scurried over to the recliner chairs and plopped our feet into the warm bubbly water. I turned on the chair and enjoyed a deep back, neck and buttocks massage while getting my feet scraped, trimmed, buffed and polished. The Angel that was caring for my feet ( she had to be an Angel to tackle my poor old neglected feet) painted a pretty shiny design on my big toes and I was amazed when I finally peeked at the finished result.

Next was the mani part of the experience. I decided to go with the same color on my fingers, just because I could. My Nail Angel had just spoken with her aunt back in their home country of Vietnam who was having a problem with her old motor scooter. My Nail Angel wanted to buy her a new one, but her aunt refused, instead wanting to fix this twenty-five year old scooter. I asked my Angel how long she has been in America, to which she replied five years. I commented on how well she spoke English and asked if she knew any English before coming to America. She said 'a little', but that it sounded different once she got here, but watching TV and listening to customers had helped her a lot. She and a few other family members came to America to find work and to make the lives of those left in Vietnam better.

My Angel said that she tried to soften her tone since coming to America because of the sharp sound of words spoken in her native tongue and I complimented her on her cute accent and beautiful tone and she giggled and thanked me. Before I knew it, we were finished and I had the prettiest tootsie toes and fingers around. My Angel told me that she was going to send her aunt enough money to purchase a new scooter and her eyes welled up as she thought about her homeland and how much she missed her family.

When I left the salon, I knew that I had been graced with the best Pamper-Myself-Thursday ever, thanks to the Foot Angel from Vietnam. She pampered not only my feet, but more importantly, my Heart. I am so grateful for all that I have and no longer feel guilty for pampering myself, because I knew that an elderly woman in Vietnam is a bit closer to getting a new scooter. Apparently new scooters cost about $300... American dollars. What I received today was priceless.

You can read more of RuthAnn's stories on her blog at RuthAnnsJourney.

The Foot Angel from Vietnam

The Foot Angel from Vietnam
by Guest Writer, RuthAnn Dickinson

Okay, I broke down today and had a pedicure...alright alright, I went for it and had the mani/pedi combo pack. It used to be that my feet were naturally polished and shiny from being a beach bum at the Jersey shore in the summertime. Now that I live in the Midwest, the broken seashells and sand are impossible to come by.

My daughter is my Thursday Pamper-Self-Partner-in-Crime and we were after the perfect summer color for our feet and there it was - Flamingo Pink! Heather and I stood in front of the color counter, barely able to contain our shrills of happiness at finding the perfect color at the exact same time.

We eagerly scurried over to the recliner chairs and plopped our feet into the warm bubbly water. I turned on the chair and enjoyed a deep back, neck and buttocks massage while getting my feet scraped, trimmed, buffed and polished. The Angel that was caring for my feet ( she had to be an Angel to tackle my poor old neglected feet) painted a pretty shiny design on my big toes and I was amazed when I finally peeked at the finished result.

Next was the mani part of the experience. I decided to go with the same color on my fingers, just because I could. My Nail Angel had just spoken with her aunt back in their home country of Vietnam who was having a problem with her old motor scooter. My Nail Angel wanted to buy her a new one, but her aunt refused, instead wanting to fix this twenty-five year old scooter. I asked my Angel how long she has been in America, to which she replied five years. I commented on how well she spoke English and asked if she knew any English before coming to America. She said 'a little', but that it sounded different once she got here, but watching TV and listening to customers had helped her a lot. She and a few other family members came to America to find work and to make the lives of those left in Vietnam better.

My Angel said that she tried to soften her tone since coming to America because of the sharp sound of words spoken in her native tongue and I complimented her on her cute accent and beautiful tone and she giggled and thanked me. Before I knew it, we were finished and I had the prettiest tootsie toes and fingers around. My Angel told me that she was going to send her aunt enough money to purchase a new scooter and her eyes welled up as she thought about her homeland and how much she missed her family.

When I left the salon, I knew that I had been graced with the best Pamper-Myself-Thursday ever, thanks to the Foot Angel from Vietnam. She pampered not only my feet, but more importantly, my Heart. I am so grateful for all that I have and no longer feel guilty for pampering myself, because I knew that an elderly woman in Vietnam is a bit closer to getting a new scooter. Apparently new scooters cost about $300... American dollars. What I received today was priceless.

You can read more of RuthAnn's stories on her blog at RuthAnnsJourney. To read more feature writers please go here.

"The Visitors" by Guest Writer Cappy Sue

"The Visitors" by Cappy Sue

I am writing this account some twenty-five to twenty-six years after the event and I give you my word that everything I am about to tell you is the truth.

I was four years of age when I met the visitors for the first and only time. I had fallen asleep while lying down beside my mother during her afternoon nap. She often took long naps in the afternoon while I played on her king sized bed with my barbies and books. Some time later I woke to the sound of talking and thought my mother was awake, but realized that she was still sleeping next to me. I was worried that my father was home from work, and I shook her furiously because I was afraid they would fight. The main issue was that my mother had no interest in being a housewife and my father had no concept of how much was involved in maintaining the household.

