Jan 7 2015

Searching for Clarity

Have you seen her?

My plan for the first week of 2015 was to plan 2015. To figure out where I want to be, what I want to do and what my long-term goal for the year, and even for the next five years. But aside from writing my Love List, as inspired by Dr John Demartini’s Breakthrough Experience, I’m not much closer to having the clarity I am searching for.

One of the biggest things I have been working through over the last few weeks, is why I find it so difficult to plan. Why I am afraid of starting something now that will come to fruition in more than six months or a years’ time. Why all of my projects are very short-term, and why the idea of planning the next five years of my life is so terrifying to me.

I think that part of it is the fear of making the wrong choice, choosing the wrong path, and ending up where I don’t want to be. But a bigger part of it is that I have a fear of leaving things unfinished. If I can see the end of a project, and I can see fast progress, then I am more likely to stick with it and complete it. If progress in very incremental and slow, and the end is not in sight, I am likely to lose focus and abandon the project.

Looking back at the last few years in particular, I can see that there are things I could have done, that had I stuck with them, would have benefited me greatly by now. Like starting a savings account. If I had started saving when I started working, which was 16 years ago, then I would be in the position to be able to fund my life now. If I had started saving even four years ago for a campervan, then I would be in the position to buy one by now.

The only things I have worked on consistently over the last five years has been my books, and this blog. They started out small, and have grown gradually, and I am very glad that I have stuck with them. I started this blog in December 2010, and in 2011, I had a total of just 251 views for the whole year. Each year, my views grew in number, and last year I had 15,497 views. With my books, I started publishing in 2011, and have published two books a year, and now I have eight books in print, a growing fan base and my sales are steadily increasing.

So I know that deciding to do something, and then sticking to it, does really work. And obviously I will continue with my blog and with my books, but what else to choose?

For me to stick to something, it takes conscious daily effort, and numerous reminders posted everywhere, alarms set, etc. My short-term memory means that if there is no visible progress, I tend to lose focus and interest and get sidetracked onto other things. I have got my new planner, Astrid, and I will be blogging monthly on my progress of using a planner properly for the first time ever. I have also been on Pinterest, searching for downloadable and printable planners for different aspects. I found a great blogging planner, which I might have a look at, and I definitely need a financial planner of some kind.

Whatever I choose to do, I need to find a fun way to do it, and it needs to be in line with who I am, and what I love. Whenever I have tried to build businesses or do work that is not in line with my mission and my purpose, they haven’t worked because I could not put my heart and soul into doing them.

Because I know that deadlines work very well for me, I am going to set myself a deadline now – by the time I turn 31, which is in just under two weeks, I, Michelle Gordon, will have an actionable plan for 2015 and I will be taking the necessary steps to put it into action and to go for it.

I’m counting on you to hold me accountable!

What are your plans for 2015?

Jan 7 2015

My Top 5 Favourite TED Talks

I know this is a second top 5, but I really enjoyed doing the movie one yesterday, so I thought I would share my favourite TED Talks that I have watched several times.

I won’t go into detail about why I love each one, but I would encourage you to find some time to watch them, because they have inspired me so much. There are so many amazing bits of gold in them, and every time I watch them, I hear new things, I resonate with different things, and become even more inspired.

The following four ladies are most definitely ladies I would consider to be great role models. Their passion, their drive, and their ability to be vulnerable, honest and authentic on stage is incredible.

What do you think of the talks? What is your favourite TED? Would love to know if you have any recommendations!

#1. Diana Nyad – Find a Way

#2. Elizabeth Gilbert – Your Elusive Creative Genius

#3. Brene Brown – The Power of Vulnerability

#4. Brene Brown – Listening to Shame

#5. Amanda Palmer – The Art of Asking

Jan 5 2015

My Top 5 Favourite Spiritual Movies

When it comes to entertainment, I would much rather watch a movie that inspired me as well as made me laugh or cry, and I think there are a lot of amazing Spiritual movies that more people should watch. Not because they are necessarily the best movies ever made, but because they have an impact.

Here are my top 5 favourite spiritual movies, and a little bit about why I like them.

