Leonie Dawson's Blog, page 88

Leonie’s Scrapbook: freebies, loooooove and my #girlsquad

Howdy party people!

So, I like to do these things on the reg. (Reg, I have decided is short for regular. Just go with it.)

Sometimes shit gets lost on social media. And I like these journals and scrawlings of tiny moments. To document them in a scrapbook here for you.

Also… if you haven’t checked it out yet… there’s been a few big treasures I’ve shared lately… please do check them out… I am muchos proud of these creations!

Have you checked out any of these treasures yet?

Free Training: 10 Things I Had To Stop To Go From Broke Creative To Millionaire Maven
[NEW COURSE!] How To Align To Your Goals
[NEW COURSE!] 7 Life-Changing Habits For An Abundant 2016
Internet Addiction Zine

(Make sure you sign-up to be on our mailing list to hear about these goodies first!)

Now… bae… go get yoself a cup of chai… and let’s have a good catch-up, yeah?

GIRLS DATE AT BUNNNNNNNINGS!!!!!!!

(And LOOOOOK at Beth’s babycino-mustache! I DIE!)

Awwwwwwwwwwwww yeah… A day I look forward to all month… Women’s Circle!!!!!! I did this painting about 9 years ago. Hunting for this image, I look at all the adventures I’ve had and beautiful souls I’ve met and I am so proud of myself for seeking that out and creating it and also just ridiculously lucky as well. I’m so glad.

When women circle, miracles happen!

I’ve been up since 6am with the fighting, cranky, yelling children. My ears are broken. I’ve just offered to take the kids out for the morning to give dear husband a break because he is sick. Please let the parenting fairies be with me. Four more hours until I can run away to the office.

I did another speaking gig… this time at the Wellness Hub gathering. This is me at buttfuck o’clock waiting to get a hot chocolate and donut… I mean… green smoothie and speed enema.

FREE TRAINING! 10 Things I Had To Stop To Go From Broke Creative to Millionaire Maven!

Hola baberoonies,

I got to thinking one day…

About how once upon a time, I used to be a broke hippy artist who had big dreams and NO CLUE about how to actually make them happen. I felt like I was without a paddle, without a sail, without the power to navigate the river of life according to my own will.

I kept on telling myself:

“If it’s meant to be, it will find a way…”

“It’s in the stars…”

“Whatever the universe has in store for me….”

We hippies – we have some fucking great-sounding excuses sometimes.

Anything that stops us from moving into our own power, aligning our actions with our intentions + getting our dreams birthed into the world.

10 years ago, I was in a cubicle job and was aching to do something else with my one wild, precious life. I was broke, in a house I didn’t love, and I felt unfulfilled and controlled by the circumstances of life.

Today – as you probably already know – I’m the CEO of a high-profit multi-million dollar company. I adore what I do in the world and will be doing it for the rest of my life. Writing and making art and learning and teaching? That’s the coolest bloody job in the world! I’m financially abundant, get to give cash to some amazing charities, and I’ve been able to craft a lifestyle for my family that fits us best. We’ve spent the last five years “on holiday” – living in beautiful places around Australia, working part-time in my company so I can spend the most amount of my time running after my wild elvin children and perving on the hot husbo. I’m grateful for it all, and I’m grateful for me for creating it. And I know I can create whatever else I want in the world!

So – here’s the thing:

I look back at who I was 10 years ago… in so many ways I am so very different to who I was then.

My habits and my mindset are profoundly different.

And it is NOT the success and the money that has changed them.

Rather – it is because *I* changed my internal pieces that the external parts changed and bloomed and grew.

I remember so profoundly what I used to think about myself and about how life worked and what money was…

and the parts where I was – frankly – wrong.

And I wanted to open up the discussion.

We so often talk about success habits…

but we don’t always talk about the habits that bring us failure… that stop us from birthing our dreams into the world.

And I reckon we need to talk about them – so we can see them when they are happening – and stop them sooner.

So I’m going to run a free workshop training on this. NEXT WEEK.

You should be there, babes!

In this fabulous training, you will learn:

My intimate behind-the-scenes story of how I went from broke hippy to millionaire creative.
The bad habits I had that were blocking success & abundance (you’re probably doing these too!)
The stupidly ridiculous mistakes I made.
The essential mindset shifts that supercharged my success.
Exactly what you need to do to supercharge yours!

Join us Wednesday, May 4th at 2:00pm US PST / Thursday, May 5th at 7:00am Canberra (handy timezone converter here!) where I’ll take you through what NOT to do in order to become that dream-maker-happener you are meant to be!

Sign up here!

I can’t make that time. Will you be recording?

Yes. Just sign up and we’ll send it to you.

How do I get the recording?

Just sign up now and we’ll send it to you as soon as it’s released!

Is this just for business people?

Nope. This is for anyone who wants to make their dreams come true.

Are you going to tell me the secret to success is working harder and getting up at 5am?

Oh fuck no. I hate 5am. Well – to be fair – I love 5am as long as I’m sleeping through it.

Also… I am not a “JUST HUSTLE MORE!” kinda gal. I work part-time in my company. I take nights and weekends off. I like my play time. And I also like 9 hours of sleep at night. I reckon you CAN birth your dreams WITHOUT sacrificing sleep or sanity. Or life. That one wild, precious life.

Are you going to sell me on anything?

Nope. Can’t be fucked. I just like to share.

Let’s do this, possums! Talk next week!

 

Big love to you all!

NEW! FREE! ILLUSTRATED ZINE: THE INTERNET ADDICTION ZINE

It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here!

My latest illustrated zine!

GO! GO READ IT!

So much love,

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New Course Release: How To Align To Your Goals

Hola sweet souls!

I’m SO excited to share this with ya’ll today…

We are rockin’ + rollin’ with new Academy content and we have a brand spankin’ new course release for you today!

Just last week we released the 7 Life-Changing Habits For An Abundant 2016 with the incredible Denise Duffield-Thomas and today, we have “How To Align To Your Goals” presented by my FAVE kinesiologist and brilliant business brain, the amazing Kerry Rowett.

Swarm of the Blondes… Denise, Kerry & me at the Shining Academy Conference!

Kerry Rowett is the founder of awakenkinesiology.com, a gifted energy healer and coach who shares her techniques for clearing any blocks we have from attaining our goals, and allowing our dreams to come true at a faster, easier rate.

Using tapping technique, visualizations, and tools Kerry will guide you through a hands-on presentation to bring you in alignment with your goals and your soul purpose.

I’ve been using Kerry as a kinesiologist for a few year’s now – I’ve even sent staff to her for sessions if they needed it.

I can unequivocally say that what Kerry teaches is powerful, and hugely important for women who are on this huge growth journey of entrepreneurship (and life!)

In this live video workshop recorded at the Shining Academy Retreat this past February, Kerry will teach you:

Powerful energy practices you can use straight away to clear blocks and fears.

How to manifest your goals faster.

How to stay on soul purpose as you do it all!

If you’re an Academy member, join us over here! Not a member of the Shining Academy yet? Gain access to 70+ courses now!

And if that wasn’t enough….

The entire Shining Academy Retreat recording will be released this week as well… two full days of conference videos!

