AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNA MURPHY ~ "Problems cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them."

I recently had the opportunity to interview my friend and colleague, Anna Murphy, an intuitive guide and healer and tarot reader. I hope you find the results as interesting as I did! Please be sure to check out the link at the end of the interview, to read more about Anna and be redirected to her website and thought-provoking and very entertaining blog.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STUDYING THE TAROT?
I picked up my first deck, the Robin Wood Tarot, when I was 21. At first, I mainly studied out of books like Mary K. Greer's "Tarot for Yourself" and read just for myself for quite a while. I was lucky to meet someone who was an extremely talented reader. She taught me a lot and really encouraged me to come out of my shell.Growing up, doing things like reading Tarot cards was not something that anyone around me ever did. None of my family or friends ever went to see readers, or if they did they didn't talk about it. So it was a strange new world to me, and a very exciting one.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST NOTICE YOUR TALENT & SKILL? HOW DID YOU FURTHER DEVELOP YOUR INTUITION?
When I first started playing around with the Tarot, I didn't feel like I had any psychic ability. In retrospect, I had always had a lot of the signs of latent psychic ability -- mainly intense dreams and emotional sensitivity, a strong creative impulse. These are qualities that are really discounted or driven underground in our culture, so for most people, myself included, being sensitive or creative felt more like a recipe for unhappiness than as a gift.

The best way I found to develop my intuition was just practice, both with the cards and with everyday things. At the time, I was living in Boston and going to art school. I used to change trains at Arlington Station and, while I was waiting, I would try to guess which train would come next -- B, C, D, or E. After a while, I got very good at this and learned how to distinguish between a guess, a hope, a worry, and a real intuition.

The less you have emotionally invested in the outcome, the easier it seems to be to predict something. My husband is a big fan of mixed martial arts fighting. I used to be able to predict the outcome of nearly every fight we watched -- but then I started rooting for certain fighters and now I'm terrible at calling fights. This is probably why intuition and gambling don't go together very well.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
That's a good question. A lot of people seem to think that their fate is sealed in advance, even the choices they are going to make. I've never understood that perception. Maybe people learn too much Greek tragedy in high school, I don't know.From reading the cards, sometimes it seems that certain things are indeed predestined and unavoidable, but they are the exception, not the rule. The world seems to be a lot looser and more pliable than it appears to us.

WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST FULFILLMENT FROM WHAT YOU DO?
I love hunting down answers and solving mysteries. There was a physicist whose books I love who wrote one called "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out." That's a big one for me.

And the Tarot itself is constantly teaching me. The origins of Tarot cards are pretty murky. Tarot scholars will tell you that it seems to have originated as an Italian card game in the fifteenth century that just happened to incorporate some powerful symbolism. But lately I'm thinking that there was a lot more intentionality in its creation than most people believe, because the patterns of its design go very deep.

I recently discovered some alchemical and merkavah (an ancient Jewish mystical tradition) symbolism in the Tarot that it's clear were put there on purpose by whoever created the system. I'm surely not the first person to notice these connections, but they are undoubtedly there. I don't think anyone's gotten to the bottom yet of everything that the Tarot represents and after almost six hundred years that's saying something.

I think of the Tarot as a map of the unconscious mind, but it's more than that. In the West, it also represents a huge part of our spiritual inheritance. It is a coded message from the pagans, the Qabalists, the Rosicrucians, the alchemists and magicians and Mary Magdalene-lovers whose faith and practices were underground for so many centuries.

The funny thing is that these underground traditions are not anti-Christian -- usually they were quite the opposite. Many of them were started by people whose Christian or Jewish faith was so deep that they wanted to get more personally involved in their own spiritual life. That was a very taboo thing to do in those times.

HOW DO YOUR READINGS BENEFIT YOUR CLIENTS?
Above all, I think a good reading can bring clarity and insight that it's impossible to find anywhere else. It is also helpful to have some psychological insight if you are going to be a reader. I think it's a shame that the psychological community has become very un-magical. Except for the Jungian tradition, most therapists no longer talk about the soul, and this is a big loss. So now readers and psychics do a lot of this work instead, but it's very private and unregulated.

Mainstream therapists have gotten into "cognitive behavioral" therapy, which has its uses, but essentially we are training people to just behave better and think better. We're changing the outside and hoping that the inside will change -- and a lot of time, this does work just fine, but it's not enough.

As a culture, we seem to have given up on seeking the answers to the deeper mysteries and the really big questions. Bringing up things like the soul or the existence of life after death or what the heck is really happening in our world is kind of a social no-no. But the thing is, these are the questions that people are privately really thinking about and struggling with. They're very important. A Tarot reading is a safe place to bring up and investigate almost anything. I think that's very freeing for people.

