Review of 2010 in the life of Raphaella Vaisseau

Rather than a Year of Expression that I declared twelve months ago, 2010 has been a year of inventiveness, perseverance, flexibility, and appreciating what’s good in my life and in the world. This year has been about reducing debt, eliminating ineffectiveness, increasing streams of income, enjoying the support of business alliances and establishing new ones, and valuing family and friends. All of what I’ve put in motion in 2010 will continue for the next few years as I build a more solid foundation for my work in the world. Artistically, I intended to explore and manifest new expressions, but did not accomplish more than a toe in the water of what I want to create in art and writing. As my new foundation supports me going forward, I hope to have more space in my life for creativity and new artistic expression. I look forward to expanding and simplifying at the same time.

A highlight of 2010 was continuing the conversation of Landmark Education seminars in Sarasota. Not only does this work provide opportunities for breakthrough in self-enlightenment, but the community itself is a group of interesting, intelligent, evolved human beings I thoroughly enjoy getting to know. I also continued my studies of Abraham-Hicks, NLP, and hypnosis, all of which I enjoy very much and will continue to study in the future.

On a lighter note, being a kitten foster mom for little rescued ones was a source of great comfort and joy to me this year. In a time when survival seemed to take so much time and effort, their little faces and furry bodies were an oasis of sweetness and beauty, reminding me to continually look for what’s good, pure, and life-giving.

My Sister: Conundrum, Gypsy, or Fairy Tale Princess

Thinking of my sister this morning while making breakfast, the word conundrum popped into my mind. Curious, I went to my laptop and called up the definition on freedictionary.com. It means either “a riddle in which a fanciful question is answered by a pun,” or “a paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma.” Since she’s my sister and not a problem to be solved, I’m choosing the “fanciful question” option.

Many times I have thought about who she is and why she makes the choices she does. I think of her sometimes in a state of frustration (mine), and other times with acceptance, appreciation, and love. There were times growing up, especially in high school, when I was embarrassed by her words or actions. Other times, such as being a child with the best big sister in the world, I blessed the ground she walked on. At night she would make up stories to tell me as we drifted off to sleep. Not stories she’d read, but new stories she created then and there. She looked out for me and later, when my brother was born, looked out for him too. She seemed always intent on giving me and my brother the best moment to moment experience of life.

As I began my spiritual awakening in my 28^th year (after my Saturn return), I re-evaluated my relationship with my sister. As I learned of devas, spiritual beings, fairies and the like, and experienced the light, love, and sound of my awakening heart, I realized I had misjudged my sister and called to tell her so. I wrote a song about her too, and titled it “Wildflower,” the name she used to sign her poems. She seemed a gift from another time and space, not unlike a “mistaken zygote” from Clarissa Pinkola Estés’s book of archetypes and myths, “Women Who Run With the Wolves.”

In my current studies with Abraham-Hicks and Landmark Education, I am learning that I have a choice to see only the good in people and situations. I’m striving to put aside any misguided attempts at fixing her (nothing’s broken), teaching her (it’s not my job), and instead, choose to simply love her. The way she is, right here, right now, doing whatever it is that’s going on at the moment. When I remember my job is not to judge, or get tangled in her life, and remember my only job in her regard is to see the good in her, I make lists of her positive aspects: What do I love about her? What is it about her that stirs my soul? When I think of her, I put aside thoughts of confusion or judgment that may arise, and focus my thoughts only on the good times, the magic we’ve shared, the joy she’s brought to my life by her presence in this time-space reality.

My sister is all of these things: a conundrum, a fanciful question, a fairy creature, a gypsy, a fabulous storyteller, a teacher of children, a writer, a free spirit, a poet, and simply magical. As long as I stay away from trying to figure her out, fixing her, or rescuing her, I can step back and simply love her for the beautiful person she is, wherever she came from.

Subtle Wisdom, Success and Giraffes

"When you talk about what you want and why you want it, there's usually less resistance within you than when you talk about what you want and how you're going to get it. When you pose questions you don't have answers for, like how, where, when, who, it sets up a contradictory vibration that slows everything down."

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in San Antonio, TX on Saturday, January 29th, 2005 #448

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For the past three months, I've been involved in a discussion of Success with a Landmark Education seminar and workshop in Sarasota. The discussion revolved around the questions: What is success? What are the standards of measurement of success? Where did these standards come from? and, finally, What is success for me?

I've enjoyed the conversation immensely. I've come away from the three months having discerned that what I want is to fully embrace the powerful creator that I am. The "how" seems to be revolving around the question at any given moment, "Who am I being?" The "why" is all wrapped up in my main goal in life: to be the best I can be, to polish the golden chalice that I am and fully express the gifts within so that they are made manifest for others to see and experience. For me, success is being free to fully embrace, express and experience life, self, art and relationship with wild abandon.

Photo copyright 2010, Kiaralinda and Todd Ramquist, http://www.kiaralinda.com/

I love life

Alice Walker said, "I thank the Creator for the optimism of my Spirit." That's the thing I love about life -- the continual spark of new beginnings: year by year, day by day, moment by moment. This week at the "Causing the Miraculous" seminar (Landmark Education), I worked on organization as the topic I wanted more from. Consequently, this week has been abound with clearings, energy, creativity and finding things as I create solutions to reclaim order in my home and life.

I also made a commitment to create and post 10 new creations of art between now and our final class, January 25th. I have three in the works already and look forward to finishing them so I can post them online for you all to see. I'm feeling the stretching and expansion of the new year and loving it.

Stay warm, everyone. Inside and out. Even though it will be freezing cold this weekend in Florida, I will be outside all day Sat and Sun sharing my art with the world in Punta Gorda. Burrr. Ahhh. Life is good.