We’re talking the unveiling of a HUGE new system – the 6i Success System AND a deep dive into the 7 Chakra Business Model which has been blowing brains out (in a nice way) since I started teaching it. I’ll tell you more about them once they are released.

In the meantime, dig into Kerry’s incredible work!

Big love,

New Course Release: 7 Life-Changing Habits For An Abundant 2016

Hola petunias!

We have a brand new course for our Academy Members that was recorded at the Shining Academy Retreat in Canberra this past February.

It’s run by an incredible guest teacher as well… the incredible Denise Duffield-Thomas!!!

Denise – also known as Lucky Bitch – is one of the best teacher’s in the world on Law of Attraction, money, manifesting, and women’s blocks to money. Her books are beyond fabulous, and her teaching is revolutionary, practical, grounded & kind. And powerful. Did I mention that? Fucking POWERFUL.

Me & Denise back in the day… four years ago!

There are plenty of teachers out there on money and manifesting. And honestly – the longer I’ve been in this industry – the more I’ve been aghast at how many of those teachers do NOT walk their talk… how they teach about abundance, and look like they have it all together, but behind the scenes they are running lifestyles they can’t financially maintain, are crippled by credit card debt and often close to bankruptcy. I KNOW! I KNOW! BLOODY HECK HEY!

So I’m seriously reluctant to talk about any money coaches unless I KNOW they walk their talk and operates in the highest integrity. And this one does, above and beyond. I’ve known her for four years now – she came and stayed with me to attend one of my private coaching retreats in 2012, and we have become close friends & mastermind sisters ever since.

Me, Beffy, Dr Kate, Beffy’s pregnancy twin Willsy & DDT. Yes, we held a conception competition to see who could get inseminated the fastest. Yes, DDT won. By a week. Champion!

I’ve been in awe of her – again and again – about how impeccable DDT is with her words and her actions. She works on her own stuff constantly. She is incredibly disciplined. She has created a sustainable million dollar company with high profits.

This woman knows what she is talking about. It is an honour to call her my friend and my work associate.

Whenever I have money blocks or upper limit problems, I turn to Denise’s work over and over again.

It works.

When it came to planning the Shining Academy Conference, there were two people I KNEW I had to have teaching there – Denise & Kerry Rowett, my favourite kinesiologist. I was beyond honoured when both of them said YES! and flew in from around Australia to be there!

Their workshops were both spectacular, and I’m SO excited that we now have them in posterity as video recordings, audio recordings, transcripts & slides in the Academy.

In this one hour live video workshop Denise will teach you:

How to attract more abundance into your life in 2016

How to remove money blocks from your mindset

The habits of the rich

And the essential mindset secrets you need to create more success in your life.

If you’re an Academy member, join us over here! Not a member of the Shining Academy yet? Gain access to 70+ courses now!

Oh! And a fantastic announcement…

Keep your eyes peeled for our about-to-be-released entire Shining Academy Retreat recording! 

Don’t miss it – sign up here!

Big love,

Letter To A New Mother

 

Click to get this as a printable poster – my gift to you

 

Dear B,

I saw you yesterday.

Breasts aching with milk, body aching.

You are a new mama.

Just moments ago,

you were initiated into the strangest, most intense, wildest, hardest fucking path there is:

Motherhood.

And

I just want you to know

dear mama,

you are not alone.

You are not alone as your body aches,

your vagina mends,

your breasts stab with pain.

You are not alone as your days

become nights

stretching long and unending

and nowhere between the two

is one damn eight hour block

of sleep.

You are not alone as you stare

out the window and wonder

just where the fuck your life went

what the fuck this motherhood gig is all about

what the fuck you are supposed to be doing now

who you are now

and what it all means.

You are not alone as you marvel at

how precious and free and unencumbered

and utterly relaxing your life was

pre-children.

How you used to be satiated with

sleep and food and time

and now you are stricken with poverty

of all three

and you wonder why the fuck anybody ever willing chooses this.

You are not alone as you cry

as you sob

as the grey clouds move in and set up home.

You are not alone

as your heart shrieks

when your baby cries.

You are not alone

when you look at the space

between you and your love

and wonder where it got crushed and smothered and bent

by the great force that is

keeping a tiny human being

alive.

You are not alone

when you are angry

tired

sad

devastated.

You are not alone

when you are guilty

when you are the worst mother alive

when you forget where your kid is

when you make mistakes.

You are not alone when you question everything.

When you fret.

When you hear your child screaming everytime you take a shower

only to realise there is nothing but silence when you turn it off.

(Or maybe they really are screaming.

Either way

you are not alone.)

You are not alone – literally – when you

attempt to go to the toilet

and discover that

this one private act has been taken from you too.

Your child needs you.

Relentlessly.

So wholly and solely

you fear you have been swallowed whole

and that there is nothing left for you.

You are not alone.

You are not alone when your sanity breaks,

your temper frays,

and you dream of running

– running – straight through the door

down the street

away to a quieter place

a place you can hear yourself think

a place you can meet your own needs

a place you can be just you

– not mama, not wife

just you.

You are not alone when you want to escape

the screaming,

nagging,

relentless

needful mess of it all.

You are not alone

you are not alone

you are not alone.

You are not

wrong

or

bad

or

guilty

or selfish

for wanting

a piece of you for you

a piece of your old life back

anything

but this.

You are not alone

when you think you are.

You are not alone

when you question yourself.

You are not alone

when you are convinced

you are the most unnatural mother in the world.

You are not alone

when you believe

this whole motherhood thing

is too fucked up,

too needing of an adult

then you’ll ever be able to provide.

You,

dearest mama,

are not alone.

You are not alone when it is hard.

I want you to know…

this will pass.

It will get easier.

I promise.

Right now, at the beginning of motherhood,

it’s the hardest initiation of all.

No other time can compare.

I want you to know

that breath by breath

moment by moment

it will get a little softer

a little kinder

and you will scoop back a second more of your own time.

I want you to know

that you deserve all the

support

and healing

and time

you want and need.

That it is a good thing

to find other carers for your wee one

and let them love them

while you love you.

I want you to know

you are

strong

brave

ferocious

and magical.

I want you to know your body just

created the living miracle

of splitting into two

and sustaining a whole new lifeform.

And that it doesn’t come

without cost or pain or energy

and we can talk about this.

We don’t need to gloss over it.

We don’t need to make it shine.

We can be real here,

with each other,

as mamas.

We can tell the truth about our lives

the holy and the glorious and the love

and the pain and the deep shitty depraved horror and the depression and the angst and the overriding guilt and the crippling anxiety

and that all of them are welcome here.

I want you to know

that I struggled profoundly

that I thought my life was over

that the Leonie as I knew her was gone

and was never, ever coming back

so much so

I burned all my photo albums,

I gave away all my paintings

let go of all my beloved book collection.

I want you to know

I thought the pain would never end.

I want you to know

I was wrong.

And it did.

My child got older. She got easier. She (eventually) started sleeping.

And most of all,

I discovered me. Who I was as a mother. What I needed to thrive. What were the surefire things that would fuck me up.

I, Leonie Dawson, hereby require the following: medication, acupuncture, therapy and childcare in order to not crumple up into the ground.

And I am not ashamed to say that.

I am not ashamed to say that though I adore my children, every moment with children is NOT pure joy and bliss.

That does NOT make me a bad mother.

It makes me a mother. One who knows herself and her own cells.

