Old rusty windmills and “Mom is always working!”

Born to Make, Entrepreneurs, Jobs & Work, Passion & Purpose, Wealth1 Comment

Every one of us Makers who’s growing a dream, building a business, or trying to see our project turn into something rewarding knows the feeling of hitting a “stop point.” I call it flatlining.

We do everything to push things along, then as our returns start sagging, we slow down and eventually slide to a full, disappointed stop.

This is your dream, your baby, your idea or talent starting and stopping like an old rusty windmill.

You use all your resources. You Flowdream. You look up strategies on websites. You get a little lost and take a stab at a few things until again you slide to a halt.

• You have an email list that’s half built.

• You have ideas for a website, but no site (or the one you made yourself 4 years ago).

• You have flyers for your sessions but they sit on your desk undistributed.

• You have names of prospects for your business but you have phone-phobia and no one ever gets a call from you.

• You attended two conferences and three online summits to learn how to monetize your make, but now you don’t have time to implement anything you learned. You never open your notebook that you wrote so excitedly in all those days.

Paper Flowers, Authentic Expression, and “Making”

Born to Make, Entrepreneurs, Jobs & Work, Passion & Purpose, Wealth4 Comments

Let’s Talk Making Each Day Count

I just spent the day in Old Town San Diego. It’s the historic spot of our town where the original settlers put up their houses along the El Camino Real trail. You get to eat truly excellent Mexican food and dress up in old-timey clothes for photos as you wander the old streets.

I haven’t been there in years since I was a kid. I remember pining for bouquets of those giant bright Mexican crepe paper flowers there … and my mom getting me weird-tasting sarsaparilla candy instead.

I looked around and thought about all these people making things and manifesting their authentic expression: Making art, making food, making music, making sales, making laughter, making memories.

Everything we do, all the time, is Making. Even when we’re binge-watching a Netflix show, we’re making ourselves relax.

8 investments that changed me as a woman

Entrepreneurs, Family, Wealth11 Comments

I’m jumping on a trend here before it gets too big. It’s just so good that I can’t pass it up! It’s the “8 Investments That Changed Me as a Woman” post.

The idea is to put down the 8 things you’ve done, bought, or allowed yourself to have that have massively upleveled your life. (And yes, it’s “for women,” but you fellows may resonate to this list too!)

The list is materialistic because it’s about things we acquire. But it’s also a huge lesson in receiving.

As someone who practices Flowdreaming, I’m always thinking about what I want to manifest/make/create/have/be/do next. So this concept fits right in.

Here are my Top Eight.

 

1. Retreats for My Own Personal Joy, Creativity, and Wellness

It took me forever to allow myself to go on spiritual or creative holidays. I had so much resistance to it. For one, my husband would be upset that I didn’t invite him. For another thing, how can I justify spending the cash on myself like that, when I have no idea if there will be any “return on investment” for it?

I used to be so ridiculous about this. Sure, I’d take a regular vacation and not worry  about “ justifying” it. But if I wanted to go off and do art for a week, or meditate for a weekend? Uh uh, that had to become a work expense or I’d find some other way to make it “ok.”

No more. Now I take one to two pure “me” trips each year. I choose things that I want to do or learn. I don’t invite anyone to go with me if I want to just be inside myself for the week. I’m not beholden to making anyone else happy when I gift myself these treasure weeks.

And you know what? These weeks infallibly end up cracking me open like a coconut. The point of these trips is to see what gets opened, exposed, or grown in me. I want to experience something that I don’t already know about myself.

These weeks accelerate my inner journey, which in the end, makes me far richer and more productive in my life. My well rarely goes dry as a result.

Sucky jobs & pre-existing patterns

Entrepreneurs, Jobs & Work, Wealth17 Comments

One of my students, Maddy, is telling me that she’s waking up at night, panicky, worrying that she’s going to lose her house when they lay her off at work. She doesn’t know when the layoffs will come.

She’s living in a constant state of low-level fear, feeling horribly frustrated and powerless. She’s even applied for another job in the same field that she doesn’t even want, and afraid they’ll reject her.

