Fresh Perspective 2 10 26

[Music] Good morning everyone. I am Donna Saw. I am with Robin Oki and you are listening to Fresh Perspective. We're going to be talking today about spiritual and practical practices to help you navigate 2026. But before that, I want to tell you that Brian, Brian, Brian, I don't know where that came from. I don't know. I just don't know. Robin Oki is the co-owner of Tall Tales Training Unboarding and she is also the founder of Imagine Acres. And you can find her on all the socials at Robin, A-C-H-E-Y, or as my phone in my car likes to say "Aki-Aki." I don't know why it just does. And I like this topic. I like it a lot as we were talking before the show. I know we're focusing a lot on the energy of the year of the horse. And I don't want to keep beating it to death because everybody is talking about it everywhere. But for some reason, this energy is connecting really really well with me. I don't want to say "Well, in that, oh, this is going to be a cake walk." But "Well, in that, I understand it." And having horses, I know you understand it too. I think the people who might be struggling with it are the people that aren't familiar with horse energy. And don't pay attention to the speed at which things are happening. And we are not ready for this year. I mean, in a many ways, if you're not familiar with how fast it can move and what you need to do, the good news is that momentum is what matters. Mistakes can be fixed. But standing still is not going to be in your favor. So either you choose over the horse chooses or the energy chooses. So, you know, pick one. Hi. How you doing, Robin? Hey, I'm good. I think it would be really cool to dive into what horse energy means, you know, whether people follow the Chinese calendar or not, the energy is the energy. And the name is the horse, but it really exemplifies what horse is about. And while, you know, we're talking about maybe chaos, lots of fast-moving challenges, there's also a really stabilizing force to the horse energy. And it is about freedom and strength and spiritual power and courage. So if, you know, if we're looking at that kind of energy, the question is how to work with it. And I saw a beautiful meme today, as I was waking up on Facebook. And it was by our good friend, Karen. But it was the meme she put out that said, you know, the snake said, I was not here to destroy your life. I was here to dismantle the one you pelt grew. So that's the energy leaving us. And the horse said, I am the expansion that fills what survived. So I think even though we're talking about powerful, strong, forward-moving energy, be ready for it, you know, what we talked about last the end of the year and into this year was getting rid of that, which doesn't serve. And also now, what is left? Who are you? What is your authentic self look like and where do you want that to go? And I think that will help you then see that like even though horse can be fast-moving and strong and about instinct and quick-moving changes, it can also be about your spiritual power and courage. So I feel like what we want to talk about with creating a spiritual or creating spiritual and practical practices helps you stabilize and ground yourself, get centered amidst all of the things that are going on, and align your actions with what you want your values to look like this this year and forward in your life. So I think horse can sound scary, but it's also very beautiful, resilient, strong, and grounding. And I know that not just from my spiritual practices, but my own experience literally with the horses on the farm. And I know you have spiritual experience with working with horse energy as well. Yeah, I think there's a couple ways to look at this. Not everybody subscribes to how we subscribe to things, right? So for other people, and even for me to a certain extent, what really helped me this year is breaking it down by, excuse me, breaking it down by the pieces of the puzzle that are in play for this year, right? So it started with by the Chinese calendar, where were you born? Okay, and you can google that listeners and you can find what your year means and what your animal means. But when I went through it, I was looking at this is a year of multiple facets, right? It's a momentum year. If you were born in the year of the tiger or the horse or the dog, and there's 12 years in this. So I can't go over all of those things. But what that means for you is that doors are going to open faster than you expect. So you're going to have to trust your instincts. Things are going to move, waiting is only going to be the real mistake, right? And then if you were born in the ox or the snake or the rooster year, it's a strategic build year. So it's not going to be flashy. Don't expect a lot of lights and lots of sound, but it's going to be extremely powerful. But you've got to systematize, study, and stabilize. And that will become real leverage later, right? If you're born in the year of the rabbit or the rabbit or the goat, I'm a goat. So this is a reset year for me. And what no longer fits starts falling away. I've seen the energy of that all through the end of the last year and kind into this year. And that has multiple facets to it. It's not always obvious. So it's very interesting how some of the subtle things are falling away. And then there are the bigger things that are falling away. But old habits, relationships, outdated roles, releasing is going to create relief. And if you don't, you're going to be exhausted by spring, right? And if you're a dragon or monkey or a pig year, right, plot twist, right? You're going to have