I’m not saying that you need all that, dearest.

I’m just saying:

whatever it is you need,

you are utterly

and deeply

allowed

to have it.

And I support you

and encourage you

to find whatever ways

you can

to have them.

By hook or by crook, by supreme creativity or string-pulling or needs-declaring.

Whatever it is… your needs are worth it.

To have needs is not a weakness.

It is a sacred and human right.

Just because you are a mother

does not make you

less

of a human.

Dearest mama,

wherever you are

wherever you are

in this great tumble and fumble

of humanity and stretching and reaching and hoping and grasping

I want you to know

you are loved

by so very many

who want to see you shine.

You are loved

you are worthy

you are whole

even and especially when you feel broken.

Thank you for choosing to be a mama.

Thank you for choosing the enormous task of bringing through another soul and body into the world.

The angels want you to know that

it is never

ever

about

sacrificing yourself.

It is about finding ways for you to thrive

to tend to your precious self

even amidst the greatest storm of your life.

You are good, mama.

You are perfect and you are beauty and you are divine.

And you are surrounded by a whole globe of sisters.

Sisters who hear you.

Sisters who know.

Sisters who love you.

You are not alone.

You are good.

All my love,

Leonie’s Scrapbook: Autumn, Women’s Circle & New Friends

Hola gorgeous souls,

We’re back with my usual scrapbook of photos + ramblings from the past couple of weeks.

Let me take you on a play by play of how the past coupla weeks have gone downnnnn!!!!

As one season ends, another begins… I started on edits & revisions for the 2017 workbooks!!!!

I know it’s only April but publishing lead times take forever.

Definitely a different kettle of fish to when I first created & released these in the space of 3 days back in 2009!!!!!!

This girl… Happiest when she has pen and paper.

She makes the most intricate little scribings before bellowing

“MUM!!!!!!! LOOK!!!!!!!!!!! A!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Every scrawl is an A in BeffWorld.

First day of the year I get to wear closed in shoes instead of thongs!!! Hellloooooooo Autumn, I’ve been longing for you!!!!

I made a new friend… In the most synchronicious ways.

So… I’m a huge, raving fan of the reality show Farmer Wants A Wife… Like… I can barely cope with it… It’s just everything.

Anywaysies, I had a Farmer Wants A Wife finale party. I posted our little soirée on Instagram (as you do) and immediately got a comment… From my very favourite contestant Belinda Reid… The girl who held so much spark and light and earth angel energy!!!! She!!!! Commenting on my Instagram!!!! Not just that!!!! But she was a fan of ME!!! And had been reading my stuff for years!!!

At this point, I basically defecated my pants. I was emotionally comatose. It was too much. So much goodness.

The next day, I told my bestie about it. She immediately told me “FFS!!! Email her!!! Talk to her!!!!” And I totally ummmmed and ahhhhhhhed because I didn’t want to be a weird fan or seem like I wanted anything from her. Sometimes I feel so damn shy and unworthy of attention!!!

Anywaysies, Sone pushed and pushed me. Until I did. And she wrote me back. And then we started texting.

And I called her today… Thinking we’d chat for just a wee bit… But two hours on… We were still going!!!! We just dived straight in like we were the oldest of friends… Talked about heart and soul and all those big things. About wombats and animal healing and reiki and intentions and all the people we know in common. We pulled the most amazing cards and did a reading. So so magical to meet a mermaid soul sister… A sister of the heart… I have a feeling we are going to have some IRL adventures together this year… It’s totally meant to be.

I love how some part of me was like “That chick on tv? You might think she’s a world away, but she is truly a soul sis and she’s in our tribe.”

Big love to you Queen Bee you are a healer, an earth angel, an empath, a wild woman, an animal dreamer, a fae… And I’m so so glad our paths have finally crossed! Come visit!

It’s autumn and it’s cool and the sun is bright and our garden is a dream and I am happy.

We spent most of the day in the backyard…

It was one of our first real Autumn days and it’s cooled down enough so we don’t get sunburnt… Spent some happy hours painting out here as well, pretending I am Landscape Artist of the Yearrrrrrrr.

It’s way more mayhem and messy because of my 2 year old and way more loud because of my non-stop talker of a 6 year old. It’s not as chill and idyllic as doing it on my own… The mama art way is like an intense sport requiring quick reflexes and fast paint applying… Still… I need art like I need to breath. And it gets easier as they get older, this I know.

So in the meantime, I’ll be here, way messier and louder and quicker in making art than ever… Walking the creative mama way…

I’m a huge fan of Australian Bushflower Essences… I find them stronger than Bach – maybe that’s just because I’m an Aussie and resonate with the energy of the land here – but I’ve noticed even my American friends find the same. Anywaysies, these are even more powerful for me than the Aus Bushflower Essence blends – they are still made from Aus Bushflower Essences but there is something about Naughty Naturopath Mum and her blends and the way she works with the essences and what each one is for that is truly remarkable. Highly recommended.

Also – as always – this is not a sponsored ad – I don’t do that. I just share about shit I love and find useful. Also, hairstyle c/o smearing a duck tonne of coconut oil in it as a moisturising treatment because bleaching and perming my hair has totally messed with its mermaid vitality. Fuuuuuck why didn’t anyone tell me? Oh that’s right, they did. I just didn’t listen. #derp

An afternoon of Sacred Moon Lodge women’s circle… Just what is needed to bring me home, speak my truth & hear messages from Great Spirit. I wish every woman would have the blessing of experiencing a circle like this. I know so many people crave it but then don’t commit when the opportunity comes. It’s such a miracle, I wish it was commonplace habit and on the schedule for every woman.

This one. He respects the Ancient zones. He makes space for me and my work. He protects me even when I argue with him about it. He reminds me again and again to trust my inner voice. He respects sacred women’s work. He will change in an instant if he knows he needs to. He is not afraid of transformation. He is a Scorpio Ox and he is hottttttttt. I’m feeling particularly grateful for my man today after seeing a beautiful, sacred vision of him at the women’s circle. Magicman.

And so it begins… Editing for 2017 workbooks!

I’ve been wanting to spend more weekday afternoons with the Wild fae girls… Usually I spend mornings with the family and work in the afternoons, but since Starry started school full time I’ve been missing her. So I’m playing around with schedule a bit… Today was a hot cross bun picnic in the backyard.

Help I am laying on the floor in the dark trying to get my 2 year old to sleep. We are 2.5 hours in. #sleepseige #hostagesituationunfolding

I’m kind of at that place in my life where I’m seriously considering giving up sleep because it seems a futile exercise anyway. #toddlerdoom #motheroftheyear

GUYS. GUYS. GUYS. Go to What Dog and upload a picture of yourself and find out what dog you most look like. Can NOT stop lafffffing!!!! I, apparently, most resemble an Afghan Hound. I cannot lie… they are pretty damn right on!!!!!!!

Amazing idea!!! Beautiful recipe ebook at www.aussiewellnesswomen.com.au with yummy wholesome recipes from Australia’s leading wellness experts… All funds raised will go to the Luke Batty Foundation which does such incredibly important work I want to cry thinking about it… Go check it out honeys!!!

I feel like Starry is trying to art therapy her excitement about impending Easter.

