Creating Our Dreams

We’ve started our teleclass, Dreams Into Actions…Powerful Beginnings and are now in our second week. In the first class, we announced our dreams to each other to put them “out there”. Some of us felt exhilarated by announcing our dreams out loud and some of us felt scared. Dreams of the women in our class included:

• balancing work and family better

• losing weight and getting healthy

• moving into career and work that we adore,

• being role models for our children

• making millions of dollars

• becoming an author

• being on television or having our own television show

If you are reading this, you too might start by announcing your dreams out loud. Select your audiences carefully and only declare your heart’s desire to those who support you unconditionally; otherwise your dreams may get canned before they have a chance to take flight.

To prepare for our second class, we were invited to work with a buddy to help support the actions we each agreed to take to move our dreams forward. I was pretty surprised by the range of experiences in an assignment that seemed so simple and easy to accomplish. Some women were psyched and their dreams got fueled by their enthusiasm and the support of those around them. Other women ran smack into their expected roadblocks when they announced their dreams to their family members who thought they were nuts.

I found myself jealous of my buddy’s success and accomplishments as we emailed our progress to each other daily. And then felt terribly guilty that I would feel this way about a woman I adore and respect; wondering what the heck is wrong with me?! I began to wonder how women can support each other unconditionally and cheer each other on, and not have it mean they are “less than” or unproductive themselves. I wonder if there is a way for each of us to ride in the wake (to use a boating term) of another’s momentum and success and use that energy to inspire us instead of making us feel inferior. I notice how much work I personally need to do in this arena.

Magic Party 2nd Annual Summer Retreat

Our 2^nd annual Magic Party summer retreat last Saturday was wonderful. We were 18 courageous women declaring our dreams and working through a magical process led by Alexandria Hilton, Magic Party Faculty to manifest them into the world. It was exhilarating. It was scary. It was magical. The feedback we have received has been similar to this one,

“Thank you for a powerful day of deepening and expanding our visions and identifying what tools we will need for the journey!”

Alexandria Hilton sent the following email to participants after the retreat. We thought we would share this with you so you can use some of her suggestions to help you make your dreams come true too!

Hello Powerful Dreamers!

It was such a pleasure to work with all of you at the Second Annual Magic Party Retreat!

You all inspired me with your openness, courage and daring to declare your dreams. We are all on this journey together! I am excited to hear of your progress as you take the next steps to make your dreams a reality.

I invite you to use your Angel Guidance cards as a touchstone reminding you of your vision. Post them on your refrigerator, mirror, in your planner, where you will see, touch and read them.

Remember my warning about the old paradigm (the way you used to think of yourself and what was possible before coming to the retreat) conflicting with the new paradigm (the new way you are now stepping out into your dreams and living them starting right now) . Remember my warning that the old paradigm will morph into a new voice, a new objection, a new resistance (the old, ‘I could never do that” voice in your ears) and it is up to you to recognize it and choose what you will do based on your commitment.

This work is not easy. It is challenging, sometimes tedious, always demands that we grow. It is not for girls who only want to have fun; it is a journey for women who want their lives to matter and to realize their potential. This journey is for women who dare, who care, who stand together and support each other to be all they can be.

I welcome you into this amazing realm of discovery, new beginnings and being, doing and having what you have always wanted. It will take work. It will require support. Do not do this alone.

As you take the next steps to manifest your vision, be sure to call upon and utilize your allies (the support system of individuals you created). Wendy and I are partnering with each other to manifest our dreams and we now have a daily check-in with each other to keep the spark of creativity and the fullness of our visions alive!

To those of you who have chosen to work with the support of the tele-class, welcome and I am delighted to continue our work together. If you choose to go forward with your own support system, terrific, please let Wendy and me know how you are doing so we can share your success with the tele-class.

I have been a participant in a tele-class and I guarantee you that you will get out of it what you put into it. So, give it your best effort within the life you have with your families, careers, and other personal commitments.

Some of the benefits of working with a circle of women in the tele-class include:

1. You will be committing every two weeks to take the next steps in executing your plan and will be accountable.

2. The momentum increases when you are working with others supporting you, your results come more quickly.

3. You have others with whom to celebrate your successes.

4. You have the support of these women when you stumble, get

stuck, slow down or want to quit.

5. It is more fun and as Wendy would say, "yummy" to share

in this experience with women who care and want you to win!!

(To find out more about the teleclass, click here.) http://www.themagicparties.com/Events.htm

Thank you again for bringing your willingness to grow and transform as a woman, a leader and as a visionary doing important work in the world. It was an honor to spend a day discovering our magnificence together. I look forward to hearing from you as your dreams and visions unfold and are realized.