unexpected opportunities, sharp turns, winds from places you didn't expect, and flexibility is going to beat control. And so when I was going through this, because I always, I can get confused pretty easily with this concussion, right? So I looked at what is the year that I'm born? Okay, reset year. Yeah, that feels right. I've already seen the energy of it. In order for me to move forward with spiritual or practical practices this year, I need to look at the five key things that are going to be operating this year, right? First and foremost, you got to pick a direction. And we're going to be talking in depth about this. I'm just kind of going over the highlights here. And then declutter your life. You have to look in fixture stamina. You have to stop people pleasing and you have to move your body. So in understanding that this was a reset year, and these were the elements that were operating in this year, yes, all of them are important. But the one that is really ringing the bell for me was declutter your life and watch the things fall away and be willing to let them fall away. I think people are afraid. And so for me to compartmentalize how the process works was very helpful to engaging in the process. Yeah, that's true. And you know, when we're talking about looking at does this resonate with you, you know, what animal your earth sign is? I look at many different pieces of, oh, philosophies on life. Like, for instance, the Chinese calendar, I'm dragging. That's what my year is coming to bring. That resonates with me. I also look to, of course, the Celtic wheel to know how to decide that season. How is this going to look and move? And shamanic astrology was something I always loved. It's not Western astrology. It's not your sunshine deciding everything about you. It's where all the planets and constellations were, the moment you were born. And that resonates with me. So I looked to many avenues to say, all right, this is going to have this is my roadmap. It's not definitive. It's my roadmap. How am I going to walk with all of this? And then most specifically, we're looking at walking with horse energy. And the lessons we learn from horses are vast and gigantic. They are amazing creatures out watching your emotions. And your emotional states are amplified in front of a horse. They read you from about 50 feet away. You have to be very balanced. And that's what you're going to look at if we're talking about what spiritual practices to develop emotional balance. That's something we want to look at. Horses work with nonverbal communication. So on a nonverbal level, how do you carry yourself? What is your energy speaking? What are your facial expressions? We communicate in all those ways. Let's be aware of who we are authentically. So your horse asks you to look at who you are authentically. And then trust. Trust is a big one because we're looking at trusting our instincts, trusting where we're going, trusting each other, and trust requires consistency. Because an animal needs to see you being very consistent in order to trust you. So it is a person. All of our relationships work around that. So there's three big categories we can talk about as we go through the show, but it does help you also say, okay, if I'm going to develop spiritual practices with which to navigate this year, ground stabilize, be authentic, those categories kind of give you another little roadmap on how to see where you're going. I love that. Yeah, I love that because there is no one way to get through the year. I think you have to understand the umbrella under which you are standing, but there is no one path. There are multiple avenues that you can take as long as you pay attention and pick one that resonates for you. You know, you added a couple more. I happen to be following one. You happen to be following another, but we're both dancing and walking in the same direction. And I think that helps the people that are not naturally inclined to maybe grasp spirituality or listen to their guides or maybe meditate or journey or those kinds of things. All of those things can be important, but you don't have to do all of them. And I think what we're trying to do here today is give you an idea of the steps of the dance that you can have and pull from it what's valid for you, right? If the Chinese calendar and Chinese astrology is resonating, go that direction if the Celtic calendar resonates for you. And if you don't have any of those things yet, start looking into some things. Start thinking about what's happening in your life right now, what's pulling at you and has anything that we've mentioned so far resonating, is it resonating for you? Because if it is, that's the thing that you need to be looking at and working on for this year. So there's just once I grasped for myself that there are ways of approaching things and energy and changing in a very analytical, I'll say, analytical way, that I can add to my intuitive way and spiritual way. It became a lot easier for me to start making progress. It became a lot easier for me to start paying attention to what could just be nuance. Like somebody does something, they do it all the time. It's annoying. Well, guess what? In this year of falling away, maybe those people have to start falling away. And if you can't have them fall away entirely then how do you manage that process of maybe separating or divorcing yourself and creating the space that's needed? And so it becomes a very interesting, not only observation, but an interesting way of moving through life. I was fortunate enough this past weekend to be at Moonstone Enseige, Shoutout Moonstone