I keep hearing people say how they are so busy and it is because of the holidays. I want to call bs on this. Why? Because I hear it in the summer too and then the fall because of school and then the spring because of yardwork.

It's fine if you are busy. Life can be. But at some point, you may want to listen to how often you are saying you are busy. Too busy. 

What are you too busy for? Connecting with yourself, others, appreciating nature, being creative? 

Increasing your wisdom, exercising, learning an instrument or a language? Volunteering, sleeping, mentoring someone or deepening your spirituality? 

How about being still? Is what what you are too busy for and are avoiding by keeping the go, go, go going? 

I feel like most people are so afraid to hear the voice within that may suggest they aren't happy or in line with their life that they keep piling on the responsibility to ensure that doesn't happen.  

I'll clue you in to something; when you come for a session, that is what I am listening to. I am pausing to hear what your voice has been trying to communicate to you but couldn't get through because the busy signal was so loud nothing else could be heard. 

So, what if you said no to the go,go,go? What if you gift yourself some quiet time and ask the voice inside what it wants to say? It is the holidays. Why not self gift?

When getting quiet remember to turn off all electronics. The length of time is not so important as much as the intention to spend the time. 

That thing that's been bugging you? It's in that quiet moment. As is the communication of why you feel less than thrilled with your life.  It isn't the traffic, or the bills or someone else's behavior. It is what is not being given a voice. I promise you. 

You don't have to put up a billboard announcing what you've discovered about yourself. Unless you want to, of course. Be brave. Be willing to hear it.  

Until you say yes to hearing this voice; you are not living authentically you. Sure, it takes courage. But you've got that in droves. Go for it. 

Say yes to you,

Vicki

http://www.vickibaird.com

You don't have to love everyone, but you may want to be able to recognize why it is you don't love them and heal that aspect within yourself.

This last week has been incredibly challenging for all of us. One would think that could be unifying but as a human species, we aren't there yet. We will be one day, it is a knowing to my soul and a hope to my heart that we do. The soul will hold the knowing until the physical part of us gets to the same vibration. It's ok, we will do it, all at different rates, but we will.

You know that expression that art imitates life? Well, this last week I've become so aware that my life is imitating my younger life today and I thought it may be the same for others too. I believe we are more similar than different so today I take a leap of faith to share what I've been realizing and maybe you are feeling too. Perhaps there can be healing from it for others and yes, for myself, too.

Each of us are compilations of our experiences and our teachings. A group of people witnessing the same event often see it and process it very differently. We have all witnessed a roller coaster of emotions through this last week and have come to see people in our lives differently too. I think this is a really good thing, and sometimes we can't see it until the band aid is ripped off.

Band aid ripping can come in many forms. It can be an election that didn't favor your party, or it can be someone cheating on you, or it can be someone passing, the losing of a job, or a stubbing of a toe that is the last straw. Painful that it may be, those band aids occasionally need to be ripped to wake us up and to get some air to the hurt that is underneath.

My band aid happened a few years ago when I realized Howard was not going to be in my physical life for much longer. It isn't my favorite skill, being able to know someone is leaving my life by passing or the ending of a relationship, but it does help me to prepare. While I could get myself in place to experience it physically, the emotions that come up after are often as much of a crap shoot as anyone's process. I decided that whatever I was going through, I was going to feel it, understand it to the best of my ability and use it to improve on the version of Vicki I experience every day.

So while it is painful some days, I embrace that because it means I am feeling. I am connecting with what is my true heart and how I experience it is through the past that is me. Feeling isn't a bad thing. Sitting in your sorrow isn't helpful, but feeling is a great gift. It brings up the crap that gets pushed down that we feel we have dealt with but haven't. I suspect that is part of why people are hurting so much in upheaval of this election process. The long, drawn out election process, rather representative of life, isn't it?

People are facing the hurts that they've buried and the wounds that were beneath the band aid for so long they can't even remember what put the injury there. Then when they don't feel they can deal with the feelings, they project them out on to others and what must have made them feel bad today and it isn't totally true so it begins another cycle of burying.

As we faced so much name calling and bullying with finger pointing, not only in national news but local as well, I realized we all have dealt with that in our lives. Somewhere someone told us that what we feel didn't matter and a part of our subconscious believed it, so it started stuffing until it wasn't possible anymore. We all experience it to a different degree and while I won't even pretend to understand what someone may go through as persecution for what beautiful skin they have or where they were born; I do know what it feels like to be told to not be smart. To shut up and not share what I know. To be told that I was too strong for people and I intimidate them. To be told not to cry or I would get something to cry about. That I felt too much or I didn't feel enough for someone's liking. That when I shine, it makes others feel bad so I need to stop doing that.

Growing up I took beatings. I brushed them off as discipline until recently. I even joked that maybe the beatings I took several times a week shook something up in my head to make it possible for me to be as intuitive as I was. I joked away abuse. I made it ok that my father beat me because someone else might be uncomfortable with it. Someone else might not want to discuss what happened in our home or may not see it the way I did because their experience was different but you know what? That wasn't helping. That wasn't airing out the wound so it could heal and it certainly wasn't helping me to realize that it is perfectly ok to not love my father.

This is the life imitating life part. Current day events helping me to see what I wasn't looking at within from my past. When I came to the conclusion, with the help of my theracoach, Belief Re-patterning and tissues, that I didn't have to love him, I realized it made room for me to love me. It made room for my truth and who I am, and am discovering I am, every day. It made room to say what I went  through wasn't ok and others didn't step in to stop it, and that wasn't ok either. I eventually stood up to him and said if he hit any of us again, he was going down. My fifteen year old self was a good bluffer. My forty seven year old self is tired of bluffing. She's done loving everyone and all their conscious choices and bullying. She is done justifying why someone would act the way they did because of their past and therefore making their hurt ok but not her own. She is done with the idea that we have to love everyone. We don't.

What I believe we do have to do is heal ourselves so that when we encounter a person who is not representing their soul well, we will feel strong in who we are enough to educate, speak up, help another or walk away, but walk away because of choice to not engage rather than because we don't want to upset someone else.

Realizing I didn't love my father and really couldn't because of the choices he made over the years in his life with me, doesn't mean I don't respect him. He worked his tail off to support eight kids and a household. He often worked several jobs to do so. I can appreciate where he came from in his childhood experience and I can even feel empathy for his path. What I choose not to do any longer is make the decisions he and my mother made in how they raised us with physical abuse be justified.

I don't bring this up for you to feel sorry for me. I bring it  up to point out that when I let go of the burden of carrying the should around loving him, I felt lighter and I hope he does as well in spirit.  I felt free to love the way I love. I feel more love for the human's I share this Earth with because I have opened my heart to love myself.

  It takes courage to love big.

When you carry around hate of another, you hurt yourself. When you hang on to the should's of life, you burden your own energy. When you can't see that you have freedom, and so do others, to love whom they want, to vote for whom they want and to not love whom they want; you get in the way of loving yourself.

It may take people a long time to be able to come to this place within themselves. That is ok. Others are not your concern. You are. Great changes can be made one soul at a time.

So, while we do not have to love another or their policies, we do have to learn to love ourselves so that any wounds that may be in there are healed. Are you up for the challenge? Your soul believes you are and so do I. Let's go! I'll help.  Let's flood this planet with authentic presence and a direction of healing.

It takes incredible courage to love big and honest.

Courageously yours,
Vicki

No, this is not a tell you who to vote for blog. No one has that kind of power over us, which is shown by entering the booth alone, vote how you want to. It is a check in to see how you are directing your energy.

Every being in the universe emits energy. Every thought process creates a ripple in our world. That is why it is so important to be aware of how you truly feel and what you are offering in the way of the your personal signal. See this is the thing; we are individually responsible for what we project. So you alone can control if you help or hinder your life.

No one can be upbeat or "positive" all the time. It isn't possible given that emotions ebb and flow. However, when one participates in joining the ruckus or drama going on, it increases it and makes whatever that is being paid attention to greater. Energy goes where energy flows so no matter what you are speaking and feeling about; you are creating.

So, for instance, if you are re-telling a story over and over again of what has happened in the past or fears of what could happen (ahem, election Tuesday), you are contributing to the outcome possibly being the "scary" prospective.

It takes practice to be able to speak honestly without drama and without fear projecting. It is so worth the practice. Energy does not flow backwards. It does not understand you "don't" want something. It feels out the vibration and runs with it. So, you can be saying you don't want to have a tyrant for a boss but because energy only flows forward, it will be processed as you DO want one. Negating words are a human creation. No one asked energy if it wanted to vote on this, so it keeps doing what it is so good at; answering the request as always saying yes.