Open to what comes next. Ostara, the season of new beginnings and miracles. In many ways I feel like I’m coming home… To my city, my family, my friends, my spirituality, my own inner world…

Fully stocked up on new sketchbooks… Found them at Kmart for $5 each!!!! I wonder what I’ll create in these beauties!!!!! #art #sketchbook #journalling

Afternoon office. Sunset is golden, beer is cold.

What’s happening in me right now… Anais said it best ::::

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.” – Janis Joplin

Our birthday girl. She is SIX!

Twelve years ago, I was a part of a magical online tribe (SARKettes uuuuniiiite!) They were a bunch of creative, spiritual, passionate, whole-hearted women… I was so lucky these women became my “new normal”. We all became pen pals and had wild women retreats together, many of us finding our BFFs and closest friends (it’s where I found @sonyaforrest too!)

We are all still friends all this time on… And it’s the gift that continues on giving. After my parents separated, I thought it would be suuuuuper funny to set my wild bushman dad up on a blind date with one of my succulent wild women friends… My reasoning being they both had five kids so would have soooooooooo much in common. FIVE KIDS! EACH!!!! Hahahahahaaaaaa!!!! I think we were all a bit surprised when they actually did fall head over heels for each other. Over a year later they are still together… Which is rad because it means I get to see my friend more often! And it’s lovely to see the wild bushman so happy too. I feel like a real life Cupid, you guys! I always thought I had matchmaking skills… Had no idea I would end up being my Dad’s wingman though! Haaaaaaa!!!!

Just finished 120 page journal of lettering and doodling. It’s only taken me a couple of weeks… At night when I’m sitting beside Mr D as he watches TV, I replaced my laptop with an art journal instead! It’s definitely increased my creative time. Now I’ll hand it off to Mr D for digitising and cleaning up and handing off to our designers to be incorporated into new products and social media images.

Brilliant. Fascinating. The South Park documentary on how they produce a show in 6 days! I love watching any kind of shows and insights into the creative process and production!

I sculptured a little ancient goddess doll for myself for a bit of nurturing. She’s a smiling elder crone, and I can feel her love around me. I made her from white air drying clay that I’ve had sitting in the cupboard for years. I have no idea where my sculpting tools are so I used my hands and a dried up pen. Once she was dry I painted her with brown umber gouache watered down. I quite love the effect… She looks leathery and golden.

I’m pretty sedate and understated when I meet people. @april.bevin can vouch for this.

Oh my goodness. What a precious, precious gift to receive. I can’t even tell you how much this means to me… I got teary when I opened the box. A beautiful necklace with my family’s names, a mermaid and on the back, an inscription of my Word For 2016… A stunning creation by Vianna Fere – etsy store.

She was here last week for 24 hours so we could do some business meetings together.

When it came time for her to leave, I asked her not to go. There was still so much to speak about and plan and create. She told me she’d come back in three days, and she did. I had four days with her and I’m pleased as punch.

I even got her and Mr D to do a creative direction meeting with me to brainstorm 2017 book covers… I’m so happy with the results! As fantastic as remote working is, sometimes it is even more fantastic to be working across the table.

Suuuuuper excited to welcome Suzi Istvan to our team!!!

Suzi will be our first full time designer & art director for the company… Something we soooo need to keep up with the ever growing amount of goodies we produce! I’ll still be writing & illustrating of course but Succulent Suzi will be polishing it up and putting it together for print & web design.

You’ll also see her in the Academy presenting a design & branding course or two! Suzi is brilliant & gorgeous & smart & a total goal getter. She is also a mama to three boys and has the cuuuutest puppy. We also realised we both used to harbour political aspirations – she wanted to be Chief of Staff, I wanted to be Prime Minister, and we have both worked in government and politics before! Funny!

Now we prefer to change the world our own way with our work. I’m so excited to be adding Suzi’s superpowers to our team & can’t wait to see what we can create together!!!

And Sone came back for some more live work retreating!

As an important business meeting we went to our Mecca, our Alma Mater, our favourite hippy store in the world… THE HIEROPHANT!!!! We did verrrrry important business things of looking at books and cards and crystals for “market research”.

I’m not particularly close with much of my family for many reasons, so we selected aunties for our girls from our tribe of friends. Aunty Sone spends much of her time with us being sat on, cuddled & doing braids.

It makes my heart happy to see the love unfolding and blooming between them all. As they grow, my girls will be initiated into sacred women’s circles and moon lodges.

I love that they will always have strong, loving, spiritual, wholehearted women surrounding them and loving them and showing them how to walk in this world with joy and heart.

My business planning always happens a bit later than January… Nov-Jan are the three busiest months of our year with 2016 goals workbook sales and this year we had a conference in Feb too.

We’ve spent the last three days going through our past few years of business goals workbooks (yep, I use my own book… I created it for me and my business’ success first… And shared the book publicly so other people could use the system too!) I’m so damn proud of what we’ve been able to achieve and am so excited and sure of what we will create next.

Four days of business planning done.. Interspersed with crystal shops, book shops, cafes & beer in the backyard.

That is basically my ideal work retreat right there. We done good Sone!

This week I did a bunch of cover design mock ups for the 2017 workbooks & diary… We reviewed all the covers from the past seven years and combined the best parts of what worked. I drafted up dozens of quick sketches until we could decide on one. I had Mr D and Sonehelping me. And Bethy of course. She made sure she stood on every one of them.

Next up, I’ll be hand illustrating the different pieces for the cover, cleaning it up in Photoshop and then handing it off to our designer for polishing. Should be fun!

Okay loves… I’m off to sleep… Last day of school before school holidays. I wonder how we can all make it through school holidays without losing our sanity. Our lovely nanny ended up needing to quit to focus on university, so we are flying solo once more. And it’s lovely to have some solid family time. I’ll let you know if it is still as lovely in two weeks.

Okay seriously I should go to sleep now. You hang up! No youuuu hangggg uppppppp

Started and finished “Life without lanyards: from public servant to entrepreneur”. I made the switch six years ago and am well established in my company, but it was still fantastic to read the stories of other Canberran public servants who’ve made the transition.

I think I’ll pass the book on to my darling Deb who just quit the pubes cubes to do massage full time. I couldn’t be more proud of her!!!!

Hey beautiful goddesses… Just want you to know you are loved. And precious. And needed. Big time.

Bloody brilliant. THRIVE. There’s a reason this bookywooky is popular.

School holidays. Such wonder. Such bliss. Such screaming and biting and fighting and whining. ENJOYING EVERY SINGLE MINUTE, GUYZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Nothing says first day of school holidays like a feverish toddler. My poor little kitten!

HOLY SHIT. SUCH A GOOD BOOK. I’m on a reading binge. Chapter 7 is where its at.

HOLYYYYYYY SHITTTT GUYZZZZZ. I just reviewed my 2016 Oracle card reading in the 2016 Shining Year workbook… The first quarter of the year has been incredibly accurate!!!!! Like… Crazy so. Have you checked yours lately???????

Today’s office: backyard blanket. Today’s uniform: pyjamas. #sosupercorporateprofesh

I like to call this “I Forgot To Grocery Shop So We Are Eating Anything We Can Find In The Fridge. Also, I Shan’t Be Cleaning My Creative Mayhem Off The Dining Room Table Anytime Soon.” Such domestic goddess. Very wow.