Enseige. Jill Ang did a, did a, um, function way, function way your life in 2026. And I've never paid much attention to function way before. But can I tell you how fascinating it was? I never thought of it in terms of anything. It's, it was kind of like this thing I didn't understand, right? And I never took the time to look into it. But she said some very basic things that were really great. And I'm going to share just one or two and then we're going to go to break, right? Eric? I used to use wave and fingers in my face. Um, but she talked about decluttering. And that's a theme for this year, right? Declutter. Because if you have all of the stuff that's taking up energy, it's putting off energy, it's messing up your energy. Yadda, yadda, we all know the story. But everybody has a challenge, right? What do you get rid of? What do you keep? You know, if I get rid of it, I'm going to need it tomorrow, the whole thing that you go through mentally, the mental gymnastics. But she said three things. She said for decluttering, take a look at, and take a look at broken things in your house, like in coaching, we used to call them tolerances, right? The things that the drawer that you open and all the silverware comes flying to the front of it every single time. And every time it happens, you go, oh, well, that's a tolerance. And that's a thing that's broken, right? Now take a step to fix it, right? So that's the first level of decluttering. The second level is looking at, and this, and this is kind of an interesting one, things that were given to you. Because how much of the stuff in your house are things that are given to you? Now, some of it might have sentimental value. A lot of it doesn't. If anything has to do with a past relationship, she suggests, well, a past relationship that didn't end well. She suggests you get rid of it because it's just sucking energy and it's reminding you of things and you don't need it. So get rid of it. Now she even took it so far and I'm going to draw a line here because I'm just going to draw a line here. She drew a line at jewelry that you should take your jewelry that was given to you, wrap it very nicely in a weight, anything, paper, tissue, whatever, and thank it and toss it in the trash. And all I'm thinking about is if you saw my jewelry, there's no way that's happening. It's just not. We're just going to take that off the table for me, but I understand the concept. And the thing was, thank it and send it on with love. But she said something else really important. She said, do not bring the energy of desperation into the decluttering process. Because you know when you look at decluttering and you go, oh my god, it's so much, I'm overwhelmed. I'm just, I got to get rid of this and you just start randomly pulling it things. Don't do that. And I didn't think of that in terms of funcishway. I didn't really know where I thought like that belonged. But I thought that was so incredibly helpful in terms of like getting me started personally. I've funcishwayed this stuff out of my house on on Sunday. I did that Sunday too. Yeah, I didn't do a lot. And here's the other thing that she said that was really important, even if you can't do a whole room, right? Do something with love. For example, I have a sunroom. I didn't have time to do the whole sunroom, but there is this one piece in the sunroom that needs to be oiled, right? It's a wooden piece. And I thought, well, I can't oil it because I can't don't have time to do the rest of it. Is it even going to count? Well, guess what? Yes, it does. It all counts. So who knew? Who knew? And I wanted to share that with you and our listeners because it was so impactful for me. And there are just so many ways to embrace 2026 in the energy of 2026 and move through it in a way that is a little more gentle for you. We're talking about the horse. We're talking about momentum. We're talking about speed. And yes, that's going to happen. But you don't have to be panic about it. And that was my point. I think that's also giving yourself the grace to know that like, you know, the same thing. But I didn't have time for a room. I could clear two piles and you clear the piles and that's it. The grace with doing the smallest things to get ahead do count. Yes, absolutely. We're going to take a break here from our sponsors. You're listening to Fresh Perspective. We're coming right back. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Fresh Perspective. I am Donna Saul. I'm with Robin Ockie. We are talking, we're coming all kind of ground today, right? We're talking spiritual and practical practices to help you navigate 2026, not because we are experts. I mean, you know, we've been walking this walk a long time. We know a lot of stuff. So yeah, we're pretty good at what we do. But to give you all options in terms of how to approach this energy of this year in order to meet your life goals, meet your dreams, get the things done, live a little easier, breathe a little easier, enjoy life more, stop worrying or worrying less, I should say. At the end of the first segment, we were talking about decluttering and I was sharing what I learned from Jill Eadett, Moon Stone and Sage on Saturday in the Feng Shui class. It was really life changing, but it's not the only way of spiritual practice and spiritual ritual because decluttering is actually one of the steps in that process that you and I both use Robin. Right, right. And that whole process and decluttering, like you get to being, you get to a place in your home where you're comfortable with what you see around you and sometimes you don't notice it. And