The Law of Attraction is not a new concept and I'm probably telling you what you already know, but in case you didn't or you have simply forgotten, and that's ok, I would like to remind you that you have a choice in how your energy is perceived and how it helps to create your life. Sure, that means there is responsibility in what you are saying and feeling, but isn't that a great thing? Doesn't it feel good to think about what you DO want. How you DO want to feel?

It is easy to get rapped up in trying to convince others to think, feel or act in the way you do, but that is a complete waste of time if you aren't in alignment with yourself because you won't be offering a signal that is in your favor anyway. You will be contributing to the force of what you don't want if you get caught up in proving you are right. Drop that crap. It's so exhausting.

So, as we, in the United States, move toward the election this week, remember when you are talking, posting on social media, complaining with others or worrying in your head; all of that matters. If you want to help, present in support of what or whom you would like to see represent. If someone wants to drag you into their drama tell them you have given up the drama to the llamas so you will have to pass while you line your personal energy to help.

The bottom line is everyone has their own truth and we can be kind even if we don't agree but we can't complain if we didn't align with our own in the first place.

Know your own energy first,
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

It probably doesn't come as a surprise that I am a good talker. If we have never met in person, you can still tell from my writing style that I have the gift of gab as my mother would say. I'm not one that wants to talk about every subject but I do find people fascinating and appreciate a good chat. This comes in really handy as my work has a lot to do with talking. Listening is important and a skill I have had to develop for this gal, as a child, was known as chatterbox!

Occasionally, my fast moving intuitive brain and chatterbox tendencies can get going at the same time and some fun word combinations come out of it. I thought it would be fun to take a break from some of the help others help themselves blogs that I so often do and share some with you.

Since I subscribe to the belief I have never met a stranger, sorry to those of you in the grocery store that this belief freaks out when I smile at you like you are a long lost friend, I am often so grateful to the friends I have made as a result of my role as an intuitive. I was introducing such a person a few years ago and called her a frient. I laughed and tried to say friend, since I believe in confidentiality and only the client should say that they come to see me (Insurance agents and other sales people please pick up this habit as I will drop you like a hot iron if you suggest someone purchase a product by name dropping!). It shouldn't come from me first that someone has been in but I couldn't get it out. She turned to me and said exactly what I was thinking, she was a client first and became a friend so the brain just mixed it up and frient was born. For those thinking, like I did, that it should go in order of meeting, cliefr or cliend were really hard to say so frient it is. I am blessed to have many frient's now and I don't know what I would do without some of them.

Another occasion was with a male client who has some fascinating and sometimes hard for me to follow ideas about our world and how to be in it. I'll admit it's because some of  the concepts go over my head or just do not compute on my hard drive, but we have some amazing awareness's along the way. I was communicating to him what the energy field around his head looked like to me and how it was contributing to some of what he called confused thinking. I told him that it looked very hectochtic. We both laughed at my confusion of what just came out of my mouth but it ended up making sense to him and that is all that matters to me.

You see, his head was feeling very hectic and chaotic at the came time and much like two negatives make a positive, when I blended the words he said "yahhhhhhhhh, that's it man". So, if you are looking for a description for a thinking process that feels both unorganized and rushed at the same time; I give you hechtoctic.

There are many more in my dictionary, but my personal favorite because we all have family is the word energenetic.  It was during a session that this came up as well. I was helping a coaching client understand that her family environment would of course, effect her perceptions and actions in life. This would not only be from the experiential place, but also from the energetic place. I explained how we absorb things from our family as well as learn from them.  In my description I was trying to say that we are a compialation of energy and genetics. It came out energenetic. We both laughed, but then thought wow that's really good. Upon reflection I had to agree that it was really good because often we  absorb and then become. So I would imagine it would become part of the genetic code. So I give you energenetic.

Perhaps this is how new words are discovered.  I know it brings a great deal of joy to myself and is even a great deal of fun when people ask me if I've invented any new words lately.

I hope you've enjoyed this walk through the vocabulary and Vicki's life. I also hope that you invent your own words.

 Have a fantastic week and more,

Vicki


vicki@vickibaird.com

One of the aspects I have come to appreciate about the work that I do is it has helped me learn that people really are amazing and have a lot of similarities. We all want to be and give love. We all want to be understood and we all have a reason for being here at this time. We also, in this culture, focus on money and want to have a life where there is plenty of it. We earn it, we are given it, we exchange it on a daily basis. Sometimes it comes in the form of plastic, loans or some other form of borrowing. Other times it may seem that we are selling our very souls to receive the currency. Whatever the means,we have to relate to money in order to get on with our lives.

It can be one of the perceivable dividers in our lives. I hear it often, the comparison of what others have that another doesn't. I hear the fear in people around the subject. This is whether they have no savings or they have, in some clients I have worked with, over six figures or more in their savings.

I know that it may seem odd to someone who is wondering how to pay the electric this month, and I've been there, that another with all the means to not even check their balance, could be worried about the same thing, but it most definitely happens. Once I started to realize this I had to explore what that fear is really about. What I came to was the persons misconception that the money and the ability to enjoy it was outside of their control. That somehow the currency that is meant to be an energy exchange had somehow become an enemy to conquer or capture. An opponent that had more power then they themselves had within.

What happens when we think like that is the ability to bring the income into our lives we would like to have completely disappears. Money is energy, just like everything else in our universe. It really doesn't have an opinion about who it lives with. It would like to live with you, if you would invite it in. In order to do that though, you will want to learn how to see it as the form of energy and what could be effecting the flow of abundance to you.

Most of us did not get any training in how to be financially smart in this world. I know I was taught how to be in survival mode and lack during my childhood and can even create that same process out of habit when it isn't necessary. I have created amazing systems to support myself and my clients when these old habits show up, but it was a learning that I had to go through intentionally. By realizing that money is an exchange of energy, I have learned to honor it and embrace having it in my life.

I wonder if you realize that if you detach from the idea that you don't "have enough" in your life because you "aren't enough", if you wouldn't feel some peace around talking about your financial habits and be willing to accept that you can be abundant.

I wonder if you thought that the universal bank was willing to deposit to your account if you couldn't have some fun with the idea and get busy opening those bills you allow to pile up on your counter or inbox?

I also wonder if you know that when we handle our money with respect, honor and fun while meeting the agreements we have made with our creditors, that the energy is then met with more gifts?

What if there was a way to unhook from the feeling that your debt owns you? Well, there is. Help your subconscious to understand that when all aspects of you are in alignment, abundance in all areas flows. If the following statements resonate, say them and then take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

• "I forgive myself for believing I always have to be in debt because that is what I have been told by others." 
• "I give myself permission to see the changes I can make and use them to practice self compassion around the subject of money."
• "I make choices every day. I choose to live a life that is plentiful and abundant."
• "I claim my freedom to create a life where savings accounts exists!"
• "I remember feeling abundant. It happened when _______________.I allow myself to feel abundant daily." (For myself it was when I had to buy my own house after Howard passed and the bank was impressed with my credit score. Something I had worked diligently on for five years to improve.)
• "I am a money making, pleasure experiencing, donating being with financial prosperity in my mind, body and soul!"

Like most subjects, I really believe we make too much of a process out of beating ourselves up for things rather then getting to the clearing up and the allowing. Take some time this week to explore your feelings around money and what, if anything, could use a change. If something is stuck; call me and I will help. I'll have to charge because I am running a business where the energy exchange is necessary to pay my rent, but I would be most excited to help. :) 

You are very worth it, 

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

I believe in divine timing and I really believe in messages from the universe so when the two started to converge on me this week, I knew what the next blog post needed to be about. Our teams.

Call it your team, your tribe, your peeps or your family; we all need a team. I didn't always believe this. I came into this world fiercely independent. I also really love my alone time. It has often been ironic to me that I chose a family of eight kids to learn how to balance the two. That many kids in a two and a half bedroom house does not give built in alone time. It gives a tribe, that is true, but to a soul who craves being alone as much as she craves a stage, it was very confusing. It still is some days and I am the only human in my house now!

It isn't always the body count that contributes to the feeling of a team either. We can be surrounded by people and still feel alone. We can also realize that the people around us aren't the souls we align with anymore. I heard this from four clients in a row this week. That would be be the message from the universe part!