Last night, another student, Claire, told me that she’s already lost her job and now she’s dreading finding another even as the bills are piling up, since the jobs are always the same low-level, horrible, mind-numbing kind. She’s been on a merry-go-round of them for twenty-five years. Her credit card is stacked up with debt.

Both Claire and Maddy have the same emotional energetic pattern. Let’s pull it out into the sunshine and take a look.

I ask Maddy why she thinks she can’t be happy in a career.

She answers, “My parents always said ‘just get a job. No one likes their job. Everyone just does one. That’s the way it is. Just get through it.’”

“And that’s what you’ve been doing?”

She tearfully nods and chokes out, “Yeah.”

“Do you think I hate my job?” I ask.

“No.”

“Does my husband hate his job as a designer? Do you think my mom hates her job? Did my aunt hate her job teaching English as s second language? Does my cousin hate his job as a chef?”

No, no, no, and no.

“And do you think we have jobs we love because we’re special or smarter or something? In other words, different or better than you?”

“Yes,” she practically whispers.

Should I get a Tesla? (or “How to spot lack thinking anywhere.”)

Entrepreneurs, Wealth12 Comments

Some of you read about my recent car fire/spontaneous combustion.

We’re driving a rental now and looking around for a model we want.

I decided that I have to at least test drive a Tesla.

And that’s what got me thinking about my ceilings again.

I mean, wow, like, a Tesla? Really?!

That’s when I really GOT that we can afford one.

My golly gosh has my life changed.

I’m a stay at home, minivan-driving mom with two kids in grade school. I work from a tiny front bedroom I converted into an office, in a 1970s suburban track home that will barely FIT a Tesla in its garage.

Flowdreamer wins $1.5 million: Lynn’s story

Passion & Purpose, Wealth2 Comments

I’m amazed at the email in my inbox. Can a Flowdreamer have really just won $1,425,000?

Yes. Lynn Hunter’s email subject line says it all: “Flowdreaming changed my life.” She writes:

My dear Summer, I have been listening to your tapes, reading your books and following you and your mother’s advice for the past few years now. Even when things were not going so well for me, I never gave up my flowdreaming path. I am happy to tell you my dreams came true on August 24th, 2010. I won $1,452,130.64 at our local casino. I do have a vision board with one million dollars on it, a new car, and pictures of a new kitchen. Summer I now have it all thanks to your flowdreaming and my strong believing things will come. I have mentioned to many friends and my own daughters just how you have changed my way of thinking. I share my books and tapes. Now I need to replace them!! Just hearing your voice every day is power to me. There is so much more I could go on and on about, I just felt you should know  what flowdreaming has done for me. Now I can afford to someday see you live. – Lynn Hunter

I’ve been asking people to let me know what Flowdreaming has helped them with in their lives. Lynn’s email flowed in with the dozens of others I’ve been receiving. It’s one thing to read my books or listen to me rambling on during my radio show each week about the broad, supportive, almost “magical” power of Flow energy in all of our lives. It’s quite another thing to read about other people’s extraordinary successes.

I’ve always been reluctant to promise anyone that the Flow can MAKE them lucky. Just as I would never promise anyone a miracle. How could I? It’s THEIR Flow. THEY are the creators in their lives, not me!! But have I seen miracles happen? Have I helped “unplug” things and get energy moving for people? Oh, yes!

 

What are you worth?

Entrepreneurs, Jobs & Work, Resistance, WealthLeave a comment

I feel like an egg that’s been cracked open, and all my gooey insides are running out. It has been quite a day…a week. To feel better, I did two things. First, I spent an hour on my radio show ruminating about how we create value – how we value ourselves, how money or talents are valued – and how we can confuse those two things so easily. And then I went shopping. (Yes, I really did. And I found a really great blouse.)

But I promised listeners of yesterday’s Flowdreaming show that we would continue this conversation about worth-especially self-worth. My own self-worth has been rocked pretty hard lately. And you know how things seem to happen at once?