KS&L 298 The Manicurist

Did you ever wonder why someone goes to a manicurist? Even men visit a manicurist, especially if they are in the public eye and need even their hands to look good.
Did you ever ponder why people are so dedicated to their manicurist beyond the starlet, female politician and socialite? Many people have been with the same manicurist, often for 20 years, keeping that treasured appointment. Many ladies will rearrange their schedule to keep that appointment. Why is this? Isn’t it just about the meticulous attention to having nice nails? Why are nails that important?
Perhaps, visiting a manicurist has nothing to do with nails at all. Perhaps visiting a manicurist, especially a really good one is a little bit about fingernails, and a whole lot about having someone who is a really good listener, hold your hand while you tell them your story. While you are reviewing what is happening with your life, this kind lady is literally giving you her total undivided attention. When was the last time, busy ladies had anyone give them their undivided attention? Think about it, in these times, who takes the time to listen for a solid hour with a kind and often very compassionate heart? Not too many folks have that kind of time.
What makes a good manicurist isn’t as much about making someone’s fingers and toes look spectacular, as it is more about being very, very sensitive and very often, exceptionally psychic to the emotional needs of the client sitting in front of you.
Here is what may happen in a typical manicurist’s day. She gets all of her supplies and fancy gadgets set up. She reviews her appointments for the day and she takes a deep breath and considers each person who is going to come in and sit in front of her. She catalogs who is grieving, who is getting married, who has kids going off to college and who is getting divorced. She probably has mental reminders of what not to say and touchy areas to avoid for each person. She hopes that each person will be on time so that she won’t have to keep anyone waiting. She works very hard to keep all of her appointments flowing in a timely manner. She is such a courteous lady!
Because so many people talk to her, she inadvertently becomes a literal repository of helpful information. She just loves helping people, so she figures out what information to share with which lady. Such is the pleasure of shared information.
As each lady comes to her station, often she greets them with a welcoming hug or at least a very warm smile, immediately asking them how they are, how have they been doing, how is their family. Each of these questions will inevitably spark someone to tell her that chatty story that at first appears surface. Now a good manicurist has a wonderful way of holding someone’s hand, of looking them right in the eye with her own eyes smiling back. Human touch is just a magical thing. Holding someone’s hand is a deeply personal action and add to this, giving that hand specialized attention. It just opens up all kinds of emotional doors.
As the warmth of the manicurist’s hand embraces her client’s hand, the client begins to relax, to feel somewhat calm and to trust the person in front of her. She begins to share the details of her latest life chapter. The manicurist nods. If she can be helpful or compassionate or just kind, she does that. If her client cries, she offers her a Kleenex and lets her cry. She is really there for her client and often this woman in front of her is also her friend.
At the end of the day, the manicurist cleans up and goes home, probably never realizing that her kindness, her compassion and her ability to offer comfort through the process of doing someone’s nails was a tremendous service. Sometimes it is good to appreciate the quiet service of another. Kindness, gentleness and hope are often found in the ordinary faces of many people who do service, whether it be a manicurist, hairdresser, massage therapist or acupuncturist. Often it is so hard to get friends and family to listen, that we don’t even realize how precious those people who do hear us are to us. Maybe the next time you encounter one of these people, you can ask them how their day is, how their life is going and simply return the favor.

[This KS&L is dedicated to Peggy Laxson, the best, kindest manicurist I know!]

Join Me on Twitter!

Dear Friends,
In an effort to branch out in all kinds of ways to share this wonderful and helpful book, I have started two twitter accounts! One is Lightguidebooks and the other is Tina_Erwin. I am still learning how all of this works. Want to contact me? I have a new e-mail address for this purpose, it is tinaerwin11@g-mail.com

Looking forward to sharing thoughts and insights that anyone gets from the book. Let me know if I can share them on Twitter!

Love to all, Tina

Book Review by Susan Lendvay

The Lightworker's Guide to Healing Grief by Tina Erwin

Book Review reprinted from Venture Inward Magazine
July-August 2009 Issue
The reviewer: Susan Lendvay, Editor-in-Chief of Venture Inward Magazine.

A lightworker, according to this book, is “anyone who works for the greater good and seeks the wisest path to bring light to any situation.” Tina Erwin has committed herself to helping one and all who grieve, and it seems that’s most people at some time in their lives. Her mission began with the sudden death of her sister’s little girl at the age of six. It’s interesting that it has also taken her six years to bring this book to fruition. She wrote the book to meet the need for in-depth answers to many questions about how to deal with major change – everything from financial disaster to the ultimate change: death.