Four people said in their own way how they felt alone in the world. They felt they had no back up and that even with the people in their world, they felt a disconnect of sorts. Perhaps there is something going on in the universe energetically right now, or perhaps people are starting to realize that the feeling of belonging can't and won't come from just having people around. The world we engage in has to feel like a fit and that it fills us up spiritually for us to not feel alone. In order for that to happen, we have to be willing to look at the relationship to ourselves and then that to the community.

Having a relationship with oneself takes courage. Most people going through the day not even knowing what they like to eat, what dreams they have or what their honest feelings are. The disconnect is impressive and that is what I feel people are referring to when they say they feel lonely or alone in the world. They have lost aspects of themselves and don't realize it. In disconnecting that way, they often attract to them the souls that are not the most supportive. I know I have done this in the past. It doesn't feel great.

The divine timing part of all of this is just this past weekend I was on a real team. A team pulled together by a guy named Will Smith; no not the actor but boy is this guy funny too! The story around which I met him is an amazing one but much too long for this blog. Suffice it to say I KNOW there was divine intervention in this one. So, I'm on this team of people who all know, and want to celebrate Will's recovery and kick a*s return to health after a quadruple bypass at the age of thirty seven. Some of the people on the team I know really well, others I have met a few times. What struck me as we were running the course though was, this team started together and we finished each obstacle together. No one ran ahead with their own agenda because our common goal was to finish feeling good about ourselves and celebrating our friends determination to be here on Earth for a whole lot longer. Each of us pulled our own arses over walls and helped others to do the same. Whether the people were on our team or not, we helped and they helped us. It took all I had to not bawl on the course at the feeling of what a completely supportive team feels like. Ok, some of the desire to cry may have been from the gash in my leg, but pffft, that was nothing compared to the rush of joy I was feeling being a part of this metaphor for life.

Life is hard sometimes and damn it, there are walls in the way. There may even be trenches with mud and barbed wire (there were, there really were) but with a team that feels they are responsible for carrying their own selves while looking out and helping others; it really is possible.

It took a lot of courage for me to invite myself (I did. I really did) on to the team. I risked the no because the desire in me to be part of something that scared the sh*t out of me but I knew would return great results, was bigger than my fear. That same courage is in each of us inherently. We all have it. We can all pledge to do a Rugged Maniac of our own as we are going into the metaphoric bypass of life.

Your team is going to change over time. There will be the end of classes, the end of relationships or a change in locations. People will leave because they think you aren't in their best interest and you will leave people because they aren't in yours. You may realize that the family you are biologically related to never understood you and that it's ok because there is a team out there that does.

You are alone. We all are. Newsflash; that is part of the souls progress. To realize, feel good about and find courage in being alone and then go out and create your team. The feeling good about being alone is where the courage comes to create a supportive team around you. Sure, it is a tough thing but its not terminal unless you allow it to be. You can go to the woe is me I am alone place or you can choose to realize, well yeah, I am alone because I am the only me but I can take that awesome me into the world and connect with others. Please choose the latter.

Maybe this week you could look around you and see who is on your team.

• Are they supportive of you doing the obstacle course (life) or are they calling watch out and be careful from the sidelines in an attempt to hold you back either from their own fear of life or comparison issues? 
• Are you able to be present when you are with them or are you thinking about how to get out of the time together? (If you are thinking about how to get out of it, you are not the supportive team member and perhaps should remove yourself from the team.)
• Do you feel that you can be your own individual selves on this team. Completely capable of surmounting a Jacob's Ladder in life but willing to accept or offer a hand of support when offered? (Thank you Justin for the knee to get over that wall. I will work on that upper body hauling practice this year!)
• Is it time to leave a team member? Wish them well on their course as you cruise your own? 
• Do you have an idea of what a supportive team would look like? Maybe you have never experienced that before and have to start at the place of identifying the desired characteristics of your team members. 

Essentially, team members will support each other in their desire to grow, climb, jump or fly through the obstacle course of life and celebrate the amazing ability to be in each others lives. I don't know about you, but I have seen this last year that life does in fact come with a select amount of time for each of us and it is our duty to ourselves to make the most of it. We all have the same twenty four hours in a day but how we spend those are up to us. Choose to spend them wisely. Choose to spend them in mud if you would like; it's a heck of a lot of fun!

So excited to see how my team grows,
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Two weeks ago I did something that scared me a little bit, ok, a whole lot. I took a certification class to teach indoor cycling. I love the premise of indoor cycling; a good workout on a piece of equipment that mimics my road bike and where I don't have to watch for dogs, kids or be grill art for a driver who isn't paying attention.

It scared me, not because of the physical challenge, but more because this is not an area I have ventured into before. Sure, I've taken classes and I've observed other instructors but I haven't had to guide someone while they are peddling their little hearts out. However, I have a rule; if it scares me a little; I have to consider doing it. I don't mean I have to go hand to hand combat with a mugger scared, but the kind of scared that I know I am going to feel really good for having attempted it in the first place. I know this feeling because I have tested this theory on many occassions. One when I decided to get married at a young age, two when I took on the responsibility of a family, three when I quit my well paying, secure job to start my own company and fourth when I called a personal trainer for the first time three years ago because I wasn't sure whose health was worse; mine or my husband who had already been diagnosed with the arteries of an eighty year old.

There have been so many other times where that holy sh*t, this is scary have come up of course, but in true New Englander fashion, I would suck it up and just move through it. The difference now is I don't ignore those feelings anymore. I give them a voice and acknowledge that yes, I could live in fear of trying things or I could have that really great feeling of accomplishment and self love for having agreed to raise my hand to life and join in. You can probably tell I go with the latter these days.

One of the statements the amazing guy certifying us, Javier Santin, said that got my attention was that a workout didn't have to be HARD to be beneficial. He used the example of a teacher screaming "Ride harder, work harder, hard, hard, hard!" Then said "what the heck is hard? What is hard for me may not be hard for you and vise versa." I loved this, not only because I have said it soooooo many times to people when they say they couldn't work out/live/see life/etc. the way I do, but because it is so true. Comparison shopping on what is hard will only paralyze us into taking no action because we are too scared someone will notice we don't "measure up".

 I'm asking you... who the hell cares? Who cares what another person in doing in relation to what you are doing? Who cares if the person went 22 miles and you did two? YOU DID TWO! That is fantastic. Who cares what they have accomplished by this time in their life and you don't have the same. WHO CARES? I think it is time we all looked inside and asked if we care about ourselves and use that as the inspiration to find what lights us up. It takes courage to ask ourselves what matters to us because we have been so trained to compare.

I went into this training with a critic in my head saying "you aren't a trainer. You will be the fat kid in class again. You think you can ride, but you really can't" "Who is going to take a class where the emphasize is fun and acknowledging that they showed up?" That voice was in there, but you know what? It got to say what it wanted and then it went away. I was willing to look at the statements and even though they were hard to look at and hear; I accepted they were there and then shifted them with my breathing and Belief Re-patterning.

In doing this I realized that hard is a great acronym and we all know how much I love my acronyms. So, what if we saw anything that is hard as an opportunity to Have A Real Discussion? What if when something seems challenging and you say "but it's too hard", you actually are willing to have a real discussion with your whole self and determine if it truly is hard or are you listening to the voice inside that is encouraging you to give up before you even attempt anything?

So what do you say we do a little bit of group Belief Re-patterning here. Say each statement out loud and then take a breath in through your nose and out your mouth. Be willing to hear any of the Gremlins in there if they want to talk. All of you matters and once voiced, usually they will feel heard and calm their little buns down. If not; you know where to find me.

• "I forgive myself for believing that life is meant to be hard."
• "I give myself permission to release this lesson I have been taught and learn to increase ease in my life."
• "I can choose to see anything new as hard or I can choose to see it as an exciting opportunity to learn. I choose to see it as an opportunity to learn."
• "I am free to use supportive language when communicating with myself." 
• " I remember when I thought _____________ was hard, but with a little practice, I learned how to enjoy the process." (For me; I remember when I thought doing group events were hard, but with a little practice I learned how to really love them. I now incorporate indoor cycling to those group events!")
• "I am learning to be at ease with the process of life."

Don't you feel amazing now? Did you remember to breathe after each one. It really makes a difference.

So, as I do most weeks, I encourage you to watch yourself as you go through this week and when you hear the excuse of something is hard, stop and breathe, find the ease in it and move forward!

I so appreciate each of you being on this ride with me and am excited to see what we discover next!