[HOW I STAY CREATIVE & PRODUCTIVE EVEN WHEN MY HUSBO LOVES TV]

So, my hunky man loves to chill out at night on the couch by watching comedies on TV. And I like to be with him, but also be making art, reading, journaling, collaging. This basket is ze answer to my conundrum.

Every night you’ll find me & Mr D side-by-side on the couch – him chuckling away at TV, me delving into my activity basket. Sometimes it is filled with sewing supplies to make felt toys. Sometimes collage. Sometimes drawing. Sometimes colouring books. Sometimes journaling.

The 100+ page colouring book I designed and gave away was all done on the couch at night. We also have shows we watch together that I give my full attention to but I’m pretty selective. So there ya go… Just wanted to share what works for me & us!

All fancy and in the city at a co-working space waiting to be interviewed for Canberra Startup Stories. Soooooo PROFESH guyssssssss.

I had a super early morning start speaking at Canberra Business In Heels networking breakfast. Thought I would outsource my gift bag stuffing to child labour. They did an excellent job for the first five bags, and then one of them shit their pants and the other one started complaining she was tired. Seriously… child slaves are getting super lazy these days. I’ll have to keep training them up!

I really enjoy 5am starts. At Canberra Business In Heels to speak. I feel super graceful and awake.

I got up at Buttfuck O’Clock to go teach at a Business In Heels networking breakfast. It was such a beautiful time… Love meeting gorgeous souls and love sharing my journey of building a multi-million dollar company. I can’t wait to see what these amazing earth angels do with what they learned today!!!!

Mr D: “How many damn art journals do you need?”

Me: “HOW VERY DARE YOU! I REQUIRE ALL OF THEM!”

He shakes his head and walks away.

Wise decision, Mr D.

I’ve used these art journals since I was 16 years old. I just finished another one, and went a couple of weeks without one because I couldn’t find it in stock anywhere. This is UNACCEPTABLE. So I bought them in bulk this time – they are the Montmarte Sketching Journal, under $10 each. I do a lot of collaging and art journaling in these babies.

It’s nearly the weekend…

There will be books, backyard lounging and women’s circle.

Life is good!

Hoooooray for Autumn magic!

Big love to you all,

 

A Dog’s Life. A Dog’s Death.

Once upon a time, we were young.

We’d just fallen in love, just moved in, just moved across the country to live in an alpine city, just rented a house together.

We fought a lot and had sex a lot and we cried a lot and we laughed a lot and we had young, ridiculous, broke adventures.

We were broke and didn’t own a couch or table for many months.

When we had visitors, we would gather assorted desk chairs around a large cardboard box with a table cloth over it.

Every night, we would eat soup from a can with toasted turkish bread on newspaper on the floor as we watched TV.

We got jobs in the city, cubicle jobs, office jobs, “big smoke” jobs, jobs that made us feel positively cosmopolitan.

I bought suits on credit card and brown boots with reassuringly clacky heels.

He wore silky shirts and dark pressed pants.

Once we saved up enough money, we bought a cheap-as-chips eye-gougingly lime green couch to sit on instead of the floor, we thought we were the fanciest people on the planet.

We felt like a Couple, doing Big Adult Things in the world. We had started our life together.

*

But still.

Still there was a space between us on the couch between us.

Still there was a restlessness that made us get homesick for our “real” homes, our “real” hometown, our “real families”.

This created one was just that – created.

Flimsy and new.

Our rented house seemed so very big compared to our two bodies.

There wasn’t enough family of us in there.

*

One day, I convinced him.

“Let’s get a dog”

I said.

“Are you sure? They are a lot of responsibility honey. You’ll need to take care of him.”

“Of course I will!”

(Said I, indignantly. Let the record show over the next 13 years, I did not. Not in the practical sense. I provided cuddles and backyard picnics. My love provided everything else needed to keep that dog alive and thriving.)

“Okay, but only a small dog.”

“Hooray! A Labrador! Or a dalmation! Or maybe a German Shepherd? I LOVE BIG DOGS!”

“No, a small dog.”

“A SMALL DOG IT IS THEN!”

*

We found him at the pound.

Cage 50.

We’d wandered past the stalls of other dogs.

First – the big, unruly dogs with a glint in their teeth, that threw themselves unabashed at the metal in their cages.

“We can save them! We can HEALLLLL THEM!” 

I said.

He shook his head.

“No, Leonie. We are soft people. We need a gentler dog than this.”

And then the tiny dogs – the quivering Pomeranians who looked despairingly out of place in those concrete cages.

“That one looks like it needs to be on a velvet pillow! LET’S GET HER!”

He shook his head.

“No, Leonie. We need a dog who is more rugged than this. We need a dog that’s okay to be in the world.”

I rolled my eyes.

Just as I gave up hope, there at the end of the stalls was Cage 50.

And in it was the happiest little dog face we had ever seen.

A ball of fluff on sturdy little legs. A curly tail.

He jumped up to lick our fingers through the mesh.

We laughed.

We took him for a walk.

Chris clipped him off his lead and he immediately ran, ignoring us, and began exploring every crevice of the paddock with great joy.

“He doesn’t seem to come to being called,”

I said.

“He’s a bit disobedient,”

I said.

“He likes to run away,”

I said.

But when I looked at Chris, his eyes were sparkling.

“This. This is the dog for us,”

he said.

“This dog is a happy soul.”

*

That right there is probably all you ever need to know about Charlie.

He rarely listened. He ran for the hills at every opportunity.

He had a wild and free heart.

And he was ours.

*

We waited seven days before we could collect him.

Seven days to make sure he was a stray, that there was no family out there searching frantically for him.

He was a purebred (or close to it) Cairn Terrier.

We didn’t understand how anyone could give him up.

But maybe they didn’t. 

Maybe they just held him for as long as they needed him, and then gave him to us.

*

Chris took the day off work to collect him.

Chris, the one who had held off from getting a dog.

Chris, the one who was head over heels in love.

*

He came to pick me up at work, Charlie in the car.

I convinced my two dear work friends (still two of my closest friends now!) Deb and Lile to tramp down the street in sleeting, sloshing rain to meet him.

Charlie’s pink tongue panting at the glass. His whole body alive with joy.

They laughed and cooed and congratulated us, then huddled together against the rain, walked back to the dry warmth of work.

It makes my heart happy that they were there.

There the day we became a family.

*

I jumped in the front seat.

In a split second, Charlie threw his body between his seats and leapt onto my lap.

This,

he seemed to say.

This is where I belong.

And that’s where he stayed for the next 12 years.

As close to me as humanly possible.

Beneath my feet as I painted and wrote.

Curled up in the crook of my legs in my bed at night.

*

He was a ridiculous dog,

filled with magic and humour.

He played like a puppy long after he had ceased being a puppy.

He played endless games of soccer with a flowerpot for years.

And long after his desexing, he continued to romance blankets.

Not just that, but he would drag them out in front of guests,

roll it tightly into a vaguely dog-shaped lump,

and Casanova the stuffing out of it,

all the while panting

and staring deeply into our guest’s eyes

his wide dog smile laughing the whole while.

*

He was a dog who created his own friends.

All in his strange, obsessive, happy kind of way.

*

The very first weekend I met Sone, my BFF and my now-COO, I fell in love with her.