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS YOU ARE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED BY CLIENTS DURING THE READINGS?
Love and money are always the big questions!

WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT FOR A CLIENT TO KNOW, TO GET THE MOST OUT OF A SESSION WITH YOU?
Mostly the important thing is to relax and be open. I look at a Tarot reading as a conversation with your higher self. Sometimes when I'm shuffling cards or laying them out, I'll ask clients casual questions about where they're from or something like that.

Sometimes I can feel brand new clients tense up when I do this because they've probably seen some Penn & Teller "expose" about how psychics will fish for information from you or that kind of thing.

Being able to trust in the process is probably the most important thing, both for me as a reader and for the client. I don't fully understand how the readings work but I see it as a very sacred process. As a client, it's not something you want to enter into if you're suspicious of the reader. I think that's why a lot of clients find me through word-of-mouth. This is actually very smart -- I wouldn't let just anyone read my cards, either. It's an intimate thing in a lot of ways.

ARE THERE ANY "DOWN SIDES" TO GETTING A READING?
I don't think so, but it is true that readings are probably not great for everyone.

One of my favorite Einstein quotes is "Problems cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them." Some people do come to a Tarot reader not wanting to change anything about their lives or themselves -- they just want to know what's in the future. And that's okay and it will work. I'm not there to do an intervention on somebody. What you want to do with your reading is completely up to you. But if you're wasting the present, what good is knowing about the future going to do you?

DO YOU HELP PEOPLE HEAL?
I do think that the readings are healing. At the most basic level, they offer my clients a lot of reassurance and hope. But they offer a chance for a deep transformation as well. It's all up to the client -- they are in the driver's seat for that.

To learn more about Anna, read her insightful and beautifully written blog postings on "Practically Spiritual" or to sign up for her upcoming "Opening to Tarot" class, please CLICK HERE

Thank You, Anna! I appreciate your answering my many questions to share with my blog readers and clients.

One More Thought on Procrastination

This is a much more succinct posting about procrastination, compared to Thursday's, but here is a great quote from Pablo Picasso, I wanted to share:

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."

Procrastination

"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."

How true, how true! We all have those things we don't want to do; they seem to permanently appear on our To Do List and no matter how big or small the task is, we dread doing it or we simply continue to put it off, for reasons we're not even sure of. Sometimes, we simply have so much to do, that we become overwhelmed and paralyzed and therefore take no action whatsoever. This behavior, which even the best of us are guilty of from time to time, can quickly become a pattern and a habit that is hard to kick.

Having these uncompleted tasks can drain us -- or as William James' quote so aptly puts it --- it fatigues us. Oh, but how can that be, you ask? If we've not put any effort into completing the task, how can that tire us? Well, that's kind of the point. By having this "To Do" constantly hanging over our heads, it becomes a burden. The proverbial albatross around our necks. It usually takes less effort to do something than the amount of effort it takes to avoid doing it.

So how are we to overcome this? Well, let's take a look at the type of things we tend to put off. Are they seemingly small things? Are they relatively big, important things? Each one needs to be evaluated on it's own, so we can get to the heart of the matter. After all, you cannot resolve something, if you don't know what the problem is, right? Sometimes we don't prioritize correctly or we are unsure of how to go about a certain task so we stall. Sometimes we avoid it because we know it could be a source of stress.

For example, one of the things I procrastinate is anything to do with having to speak to a Customer Service Rep over the telephone. The reason? Well, past experience, for one! I know I will have to go through a long-winded automated menu, punching in account numbers, birth dates and what-have-you. Then, I may get to the next menu, in which none of the options reflect the reason for my call, then I will be on hold for 10 minutes, and then either one of two things will happen next: I will inexplicably be disconnected or I will finally get a "live" CSR on the line and will have to repeat all the information I keyed in on the automated menu, then explain the reason for my inquiry, then will be told by the apathetic rep that I will have to call another number, or that there is nothing they can do to help me. End of call. But the beginning of my aggravation. A year or two ago there was a cartoon at the back of Parade Magazine. A man is in a doctor's office and was completing his physical. Instead of being hooked up to a treadmill with wires to conduct "the stress test", the doctor informed the patient that his stress test would consist of dialing an automated phone operator (the doctor stands, phone in hand, looking at the patient, sitting on the exam table). How appropriate! So, yeah, I tend to put that stuff off, even though it needs to be addressed. So, how can I mitigate this stress? Well, I try to resolve as many things as possible by email. But when I do have to call, I try to relax and do it at a time where my stress level is not already high. If I am calm to start with, even the worst call is less likely to raise my blood pressure. I need to be prepared and do it at a time where I am more relaxed. But then there are some nights where I am like, "I'm in a good mood. I don't want to ruin it by having to deal with this." So, the battle wages on. But remember, we all must pick our battles wisely.