Easing on down the road, (You are welcome for the ear worm!)
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Does anyone else feel like these last few months have gone by in a whirlwind and that the speed of it is a bit disconcerting? Oh, good, it isn't all me. Right? Maybe it is, but wow, it has been amazingly fun, confusing, overwhelming at times and utterly fascinating.

I can explain the energetic part of it as the increase in energy we are all creating spiritually is raising our vibrations and therefor also raising the speed at which things can manifest. I get that part of it quite well. What blows my mind is the connections that get created and the fun of having a life that makes you wonder, is this really happening?

As you may have read, I have handed the baton over for the mediumship readings to Pam Ellis. Meaning those that are wanting to solely connect to those who have crossed. While I so love, and can still do, that, my soul is and has been pushing me in another direction and I have to listen or I won't be fulfilling my own experience here. Contrary to what others may say, I believe that we are here to serve ourselves first by listening to that voice within and THEN help others within that alignment. It took me years to get that but now that I do, I can't pretend to want to offer anything but what is exciting to me now. Besides, wouldn't that make me a hypocrite to suggest that the people in my life from clients to family members to my all important friend circle, follow and create what they love and not do it myself? Yeah, I thought so too.

I knew this switch was coming. I could hear the voice inside me guiding and even pushing me to the point of now saying of course I will continue to offer readings for people. These readings will be the kind that so light me up. Helping YOU to be able to hear the VOICE within YOU! We all have it in there. We can all access it, but sometimes a guide is necessary to be able to utilize it. That is my love. That is what I do well and that is what I offer with clarity now.

I absolutely adore helping people to realize they matter. The dreams they have matter and that they can come to fruition with a bit of focus, releasing some fears and a little attention to their internal communication system.

So, if...

• you are having difficulty hearing that all important voice within. I'm your gal. 
• you want to live a life where your brain, soul, gut, heart and spirit all speak the same language; well, I can help with that too. 
• you are plain done with the drama and don't know how to shift to living with peace, direction and love; hey, what do you know? I can help with that too.
• you are thoroughly bored and exhausted from carrying the burdens of the past, some of which may not even be yours; I'm here to help. 
• you want someone who is going to give it to you straight. Trust that you are capable of hearing it and then help you process through whatever it is...come on in. Hey, I wrote the book of IT; I can help. 
• your business is not flowing and you have no stinking clue as to why...make an appointment. We will get to the bottom of it and create a strategy for moving forward. I'm really good, and love, creating plans that work for the individual and the business. Including team communication because without that, abundance can't flow. 
• you want to love you and have no clue in how to get there....I am especially good at this. It would be my honor to help. 

These are a few areas, there are as many as there are people on this Earth, that I have seen the most requests from my clients over the last few years and it is where I choose to focus by blending the intuitive gifts I have, with the training in coaching and Belief Re-patterning along with my, let's call it, direct approach. As I said to someone recently, if you want to go to someone who will blow smoke and tell you all is well, go for it. If you want to actually change and enhance your life; come work with me. There may be tears, that is life, but I promise you will like you and hey, I give really good hugs I am told. There may be hugs. 

I hope this clears up the whirlwind of what has been happening in announcements and direction of what is being offered here at Baird Enterprises, Inc as the IRS knows me. I chose that name because being enterprising is about reinvention and following your heart so that the service you offer is authentic. I have to be authentically me. 

Stay tuned for some exciting extras that will be coming along as well as more collaborations and announcements. 

For your own life, what if you gave yourself the gift of recognizing you have that internal voice to start?  Acknowledging it is there is often the greatest first step in being able to hear it talking with you. 

Thank you for being along with me on this journey and your continued support, 

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Does anyone else feel like these last few months have gone by in a whirlwind and that the speed of it is a bit disconcerting? Oh, good, it isn't all me. Right? Maybe it is, but wow, it has been amazingly fun, confusing, overwhelming at times and utterly fascinating.

I can explain the energetic part of it as the increase in energy we are all creating spiritually is raising our vibrations and therefor also raising the speed at which things can manifest. I get that part of it quite well. What blows my mind is the connections that get created and the fun of having a life that makes you wonder, is this really happening?

As you may have read, I have handed the baton over for the mediumship readings to Pam Ellis. Meaning those that are wanting to solely connect to those who have crossed. While I so love, and can still do, that, my soul is and has been pushing me in another direction and I have to listen or I won't be fulfilling my own experience here. Contrary to what others may say, I believe that we are here to serve ourselves first by listening to that voice within and THEN help others within that alignment. It took me years to get that but now that I do, I can't pretend to want to offer anything but what is exciting to me now. Besides, wouldn't that make me a hypocrite to suggest that the people in my life from clients to family members to my all important friend circle, follow and create what they love and not do it myself? Yeah, I thought so too.

I knew this switch was coming. I could hear the voice inside me guiding and even pushing me to the point of now saying of course I will continue to offer readings for people. These readings will be the kind that so light me up. Helping YOU to be able to hear the VOICE within YOU! We all have it in there. We can all access it, but sometimes a guide is necessary to be able to utilize it. That is my love. That is what I do well and that is what I offer with clarity now.

I absolutely adore helping people to realize they matter. The dreams they have matter and that they can come to fruition with a bit of focus, releasing some fears and a little attention to their internal communication system.

So, if...

• you are having difficulty hearing that all important voice within. I'm your gal. 
• you want to live a life where your brain, soul, gut, heart and spirit all speak the same language; well, I can help with that too. 
• you are plain done with the drama and don't know how to shift to living with peace, direction and love; hey, what do you know? I can help with that too.
• you are thoroughly bored and exhausted from carrying the burdens of the past, some of which may not even be yours; I'm here to help. 
• you want someone who is going to give it to you straight. Trust that you are capable of hearing it and then help you process through whatever it is...come on in. Hey, I wrote the book of IT; I can help. 
• your business is not flowing and you have no stinking clue as to why...make an appointment. We will get to the bottom of it and create a strategy for moving forward. I'm really good, and love, creating plans that work for the individual and the business. Including team communication because without that, abundance can't flow. 
• you want to love you and have no clue in how to get there....I am especially good at this. It would be my honor to help. 

These are a few areas, there are as many as there are people on this Earth, that I have seen the most requests from my clients over the last few years and it is where I choose to focus by blending the intuitive gifts I have, with the training in coaching and Belief Re-patterning along with my, let's call it, direct approach. As I said to someone recently, if you want to go to someone who will blow smoke and tell you all is well, go for it. If you want to actually change and enhance your life; come work with me. There may be tears, that is life, but I promise you will like you and hey, I give really good hugs I am told. There may be hugs. 

I hope this clears up the whirlwind of what has been happening in announcements and direction of what is being offered here at Baird Enterprises, Inc as the IRS knows me. I chose that name because being enterprising is about reinvention and following your heart so that the service you offer is authentic. I have to be authentically me. 

Stay tuned for some exciting extras that will be coming along as well as more collaborations and announcements. 

For your own life, what if you gave yourself the gift of recognizing you have that internal voice to start?  Acknowledging it is there is often the greatest first step in being able to hear it talking with you. 

Thank you for being along with me on this journey and your continued support, 

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

...and just blurted out something brilliant. Then you hope to heck you remember it so you can check into it after taking care of morning business? I know, I know, have a notebook at your bedside. I do and have suggested that as a great tool, but the epiphanies at that hour are few and far between and I don't like clutter. Luckily, the awareness I had stuck and I'm glad it did because I think it will help me and hopefully, you too.

It may not be a new concept to some and it's not even a brand new concept to me but when something clicks, it is worth celebrating.

What I heard myself say when I woke up was "OHHHHH, it's not the situation I am in that makes me sad. It is the fact that I miss him." In this case it was regarding Howard, my husband who passed a year ago this week. See, it gets all mixed up doesn't it when we are in the middle of something. We group together all of the components and then it's more challenging to move out of the sad, depressed, anxious, pick your feeling, space because it's so convoluted we can't see our way out because it all must be connected, right?

It isn't the fact that I am single now or that the household and pets within it depend solely on me. It is not the fact that I have to financially float the whole boat or that when something needs fixing; and it's a one hundred and sixty year old house, something always needs fixing, that is on me too. The sadness I have been feeling is directly related to missing his company and physical self.

Of course I have realized that I miss him. What I didn't realize is it can be a separate experience from all of the rest of the details that come with adjusting a life path.