From the moment I saw her, I knew we had been best friends in other lifetimes, and that we’d finally found our way back together.

My dog also fell in love with her. He also believed he shared many lifetimes before with her.

And it was very, very obvious that he believed they were beloved soulmates.

He gazed at her as only a lover would.

He gazed at her in a way I have never seen a dog look at a human before.

Whenever she would come to visit then over the next 12 years, we grew to expect the same routine:

Sonya would appear. And our dog, our companion, our little mate would disappear from our sides. Instead, there would be a prince stuck in a dog’s body, patiently waiting for his beloved princess to recognise him.

In the mornings we would find him, head on her pillow, gazing at her sleeping face.

When he met one of Sonya’s boyfriends, the rage and jealousy was palpable.

When she visited us twice in two weeks, he was so overcome with joy that he, cradled in Sonya’s arms like a baby, pissed himself.

Not only that, but he set up a great arch of piss across the room, which soaked my jeans through from 2 metres away.

I thought our ceiling had collapsed in the rain, but it was just his tiny, excitable bladder.

That. That right there was how much he loved Sonya.

That right there, was love.

*

One day, on a message board, my very very very favourite author appeared.

SARK.

SARK is my Beyonce, my wind beneath my wings, my lighthouse who showed me the way.

(If you haven’t read a SARK book yet, go. Go NOW. Life is not complete without reading a SARK book! They are a goddamn revelation!)

And she asked:

“What can you see right now?”

I thought about writing something poetic.

I thought about writing about the trees, the sunset, the way the alpine sky danced against the lavender mountains.

Instead, I decided to tell the truth.

And the truth was, in that moment, that Charlie had dragged an old bedsheet out into the backyard, and was making sweet, sweet love to it, while staring up at me through the window.

SARK howled with laughter. She proclaimed him her spirit animal. She mentioned him in one of her books. She included a photo of him and me in another of her books.

*

The photo that was published in Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper.

*

Another friend named her son after him.

*

I know you’re shaking your head right now.

You’re wondering:

Why on earth the fuss over a silly, blanket-fucking little dog?

And I can’t even begin to explain it.

My words are failing me.

How on earth do I ever tell you what Charlie is? What he was?

That he was special, that he was magic, that he was more alive than I’ve ever known a dog?

*

When I was sick, or when I was sad,

he was my Happy Healer Dog.

I cried into his fur more times than I could count.

He would curl up on the parts of my body that hurt.

He would remind me, again and again,

that I was loved. That everything would be okay.

*

It was amazing how much space he filled.

One tiny dog,

made twice as large by his expansive aura of fur,

made eight times as large by his personality.

Our quiet house was loud and warm.

It was a home.

*

At night, he

sprawled wide across that tiny space in the couch that no longer was a space.

It was filled.

It was complete.

We were a family.

*

We took him with us on holidays.

He went on road trips with us across the countryside.

He was the sun our movements orbited around.

Eventually, after many years of being a trio, I convinced Chris we needed another dog.

That they would be best buds.

That it would be glorious.

*

We found Angel the next day.

Her family needed to rehome her.

As soon as we heard her name, we knew she was ours.

And then, as we drove home, I realised suddenly:

Fuck. Charlie and Angel. Charlie’s Angels.

Now people are going to think we’re really into those movies!

But we couldn’t change her name. It was hers. And we couldn’t change his. It was his.

And nobody really put it together.

*

Just as we discovered we couldn’t actually put them together either.

Our old pound dog and our younger needed-rehoming-from-abuse dog did not love each other.

They didn’t like each other. They barely tolerated each other.

Not in the first day, not in the first year, not ever.

They weren’t dogs that would cuddle together. They were dogs that would growl at each other testily for the audacity of daring to intrude upon their (very wide) personal space boundaries. They were dogs that would, on special occasions, attack each other and draw blood.

We would joke that at least when one of them died, the other one would not pine. It would be victorious as all get out that it had finally won the competition to be the Only Dawson Dog!

I tell you this lest you ever think it was all happy families 24/7!

My sweet little Cairn terrier and my sweet little Maltese-Shitzu decided the only way to exist in each other’s company was to choose sides.

Charlie became very much my dog. Angel decided Chris was the only being on earth worthy of her love and attention.

And we became a family of four.

*

Not long after that, I decided, actually, that it was time for a baby.

Maybe my wish to get another dog was actually just the beginning signs of me wanting to expand our family.

Chris was excited – he had always wanted marriage and kids, but had been waiting for me to give the thumbs up that I was ready.

(He is nine years older than I – and we got together when I was 18. He knew there was a lot I wanted to do before I popped ze babies out, and was respectful of that. He is also very hot. Have I ever mentioned that?)

*

I became pregnant, and as nausea swept over me, I longed for more space. After six years of sleeping all cocooned up with Charlie dog, it was time to move him off the bed. I missed him and he missed me, but my belly began to bloom and my hips began to ache and Charlie was no longer my baby. My baby was cradled up in my womb.

There’s kind of a grief to that, you know.

To the changing of something you loved for so long. Letting go of the closeness of one relationship so you can experience more.

And it sounds so silly to say:

But I really, truly missed my dog and the sweet, quiet life we shared together before babies began.

I don’t wish my babies back – of course I don’t. Two feelings can exist together.

I’m glad they are here. And I was also sad that by them being here, I wasn’t as close with my dog anymore.

*

“It’s just a dog”

people say sometimes.

It’s never *just* anything.

Our animals are relationships.

And all relationships are sacred and special and life-altering.

That is the very nature of relationships.

*

When I came home from the hospital, there was Charlie, sitting beside me as I nursed for hours on end.

And there he was, beside us, as our lives continued to revolve and grow.

There was Charlie as we moved to the 100 year old cottage my grandmother had lived in, in my hometown.

For hours, he and baby Ostara would sit by our front door, looking through the screen to the busy street outside.

He would sit in the garden with us, and we would chase away the large eagles that swooped too close to him and Angel.

There was Charlie when we moved to an acreage in the rainforest.

He spent his days staring down from the verandah to the pademelons (small kangaroos) that would emerge from the rainforest to eat our back lawn.

On special occasions, Chris would take Charlie for spins on the ride-on lawnmower. Charlie couldn’t work out if he loved it or was appalled by it.

There was Charlie when I became pregnant with my second daughter and was horrifically ill with hyperemesis gravidarum.

He’d lay beside me on the grass as I vomited my guts up. He’d wait for me while I went to emergency again for IV fluids. He waited for Beth to be born.

There was Charlie when we flew across the country to live on the most southern island of Australia.

He felt thoroughly flummoxed by that whole snow thing. WTF IS THIS WHITE SHIT FALLING FROM THE SKY? WHY SO COLD?

Mostly, he nestled up by the fire.

And then there was Charlie when we decided at long last to move back to the city we become a family in, the place we had found him, and found Angel, and given birth to our first daughter.

He was checked over by a doctor to make sure he was healthy to fly.

By this stage, he was 14 years old.

He was in perfect health.

In August, we arrived back home and moved into the home with the fairy garden we’d bought on the internet.

*

It’s a strange thing, you know.

I’d always known, in my heart, that Charlie would only die once we had found our right place in the world.

It was always ticking over in the back of my head. He was 9 when we first moved across the country – moving to places filled with poisonous cane toads and venomous snakes.