While shoving against my mothers backside I heard the voices getting louder. My mother was a notoriously deep sleeper due to her partial deafness and managed to sleep right through the noise. I slowly turned toward the foot of the bed and saw three beings real as could be. All three were bald and rather androgynous looking. They wore long choir-like light, lavender gowns.They were speaking to each other in a language I could not understand. The one in the middle was writing something down and they all carried tools or instruments of some kind. I got the feeling they were doing research. They were neither pleasant or unpleasant to me. They also clearly recognized that I could see them and that I was awake, however they never interacted with me or made eye contact. It was a strange feeling, possibly how an animal might feel during its first day at a zoo.

After staring at them in awe for a good thirty seconds, I turned and buried my face in my mother while screaming and shaking her. Finally she awoke and wanted to know what was wrong and I pointed to the visitors, only to realize they had vanished I told her the whole story while pointing to the foot of the bed where they had first appeared.

My mother calmed me down and reassured me that the voices must have come from the T.V. and that I had probably dreamed the whole thing. When we got to the TV room she stopped dead in her tracks, because someone had turned it off. She got very serious and locked every door in the house, not letting me out of her sight for the rest of the day.

I do not know if the visitors were aliens, angels, or beings from the future. It is also possible that I dreamed the whole thing, but I do know that it opened my mind to many possibilities from that day forward.

My art work (pictured above) illustrates the event from a child’s point of view and the images of the beings are as accurate as I could make them.

More about Cappy Sue:
Well my real name is Cathy but I like to write under "Cappy Sue". I am thirty-one and married to a lovely man and I am a mama to a house full of furry babies. My dreams keep me up most nights and often become stories or paintings. I truly believe that we all make choices, but that some things are pre-destined, and that if we keep our ears open and listen, there is always a divine voice whispering and offering us help along the way.

You can find more of Cappy Sue's artwork and writing here:

www.cappysuecreations.blogspot.com
www.cappysue.etsy.com

To read more metaphysical articles by Guest Writers please go here.

Learning to Let Go

"About Lost Things" by Guest Writer, Cindy S.

I have an old fishing tackle box full of charms, pendants, stones, hearts and beads. I wear them, 2 or 3 at a time, on a silver chain and I wear the chain everyday. I change what's on the chain as I feel like it. None of this jewelry is expensive, but each has a special meaning to me. For example, right now on the chain is a jade angel, a small bloodstone heart and a St. Anthony's medal that my daughter bought for me in Ireland. Jade and bloodstone are sometimes cited as alternate birthstones for Pisces and St. Anthony is the patron saint (maybe St. Anne too) of lost things.

By accident, negligence or absent-mindedness, I tend to lose or misplace things. A lot. Everyday. The things that most frequently go missing are my keys, my glasses, an important something (like a report) at work and trinkets from that chain.

Most recently missing from the chain was a small, pretty citrine nugget (prescribed for me by Kathy!). Citrine helps to encourage optimism and energy. It is also one of the few gemstones that doesn't require cleansing because it doesn't accumulate negativity. I had only had it for a couple of weeks, looked down at the chain and...oh,no...gone.

There's always a terrible feeling when something is lost, isn't there? With keys and glasses, it's a feeling of panic usually because I'm just about to leave the house and have to be somewhere on time. When one of my objects are lost, the feeling is sad, a small grief.

A few years ago, a friend taught me this 2 step way to handle lost items: After frantically searching-and there's almost no way to avoid that-first, be quiet (not easy), send out a prayer or a request to your higher power, angel or helper, then just forget about it (also not easy, but possible). It's amazing how many of the lost objects just, sooner or later, reappear. I have learned for the sake of my blood pressure to keep extra keys and glasses and to color code stuff at work, but so far the lost ones have not been irretrievably lost. They turn up: under the bed, in a pocket, under a bunch of papers. The citrine reappeared on the driver's seat of my car! It had slipped off it's clasp and can be repaired with some heavy-duty glue. Other special items might not return quickly or ever and here's the second step: let it go.

Somewhere in the world is a silver deer charm (deer are one of my familiars), an amethyst pendant, a pink crystal heart, a turquoise fish earring and other items like a beloved book, a fan, a sweater that may or may not find their ways back to me. When I let it go, I allow myself to assume that someone else will find it and it becomes a gift from me, to....who knows? Someone else who needed it more? Someone else who will find joy in owning it? And I learn that old lesson again: Losing a thing is not the worst that can happen, that things are just that: things. Less is more. Let it go.

About Cindy S.

I am a Pisces (engaged to a Scorpio), live in a Chicago suburb, have 2 grown children (son,26, Aquarius and daughter, 23, Pisces). I have been a special ed teacher for a very long time. I am interested in astrology, familiars and aromatherapy. I have also been collecting 'rocks', gemstones, charms and crystals since I was a child. I am not an expert on any of these topics, but a very willing student. I also write and love to read. I believe we are sent here on earth to help each other---things you do come back to you---even in seemingly the smallest ways.

To submit your own metaphysical stories please go here.
To read more metaphysical stories by featured Guest Writers please click here.

Get Published!