I think as humans we like to bundle things. Who doesn't like a deal, right? What I wonder though is, is all this bundling worth it?  How often have you heard someone say it's going to be a terrible day because they spilled their coffee or they didn't get enough sleep last night. That an event is going to be terrible because so and so is coming and they always ruin it. Or my personal favorite, this experience, divorce, surgery, a person/pet passing, trip across the country, etc is going to stink because it did for me. Really? Because you couldn't see the situation separate from yourself I have to suffer? No thank you.

It's true, when I go home he isn't there physically. That stinks big time but that isn't going to change either so I have a choice in how I live my life. I can remain in the place where it is all sad because I miss him, or I can arrive in the place where the rest is pretty darn cool and sometimes I miss him. I believe I will go with the latter.

You have that choice too. Yes, you may be going through a difficult time, but you aren't the experience unless you want to make it a Lifetime movie. Sure, there is pain in life and someone may have done something that you then created a hurt around, but who is that serving to carry it as part of how life has to be? Certainly not you.

We experience pain and sadness and laughter and joy and all the emotions in between. We can respect those feelings and learn to let go of a reason to drag the lower vibrational ones forward like some kind of badge of courage. This is the gift of time for us. We are no longer in the moment that the pain may have been created but we pull it behind us and sometimes in front like a well worn blankie we don't want to give up.

What if you reminded yourself of the date and the fact that you are no longer in that moment or experience and yes, you can feel the emotions around it but stop the story of suffering because of that moment. It has passed. Move on yourself. It takes some practice and your brain may want to go back to bundling in order to keep you trapped in the poor me's. Your life is more than your brain. Bring in your heart and soul and remind that cute brain that one or two experiences does not a life define. If it wants to stay stuck, call me, that is the perfect situation for Belief Re-patterning.

Of course we are going to miss those who have passed and yes, remember the past, what I am suggesting is we choose to no longer live there and recreate it each day. So, if you are willing, pick whatever situation you lament about often, and be honest, we all have some, and decide if you want to drag that dirty blanket around any longer or if you want to release it and be grateful to yourself for doing so.

Grateful for morning messages,
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

We all have a different lens in which we look at the world through. More glasses then even Elton John owns. That is one of the things I love most about people. We each have a special recipe of experiences that got us to where we are today and where we will be tomorrow. Sure, sometimes I wonder how someone could come to the conclusions or beliefs that they have, but it always fascinates me to consider the ingredients that went into the recipe.

All of these experiences are the creation of the lenses we see the world through. The lenses are your filters of where your world is today. Each lens is added on top of another. Each time someone shared their opinion with you when you were younger and so absorbent, you got a new lens. When you had a joyful moment, you got a lens and similarly when you had or witness a sad event, you got a lens.

So, with all these lenses it is no wonder people have difficulty seeing and knowing their own truth sometimes. It is also why when looking at new situations it can be tricky discerning what to do or how to be. Imagine having a pair of glasses on your nose with all those lens's on top of each other, lens's that aren't even the ones you picked out. How heavy would that be, not only to your nose, but your psyche too?

One of the aspects of integrating my intuition with Belief Re-patterning I love so much is that through the process we are able to peel back those layers, without always visiting the story, the who, the why or how. As my business continues to build with the sessions, I am humbled each time to see how resilient our brains, heart and soul are. Just this week I worked with someone who ended up in happy and amazed tears saying "That is who I am? This person? Really? All along?" I will admit I was tearing right along with her.  Did I mention it is a compassionate process?

I have encouraged my amazing clients to use the technique on their own before issues arise. I call it front loading. Of course, having it available when life happens and stress hits is a gift I am not sure I can even quantify, but learning and doing sessions when in a desire to grow space is priceless.

We have every ability to choose how we want to live our lives. We can also choose to change how we see it. Taking those lenses off and looking at what we believe about ourselves is the first step to being at peace with self and others. Learning to manage the energy of our lives rather than deal with the result of living from the subconscious is a human ability. I don't think we should squander that.

What lenses do you know you have on your cute little nose? Where they applied by parents, teachers, the media, self perception or did you come in with something on the soul level that you just can't seem to shake?

Do you speak to yourself in a voice you would never use with your children, friends, co-workers or family members?  Do you know you learned to talk to yourself that way? If the soul you really are was able to be heard by your mind and did the talking, it would be kind and encouraging. Wouldn't that be a great way to be in this world?

My husband used to say to me that I really do walk around with rose colored glasses on. Eventually, he came to realize that I wasn't oblivious to people's actions; I was choosing what I allowed into my conscious and subconscious self. It took a while to learn this and be able to function in this world. I was well on my way when I discovered the Belief Re-patterning and why I get so excited about it. We don't have to work so hard to shift what we have learned from the external and integrated to the internal.

It is my wish for the time I am of this Earth, this go around anyway, that I help as many people as possible learn to be nice to themselves, then take that out in to the world, which can then return it in as accepting of a fashion. We don't have to love everyone on this planet. We really don't, but we do have to learn how to love ourselves and use the lens of our soul to guide us to acceptance of others and self.

We are all here to learn self acceptance. That is what I believe to be our life purpose. We have different roads to take in order to do that, sure, but that is why we are here. Wouldn't you like to get started on that consciously? Statements and breathing...you can do that right? I thought so.

Seeing your beauty so clearly, I wish you saw yourselves the same way,

Vicki

To book your appointment.

Last winter I decided that I should probably line a few things up proactively to manage the cold, newly single, inside season. One thing I did was join a local spa that had a great gym (until the best one ever opened at Soules Sports and Fitness;shameless plug here.) and THE best conditioner in the showers ever. A form of community, where no one made eye contact and I could be anonymous while being part of a whole and getting my sweat on. I admit it sounds a bit convoluted now but it worked, for that time.  The other decision I made was to learn how to play the guitar.

The spa was to give myself something away from the challenges of the newly single experience. So I didn't become, shall we say, cranky.  The guitar is something I had tried years, ahem, decades, ago, for about a week. I had taken clarinet and voice lessons for ten years in school so I thought, ok, so I learn a few chords and pluck out a tune or two and feel accomplished in my mature self.

Oh my goodness was I misleading myself. I'm glad I was because it gave me the courage to call Pat, the queen of all patient people, to see if she was brave enough to take me on as a student. She may be reassessing this now, but she said yes. So, the guitar is hard. It is way hard. It is so hard, anyone who plays it should be given moments of silence as we stand in wonder at their abilities. My guitar and I have had words, well, I used words, it just sat there all high and mighty and string like.

It probably doesn't come as a surprise that I have a pretty high drive for anything I attempt. It's how I'm wired. Why go half in? What I had forgotten about those ten years of music is I started out sounding pretty awful. Mom made me practice in the field behind our house if that is any indication of how awful the first few months of woodwind lessons are. (A note to my children; I never made you do that. That should count for something!) So imagine my surprise and utter frustration when I picked up the guitar and started to learn how to make my fingers cooperate in order to produce something that remotely sounded like music.

This is where Pat's patience comes in. She would say, you are rocking it. Good job! I believe her because she is as honest as they come but couldn't help thinking she had lost some of her hearing. So, we kept at it. We have only scratched the proverbial surface of how to play and there are literally more techniques and ways to play it than I can absorb.

The reason for this trip through my, never going to do a world tour as a lead musician, experience is I had an epiphany about the guitar and learning this weekend. I realized that I could go at it with my "I WILL GET THIS!" way or I could relax into it, have fun and be fascinated by the potential of the process. I realized that much like our soul, which is eternal and that means we are never going to get it all done, learning is the same.

How boring would it be to know everything? Or to be able to do something the minute we decided to try. How about if we all admitted we didn't know it all, relaxed into that, allow the process and learn from each other?

It was such a relief to be able to say, ok, I don't know what the heck that fingering chart means (I had it sideways. Which is ridiculously funny to me now.). I don't have some perceived finish line I have to get to and prove that I am a worthy student. I have all the time in the world because the effort I am putting in now may show up as a world tour in my next life. Hey, it could happen!

Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed because you think you should know it all by now? At whatever age your ID says you are? Do you put pressure on yourself to always be prepared to prove that you have value in your intelligence? Ok, stop it. Relax in what you do know and be curious about what you don't. Be patient and give yourself time to learn, grow, expand and develop the muscles needed to live a fantastically, wonderful life.

We are so dynamically different as much as we are similar. People have a lot to teach each other as we have all walked unique paths. Let's start to accept that collectively we are dang smart and learn from each other. I wish for us all to have teachers as patient as Pat, with humor, direction and a willingness to say "I don't know, either" so we can experience the new together.