Sincerely,

Alexandria

A New Earth

I listened to Oprah's recent book discussion webclass with author Eckhart Tolle on his new book, "A New Earth". I so enjoyed Eckhart Tolle that I then bought the book and started reading it. Many things in this book started to resonate with me that I was musing to my friend Kate how great it would be to have help putting the teachings from the book into my life. She suggested we start a group book discussion like Oprah did but instead of listening to people talk ABOUT the book, we would talk about integrating what we learned into our lives. A group of us have been meeting on the phone, once a week for 8 weeks, (we have two weeks left) talking about and practicing one chapter at a time.

The things I have been learning through this simple but profound book has made a deep impact on my life! One thing I am practicing as a result of our book discussion group is no complaining...internally or externally. I never realized how much of my life I spend in complaint about other people. (Most of the time I complain inside my head to myself which does NOT make it better than complaining out loud.) The reason I am practicing not complaining is to be a more accepting person and more at peace. Complaining or wishing for something or someone to be different does not change them or make it so but instead just makes me frustrated and crabby and only has me in some sort of state of suffering. And why would I want to do this to myself? While practicing my new non complaining state I have been wondering, Why do I think people should do things my way? Why do I think situations should look the way I think they should look? Why is my happiness tied to things that happen in my life? What if I learned to be more accepting, would I be happier in life?

I am learning that the external world, of which I have found lots of opportunities to complain about cannot make me happy, make me feel safe, or tell me who I am. It is time for me to learn how to enjoy the experiences offered to me in my life without inner attachments to them so that I can be in a state of well being and contentment and maybe even bliss. Although I have a long way to go on this lesson, I am enjoying the practice and catching myself before or right after a complaint more of the time and even these small initial steps has me smiling more often,

Sex in the City

I just went to see Sex in the City with a girlfriend. It may not be quite our Magic Party brand of sisterhood, spirit, and a little chocolate, but it’s definitely the quintessential sisterhood and cosmos movie! There have been many reviews written about this film, some good and some not so good, but if you are an observer of women in girlfriend relationships like I am, this movie had lots to offer its audience.

As I sat watching the movie, I loved how these four women had so many characteristics in their relationship with each other that I value in my own relationships with my girlfriends.

• Sticking with each other and being BFFs through good times and bad.

• Watching each other’s backs and protecting each other, especially when their men went haywire.

• Supporting each other’s dreams.

• Celebrating each other’s successes.

• Taking care of each other when the crap hits the fan.

• Telling each other the truth no matter what.
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Watching this movie actually made me re-evaluate my relationships with my girlfriends. I wondered would they come running and take care of me if my crap hit the fan? Would one of them come out in a snow storm in the middle of the night and sit with me when I needed it, even if I didn’t ask? Which one would tell my man that he better shape up, or else when he did something really stupid?

Most of all, this movie made me miss my girlfriends. I have two wonderful oldest and dearest girlfriends and when we do manage for the three of us to get together; we usually close some restaurant because we love being together so much. And lately we have all become way too busy climbing some ladder that we rarely have time for each other. And I miss them. This movie reminded me of their importance in my life and how we need to create time in our schedules to be together more often.

Upon arriving home from the movie, one of them called to ask me what I wanted for my upcoming birthday. I told her, “No presents this year, instead I want dinner together and a pajama party, just the three of us.” And we picked a date in a few weeks that actually works for us all. Woo hoo!

posted by Wendy Capland

If I Were Brave

If I were brave. That is the question I carry in my heart from many Magic Parties. What would I do if I were brave? Taken from a wonderful song that was shared at many of the Magic Parties, this calls to my heart. “If I were brave, I’d walk the razor's edge…..If I were brave.” I practice being brave in my life. Brave to handle life’s ups and downs, brave to be a great wife and mother, brave to expand my business. Brave in my inner self – to love me and be courageous. Brave to stand up for my faith and beliefs. Brave to make the life I deserve. It is so much easier to be brave with the support system of other brave woman to stand with. The Magic Parties have introduced me to so many dynamic, fun, experienced, wise woman. They contribute to me each and every time I am with them. Their energy reaches a place in my soul that makes me feel alive! I look forward to each and every Magic Party – excited to see the magic that will be created just for me!

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Posted by Donna Iacopucci, Magic Party Council Member

Book Discussion Group: First Session

I so enjoyed our first Magic Party Group discussion on the Eckhart Tolle’s Book A New Earth. I had my own first glimpse into awakening 10 years ago when suffering from clinical depression. My therapist invited me to notice the thoughts in my head; I remember coming home and walking in my yard and realizing how horribly I talked to myself. I had an aha moment then… I am not these thoughts and I can change how I talk to myself. I started asking myself, how would my best friend talk to me? Definitely I had a glimpse of the light within me then.