Evaluating the things you avoid will help you to overcome them. Do you avoid things related to technology because you're not savvy in that area and it confuses you? Do you avoid things related to money because your finances are lacking? Do you avoid things related to a particular person because they hurt or annoy you? Identifying your reason for avoidance, will enable you to break your procrastination habit. Sometimes the reasons are based in fear, some are less threatening, but some are more serious, like self-sabotage.

Do you find yourself often saying "I don't have time"? Be conscientious of when you say you "don't have time". Often, "I don't have time" really means "I don't care". And there's nothing wrong with that. Putting time and effort into things you don't care about is disingenuous and doesn't do anybody any favors. By identifying what is valuable to you and what is worth your time, you will find yourself reprioritizing and you will find less on your To Do List and more on your To Don't List.

This is a good thing!

William James, the pioneering psychologist, philosopher and pragmatist, (and godson of Ralph Waldo Emerson) knew what he was talking about, over 100 years ago, when he said ""Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."

Here Comes the Bride!

I got some great news this morning; my friend, Quiana, beat out thousands of other women and has been chosen as one of ten semi-finalists for Modern Bride's "Bride of the Year". Of the ten, five will go on to be the elite semi-finalists and will make appearances on CBS's "The Early Show" in late July. Of those five, only ONE will be named Bride of the Year and will appear on Modern Bride's cover. To read Quiana's story and to cast your vote, please CLICK HERE.

SUGAR SOLUTIONS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

An attendee of last week's Sugar Solutions: How to Tame Your Sweet Tooth Workshop, which I facilitated in Cambridge, had a very positive experience and generously shared what she learned during this workshop with her blog readers. Still haven't attended one of my workshops? This blog posting will definitely motivate you to sign up! Please CLICK HERE to read one woman's summary of what she learned last week, entitled "Bitter Sweet Tooth". If you'd like to attend an upcoming workshop with me, please note I am holding one at the Boston Center for Adult Education in Boston's Back Bay on July 22nd. To register online, visit www.BCAE.org or to register by phone, call 617.267.4430. Can't attend on the 22nd? Contact me for more info!

Sugar Solutions Workshop: How To Tame Your Sweet Tooth

My Sugar Solutions Workshop for tomorrow is SOLD OUT. But the good news is, I have another one scheduled for next month! If you've never been to one of my workshops, you are missing out! On Tuesday, July 22nd, my workshop will take place at the Boston Center for Adult Education's historic Gamble Mansion at 5 Commonwealth Avenue, across from the scenic Public Gardens in Boston's Back Bay. Class begins at 5:45 PM and runs until 7:15 PM. To register online, CLICK HERE or register by phone at 617.267.4430. These always sell out, so register early!

What does the class entail? Well, do you know that food manufacturers use over 40 different words for “sugar” on food labels? Unless you know how to read food labels and identify sugar and its variants, you may be consuming a lot more sugar than you realize. How does this affect you and why should you be concerned? Attend my workshop and find out!

During the workshop, I educate and inform participants about the history of sugar, how it affects our bodies, how to identify it on food labels, how to reduce and eliminate our craving and dependency on it and to seek healthy alternatives without deprivation. These workshops are interactive, fun and very informative! Sign up today!

AIDS Walk 2008

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

I wanted to take this opportunity to update everyone and to send heartfelt thanks to everyone regarding the AIDS Walk Boston, the 23rd time that the AIDS Action Committee has held this annual event in their 26 years of existence! With over 20,000 walkers and over 600 runners, this year was the highest-attended AIDS Walk Boston ever, raising over $1.2 million dollars!

My teammates and I raised $13,465 this year! In addition to those funds, my team’s employer, Stop and Shop matched our pledges 50% up to the first $10K we raised, so altogether, our total contribution is $18,465. After we completed the 10K walk, we passed out free granola bars from our Stop and Shop table and enjoyed the festivities at the Hatch Shell. The weather was warm and sunny and the spirit of community at the Hatch Shell was great. It was a wonderful day!

We could not have achieved this without the generous and kind support of each and every one of you. Thank you for your donation! We are all very grateful for those who donated so generously!

Every dollar raised goes directly to the vital services of the AIDS Action Committee. To give you an idea of what those services are, this year's AIDS Walk raised more than $1.2 million dollars, funds which allowed AAC to...