Conversations with God

This movie is about the true story of Neale Donald Walsch, who wrote an angry letter to God, and then received the reply. He asked God to tell him what it took to make life work, and God responded. Neale has gone on to write many more books, and he holds retreats and talks around the world. Having met him in person, I can honestly say that he is the most humble, kind and generous man I have ever met. Which makes being able to watch a part of his life story even more special.

The Shift

The Shift is an odd movie to begin with, in that it’s a movie about the making of a documentary. A film crew go to a retreat to film Wayne Dyer, talking about how to make the shift from ambition to meaning in life. As he talks, you then meet other people who show his teachings through their lives and actions. My absolutely favourite thing about this – aside from the many insights – is the soundtrack. I adore it. Watch it for that reason if nothing else.

In Your Eyes

I rented this one on Vimeo when it was first released last year, and it’s now available on Netflix (I will be watching it again) It’s more of a paranormal romance story, but it has a lot of spirituality in it. It’s funny, touching, and I really enjoyed it.

The Way

I have watched this movie so many times, that I feel like I have too, walked the Camino, though without getting the sore legs and blisters on my feet. The story is of a man who has to go to France to collect the remains of his son, who has died in a freak accident while walking the Camino. He then finds himself taking his son’s place, and walking the way, taking his son’s ashes with him. I love the music in this one too, and I love the experiences he goes through on his journey. One day, I may even walk the Camino for real.

Eat Pray Love

I’ve watched this move a few times, I love Julia Roberts, and I love watching Elizabeth Gilbert speak too, she did an excellent TED talk (which will feature in a post coming soon) I love the transformation she goes through, and how she goes through each phase in different parts of the world, in her attempt to find herself. It also makes me want to visit Bali even more!

I will put a list of the Spiritual Movies I would like to see on tomorrow’s post. What are your favourite Spiritual Movies? Do you have any suggestions for me?

Jan 4 2015

My Favourite Recipe – Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie

I know this is not my normal kind of post, but I am currently embarking on the 30 day blogging challenge, which means blogging every day. (Blog followers, I apologise for appearing in your inbox every day, I promise I will still only post things of value!) I wanted to do some more diverse posts, rather than my usual fare, so for something completely different, I though I would share some of my favourite recipes, this is my most favourite one of all.

Because it’s not a topic I discuss on my blog, I haven’t mentioned that I am a gluten-free veggie. Because of this, I do a lot of my own baking and cooking, and have tried out lots of different recipes. I will share more through this month, I’m sure!

(Disclaimer: This recipe was not created by me, but it is a mixture of a couple of different recipes, of which I cannot find now. And I haven’t always made a perfect pie every time using this recipe, but the latest attempt was pretty amazing!)

Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie

Pastry Ingredients:

250g Plain GF Flour

100g Icing Sugar

125g Butter (cut into cubes)

Zest of one orange

1 egg yolk

splash of milk/water

Method:

Mix flour and sugar. Rub the butter in to make crumbs. Add zest, egg yolk and milk/water to combine into a ball.

Refrigerate for 30 mins. Then press into a shallow dish (sometimes you can roll it out, but the GF flour makes that a little unpredictable)

Cook for 10-15 mins with baking paper pressed on top, then remove paper and cook for further 5 to 10 mins until brown.

Filling Ingredients:

2 tbsp Cornflour/GF Plain Flour

100g Sugar

Zest of 3 Lemons

Juice of 3 Lemons

Juice of 1 Orange

50g Butter (cut into cubes)

3 Egg Yolks

Method:

Mix the flour, sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan. Put on the heat and stir in the lemon juice gradually, allowing time to thicken (much like when making a cheese sauce)

Add the juice of the orange to 200ml of water, and then add the mixture to the saucepan gradually. The more gradual the additions, the thicker and lovelier the mixture.

Cook until thick and smooth, then remove from the heat. Beat in the butter, then stir in the egg yolks and then return to the heat until it bubbles. Then leave to cool.

Meringue Ingredients:

4 Egg Whites

200g Sugar

Method:

Beat egg whites until stiff. Beat in half the sugar, then when smooth, thick and glossy, stir in the rest of the sugar.