then you have to walk away and come back and I noticed that my most important room, my creation room where I'm sitting now was so full of energetic debris and then like some physical debris. And it was also things that needed to go from previous practices I had that weren't working anymore. So I had all these things that I was hanging onto and I actually had notebook, upon notebook of things I thought were important. And I opened one and closed it and thought, you know, up to your point about don't belabor, don't go into it, it was stress. Most of these things I've already what was important brought into my heart and I learned. And if I haven't learned it by now, these seven notebooks aren't going to teach it to me. And I didn't get hung up on keeping it, it went. It was the easiest decluttering ever because I wanted this room to be fresh and open to like the new creations I want to do. So the day that I thought would just be puddling became my first step in resetting my spiritual practices for this year. So the decluttering went very easily and it became like joyful and I hate cleaning but the joy in opening up this space and getting it tidy and neat and releasing because the other thing is if you do not willingly release relationships or things it's going to be forced upon you. And I see that in relationships with people that I have currently that if I'm hanging onto something that's not really serving me or I keep insisting on trying to create the same pattern of celebration holiday things like that. I need to let the go of the things that need to move out of my space so I can really invite in the correct relationships. So when we literally clean a room we are figuratively cleaning our mental and emotional space to open up for the new things. And there's a parable I heard a long time ago, you might have heard it Ghana and perhaps some of the listeners. There was a student that went to a teacher for enlightenment and information and gross and they sat down to have tea. And then as they talked at one point the teacher the master asked if the student would like some more tea to which the student replied yes and the master began filling the cup with tea but went to fill it and kept filling until it was overflowing. And the student asked why did you do that? Why did you make it overflow? He said your cup was an empty so you weren't able to breathe. receive the new T. If your cup is an empty of the old T, you can't get the fresh T. So the idea was like you come to me with too many preconceived notions, you don't have the space for new info or new energy or new people and therefore a mess was made. So the same thing will happen with our lives in our rooms, you know, don't bring a new piece of clothing in until you declutter your closet. Do you really need it and if you do declutter? So I think the idea that your new info coming in the new year and what you're ready to tackle and how you want to create these spiritual practices starts with opening the space. Yes. So you can put it in because if you don't mindfully put it in, universe will fill it quickly with maybe the wrong thing. And in this year, the way that's going to work, the clutter or the releasing of things is you're going to drag them through this year and it's going to be harder than you can ever imagine. So yes, the universe will fill the space and it could take it from you if it's serious enough or it's going to let it hang around and you're going to get more and more miserable through this year. And I saw in just the little bit that I was able to accomplish in the time I had on Sunday, the big difference in the energy of the rooms and the energy of the home. And it was really interesting to realize when I looked at the stuff that was around, they were all tolerances. You know, there's tolerances that I referred to, these things that I looked at and went, "Ugh, I got to move these." And I realized that I can't move certain things until I throw away the rest of it, right? I have to make space for it. So it illustrates your point beautifully, physically and spiritually and emotionally and psychologically. I needed to move these items, but I needed to make space first for the new items. So for me, it was happening concurrently and then what I was able to move out did open new space, new ideas coming in. And I find that too, we have talked about medication, medication, meditation. Wishful thinking, meditation, a number of times. And we talk about sage's meditate and stillness, warriors meditate in motion. And it doesn't make one better than the other. They are simply different styles. But it is who are. Yeah, it's who you are. And it's who, like, it is that the act itself is of the decluttering and the moving and the motion is about really releasing things in your mind and seeing things from that different perspective that you were looking for. So decluttering is not the only way to get it. There are other ways to get that openness of mind and openness of energy that you're looking for if you don't feel like tackling your closet. But I don't know, I find it very meditative at times to just kind of shut out the world. It can't be that next thing you do on your list, right? Because that's bringing in the desperation that the Feng Shui says you shouldn't introduce. But when you, you just kind of know when it clicks and it's ready, right? I mean, I'm sure you felt that on Sunday. And then you do random things like I cleaned out a closet. Like I don't even know why I cleaned out that particular closet. But can I tell you how happy I am that I did? So it's just, you kind of go where the energy leads