* Answer nearly 14,000 calls on our statewide HIV and Hepatitis C hotlines
* Keep 300 HIV-positive people and their families from becoming homeless
* Counsel 500 hard-to-reach people at high-risk for HIV through the Peer Action Program
* Answer more than 1,600 requests for information to our HIV Health Library
* Provide free, confidential services to 2,500 people living with HIV/AIDS
*Advocate for fair and effective AIDS policy at the city, state and federal levels

Although the walk took place back on June 1st, it is still not too late to donate. You can access the online fundraising page by CLICKING HERE.

(The photo above is of me and my teammates after successfully crossing the walk's finish line.)

More Thoughts on Friendship

The following passage is by DailyOM:

The Friend We Want To Be: Evaluating Our Relationships
There comes a time in all our lives when we may need to evaluate our relationships, making sure that they are having a positive effect on us, rather than dragging us down. Without realizing it, we may be spending precious time and energy engaging in friendships that let us down, rather than cultivating ones that support and nourish us along our path. Life, with its many twists, turns, and challenges, is difficult enough without us entertaining people in our inner circle who drain our energy. We can do so much more in this world when we are surrounded by people who understand what we’re trying to do and who positively support our efforts to walk our path.

We can begin this evaluation process by simply noticing how we feel in the context of each one of our close relationships. We may begin to see that an old friend is still carrying negative attitudes or ideas that we ourselves need to let go of in order to move forward. Or we may find that we have a long-term relationship with someone who has a habit of letting us down, or not showing up for us when we need support. There are many ways to go about changing the status quo in situations like this, having a heart to heart with our friend showing through example. This process isn’t so much about abandoning old friends as it is about shifting our relationships so that they support us on our journey rather than holding us back.

An important part of this process is looking at ourselves and noticing what kind of friend we are to the people in our lives. We might find that as we adjust our own approach to a relationship, challenging ourselves to be more supportive and positive, our friends make adjustments as well and the whole world benefits.

For more writings from DailyOM, please click on the link on the upper right side of this blog page.

I'll Be Happy When & Best Kind of Friend Part II

''The great Western disease is, ‘I'll be happy when… When I get the money. When I get a BMW. When I get this job.’ Well, the reality is, you never get to when. The only way to find happiness is to understand that happiness is not out there. It's in here. And happiness is not next week. It's now.'' - Marshall Goldsmith

THE PEOPLE WHO CARE . . . . . .

The following, is an old favorite of mine:

Take this quiz:

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

Please share this with those people who have made a difference in your life. And remember, happiness is NOW.

The Best Kind of Friend

The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away, feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

THE NATURE OF SUCCESS

This inspirational 3-minute movie is about SUCCESS. I invite you to watch it and be inspired to reach your goals. After all, as the movie says, "The most important thing about a goal is having one." And also, to set realistic goals, because "Inch by inch, life's a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard." Please watch and be inspired today!



Today is the last day to make a donation to AIDS Walk Boston - and to win free nutrition counseling from yours truly! Please make a donation TODAY by visiting my online fundraising page by CLICKING HERE. Thank you for your generosity!

Living Purposefully

Thought for Today .....

If you don't live life on purpose, you live life by accident.

Less Than a Week to Go!

Wow, time flies! This year I began fundraising for the annual AIDS Walk Boston back on March 9th and now almost 10 weeks later, the walk is less than a week away. Despite my best efforts, this year has been very tough in soliciting donations. People who've supported me several times in the past, are unable to contribute this year. Alas, the economic situation right now is making it difficult for people to give, I am well aware. During these types of downturns in the economy, charities are also hit hard, because people are just unable to make any more commitments with their money and giving to charity may seem like one more burden they cannot shoulder. This year's tax rebates were meant to stimulate the economy, hoping people would spend the money on various purchases. Most people I know are spending their check on pre-existing bills and mundane expenses (including me!). My budget is stretched to the limit and I know many other people who empathize.

But did you know that donating money to charity also stimulates the economy? And the feeling you get from doing it lasts a lot longer than the fleeting excitement brought about by any "indulgence" purchase. And oftentimes, people don't give because they feel the problem is overwhelming and how can they possibly make a difference? Well, let me tell you.... every little bit helps... every penny counts. Even if you can only contribute $5 or $10 it will mean a lot to someone in need. It makes a big difference!

The AIDS Action Committee has done tremendous work for those living with and affected by AIDS and HIV. They couldn't do their work without the kindness of volunteers and donations made by generous folks like you. For more information about what AAC has accomplished, please visit their website at http://www.aac.org/ To contribute to AIDS Walk Boston by sponsoring me, please CLICK HERE for my online fundraising page. The AIDS Walk is a mere 5 days away; taking place on Sunday morning, June 1st. This is my fifth year participating and I would appreciate donations of any size; they are gratefully accepted and appreciated. Can you help me get closer to my fundraising goal of $1,500?