Put the filling in the pastry cases, and then spoon the meringue on top. Cook for 20mins (depends on size of the dish you’ve used, and the oven type, it may need up to 30 mins) at 160 degrees celsius.

Then serve up and enjoy! (It won’t last long!)

Jan 3 2015

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 15,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Jan 2 2015

My Volunteering Experience

For Christmas 2014, I decided to spend three days giving back to others, alongside many other amazing people. On the 23rd December, I joined 400 other volunteers to create food hampers for those in need all across London. After not making it to Basket Brigade in 2013, I was determined to do it this time round.

It was a crazy, fun-filled day, which I spent hefting sacks of potatoes and carrots, picking up litter and mucking in wherever needed. We had some great entertainment throughout the day, as volunteers took to the stage to sing, dance and beat-box! There was a great DJ and spirits were high, even when there was a shortage of parsnips and puddings. Ketan made an awesome video of the day you can watch here. (See if you can spot me at the point where it says the arrival of the Christmas Angels!)

I joined two lovely volunteers, Faisal and John, to distribute five of the baskets. A couple we had to leave on the front door step, but when people were there to receive it, there were questions and confusion, but we had been instructed to simply point them to the note enclosed and insist we were just the delivery people. One of the recipients was a very elderly lady, and because she was unsteady on her feet, I carried the heavy basket inside for her, and then she directed me to the kitchen to put the chicken in the freezer, which was so small it needed a little rearranging to fit!

Once they were all delivered, we found a pub and had dinner, and celebrated Christmas, new friendships and playing our part in helping others.

Then on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I volunteered from 10am to 7pm at one of the Crisis for Christmas centres. I was there primarily as an Arts and Crafts Volunteer, but pitched in to help with whatever needed doing, and did my best to make the guests that I interacted with have a good Christmas. I made cards, put sparkles in hair, played scrabble and on Christmas Day was in charge of the cinema. Despite the moaning, Mamma Mia went down very well! (Not my choice, by the way, though I do love the location where it is filmed!)

Got beaten at Scrabble!

I walked to and from the centre on Christmas Day, (no public transport) and though I was surprised at how many cars were on the road, I had a lot of fun greeting strangers passing by with a cheery ‘good morning!’ and ‘merry christmas!’ It seems that it’s acceptable to do so in London only on very special occasions!

I set up a sponsorship page so that my friends and family could sponsor me to volunteer, and I was blown away by the response. The total stands at £307.62, and is still open for donations at the moment. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored, it really is amazing.

Rocking the paper chain crown!

Christmas 2014 is the first ever Christmas I have had away from family and friends, and in London, and I have to say, the experience was so very worth it. Seeing the guests being transformed by haircuts and conversations, and having time to relax in a safe place was amazing. I did my best to direct any homeless people I met on the street to the Crisis centres, so they could get some food and somewhere warm to be over the holiday.

So if you have ever thought about volunteering, all I can say is – do it. It’s fun, it’s rewarding, and it might just change someone’s life for the better. (And it will definitely change yours)

Jan 1 2015

Goodbye 2014! Hello 2015!

Happy New Year Everyone!

2014 was a weird year, both a long and a short one, a happy and a sad one. Just thought I would write a summary of the year, in order to acknowledge and release the old, to make way for the new that 2015 will bring. It’s a long post, so grab a cuppa!

I started the year with an amazing Harry Potter themed birthday party. I had mixed feelings about turning 30. Part of me was more than ready to say goodbye to my twenties, and another part of me was listing all of the things I had hoped to have done by this time but hadn’t. In truth, as I near my 31st birthday, I don’t really feel all that different, and when I tell people my age, it feels merely like a random number, than something that has any significance.

Also in January, I began my ‘Ask an Angel’ Oracle readings on my YouTube channel, inviting people to ask Aria, Amethyst or Velvet a question which I would then answer with their oracle cards. In 2014, I recorded twenty readings, and half of those were questions about Twin Flames, which is what inspired me to write more on the subject, as you can see from the many posts now on my blog.

My most popular blog post in January was my views on how to deal with criticism, after becoming the subject of derision in someone else’s blog.