you. I think is what I'm trying to say and you do what you can in the time that you have. And you're grateful for having done it. If that makes sense. Well, I gave myself the whole day to putter from thing to thing. And what you mentioned was really important. Don't let desperation come in. And I always have a list of things that could or need to get done. So as I move through these different things, it was very meditative, cleaning, sorting, sweeping. And I love sweeping because it is very meditative actually with a broom. And it is almost Tai Chi-like. But as I went through my day, as soon as I felt like I was shifting into the, and what's the next thing on the list? I stopped because then it became desperation and a chore. And I stopped. And this is where we're talking about like, okay, how do we develop spiritual practices? I stopped and moved into creation because I love to create. Now create doesn't just mean drawing or artwork, which I do love. It can be intuitive writing. For me, it is also drum roll. You know what I'm going to say? Cooking. Yeah. And because cooking is meditative and creative and nurturing. And cooking for me, it's not for everybody. I know Donnie. Only for people who know how to cook. I'm illustrating that when as soon as you move into the desperation list, list, list. Now it lost its meditative piece. Go to something else. Was it creative writing? Was it sitting with a hot cup of tea and reading a book? That is meditation, guys. That is relaxing. Was it lighting a candle and watching the snow fall? It's horror for me. So that's like your version of cooking. The idea is that there are many ways to get in that space. And a person in my life asked me, hey, I'd like to do some journalistic writing, meditative writing. How do I get in that space? And first of all, I was honored the person asked me. There's a great amount of trust building between that person and myself. And I appreciate that. So what I did was exemplified how simply I think it can happen, take three deep breaths. Calm your mind for about one minute and begin writing. And so the ease with which you can do something, you have to boil it down at the simple things or you won't tackle it. You won't attempt, I should say, because it sounds like a tackle. So meditating like a sage can just be three deep breaths in a cup of tea. And it can really be the thing that you need to kind of ground and reset yourself. You can pray, you can meditate, you can draw some cards. But we keep talking about the ways to do it. Keep in mind that it's simple. Well, I have a pro tip for your friend. I was a journalist back in the day when we actually had to write things out, right? Or type things out on those old type writers that used to go clickety-clack. So yeah, oh god. And that with that alone was terrifying at times. But there was nothing more frightening to a journalist than a blank piece of paper, right? Especially when you have tasks to do. So pro tip, just start writing. And I use this even if I journal. It's, I can't believe I have to do this. I don't know what I want to write. I don't even know what I want to talk about. I'm not doing this. This is such a pain in my butt. I can't believe I'm going to do it. And before you know it, you're writing what you have to write. The other pro tip is jump in anywhere. So when, if I had a writing assignment and I did a lot of human interest, I did a lot of business reporting. And I didn't know how to start it. I jumped into what I know. So jump into what you know. I'm feeling really agitated today. I don't know why. I'm trying to release some of this agitation and I don't know how. And you will find very quickly you will drop into writing what you need. Now, at a certain point, I would caution and say automatic writing will take over. So when it clicks in, don't stop and think about it. Just keep moving your pen across the page. You're going to be shocked at what you see when you read it back. I have never had a moment like that where I wasn't surprised. Well, and how good the article turned out or two, what I actually wrote, what came out of me. So I would say that. And another way to get into it. And another way to sort of use this time for spiritual practices. And this is a very practical way of approaching it. Is I love artisketch paper. I don't know why I have a paper and a pen thing. And I've had it all of my life. I guess that's how I ended up in journalism. And I like good quality paper and a good pen. And so what I do is I sit down with a sketch pad. It's not big, but it's clean and it's white and it has beautiful paper. And I draw a circle in the middle and I write me. And then I write spokes off of it. And I write all of the aspects of my life or the issue at the time. And you're going to be surprised at how when you put pen to paper, how quickly the steps of the dance start to show themselves. And then you're going to find yourself that in, okay, let's say you have family. And there's something happening in family. You're going to put a bullet point under it that says whatever that is, right? It doesn't have to be a lot of detail. It's a mind map. It's top-level mind map. And before you know it, you have this very intricate paper of, it's like a diagram going in all different directions, but there's a lot of art to it. It's very artistic when you're done because it's not always highly organized. It's a little messy. But it's a place to start. And then when you're done, one of two things is going to happen. When you're moving through it, you're going to stop at the point that hits you like a brick. And that's the action you're