There is an all-encompassing array of help and advice in her book regarding what to say to bereaved persons, especially children; what not to say; divorce and abandonment; family dynamics; employers and their obligations; what the deceased soul goes through; how to pray with and for people; all aspects of trauma and grieving; suicides and the people they leave behind; karma; reincarnation; God; angelic help; religion; healing; guilt; forgiveness; emotions – sadness, anger, crying; the depth of attachments and the process of detachment; neardeath; life everlasting; the heaven-world we go to; ghosts; counseling; service; and moving forward after a death.

Erwin’s writing has much wisdom and compassion. Her answers to the most unnerving questions, such as why would a child die, and why does God allow suffering, are expressed with simplicity. She says each person dies when their life is complete, whether or not we might have had hopes and plans for them. She shows how opening one’s heart is a better way to heal than closing it. She tells parents to encourage children to laugh and play again even though a tragedy happened. This comprehensive, non- sectarian book is highly recommended as a good resource for public and school libraries, as well as an important addition to one’s bookshelf.

[Reprinted with permission of Susan Lendvay, Editor-in-Chief, Venture Inward Magazine]

New Website!

Dear Friends,
I am so excited about my new website: http://www.Thelightworkersguide.com

This website is able to link to the blog and eventually to all of the twitter sites. Isn't technology wonderful!

Many thanks to my publisher, the A.R.E. Press for creating such a wonderful site. We are continuing to develop it, so stand by for new information.

Also, if any of you wish to contact me, I have a new e-mail address:
tinaerwin11@gmail.com

The Case for Reincarnation

http://videos.komando.com/2009/06/13/
On the Kim Komando website, this amazing video and the attached story are told. For those who believe that reincarnation does not exist, I would offer them this story. Sometimes you have to remember that reincarnation was believe to have been edited out of the bible by the Council of Nicaea in the 325AD. Whether or not you believe in reincarnation, however, this child's story really bears watching. There are thousands of reincarnation stories, but this one stands out because this child selected his parents - and he told them so and his parents did not believe in reincarnation until they had him. Enjoy!

Positively Psychic Radio Interview

Dear Friends,
I am delighted to tell you that I will be interviewed by host Mark Christopher Nelson on Positively Psychic from 7-9PM PST, 10-12pm EST Thursday, August 20, 2009. If you miss this broadcast, it is wonderful to note that you can still listen to it as a podcast at the following website: http://positivelypsychic.podomatic.com/

Positively Psychic is a weekly web radio show on Thursday evenings at 10 EST, on the Para-X radio network based in the US. Mark Christopher Nelson is a professional psychic medium who has appeared on both radio and television and who posesses amazing abilities. Each week he brings in fascinating guests with thought provoking conversations about ghosts, loved ones who have crossed over and all other paranormal subjects. Tune in and give it a listen!

KS&L 297 Vacations Part 2

Seasoned travelers are seasoned by hard won experience. Cultures don’t shock them anymore and they know how to deal with endless delays, astonishing mistakes in communications and horrific conditions in third world countries.

Seasoned travelers laugh when their brand new Nikon camera dies at the end of the mile long Ramses tomb in the Valley of the Queens in Karnack, Egypt. Maybe it was the 100 degree heat or just karma denying them that precious photo. Actually, they really only laughed some years later, at the time, they gnashed their teeth.

Seasoned travelers quickly adjust to how time is perceived around the world. Italians close up shop from 12 pm to 3 pm and most close completely for Feragusto [festival time] in August. Colombian parties start at 10:30 pm and don’t really get going until 3 am. Flamenco dancer shows don’t start until 11 pm in downtown Madrid. German tours start precisely on time. One couple touring the BMW factory in Munich were admonished for being 10 minutes late. The American perception of time is just very, very different. Americans don’t even notice when it takes 10 very modern minutes to get through customs in Singapore. They are dumbfounded that it takes three hours to do it in Malaysia. When Americans travel, they have to learn that the world does not function on their perceptions of time.

Seasoned travelers know that problems are going to arise and they plan accordingly. They listen to that inner voice that warns them about things like eating certain foods, going into areas that are iffy at best, especially if they are not on a tour. They learn how to deal with airports, hotels and restaurants.

Seasoned travelers know that if you don’t speak the language, say so, thank someone for speaking English, be grateful that someone learned English so that they could deal with you.