I am grateful for this book which has “lightened” me even more. And I am grateful for our group discussion where we share our experiences and support each other in awakening. I got a wonderful gift from our discussion this week. One of the teachings in the book is to “make friends with the present moment.” This is something I have been practicing and sometimes find pretty difficult. Then Sheri shared that her way of “making friends with the present moment” was just to be the observer what is happening, nothing else required. I realized that when this practice is hard for me, I’ve been equating “making friends” to “feeling good about”, and that is simply not possible or helpful for all moments. And I loved how Sharon shared how she “looks with new eyes” to be present to what is, not making up a story about what is. Another gift for my own practice.

If you are at all interested in exploring these powerful teachings, we are offering this developmental opportunity for free. Please join us on Tuesday nights. Go to our website to get the call in conference line phone number. http://www.themagicparties.com/Events.htm

Written by Kate Harper, Magic Council member and co-facilitator of the book discussion series

Maybe It's Already Inside Me

By now you know me. I’m the girl who is obsessed with figuring out her life purpose. And as usual, I have been thinking about it a lot lately, again. The topic seems to be popping up everywhere I turn. Over the past 10 weeks, Oprah has had a live web teleclass with author Eckhart Tolle who has most recently written the book, A New Earth; Awakening to Your Life Purpose. Although I have not yet read the book, I listened faithfully for 10 weeks hoping to find a clue to my own journey. And I wasn’t alone as somewhere around 2 million people around the world participated in this teleclass. Through my own participation of this work, things in my life started to shift. More on that in a minute.

In addition to listening to Oprah and Eckhart’s eye opening deep discussion each week, I attended a Magic School program through our organization, run by my friend the yummy, spiritual teacher and healer Melanie Calitri Holden. This program gave us the tools, actually four really powerful tools, to clear out blockages and icky-ness in our bodies, minds and emotions for the purpose of hearing and experiencing the Divine within us. Participants and I spent a whole day practicing how to do these four things and without much effort at all, I came home and just integrated them into my every day life. More shift. In fact, after this program I felt as if cells on the inside of my body had shifted to a new awareness, a new awakening, and a new way of looking at stuff I had been doing for years without much thought. All in a good way.

So between Eckhart Tolle and Magic School, I am feeling like a new woman, with a new set of eyes.

So what does this have to do with life purpose?

I am now wondering if I should be looking for my life purpose on the inside of me versus outside like in my work or career. What if my life purpose is already inside me and part of me, and always has been and I just did not know it. I always thought life purpose was something to get to, to do, and to accomplish and now I wonder if it is more an internal, within myself kind of thing versus an external expression of who I am. Not that having an outside expression of who we are is a bad thing; it’s probably a really good thing too. What if all these years I have been searching and trying to find IT, find out what IT is and instead the IT I have been searching for has been within me all along? What if there is nothing to discover at all? What if the first step for all of us is just to prepare ourselves to hear and feel IT? What if the busy-ness most of us run our lives prevents us from knowing our life purpose?

And now I wonder what if the way in which I have been living has blocked me and clogged me up so that I could not be available for my life purpose to shine through and stay long enough for me to know that IT IS already. What if the wine and the martinis I love to drink, the junk food I put in my mouth and then convince my self is not really all that bad, the lack of silence I experience as I have created a life of doing, doing, doing, and the emotional gymnastics I, and the little horrible invisible guy that sits on my shoulder who whispers incessantly into my ear, “You’re not all that special, confident, smart, or capable”. What if all of that stuff builds up within me and contributes to junking up the pathway to experiencing my life purpose and experiencing the Divine already within me? What if I cleaned out my act, as I learned how to do at Magic School? What if all there is to do is prepare myself to receive the gift already given me, as it says in the Beatitudes? I know I am meant to live in alignment with my life purpose. I know I am meant to hear the Divine whispering in my ear all the time, helping and guiding my next steps. I know once I do this, it will be so much easier to align what I do on the outside, for example in my work, my relationships, my home and my friendships with the “me” on the inside that is already living in her life purpose. And then it would just be a matter of living as me; the fabulous parts of me.

Knowing this has brought me a sense of peace inside and out. Which feels so much better than feeling like the busy whirling dervish I have just today tucked in for a long restful sleep, maybe even forever?

With blessings,

Wendy Capland, Creator of The Magic Parties

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