going to take, or that's what you're going to write about. Or you're going to finish the mind map and then take a look at it and make a decision for yourself. Or make it overwhelmed at all the aspects of your life that are emotional at the time. And either how well I'm handling it or, oh wait, let me go into the bathroom and have a breakdown. So it really just depends. But there are two things that I would say for people who are inclined to journaling or want to at least try it as a way to release and propel themselves forward. We do have to take a break according to Eric. And so we'll do that now and we'll continue the conversation when we get back. You're listening to Fresh Perspective on 95,3WCHE. Hi everybody, welcome back to Fresh Perspective. I'm Donna Sol with Robin Ocky. Our podcast will be up right after the show at 953wch.com. Click on podcasts. We'll be right there. And we were talking before the break about Mindmap. Robin. Yeah, I've never done the Mindmap, but you are the people who make many boards and things. You should do it. That is my play. I mean, many, many of you are doing colored pencils. You would really like to look pretty. I do it in top calligraphy on the map, right? I do. But the idea is that you are taking a step to find out what your spiritual, where your spiritual energy needs to go. So we're talking about create spiritual practice for yourself because it will ground, stabilize and center you as we get ready to go through these times. And when you find yourself in those times, you will reference your spiritual practice for stability. And I talk that way about when I'm working with people and their dogs, you practice so you can utilize therapies and hues to help a dog ground and rebalance. So we do it with other beings. We have to learn to do it with ourselves. And when we were talking about picking your mind map was kind of like, where am I going to go and what am I going to do? You can also learn to identify their spiritual practice by just writing out the things that you think might interest you. A walk in the forest, a good book, yoga, lighting a candle, whatever is going to connect you with spirit. And the other things that can connect you with your higher self and spirit are making a creation, cooking, creating a crocheting, anything like that. So you're going to have a lot of practice of service, creating a meal for someone, going out and cutting someone's lawn, engage in something that connects you to your higher self and spirit. So your mind map and my little doodlings on paper or on my creation boards are ways for me and you to refocus where we want to put our spiritual energy. You need to find a place to start focusing your spiritual energy. Pick one of them. You draw inspirational cards one day but it doesn't really work out or it's not vibrating or resonating with you. Move on to something else, try something else. Keep it simple. And my idea of telling this person to breathe three times and put the pen to paper is what you're saying, start doing something with your heart, not with your logical mind. And my quote that I love to state in these times when we're trying to figure out how to start something is a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You don't have to see the whole staircase just take the first step. And that's what you were saying about writing. It begins simply and as you start taking your steps it continues to go. So that's all about getting yourself in the frequency because if we're talking about manifesting our year to come and things we wish and desire, you have to get yourself in the frequency or you can't just say I want a better love life but not be in the frequency of love. So your spiritual practice takes you into the frequency of being already that would you are aspiring toward. And then as you feel that and you're we're talking gratitude, opening pathways, that's what the fungish way was about clearing a pathway and visualizing your next steps and the gratitude for seeing it already coming your way. So in manifesting we have to be in the right frequency. So that's what all this stabilizing grounding spiritual practice is about. Open your pathways by decluttering, be grateful for the open space and then visualize what you want to be seeing coming next. And those are the simplistic steps of how to get this moving forward even in the energy of what's coming. You know, it made me think because you're so creative. Where do you stand on vision boards? It's harder and harder these days to find photographs with magazines are not plentiful. Very hard to I think create those things anymore. I guess you have to just print it all out, you know, and then paste it on a board. And I know people who use them and swear by them. And I know people like me who go, you know, I'm not sure I like that. As an artist, I don't care for it because I've never cared for cut and paste, you know, like I create from my hands. But again, that's a very personal me thing. Like I want to see a logo or see my future. I'm going to start doodling and create the imagery that I want to see. Some people like vision boards because they can cut and paste imagery. I think the idea is that visualization is what you want to come into play. And I think this is so funny. I'm going to share something from when I was in high school. I wanted so badly to be here on the cheerleading squad. And night after night and practice after practice, I know it's so silly, right? But it was important to me and I visualized everything from the right cheers to doing a split, to seeing myself in the uniform. And I just kept visualizing. And I swear to you, that's how I got on that squad. And it continued to be a very important part of my life because it was it was upbeat. Don't laugh at me. I'm not laughing at you. My thought is we are not the same Robin. We are not. I know we're not. I know that's why we have a beautiful friendship. But back then it was so important. And really honestly, my aspiration to be a cheerleader was what my whole life was about. But my point is I visualized it and I worked toward it and I saw it. And the visualization I think regardless of what you're doing, the visualization is about putting your heart and soul into it when you know you can see it coming. So it is setting the tone for how your energy is going to go forward and create that event. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And that was what I'm talking like 50, 40 years ago. That tracks. That tracks. I kind of love that story. I love that story. I don't know why. I don't know what. You know, I wouldn't. There are some people I would say cheerleader and go, "Nah. cheerleader you." 100 percent. One point. Absolutely. Absolutely. And there, you had mentioned some other things that we should do. You know what? I'm trying to have a show here and I got these guys here coming in and costumes for what they're recording. For Steve, he's killing me. He is killing me. I'm so sorry. Well, your smile is big and bright. Oh, he looks great. Steve, he can listen. If anybody is going to yacht rock, it's going to be Steve. Okay. That tracks too. No. The other thing that I was thinking about when you were talking about cards, this is my new thing, cards, decks, tarot, article. I feel very strongly this year that you should be using article decks and I have used decks my entire life. So I think I know what I'm talking about. Now if you want to do a formal tarot reading for yourself, go ahead. But I don't think it's the year for that. I think it's the year for daily inspiration that helps you on your path. Again, we've talked about a myriad of things. It may resonate for some people. It may not resonate for some people. And the reason that I'm coming back to cards is that if people like this as a vehicle and they pull a card one day and it doesn't work, a couple things are in play. One, deck needs to be cleared. Two, you need to graduate to a new deck or use a different deck. Three, you don't like what it has to say. So you're going to say, oh, this doesn't work for me. Oh, well, too bad. Maybe that's exactly what you should be looking at. I have a couple of really favorite decks that are, I call it my B-SLAP deck and you know what the rest of those letters are. And I have other types of decks and tarot decks. So you can even pull from different decks. You should get very much similar messages. But it's an easy way to offer daily guidance once you pick your direction. And even if you don't have direction, it's a good way to find your direction. It's almost like the journaling that I was talking about. The sit down, start writing. I don't know. The cards you pull are, I don't know. Tell me what I need to know today. Give me a direction that might work for me. And start to just step by step, build where you think you're going and it will start to resonate for you. And other people do obviously praying, that's always, you know, how you pray, who you pray to is very personal thing. But prayer is always very valuable because it helps in that visual visualization and the gratitude component. And candles. I mean, lighting a candle with an intention. I mean, the whole Catholic church was built around that, right? So, you know, obviously pagans have to morphed it a little bit. But you can use candles for many, many, many purposes and lighting a candle to find your way, to have direction, to pray. Those are really important things and more tools in the toolbox. We hope you are building for you today in this conversation. Well, and I have, I'm going to back you on the cards because the cards are very important to me too and they're quick inspirations. Lights, if you don't want a light candle, put the lighting, I have electric fairy lights on my mantle. They're beautiful. In the Oracle Dex or just the inspirational Dex, ask the question, would if you don't know where to start, what is the message for today? And I've got four that I work with and I want to emphasize that the very first deck I ever started working with. 10 or so years ago started fooling me. It wasn't that I was doing that much. - Yeah, church-strandex. - Yeah, there was, I was done. It was like, okay, this deck is not giving me answers anymore. It wasn't, it was like, you're done. You're done. - You have to move on, yeah. - You have to move on. And it was funny because it was a beloved deck. And it was like really strong, but it was my growth. So if we don't move past the baby steps we had and into stronger steps, you will get those messages too. So paying attention to signs in nature, in your life, synchronicities, that's not working anymore. Some of us were taught to work harder if it's not working. But sometimes you have to take a step back and look at, maybe I need to take a curve in the road. So I think it's important like, you know, to find the thing that really does work for you, acknowledge if it's inspiring you. And if it isn't, move on, but give it a chance. And I think the cards and the inspirations, I think people look to horoscopes for inspirations too. But wherever it is, get inspired, but take your steps. Get your inspiration and take your steps. - Yeah, and I would say if you are looking to your horoscope or astrology, find the one that