Creative Soul Artist of the Month Spotlight

Twice a month Kathy features a creative soul that has the same sun sign (the day you were born) as the New Moon and Full Moon. You are invited to discuss how your sun sign influences, inspires and effects your work - interview questions are included at the end of this post. Here are some past examples of Creative Soul Spotlights.

More Awesome Reasons to be featured on Kathy's Creative Soul Blog. Read Kathy's Press Release.

Spotlight Feature - Info:

1. You will be featured on Kathy's Creative Soul Artist Spotlight along with your interview (see below), photos of your products/services, a short bio, and photo of you, plus the option of holding a giveaway for one of your products or services. Your article will be promoted through Kathy's extensive social networking sites and you'll be featured in Kathy's Creative Soul Museletter twice in one month with an accompanying product shot.

2.  Create and submit your Ad: a 125 x 125 pixel image tile that will appear on every page of our website and blog (right sidebar) along with a spotlight feature article on Kathy's Creative Soul Blog to help promote and highlight you, your products and services.

Get Started:

1. Submit your art and ad for approval and pricing information.

2. We will review, approve and invoice you within 48 hours if your service/product and ad are accepted.

3. You will receive an email with a 1 click invoice to be paid through paypal which means we also accept all major credit cards and international payments.

4. Your ad goes live as soon as we receive your payment and you will start connecting right away with amazing women all over the world! We will also begin working on your feature spotlight article and set a publish date that suits your needs.

Email Kathy to get started!

Deadlines 2010 & 2011

Early Dec. - Gemini Late Dec.- Capricorn

Early Jan. - Cancer Late Jan. - Aquarius

Early Feb. - Leo Late Feb. - Pisces

Early Mar. - Virgo Late Mar. - Aries

Early Apr. - Libra Late Apr. - Taurus

Early May - Scorpio Late May - Gemini

Early June - Sagittarius Late June - Cancer

Benefits of being featured:

• Reach a larger audience. As an influential blogger with a large audience Kathy will promote you to: 1000 Newsletter subscribers, 1000 Blog Followers, 800 Facebook Fans, almost 2000 Facebook Friends and 2700 Twitter Followers. Kathy teaches a virtual eClass, Awaken Your Divine Feminine Soul at Susun Weed's Wise Woman University and is a regular columnist for Susun's Weed Wanderings ezine which has over 19,000 subscribers.

• Connect, inspire and touch hearts through your stories and creativity.

• Get noticed! Express yourself freely knowing that you are amongst friends who will understand and commend you for your courage in living creatively and intuitively.

• Cross promotion is one of  the best ways to increase sales and enlarge your customer base.

• Many featured artists have reported increased sales of their work directly linked to their appearance on Kathy's Creative Soul Blog - yahooo!
• More benefits here!

Featured Artist Comments:

Thank you for the opportunity to be seen in your blog and the opportunity for a little self discovery as I thought about your blog interview questions. I hadn't told most of my friends and family about my shop yet (I didn't want to seem like I was selling to them and my confidence was low). I did have the confidence to tell them about the blog interview though and the response was so amazing! It was so nice to hear their thoughts after reading your interview post and to feel their support. It was a great way to show my creative side to my family and friends.

Again thank you for all you do with your blog! It's great for artists to read about other artist's and why they do the things we do. There's a certain kinship there!

Jennifer King, Book artist, printmaker

I love the path I have chosen and writing this is such an affirmation. I wish you many Blessings in love in light.

Ellen Roche, TheSpiralGoddess

I just checked it out & it looks awesome! More than that, I had a great time doing it! It really gave me new insight into my work & myself. Thanks again for the opportunity! I will visit your site again, I love it! Keep shining!

Robin Rizzi, Collage artist

What a cool thing for me to sit and acknowledge my feelings in a way that I could put my thoughts into words. It has brightened my spirit and given me a new sense of courage. Thank you for your post. I can't say I would have taken the time to voice this otherwise. Regardless of whether or not I am chosen, I am glad that I came across your thread and wrote a response.

Dianna, Fine artist

I like the idea of people getting inspired to think outside of their normal realms! Thank you so much for featuring me, it was a fun thing to do and I like how it made me think about my work in a really different way!

Gillian, Faery photographer

Creative Soul Spotlight Badges - New!

You can copy these buttons/badges for use on your website, blog, Facebook & more!

More featured artists here: New Moon Artists, Full Moon Artists, Guest Writers.

Interview Questions (optional):

1. What aspect of creating your art or craft do you find the most enjoyable?

2. What originally got you started creating your art or craft?

3. Who has inspired you the most creatively, and why?

4. How did you decide what medium to work in?

5. How does your zodiac sign influence your creativity?

6. What do you like best about your sign and least?

7. What message, if any, do you want to convey with your art or craft?

8. If you had to choose a fruit or vegetable to describe yourself, what would you choose and why?

9. If you had to choose one other medium in which to display your creativity, what would that be and why?

10. What advice do you have for others who are just starting to develop creatively?

11. Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Don't Forget To Include:

• a photo of you
• a photo of you creating your art/craft (optional)
• a short bio of 3-7 sentences
• links to your shop, website, blog

Email Kathy to get started!