Seasoned travelers know that in the end, vacations are never about relaxing and only about the experience of sometimes surviving your vacation. Sometimes you thrive in your vacation and that is great, but what are the stories people tell when they return: they tell about their experiences with a restaurant, an airline or a breathtaking moment.

Vacations are only about the magic and icky moments you live to tell about. These range from the story about the person on the plane sitting next to you for 16 hours who talked your ear off, to the coolest 13th century castle you spent the night in while in Scotland. Sometimes it is about the children you encounter or the food in the shop windows. Often it is learning how you handle adversity, like the beleaguered tour group flying from Aswan to Cairo, who were told that there weren’t enough seats on the plane for all the people who booked that flight and that they, the tourists would have to ‘rush the plane past the machine-gun toting guards to have a hope of a seat. . .’

Often what defines a vacation are the host residents of a country who take pity on lost tourists, like the crazy American family hopelessly lost in Mexico city because they had run out of map. Perhaps the highlight of that trip was remembering the very kind Mexican gentleman in a red Volkswagon, who said ‘Follow me!’ and helped them thread their way through streets with no name to find their hotel; or the restaurant owner in Naples, Italy who spent an entire evening with an American family telling them about living under Mussolini in World War II treating them to fabulous taste sensations.

Mostly, people don’t relax on vacation, they experience life differently than the life they left. Vacations to far away places, even as close as the American Southwest offer a full buffet of experiences, vistas and tastes. Sometimes you grow up, sometimes you learn gratitude for the dull, boring, wealthy life you are really living. Sometimes, you end up counting your karmic blessings that you live where you live and have the karma to have the life you have. Finally, vacations do allow you to relax, often, ironically, as you walk through your front door deliciously anticipating a whole night’s sleep in the sweet comfort of your very own bed!

A.R.E. Press Book Signing Stories

Dear Friends,
My publisher, the A.R.E. Press arranged my first formal book signing Saturday at the Edgar Cayce Center in Virginia Beach. Most first time authors do not have a cast of thousands at a book signing and that was true for me. However, because there weren't thousands of people, it turned into a somewhat 'intimate' moment with many people who shared some stories from their tender hearts. Since this is an interesting journey, I thought I would share some of their stories, without names, of course.
• On lady brought four children who were not her own, but the children of relatives. Three of the children were siblings and one was a cousin. Since this little group was the first group in the room, I started making conversation and asked them what experiences they had had. The oldest boy had lost his grandmother. I asked him what he remembered most about her. It is funny the little things that a person does that stick with a child. He missed her making hot chocolate for him when he would visit and the time she spent listening to him. In those quiet moments, he felt completely loved. He would miss those special things about her. The other three children also had lost a grandmother and they missed her terribly. However, their biggest current grief was the divorce of their parents and the remarriage of their father. These were three sad kids. However, to lift them up a bit, I asked them what they had learned from their parents divorce. Learning from their parents had not occured to them, but in turn they each thought of something. One little girl decided that some people are not meant to be married. Another child learned that you can love both parents even if they do not love each other. The third child wanted the new wife to be a friend because she was so nice and he wanted that to be OK. He learned that it could be and that having this lady as a friend would not necessarily be disloyal to his Mom. They also learned that their parents could divorce but that did not mean that divorce would happen to them. I felt glad that I could take the time to talk to them. The aunt bought the book to learn further how to help her nieces and nephews.
• Another lady was a teacher of special needs children and one of these children had very recently died. She was grieving the loss of this child and trying to help the child's Mom all at the same time. She had me sign a book so that she could read it and perhaps learn how to understand this child's purpose here and what to say to people who were also grieving the child's passing.
• Another lady was a mortician. She also helped with grieving support groups. However, her grief was personal because her husband had died six months ago. Can you imagine how hard all of this was for her? She decided to share my book with her support groups to possibly further their understanding of what had happened to them.
• Two other ladies have a friend who is dying and they asked about how to help their friend, what to say and do. A great deal of information was shared in these moments of a simple book signing.

Most of the people who walked into the room came purely because they were curious. Most had no intention of actually buying the book. All of them bought the book and several bought multiple copies because somehow what they heard filled a need. These are the moments that help me to know that the work that I have done with the love, support and hard work of all of my friends, family and publisher, the A.R.E. Press, is making a difference. The help we are giving to each other is very healing.