Rock on, or in my case for this weeks lesson; I wish you a Steady Groove!
Vicki

P.S, Dave, if you are reading this from the other side, I could really use the help with chords. I thank you in advance.

www.vickibaird.com

Yes, this could very well be referring to what is going on around the world right now with those that choose to express themselves through angry means, but that isn't what I am asking about. Well, maybe it is because acceptance really does start at home and then we take it out into the world. 

Acceptance can be practiced and acted on in so many areas of our lives. Maybe we could start small and work our way up completely accepting others. 

This idea isn't new by any means and it is something I work to achieve every day. Some days I am more successful than others. The intention is there, the act is in process. I think the most challenging part to me is when others feel they have a say in how someone lives their lives. News flash; we have no say in how someone else chooses to live their lives. Sure we can have an opinion but ultimately, it is up the individual how they live and what they choose to do. 

Recently I was contemplating this when someone thought it a good idea to tell me how I should live my life. They went as far as to tell me how I should feel and operate with my emotions. Yeah, this is where I had to practice acceptance about where they were coming from. I did ok, and then reminded them that I haven't been a minor for a very long time so unless there was some sort of time warp I wasn't aware of, they may want to zip their lips. I told you I was working on it. In process, I am. 

I'll admit this is incredibly difficult to do with those that we believe we love or have loved in the past. That connection does not give us permission to exert what we believe to be in their best interest, it just doesn't. Somewhere along the line we became so self important that our way must be the way and I want to challenge all that are reading this to step back and assess whether you are that person who believes they have a right to say how others live. I don't care how long you have lived or what you've experienced before, you have not lived the days of the person you are advising or talking about so consider accepting that they have a personal GPS that will direct them. 

Maybe they will ask for help. That will be great if they do. Then still consider asking them what they feel would be the best for them. I truly believe we all have our answers within and if we are willing to be quiet and with our own thoughts and feelings. 

So, my theory is that if we work on this with those close to us, we can begin to take it out into the world. We can then accept that when another person lives differently than we do, it is NOT a reflection on us,  nor are they asking you to do and be how they are living. If they are, send them to this blog to remind them that they have no place or need to weigh in on your life, unless invited to do so. 

As the challenge this week, perhaps when someone is acting or doing something YOU don't agree with, but is causing no harm to themselves or another, reach up and zip thy lips. Open your ears and heart and hear what they are saying. If you still can't shut your mouth, then ask for space and walk away. 

I really believe that the more we respect each others way of being, the closer we will actually be to peace. Like I said, it is a theory and you are welcome to work your own theory. I accept that. 

Minding my own business, 

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

I had the distinct pleasure of being raised by a woman who demanded we use proper grammar, read a lot and reach for the words that have more than one syllable. She also loved Wheel of Fortune and would take you down for not knowing the answer...in a fun way not a whole Mommy Dearest way. It was rare to see her without a book or two going and if I got lazy in my choice of words or expression, she would say,  "don't give me those fifty cent words, Victoria." It makes me laugh to think of her saying that now. For the record, call me Victoria and you will get the look. Only mom got away with that.

To say she instilled a love of words in me is an understatement. It wasn't until later in my intuitive development did I realize she was also teaching me to find the vibrations in words. When she implored, or ordered, me to find a new word she was showing me that while words can mean similar things they have very different feelings to them. Maybe she knew this. I don't know for sure but I like to think she did. Dianne demanded word choice but she didn't share a whole heck of a lot. Woman of mystery, you have to love it.

Words matter, energy matters...energy is matter, but it matters too. See? How fun is that? The inflection behind our words matter too,we all know that but when was the last time you took the time to feel the words you were choosing?

Ask my kids, or clients, and they will tell you that I often suggest words for them to use instead of the ones they offered. I don't do this in a know it all way, I hope, but rather in an almost automatic detection method that then spits out of my mouth. Sometimes I can control it and sometimes I can't. It is my intention to help people become aware of the vibrations in everything and how we speak, to others and especially ourselves, is extremely powerful.

Imagine my complete joy when I discovered Belief Re-patterning and it is word choice and vibration combined with emotions based. It was like home made maple walnut ice cream good to me. (That's really good for those who don't have a clue to my love of maple walnut ice cream.) To be able to combine my natural word detector with a system that will help YOU develop  yours. Utopia. That is why I am having so much fun bringing it to the Berkshires and beyond.

I had an example of the more than a word thing this last week, and really the reason I came up with this blog in the first place. All of a sudden I had this whack upside the heart that I really am a widow. Now, it's not like I'm in denial of the fact that Howard has moved on to his next adventure, but for some reason my cognitive mind could use the word, even check it on all the emergency contact forms I had to change, but it didn't fully register the implication of the word. That was being stored in the subconscious, perhaps hiding it in some kind of protection mode.  Also for the record; I still think it's not the best word but everyone understands it, until I find a new one and create a revolution!

So, when it got through my subconscious and came into my conscious mind, it created this explosion of emotion and tears. But, and here is the amazing part, once I allowed it to be in my consciousness and looked directly at it, the pressure came off of it. It didn't change my circumstance or the past year but it did allow me to move a little closer into that acceptance of where I am and that is a huge gift.

I want everyone to feel this relief. To realize we have a choice on what we do with our emotions and a lot of times this starts with how we talk to ourselves. I could have judged myself for being too emotional or a little slow on the uptake in realizing widow does really apply to me. I didn't because I had the Belief Re-patterning front loaded as I call it. I had it on board and my brain had already been shifted to know these emotions were a benefit to me and while they may be intense right now, they will subside into a gratitude of awareness.

What are some of the words you use when you talk to yourself? Are they supportive or do they involve a verbal form of a billy club that you whack yourself over the head with? Would you talk to another the way you talk to yourself?

Observe yourself this week in what words are part of your automatic vocabulary and see if you can't choose one that has a slightly higher vibration. For example; if your self talk is about not being good enough, you can recognize it, look at it and be willing to say, "Well, I am not really sure what enough is, but for this moment I can accept that I am doing the best I can with what I have at this time and that is plenty." Enough shifts to plenty. Feel that for a moment. Right? Doesn't that feel good?

If you'd like to explore this a little more, I do a class every month on the third Tuesday. You are welcome to join me as I combine the Belief Re-patterning, coaching and my word detector to help you develop your own inner coach.

I wish you the ease of talk to yourself and others this week and the fun of learning how word choice effects our lives and how it can elevate it to the supercalifragilistic level you are capable of. No, Dianne would never have taken that word as an adjective BUT she did instill the love of musicals in me as well, so I would have argued that she entered the word into play and gotten an "oh, Victoria" with a shake of her head as she tried to hide her smile.

Rocking my thesaurus,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

With all the graduations going on now, it got me thinking. Aren't we always in a state of graduating? Isn't that the experience we call life? A series of steps that lead to another level of learning, growing, application and awareness. Sure there are specific times that are celebrated and should be like when one completes a level of education or training, but life seems to have its own graduation points. Perhaps if we viewed them this way, we wouldn't see this life thing as such a struggle.

For instance, when people come to see me because they are unsure how to handle this next step of life called retirement, I often suggest that they see it as a graduation. As something to celebrate rather than be nervous about all that time that they will have now that they don't work full time. There is another reason I suggest they see it this way; to retire means to rest or withdraw from and I just don't think this is a good way to go into what could be the most fun time of one's life. Besides, some of the people I know who have graduated are busier now then when they worked!

Think about the steps you have taken in your own life that could be seen as a graduation. What about when you decided to move away from home or when you realized the relationship you were in was not serving either of you and you called it over? Or what about the time you made the commitment to your health and started eating more organically or less chips? These are all places where you grew, learned and committed. Go you!

If we accept the idea of a graduated system, we can also appreciate the fact that we didn't get to graduate high school or an equivalent diploma without going through elementary school. Following this idea, perhaps the first time or two, or three that you attempted to eat healthy were your elementary school experience. Perhaps the friendships with people you realized weren't really friends you would like to hang out with were really the middle school field trip where you learned there was more to this world that you would like to explore.

Maybe not knowing what to do with your life and how you will traverse it is the great graduation point of all times. Accepting that we will never really know what we want to be when we grow up, because we are always growing, and learn to be in whatever experience or grade is happening at the time.