resonates for you, right? Just because somebody's on Instagram and saying, this is how it's going to be and they're trying to make it Instagramable, they're trying to build their own following, okay? It might not resonate for you in that way. Like I didn't resonate with astrology until I met Francis Dunnery and he started talking about it from a Jung-Yin and, I forget the other one that he uses, but you know, he'll talk about the basics too, but I'm not a superficial person. So I don't really care about Tuesday, Thursday. Don't talk to this person or this Instagramable stuff that I'm seeing that doesn't resonate for me. What resonates for me is the deeper astrology that talks about soul path and behaviors and psychology. And like I think you were talking about shamanic astrology. - A lot. - It's very similar. And I'm not, I'm not, I wanna say this thing putting down these other astrologers, they have to do what they have to do, but don't eliminate astrology as an avenue or a path unless you find the right one first. You know, don't think that because somebody's on Instagram saying something and you don't like it, that astrology is out. There's many, many, many ways to look at how the planets are lining up and you have to find the one that resonates for you. - And discernment. - Discernment. - Yes. - And you just feel like, is this a person I want to follow? Oh, and when your voice is speaking loudly and your gut do not ignore it. - Right. - Do not, I was taught to totally believe all of my authority figures, but when my guts were calling out to me and didn't follow it, my lessons got harder. - So discernment is incredibly important in this process of, is that for me or isn't it? For instance, when I was writing horses and I don't write anymore, I do not believe they wish to be written, but I believe they wish to give us messages. When I was writing, I could feel a horse under me, refuse something and I could feel that it hurt them or they weren't happy. My trainers were telling me to continue to move on the horses being lazy. And some people in the dog world say that, he's being stubborn, forcing through. We have to take a step back and look at, look at what your gut is saying. Look at undercurrents. Learn to trust yourself. And I look back at the times I followed teachers that were wrong and didn't listen to my heart and soul. And all of my lessons have taught me to listen to the being and listen to myself. And the discernment, like you're saying, if that astrologer doesn't work for you or that mentor, you're getting a different vibe, step back. It's fair to say, I need to create space and I need to move away from this and find something that works. The point I think we're making is, find the thing that does work for you. Remember how simple it can be and look for the signs that it's working. That is real, that is actually working. And don't do it because like you said, if the first message you get is wrong, it doesn't mean the methodology is wrong. It just might not be what you want to hear. - Right, right. - So, right, and don't get lost in everything is a sign. I've met those people. Everything is a sign. Well, if it's not consistent, it's not a sign, right? So you have to look for the ones that are consistent for you. Is it consistent dreams? Is it consistent numbers? Is it consistent animals? Like what is it? And I think, I think, if you have some idea of where you want to go, or if you're struggling, if you have put that message out to the university repeatedly, the signs will start to align, and that's the ones you pay attention to, right? 'Cause not everything is a sign. You know, if a bird poops on your head, "Oh, you're gonna have a good luck." Really, are you? A bird just pooped on your head and you have to go through the rest of your work day. So, you know, not everything is a sign. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, yeah. But learning to trust yourself and knowing the signs, like we're talking horse energy, and over the weekend, you know, a week ago, I lost a beautiful, old mini horse. But this weekend, I saw another thing happening with another horse, the grandfather spirit horse of our farm. And I acted quickly because I knew something was wrong and I didn't hesitate to call a vet. And it wasn't let's await and watch. And this horse was beginning to suffer from winter laminitis, which is painful, debilitating and can be fatal. Within a day of the medication, this horse is turned around. So, I thanked horse for the image of there's something slightly off. I thanked my experience space of being able to read these small signs and act intuitively. And guess what? To trust myself. Because before, I might have sought out three different pieces of advice and I didn't. I knew and I followed my gut. So, over time in these spiritual practices that were encouraging people to go forward with is do it because you're going to reference them and you're going to learn to trust yourself through it. Yeah, yeah, exactly. On that note, we're going to wrap it up for today. Thank you, Robin Ackie. You can find her on the socials under her name, ACHEY, or TallTales Training and Boarding, or Imagine Acres. You can find me, I feel like everywhere, anymore. You can find me on Stone and Sage. You can find me right here at the station and obviously look for the bunnies on social media. We're going to be back next week while the podcast up after the show. Let us know what you think. If there are any topics you want us to touch on, be more than happy to consider those. Otherwise, we will make them up and come back next week. See you then. [MUSIC]