More stories to come after the next book signing on Wednesday, August 12 at the Barnes and Noble at Town Center, in Virginia Beach from 2-4pm.
Love, Tina

KS&L 296 Vacations Part 1

[The stories in these two KS&Ls are my own. I have been to 30 different countries, my husband to about 37 and there is always a story, always an amazing experience and ever and always great people to meet along the way.]

Did you ever notice that people think that they take vacations to relax? They long for the supposed care free atmosphere of going someplace else and doing something different and feeling a freedom from the day to day grind of their routine. They feel stressed, so they decide that taking a long cruise or going to Europe or going to a really far away place like Egypt or Singapore will give them a relaxing break from their life.

No one relaxes on a vacation unless it is a total spa package in someplace like Tucson, Arizona or Cambria, California or a spiritual retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Mostly, you have to be in really good shape to travel because traveling is exhausting. You have to have stamina, guts, patience and really pristine health. Lets play with this a bit.

You have to get ready for a 10-14 day trip and that means planning for someone else to manage your home, yard and pets. You have to organize everything at work to be able to leave, making sure that all projects are done. You have increased your stress to reduce your stress. But hey, it’s worth it, right? Even for a little while it is worth it to escape where you are for a while. Think about it, that is why the travel companies encourage you to ‘escape to Spain, Majorca or Greece’.

Let us say you are going to ‘escape’ to Singapore, the Switzerland of the Far East. If you start out in California, then you only have the 14-hour flight to Korea, the 6-hour layover in Seoul, then the additional 6-7 hour flight to Singapore. Even if you take a direct flight, from Los Angeles to Singapore, you are still talking about 15-20 hours of airtime plus ground delays, 3-hour pre-flight check-in time, processing customs, and hauling luggage. So if you weren’t tired when you started your vacation to relax, you are just exhausted in the process of getting there.

. . . and then there is jet lag. All the pills in the world will only help you somewhat to get past that feeling that your entire body is out of whack. You are hungry and sleepy at all the wrong times. You probably paid a fortune to get to this far away place with the strange sounding name and now all you want to do is sleep all day! Aargh! If you booked a tour say in Cairo, Egypt, or Rome, Italy for that matter, the cheeky, cherry, commanding tour guide isn’t going to let you sleep when you want. He or she will have to whip you and your fellow travel wearied tourists into the regimen of the tour schedule, which can literally be relentless. So, are you relaxed yet?

If you are new to this feeling of jet-lagged frustration, this is your first introduction to culture shock. Now you have to get past jet lag, adjust to your tour or travel schedule and then there is the food and water issue. Water is different in every country of the world. Some of it is pure and safe and some of it is not. Water is different between San Diego and Los Angeles, so imagine what it is in all the other global water districts. In Colombia, for example, you can drink the water in Bogota and Medellin, but not in many outlying areas. You just have to be careful. Water directly impacts what food you eat. Often, though, the most powerful element of culture shock is the food.

People say that they want a different food experience, but truly, that is only good for about 4 days. After that, most people want to eat something familiar. If you are in a country where you cannot drink the water, this is also going to mean that you cannot eat the dairy or fresh raw fruit and vegetables. This can also vary throughout a country. You probably packed so many clothes that you did not think to bring your own food. Often the food may have a spice or a cooking technique that just does not agree with you. That can happen even in your home country, it doesn’t have to be overseas. However, when it happens, you cannot stand up you feel so bad. This isn’t exactly relaxing, but at least you are having fun. . . . .

OK, you are past airports, jet lag, water, and food. Now you are actually sightseeing. Finally, you are having a wonderful time. Maybe you are with a great person and you are sharing the trip. Maybe you are having the experience of a lifetime. However, what is really happening is something different entirely and has nothing to do with relaxing! Maybe you are becoming slightly more worldly as you embrace these new life experiences.

In part two, learning what it means to be a seasoned traveler.

Massive New Oil Discoveries

I did check this out and this does appear to be quite true. However, the question is why don't we know about this?


OIL

The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only
scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a
revised report (hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this
area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota; western South Dakota ; and extreme
eastern Montana ...... check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion
barrels.. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable 5.03 billion barrels...
at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3
trillion.

'When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their
jaws hit the floor. They had no idea.' says Terry Johnson, the Montana
Legislature's financial analyst.

'This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in
the past 56 years.' reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation
known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the
'Bakken.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and
into Canada . For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead
end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells
decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the
Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion
barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels
will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!