At first I thought: “He’s got me back to my hometown in Proserpine… maybe he’ll die now.”

And then: “Oh no, he was waiting for us to get our dream house on the rainforest acreage.”

And then: “Wow, I didn’t expect this… Tasmania is our forever home! Maybe he’ll die now.”

Not to say that I was excited about him dying. Not at all.

Just in my gut, I believed Charlie had a soul contract with us – that he would only leave us when he had returned us home – wherever that was.

*

Back in Canberra. All of us.

*

Within a couple of months of moving back to our beloved Canberra, however, it was clear that his work was done, his light was waning.

He had come full circle. We had come full circle.

At first we noticed he was becoming crankier, especially with our kids.

We became worried about their safety, so we decided to let Charlie stay in the garden, hidden away from prying toddler hands, during the day.

Soon, his epilepsy came back with a vengeance (or so we thought).

He’d always had canine epilepsy, and had taken medication for it when he was younger.

It had eased off once he turned 10 and didn’t need medication anymore.

But now it was back, and worse than ever.

During one seizure, he became partially paralysed. It took weeks for him to regain his mobility.

“Just one more Christmas”, Chris would whisper to him.

His days became filled with nursing our silly, fluffy, old, frail dog. He helped him stand back up when his legs gave way. He helped him out of the garden when his legs refused to work.

He tended to that dog like the gentlest, most devoted nurse on earth.

He couldn’t bear the idea of a life without him.

*

Christmas came and went.

Charlie continued losing weight.

His seizures became longer and more damaging.

*

I worried. I could see how much this dog was suffering despite all the care we gave him. I felt the kindest thing to do was euthanasia.

“Please don’t make me put him down,” Chris would tell me.

“Please. I can’t bear it. I can’t pay someone money to have my dog die. It goes against everything I am.”

My husband has the softest heart. Especially when it comes to animals.

And I couldn’t bring Chris more pain.

So I agreed to wait and let nature take its course.

*

In February, as the summer sun continued to blaze its way across the Southern Hemisphere, the day came.

I was on a work call when Chris walked in.

“Honey, I need your help. Charlie has been having a seizure for an hour. I don’t know what to do.”

I hung up the phone, and we barrelled our way to the closest animal hospital.

He was immediately placed on a sedative with an IV drip. Tests were run.

They sent us home so they could monitor him, help him, end the seizures, see how he could heal.

Our house was quieter without him there.

*

The vet called in the afternoon.

Her voice was soft and sad.

“We’ve been unable to end his seizure. He is now irreversibly brain damaged. We believe he has a sizeable brain tumour causing these seizures, not epilepsy. There is nothing more we can do for him. The only alternatives from here are to admit him to animal hospital overnight to continue sedation for as long as we can, or euthanasia. We know this is a really painful decision, and we will support whatever your family wants to do.”

We drove back to the vet, crying all the way.

Chris whispered:

“I think this is his last day on Earth, honey. This morning when he started having his seizure, I took him outside and I knew it was his last piece of sunshine. I talked to him then and told him all the things I needed to say. I can’t go in there. Can you please go in? You don’t have to stay there while it happens.”

I understood.

And I also knew I wanted to be there with Charlie as he died.

That I would midwife him into the otherworld.

That I would be by his side, just as he had been by mine for his life.

*

The vets and nurses were kind. They pushed tissues into my hands.

They let me hold him as they prepared.

I told him how much I loved him. How much we all did.

I whispered to him all the adventures we had been on.

All the moments we shared.

How I would always love him. How he would always be my dog.

His body rigid still quaking with seizures, I looked into his eyes.

He was gone already, I knew. His spirit had already left the building.

We were only ending the inevitable.

*

It happened within a moment.

A needle, and then

stillness.

*

Tiny orange paws stopped circling.

The rise and fall of his stomach.

*

Stillness.

*

She left me there for as long as I needed.

I sobbed into his mop of fur.

I would miss this.

This, his little body.

His fox tail. His sweet paws.

The furry tips of his ears.

His white blazed chest.

Every inch of that dog.

I’d known and I’d loved.

He was the start of our family

and he was a constant home in our constant moving

and he was 12 years of my life

all wrapped up in a small body

and I was saying goodbye.

*

It’s just a dog,

people say.

It’s never

ever

just

a

dog.

*

I walked out of the vets without the warm bundle in my arms.

I was missing something, I’d left him behind.

*

The first few weeks were the hardest.

Each time I’d return home, I’d dissolve into tears.

There was no laughing dog face out the window, eager to see me.

At night, there was the missing click-clack of his walk down the hallway.

There was no warm curled-up body beside my bed to trip over.

My studio is empty during the day.

Nothing sits beside my feet.

(Custom dog portrait of Charlie I ordered from this Etsy store)

*

It gets easier, and softer, the grief.

Well, it did for me.

It exists on its own timeline with no rhyme or reason.

With my brother, I was grief-stricken for a year, then grief-damaged for another 9 years or so.

Sometimes, it still rains down on me in a sudden hail:

Your brother is dead. He won’t see any of this.

And the gaping hole of sadness opens up and takes me whole.

With my husband’s best friend, I couldn’t accept it for the first five years.

Still too shocked, too sad, too angry.

It’s only in the last year that it has softened some.

With my grandmother, I knew, at the ripe age of 97 that it was coming.

That kind of grief has been a gentler one for me.

But it too has its pothole moments too,

the gasping moments

when I remember

I am Grandmother-less in the world.

I don’t ever know how long it will take

how deep it will feel

how brutally it will hurt

how bereft I will be.

Grief is the unknowable one, as tied to the Great Mystery as it is.

I can only know what is right here.

*

The leaves have turned since he left.

Bulbous green to shrieking yellow to bold crimson out my window.

He lives in a small blue urn now,

just above our telephone.

*

I can only know what has been.

The truth of it is this:

We were infinitely lucky.

Lucky to have known him

lucky to have loved him

lucky that the whole thing happened at all.

Love was, and is, the Great Miracle.

   

(A dear friend emailed this to me just after he died. It brings me great comfort and joy. Wherever Charlie is, I know he’ll be fucking every pillow in the place.)       

OMG!!!! HUGE 7 DAY SALE!!!!!

Hi lovebug!

ERMAGERD!!!! SO EXCITED TO SHARE WITH YOU LOVELY!

My lovely + adorable accountants have taught me many things. Including the fact that I need to do a stocktake sale soon. I have in turn taught them many things, including what a #businessboner is. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Anywaysies, I do listen to what they say… so……..

(DRUM ROLLLLLLL PLEASE… PA-RUMP-PA-PUM-PUMMMM…)

We’re having our very very very first ever 7 day sale on workbooks!

And it is HUGE!!!!!

That’s right kittens!

2016 diary-planners are a whopping 80% OFF!!!

They’ve been reduced from $24.95 to just $5!!!!!!!

(Head here to snaffle one up

+ use the coupon code diarydeal )

and 2016 workbooks are a plentiful 30% off!

They are usually $21.95 but for the

next 7 days will be just $15.30!

BOOOO YAHHHH!!!!

(Head here to jump on yours + use the coupon code workbooksupersaver to get this discount!)

 

Q: Can I buy BOTH diary + workbooks at the discount?