We are proud of graduates. We celebrate them. Even throw parties to commemorate the growth. Why can't we do this for every aspect of our life and learn to be appreciative of the ability to be here in this school playground? I'm not saying we have to get an award for everything we do, or a trophy just for showing up. I'm still a little old school on that one, but we can recognize when we've hit a milestone and be willing to be proud of ourselves.

This past week someone close to me said some pretty hurtful things. I'll admit, I carried it with me for a few days and it hit hard enough to draw tears. Then I remembered I have the say over whether I am hurting about another's actions. They show who they are, not me and I can continue to carry it or I can release it and know that moving forward I will know exactly how she thinks of me and graduate out of that middle school program!

What if this week you took an example from all those moving into new areas of their lives and got brave enough to explore where you are graduating now and do it with celebration?

What if....

Off to play Pomp and Circumstance,
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

and that word is integrity. I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I'm not really sure why, but it keeps popping in so I figure it is always a good thing to look at when that happens. Sort of the souls way of getting my attention. That thought that won't leave until I hear it out.

So, integrity to me is living in a way that is honest and to my best intention. It may not always reach gold star status but I go to sleep every night knowing I gave my best that day and whatever needs tweaking, I will look for ways to do so the next day. It may not meet others expectations and that is great too because I am not living in integrity if I am worrying that someone else may not like what I am doing or not doing for them.

Maybe I am a throwback to the decades before but remember when a handshake and your word was what got you credit, land, or a partner? I love that. I love that it takes work, the word grit is in the middle of it for goodness sake, to maintain it and the reward is amazing. Instant character building when you are turned down because you didn't represent well in the past. No masks to hide behind, no credit score or false compliments. The more time I spend on this planet in this lifetime, I crave this honesty.

Some have said I can be too honest with what I think and feel and yes, it can come out without any protective wrapping. I would never want to hurt someone consciously so I have been more mindful about the delivery lately, at least I hope so but don't you just love when there is compete openness and freedom to say whatever one feels with people. This has really shaped my relationships this last year. I choose to be with those that are really active in their own growth. They can move at their own pace, that is fine, but if we are only going to talk about others and what is going on outside of self, I have to be going, thanks for the invite.

Maybe that does sound harsh but ask yourself this, do you want to go to bed every night feeling like you enjoyed your day or lamenting how you will never get that hour back that someone wanted to talk about celebrities or inconsequential subjects? They mean something to you, as each of us have our own interests and I honor that, but I don't have to spend my time with you then if we don't line up. This life is here to be invested in with it's precious commodity of experiences. Shouldn't they be ones that light you up?

I spent quite a bit of my life doing what others wanted me to or being who they wanted me to be. It got me health issues and extra fluff to carry around. It also made me not such a nice person to be with because I wasn't showing how sensitive I was to what they were asking of me. To be someone other than who I am. I reacted so rather than be in that space any longer, integrity with who I am became very important which has lead to wanting the same from others. If that is too tough for those who are in my life, then well, there is the door and I wish you well and lots of ice coffee on the road.

• Is there anywhere in your life where you are not living in integrity with yourself? 
• Are their relationships that you are tolerating whether they are personal, professional or with yourself? 
• Where would you like to improve the experience of your life so you can say you are living in integrity with your own souls path?
• Does whether someone thinks highly of you matter more than what you feel about yourself? Are their feelings more important than your own? 
• Do you allow yourself to tap in and see how you feel before you commit to a date, project, conversation or volunteer action? 
• Have you had a conversation with YOU lately? 

I believe we are all contributing to an energy that is great and if we can be good with ourselves, we will have less strife and issues with others. Won't that be lovely?

What is your word? What message are you receiving lately in the form of repetitive words? Pay attention. There are great clues to your own happiness in that voice inside asking you to hear it.

Word,
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com 

Have you ever searched and searched for something, like your car keys, and can't find them anywhere only to return to the place you originally started, and there they are? I did this recently looking for a receipt. I am ridiculously organized. It is an energy thing. I work best when items have a home and are available when I need them. So, when I couldn't find a receipt that should have been in the items to be entered into quickbooks (Yes, there is a home for things before they go to their permanent home, a bit like a layover in a cross country flight.)  I was quite confused by my own doings and a bit bummed the system didn't work. I quickly got over this when my humor returned and I realized it's a receipt, Vicki, simply a receipt.

As my head works, I wondered why I got so twisted up by this experience and came to the conclusion it was because of the search not necessarily that I couldn't find the receipt. I have trust in my systems so even if the paper wasn't there, I would eventually be able to reprint it and the world would be good again. In my rushing though, I got caught up in, but, "I have to find it!"

What I forgot was we don't need to find anything; what we need is already right there. In the case of a physical objects, often they are right in front of our faces and we can't see them because the worry acts like a smoke screen making it virtually impossible to see what we were looking for in the first place. What are we so worried about? Well, that is different for everyone but most often it is the belief and false sense of security that if the external item can validate me, I am ok. If I find what I was looking for, phew, all is well with my world. If that person likes me, I must be lovable. If I make a certain amount of money, I have value.

That is a lot of pressure to place on one little receipt, car keys, savings account, boyfriend, boss and whatever else may be on the list.

What may be on your list that is offering up that tease of when you find it, you will then be happy, fit, gorgeous, rich, calm etc? There isn't anything external that is going to give you that feeling. It must come from within and while that may seem daunting, it can really be an amazing process to realize the power comes from you and that means no one can take it away nor can they offer it up. Sure, it feels good to have those things in your life and to love another, but the feeling still isn't coming from that or them, it comes from you. How cool is that?

For me it wasn't the receipt being missing it was the feeling that I had failed at something. Now, I didn't know that immediately. I had to be willing to take the time and be curious about what I was feeling in order to have the awareness that something was amiss here. Once I allowed myself to do that, the humor and acceptance returned.

So, what if you took the energy that goes into looking outside of yourself and if you must still be in the practice of "finding" something, you find you? It isn't necessary to rent a billboard to tell others you are doing it, besides, that would be looking outside of you again for validation. Instead, take a nice deep breathe in through the nose and out the mouth to center yourself, be brave and say, "what is really going on here and how can I support me in understanding what I need?"

Whatever method you use to get to know you, congratulations. Along the path, remind yourself that when you are feeling like you want to find out who you are; keep it an internal process and perhaps use this acronym First I Notice Details. Notice what it is that make you unique and be brave as you discover what can stay and what you would like to release.

This life thing doesn't come with a map as far as I have been able to tell but we do come with our own personal GPS. Use yours!

Off I go a wondering,

Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

...if you've ever had a goldfish. This may seem like an odd thing to ask but there is a background to the question. After Howard passed I started really paying attention to the questions people ask and the statements made regarding his passing. Most were so lovely and caring and although "I'm sorry for your loss" became a trigger to me wanting to pop someone in the noggin...I didn't. I simply stated, he isn't lost, we weren't at the mall and can't find each other.  He knows where he is and I know he is still in my heart, and thank you.

I know it is largely because we don't know what to say so I thought I would bring a little bit of honesty, perhaps a bit bold, conversation to the subject. I realize that I deal with the subject on a daily basis in my work and over the last year, in my life, so I may have a different approach to the subject, but hear me out because when there is acceptance to this process, I do believe we will all live thoroughly before WE croak.

So, regarding the goldfish comment. I had someone say to me "I can't believe your husband passed. He was so young." Yes, relatively speaking, he was, but my first thought was, "Have you ever had a goldfish?" My point: Everything croaks. EVERYTHING. Even the single cell organism is going to fade off into the sunset at some point. Hey, we should be grateful, some insects are only here for a day and must do it all in 24 hours. There is a great book called Everyone Poops. Perhaps we should have a book that is titled Everything Croaks. (Croak is the word often used by those who have communicated with me after they passed. There is no death. Transfer of energy, sure, but no death so I won't use that term.)

Another statement I hear a lot is "was he sick?" Well, yes, he was. For three years before he croaked but how is that relevant? Because we had some sort of flag telling us that his time could be up at any point? Well, technically we did because I had a preview of his passing but We ALL have that flag. It's called being born. From the moment you are born there is a process to returning to the other side. There just is. No special formula. No one gets away from this. Some may be here longer, as to whatever their soul contract is, and some may not. It's not preferential treatment if someone is here until they are 106...that is their soul contract. A contract each of us agrees to and at some point I really hope we begin to high five those that cross before we do for they completed what they came to do.