That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for ----- years
straight.

2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should -
because it's from TWO YEARS AGO!

U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World!
Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006


Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the
largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION
barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three
and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this
motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?

They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than
all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:

- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
- 22-times as much oil as Iran
- 500-times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States .

HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the
environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become
independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people
dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY?

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this
very compact area than the entir e Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels
untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the
world today, reports The Denver Post.

Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again!
It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to. The issue really is that
even if we found a way to stop using oil tomorrow, it will take a minimum of
5-10 years to stop using oil for fuel, not just in cars, but in homes, factories and
products. So this could be an amazing boon to helping us.
--------

By the way...this is all true. Check it out at the link below!!!
GOOGLE it or follow this link. It will blow your mind.
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom" target="_blank">
You can also cut and paste this into your browser if it doesn't work directly.

Book Signings for August in Virginia Beach, VA

Dear Friends,

Saturday, August 8th: I am delighted to announce that there will be a book signing at Edgar Cayce's A.R.E. in Virginia Beach, VA from 2:00-3:00 at Reception. There will be a reading, and book signing.

Wednesday, August 12th: There will be a second book signing at the Barnes and Noble at Pembroke Center in Virginia Beach, VA from 2-4 pm.

If you live in the Virginia Beach Area, please stop by at either one of these venues, I would love to see you!

As always, many thanks to my wonderful publisher, Cassie McQuagge at Edgar Cayce's A.R.E. [Association for Research and Enlightenment] Press and to my sister Andrea Harris and her family for always being such a gracious host to my many visits.

Love and blessings to all, Tina

KS&L 150: Having a Will

What does having a will have to do with karma? It all goes back to planning and caring about those you leave behind. Life on the physical plane is automatically challenging and when you do not have a will, you make life utterly a nightmare for those who must take care of your affairs after you leave. Often times it seems to those left behind a cruel punishment.

Having heard the argument that thinking about a will reminds you of your own mortality, that it makes you sad, or that it is just too morbid to think about are all poor excuses. One excuse is that since you are in great health, why worry about death? Does worrying about death put you in resonance with death? Is making a will worrying about death? No, the creation of a will is a document that helps the living. It also does not matter what your age is, once you own even a car, a computer as a minimum, you have assets.

The creation of a will or Living Trust is a responsible action. A will or Living Trust is an administrative document that enables your family to manage your assets be they large or small should something happen to you. And things happen to people of all ages, no matter what great health they may be in, no matter how long they think they will live.
What happens without a will, what happens if you die intestate? The state comes in and has to manage your assets and then determine where things are to be allocated. It is so hard for family members left behind. They cannot help but wonder what the dead person was thinking – or not thinking about. It makes grief that much harder because anger and frustration are now added.

How do you go about beginning a will even if you don’t think you have many assets? It does not matter how much you think you have, a will is always tremendously helpful. Most office supply stores carry fill-in-the-blank templates for a standard will. You can do it in minutes on your computer, get someone to witness you sign it, date it and then make copies for the administrators of the will and put this precious document in a safe place.

If you have property, it will be exceedingly important to have a living trust because after death, it is a kinder way for a spouse or children/relatives to manage the assets. For this you will need an attorney. This is a much more in-depth document and requires more work, but by the time you own a home, one or two cars and the things that fill your life, it becomes readily apparent that someone is going to have to decide what to do with all of these things.

If you have children, a will and delineation of who takes over guardianship of your children should the unthinkable happen, is critical.

Some excuses are that the writer of the will does not know how to divide the assets. This can be a challenging problem, but none-the-less, one that is better faced now than not at all. Any decision is better than no decision. If you do not want to leave it to a particular person to be the executor, you can have an attorney or a bank act as the executor but they will still ask you how you want your assets divided.

Often doing this can be very cleansing. Making a will is an element of loving your family because you cared enough to consider the aftermath of your passing. No one can know your wishes completely. You have to help them.

In your busy life, in your busy, busy days, a will is a critical element in balancing the karma of life – of taking ownership of what you have done and how this will echo out to those around you. It is a thoughtful process and a sobering one. You are reminded that there are no guarantees for a life of a hundred years.

It also reminds you that the only “thing” you take with you at death is the knowledge of the quantities of love you gave others and that which you received. Things can be lovingly distributed even before you leave. You just get to keep some “things” for a little while. Everything is transitory. Perhaps making a will helps you to put life in perspective. For many, making a will is the final loving act.