For those interested, I am offering FREE PRIZES for your donations of $50 or more, including free health counseling for 3 months and a free workshop presented to your office, community group or church. Call or email me for all the details!

Thank you for your consideration!

DONATE ONLINE BY CLICKING HERE

Quote Worthy

On Monday, my sister shared a great quote with me via email:

"It is not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

Who is the person behind this succinct, yet very powerful quote? It is none other than writer, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, transcendentalist and local "celebrity", Henry David Thoreau. (Well, local, if you live in eastern Massachusetts!). This also brings to mind another Thoreau quote which is, perhaps not as immediately thought provoking as the quote above, quite inspirational:

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."

Lots of us get caught up with the mundane chores and obligations of life, then we get stuck in the drudgery and lose sight of our goals and our dreams. We think more negative thoughts, than we do positive ones. So remember, your thoughts become your reality and the world is a mirror. Thoughts become "things". So, instead of thinking of all the things you don't want, focus on the things you do want.... have a goal-oriented and dream fulfilling imagination....which leads me to my next quote:

"Your imagination is your preview to life's coming attractions."

So take it from someone who led an amazing life; the above quote was made by none other than Albert Einstein!

A SHOUT OUT

This weekend, inspiration was in abundance! My best friend graduated with his MBA from Suffolk University's Sawyer Business School. Though most students were from New England, there were some people from all over the globe, including a graduate from a country I had not previously heard of: Burkina Faso (that's the country's name, not the student's!). It was very inspirational to see so many people who had accomplished so much, through much commitment, dedication and good-old-fashioned hard work and perseverance. Congrats to my pally-poos! VERY PROUD OF YOU!

Another inspiring event was the Keiko Matsui concert at Sculler's Jazz Club. I first became acquainted with Keiko's exceptional music back in the mid-1990s, when Boston actually had a decent smooth jazz radio station (which has now been off the air for about 8 years, sigh.....). Keiko is an amazing pianist from Japan. I hadn't seen her perform since 2005, so it was a real treat to see her again. She is so talented as a songwriter and musician and her live band is also truly gifted. I especially enjoyed the saxophonist. It was very nice to hear Keiko's inspiration for her various songs; recent trips to South Africa and Russia and Ukraine acted as muses for some of her latest songs. As soon as I got home, I downloaded "Black River" from iTunes. If you live on the west coast, you'll have ample opportunity to see her live in June. Check out her website for details by CLICKING HERE

Bicycle! Bicycle! (Cue Queen's "Bicycle Race")

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

Earlier this week, I wrote about "gas guzzling" and the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?". So it is definitely apropos that I follow up that post, with the subject of today's post: BICYCLES! May is National Bike Month. This week is Bay State Bike Week. I actually rode my bike to and from my day job all week. And this morning, as I turned onto Mass Ave from Beacon Street, to head across the river to Cambridge, I was greeted by a Bay State Bike Week volunteer who promptly handed me a nice water bottle with the cutest logo on it, that I had seen earlier this week. Check it out!

Kick gas, indeed! There are many virtues to bike riding; not only is it environmentally friendly, it is a great workout! And depending on where you're going (and how far!), it is usually a lot faster than public transportation. It is also easy on your wallet. Each year, I spend very little on bicycle repairs and save lots of money on train and bus fare and by not filling up my gas tank. And most important of all? It's fun!

Today is the deadline to register for the 50,000 Mile Commuter Challenge. You can sign up by CLICKING HERE. For more information about Bay State Bike Week, CLICK HERE. And save the date: September 21, 2008 is this year's Hub on Wheels, which is a citywide bike ride and festival. Storrow Drive is completely closed to traffic that day, to make way for bikes! Go to Hub on Wheels' site by CLICKING HERE. Can't wait until September? This coming Sunday, May 18th is Bicycle Beacon Street Day in Brookline, where Beacon Street will be completely closed to traffic from end-to-end, allowing cyclists to pedal the length of Beacon Street without having to share the road with cars. Want more info? CLICK HERE

Have fun, get out there and cycle! Great exercise, great for the environment and saves you money. Don't own a bike? Not to worry! There are plenty of places to rent one! Landry's on Commonwealth Ave (at St. Paul Street), Boston Bicycle Shop on Beacon Street (at Arundel near Park Drive) or Back Bay Bicycles on Commonwealth Ave (at Mass Ave, subterranean), among others.