What I came to realize in those three years was we had to live with the knowledge that he could go at any moment. I am grateful for that because it brought honesty, humor and lots of conversations about him stalking me from the other side. It also created an opening for the "what do you want, Howard?" dialogue so when it was time, I knew for certain without any question what his wishes were. That alleviated a lot of pressure knowing he made those decisions before any emergency situation. It made for some tense moments with his mother, but eh, I'm tough, I could take it...because honoring him was more important than if someone blamed me.

Now, I will be honest, I didn't have a clear knowing of how hard this after process really is. My parents had passed but I was so stressed with life when Mom did, I don't believe I processed it until much later and Dad and my relationship was distant at best. I loved him and know he loved me but beyond that, there wasn't much I was grieving. I was so relieved for him that he didn't have Alzheimer's anymore, I focused on that instead of a supposed loss in my life.

After experiencing three passings in ten months, I got a real good taste for this grieving thing. One thing I've learned is it can creep up on you and hit you when you least expect it; and that's ok. I was taking a spin class one night and a song came on that opened the flood gates. At first I was just trying to get out of the room but I knew I wasn't going to stop the tears, especially since I had two good friends in the class and the compassion in their eyes added to the tears. I have the best girlfriends ever. Anyway, I exploded. Tears, snot, heaving sobs. It was very pretty. My next thought was a bit of embarrassment but by the time I left the bathroom, still weeping, I said, "you know what? I am not going to pretend I'm not hurting. I am going to bring a bit of honesty to this process and let people see when I'm upset and if it bothers them, they will need to get over it." So, I explained to the crew that wasn't sure if I sprained something why I was crying and got the best, albeit sweaty, hugs I've ever had. Some of these sweaty people I had just met that night. Honesty brings compassion.

We have to be willing to allow the feelings to come up and out. If we don't, we will be creating issues in our own tissues. I'll admit, I can be a pretty stoic person but that is because I hurt so bad when others hurt that I learned to sort of bottle it. Well, this process has uncorked that and I am actually grateful. Hey, I started crying one time in the store because I automatically reached for the tea Howard liked but I didn't. I didn't need to buy it but some muscle memory had me reaching for it and then the smack in the heart when I realized I didn't need it. One never knows what will open it, but be grateful it is open for a closed heart is a very sad thing.

While it is true everything expires physically, those that are here after the person passes will have to do their process. Let's have some compassion and patience for that.

Often I have heard, call me when you need to talk or are crying. Well, no, that is not going to happen. At least for me it won't. See above accounting of how I cry. It ain't pretty and I can't dial the phone at the time. I have to collapse, let it all out and then get back up again. I have to. I promised him. So, when you have someone in your life going through this, please don't expect them to be the ones to call. They may not be able to and that is ok because whatever they are going through is not about you and your desire to help. It may just be about them trying to stand up that day and make it through the day.

Finally, I know everyone really does mean well and to the person who said she understood because her pet passed and that was traumatic...I am sure it was and I'm sorry that happened. See? Growth...I didn't punch her! I am not a violent person but sometimes when finding a balance between understanding the souls process and honoring those who have crossed and dealing with my own humanness, I dream a little dream.

May I offer a statement that some of my fellow friends who have walked this path themselves and I have seen walk it this year agree on? When appropriate, like in the receiving line or grocery store or wherever you happen to meet up after the goldfish, pet, spouse, child, parent, partner, etc passes offer up a "Well, this sucks" or the equivalent in your own language. Get honest. Be willing to be so bold as to say " I have no words and that is ok." Let's change it from "sorry for your loss" to the honesty of everyone passes and this is what happened and I acknowledge it stinks. I promise you, the person is going to be oh, so thankful you were authentic and didn't give a platitude and you will feel good because, well, honesty feels good.

I truly believe when we look this whole expiration process openly, we will begin to live lives that are fulfilling, honoring and accepting of the idea we all croak. We will then see that every day really is a gift and perhaps fill it with love, humor and an occasional threat of stalking once we've crossed. Perhaps that is one of the reasons I have gone through it now, to bring the open conversation idea with very little editing on my part. I'll understand if we need to part ways because my honesty may be too difficult to read and I'll wish you well. I won't, however, pretend anymore that whomever is lucky enough to pass has been jipped of a life or that their passing is somehow permission for us to be continuous sad sacks (I learned this term this month and ironically, it makes me giggle to say it. Healing comes in many ways.).

Please stretch yourself and see the gift in the life process. Be honest about your emotions, let them flow, and move on. Your loved one did and isn't that amazing?

No edit button anymore and I am liking it,
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com

Have you ever attended a workshop where they asked you to do the two minute elevator speech to describe what it is you do? Judging from that groan I just heard, it seems some of you have. Well, I groan right along with you. Besides my obvious gift for gab and thinking; I only have two minutes? The inability to do this has frustrated me for years. Years I tell you. 

The reason this has come up is for the four millionth, five hundred and thirty second time is, I tried to explain what it is I do to someone the other day as part of our Mastermind Group. I say try because it has been challenging for me to describe the work I do with people as it can be so different from one person to another, but I decided to really think and feel the answer to see what would come up. Thankfully, she has had a session with me so it helped to take the pressure off wondering if she would understand the experience as described from my point of view. 

This is what I came up with; I have the unique ability to be able to see someone's soul and it's intention in coming into this lifetime along with the agreement it made with the human self. Along with this flight plan filed before they came in as a human, I then look to see what the blocks may be in place and how I can help. Once I have a clear picture of this, I use my intuition, coaching and Belief Re-patterning to remind the person they have a soul with intelligence that would like to work in connection with their physical being to create the life that is most successful for them, in all areas of their experience, at what successful means to them in the moment. 

The way I described it feeling is like when Tinkerbell sewed Peter Pan's shadow back on to his body. When the two were separate, Peter wasn't happy and the shadow was bouncing all over the place trying to get his attention. That is what it feels like to me when someone isn't listening to themselves. It's a bit distracting, but with practice, I have learned how to communicate in a way the person can hear me and suggest they connect up to their soul knowing so this journey of being human doesn't seem so hard.

I had seen this as the what I did but not taken the time to connect it to how I did it and certainly never told anyone so succinctly. Phew, that felt good. As a side note; she asked me if I had ever thought of writing this out to help others know what it is I do. Insert a dramatic pause here...me shaking my head no....full belly laughs from both of us. It was a fantastic moment of knowing I would have thought to go there immediately with a client but not with myself. Ahhhh, this soul/human thing is so fun, isn't it? 

As happens often in my life through the law of attraction, within two days of me articulating this, I had three people say back to me; "It's like you see my soul and describe my whole path and who I am without even knowing me and in a way more clear than I could say myself." Ummmmm, yup. To be fair, isn't it always easier for someone else to see our stuff? Add whatever homework I did in a past life to be able to intuit the way I do and it's easy.  I love that I am able to help through whatever wiring I have that allows me to see paths, blocks, future events and to help people line up with what is best for themselves. 

Obviously, the people I work with have to be willing to grow, change and embrace the knowledge that lifetimes of being a soul have given them or me seeing their potential isn't going to help anyone in the long term. That is where working together in an ongoing basis can really expand a person and create that growth exponentially. It takes courage to be a human, but we don't have to do it alone. 

I decided to write this up as a blog form as there have been many questions as to why I am no longer offering the medium readings any longer. Along with the fact that it is gut wrenchingly hard to do since my husband completed his soul journey while I have not, it is simply that I encourage others to do what they love the most and I would be a hypocrite if I didn't do the same. 

Through these last nine months, I have had to ask myself on many occasions if I am living as my soul intends in conjunction with my human path and when I come up with a not really; I feel so completely pushed to do so. I know what it feels like to not listen and I really know what it looks like after doing this for fifteen years with you amazing people. The soul is here to be curious, to expand and explore. We owe it to ourselves to do just that!

For whatever time I have on this planet, I want to be able to say I was courageous and listened to my soul. I want to be able to appreciate my Tinkerbell skills and encourage others to use their superpower, whatever it may be! 

I am so grateful to Chantal for helping me find the clarity, myself for being brave enough to say, hey, this is what I do, and you amazingly wonderful people who have been part of this business that doesn't seem like work. I am appreciative to have signed up to be here at this time. 

What do you believe to be your superpower? What is your soul saying to you it wants to be curious about? Are you brave enough to listen? It's ok if the answer is not really. That's why I'm here. Give me a call and we will do it together!

One of my favorite quotes is by Theodore Roosevelt; 

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Be daring, be messy, stumble, make errors, but for goodness sake, be willing to be, 
Vicki

www.vickibaird.com