In February, I embarked on the Man Brain Box Experiment, and though I only did it for a week, it did remind me that in fact, having a single focus make you far more productive than if you are to multi-task. I think it’s increasingly difficult, in this age of the internet and social media, to retain a single focus on anything, with so many demands for our attention (she says, surrounded by her phone, iPad and open tabs on her laptop) it can be difficult to shut out all the distractions and get on with something, and put everything you have into it. But I do think it’s worth it.

In March, I finally finished writing I’m Here, which I had started and stopped writing two Novembers previously and seemed to be stuck on. I was so happy to finally finish it, and when coming up with cover ideas, I had the inspiration to change the covers of three of my previous books, and bring them together into a collection. With the help of my awesome sister, I then set to work on getting the new covers of the Visionary Collection sorted out, and I released the whole collection, including the new book, in May. The paperbacks were delayed by technical issues, but finally came out by August.

In March I also had a few realisations on my plans, and on whose advice to listen to, and when to take it with a pinch of salt. I also discovered the wondrous joy of Scapple and had a go at using the Chronodex to organise my life.

In April I celebrated the 5 year anniversary of the birth of the first few words of the The Earth Angel Training Academy, and reviewed the journey with the book so far. I took part in the Wellness Symposium in Cirencester, I was nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award, and I revealed the new covers for the Visionary Collection for the first time.

In May I embarked on the I’m Here Book Tour, to celebrate the release of the new book, by giving away little cards all around the world, that contained a QR code allowing you to download a free PDF copy of the book. I had so much fun with this idea, and was really pleased with how it went. You can see the map of where the book was downloaded, and the link will remain active, so if you haven’t yet read I’m Here and would like to, please click here to download your free copy! If you have read it, and you enjoyed it, please do leave me a review on Amazon, I’d really appreciate it.

The tour continued with gusto throughout June, and in that month I teamed up with Sarah Vine, founder of the Earth Angel Sanctuary, to offer her members a free copy of The Earth Angel Training Academy, and I also wrote a letter to all Twin Flames, after seeing so many beautiful souls searching for answers on the subject.

In July, I attended the Healing Weekend, and had an amazing time, I recorded the first chapter of The Elphite as an audiobook, I recorded a video of some crazy deer in the garden, which went viral on YouTube (over 26k hits now!), I did a talk and sold books at the MBS Psychic Fayre in Newport, and I relaxed and went with the flow when things seemed to be going very wrong.

In August, the paperback editions of the Visionary Collection became available on Amazon, I was interviewed by Sarah Vine, and I embarked on a new adventure to the vibrant city of Brighton. I began to write more about Twin Flames, and at the very end of August, I started writing my latest book, The Twin Flame Reunion. I met one of my fans, Chip Jenkins, who is now one of my closest friends.

September was my quietest blogging month of 2014, due to my full time job, doing 50 hour weeks left me with little energy to write. I blogged about listening to your own intuition, and then at the end of the month, about knowing your own worth and not settling for less. The highlight of the month came in the form of a beautiful letter from a man who had decided that his life was worth living after reading The Earth Angel Training Academy.

In October, I took part in the Writer’s Blog Tour, I finished writing The Twin Flame Reunion and I started offering guidance sessions to fellow Earth Angels.

In November I released the cover for the Reunion, I blogged about the idea of changing our own fate, I started writing the next book in the Earth Angel series – The Twin Flame Retreat – and completed it in two weeks, and I released the Visionary Collection Kindle Boxset.

Okay, one month left!

In December, I celebrated winning Nanowrimo, even though I didn’t join in until the 16th November, I released the Earth Angel Series Boxset on Kindle, I started my Adventure with Astrid, and I decided to spend my Christmas in London, taking part in the Basket Brigade and volunteering for Crisis for Christmas. I also packed up and left Brighton, and am currently figuring out my next move.

So to sum up – a pretty busy year, lots of changes, challenges, high and low points, and I feel like 2015 will be the year where everything comes together and begins to make more sense. Or at least, that’s the hope!

I can see now that I achieved quite a few things, and I feel that in 2014 I created some very important connections that will make 2015 far more spectacular.