A: Absoloodely! You’ll just need to apply both coupon codes to your cart!

Q: Can I buy more than one?

A: Heck yeah! You go to town, girl! Buy some for your darling friends + have a Shining Year partay together for the rest of the year! Buy them for your clients! Buy them to keep your existing workbooks company during the day like companion pets! Ha!! SO MANY FRIEND OPTIONS!

Q: Will it last the whole 7 days?

A: Probably not – it’s only until stocks last. We’ve got fuck all left honestly – about 100 workbooks left in Australia & the United Kingdom. Get in quick to grab yours.

Q: Why so cheap on the diary-planners? Were they a dud?

A: The diary-planners just ended up being just as popular as the workbooks this year. I’ve been delighted at the peeps who are newfound devotees of the diary-planners… all of them tell me all their weekly and monthly financial goals have come true since using them!

I made a mistake when ordering however and ordered 5000 more than our workbook stock!!!!! Ha! Totes a dumb idea on a brand new product range, but I was super jizzy excited. My hilarious error – your gain! $5! BARGAIN!

Q: Is it too late to do planning though?

A: Seriously? You’re still asking me this?

For the billionty-th time, it’s only too late if you don’t do it at all.

We have people buying the workbooks right up until September/October/November each year + saying they are STILL hugely worth it.

I myself have actually only just started on my 2016 Biz goals workbook… the start of my year is absolutely bonkerdoodles and is our busiest time of the year… I need to wait until it’s quiet season for me to even catch my breath and start planning for the year ahead.

Q: Will the coupon codes apply to bundles?

A: Yep! Go to town, girly!

Q: Yeah but how do I order again?

A: 1. Go to www.shiningyear.com

2. Add everything you want to your shopping cart

3. Add diarydeal as a code and click “APPLY CODE” (for diaries)

Add workbooksupersaver as a code and click “APPLY CODE” (for workbooks)

4. Review your savings and feel ridiculously smug + glowing!

You did it!

Get onto it possums…

I’m only doing this nutso sale for 7 days…

or while stocks last!!!

(The workbook stocks worldwide are pretty skimpy!)

Snaffle your ridiculous deals up now before they are goneskis!

And have a ding darn MAGICAL DAY!!!

Big love,

 

Just $5 to ensure your

weekly, monthly + yearly financial goals

actually come true this year…

that’s a pretty damn good return on investment!

Use the coupon code of diarydeal

to snaffle your brilliant, business + life-changing bargain!

Best Of March + A Sharing

Hola dearest ones,

It’s late Thursday afternoon. Almost twilight. The salt lamp is glowing in the corner. The sky outside my window is tinged with orange. The leaves are turning crimson. Autumn. What a beauty. It’s been a long Indian summer with a whole lot of sun, and I’m ready to move into the cave of winter.

So, something to share with you today.

I’ve struggled with how to share this, when to share it, what to say.

Two weeks ago, I had to make the very difficult decision to end my contract with one of my staff members. Normally I wouldn’t need to share this publicly, but in this case, that staff member was public-facing. I didn’t want you to have to wonder where they disappeared to, and why I hadn’t shared with you about it.

Grant worked for me as a year as a COO and then General Manager and also taught a couple of courses in my Academy. I was very proud of all we were able to achieve over the last year. I truly wish him well and dearly hope he finds the right container for him to share his gifts with the world. I am legally not able to share publicly the details of why I needed to end that contract (nor do I wish to from an ethical standpoint).

I don’t regret working with him for a moment. How could I – when I have learned so much? I don’t ever wish to lose those lessons, no matter how hard won. As that ye olden day quote goes… people come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime. And often we don’t know which it is until we are looking back.

 

I’ve learned many, many lessons… all of which I’ll share here with you when the time is right.

Thank you as always for walking this journey with me… the path of business + conscious living is full of transformation + fucktonnes of personal growth. Most of the time I’m all “HOOOOORAY!!! PERSONAL GROWTH!!!” and sometimes I’m like “OH FUCK THIS SHIT I JUST WANT TO BE STATIC AND COMFORTABLE AND TOTES UNCONSCIOUS!”

Being a human is harrrrrrrrrrd guyzzzzzzz.

Okay possums… more to share… but for now… some of the goodies I shared last month!


FREE TRAINING! 10 Lessons From Building A Million Dollar Business

Well, well, well, lookie here what I have for you…

The savvy business lecture that has people wetting themselves with gigglesnorts and tears…

…My live keynote presentation recorded at the Cairns Business Women’s Club (worth $79!) for FREE!

You will learn:

How I built a million dollar business (as a kooky, artsy hippy no less!)
The number one thing you should invest in to grow your business
What work is essential for YOU to be executing and what to outsource
The success secret behind many of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and thought leaders
How to connect to your deepest why
How to be courageously YOUnique + keep your you-ness wherever you go!

Watch – or listen – and get the tips that will help you, now.

Good Stuff I Discovered This Year

I was looking back over the last year at the things that were good investments for me.

Things that I’m glad I spent the money on in my life.

Things that were in some way a game changer for me (sometimes in little ways and sometimes in big ways).

I wanted to share them with you…

Basically because I can’t keep my mouth shut at the best of times.

If there’s things in my head, they need to be shared.

#worstsecretkeepereverrrr

Check out the good shiz I discovered this year!

25 Random Things About Me

I’ve been blogging for three thousand centuries now.

Well… like… 12 years.

Which is basically the same thing.

And sometimes I really yearn for ye olden days of ridiculous blogging that had no reason to exist except to share and connect.

This year I’m going to be creatively extending myself… reinvigorating myself… trying new things (and old things) to keep things fresh and fun and fabulous.

So, in that spirit, I’m doing something that was allllllllllll the rage back in 2006.

Here are 25 random things about me!

Our Top 1% of Blog Posts of All Time!

I’m taking a look back over the past 12 years of blogging/2,000 blog posts/nearly one million words written and sharing with you my 20 most popular blog posts of all time.

There’s freebies, there’s life stuff, there’s business, there’s big deep soul sharings as well…

It’s been a true honour sharing it with you… this job is really my favourite thing ever… and I hope we can share another 12 years and 2000 blog posts together. It’s been a joy… and such a blessing. I’m so grateful for your support, friendship, kinship and encouragement.

So… here’s the top 1% of my last 2000 blog posts my loves!

And here’s to sharing 2000 more!

A Walk Down Market Lane…

I’m still beaming over here with gratitude, hope + excitement after our time together at the Shining Academy Retreat in Canberra.

It was so magical to be with so many like-minded souls under one roof and I can’t thank the participants enough.

One super magical aspect of the retreat was to see the market stalls set-up with so many shining products! Participants were able to set up a stall to promote their products – FUNNNNNNNNN!

While I wish one day we could ALLLLLLLLLLL meet together in Hippyville, I thought it might be fun to give you a sneak peek.

Here’s your virtual market stall tour!

I’ve Struck Podcast Gold! Eventual Millionaire Interview!

My interview with Eventual Millionaire went live this week which has been a LONGGGGG time in the works… getting on that podcast is like Podcast GOLD, I tell ya!

There’s an application process, and you need to prove you’re an actual millionaire (instead of just one of those shammy internet shonks who talk the talk but aren’t walkin’ the walk) and then there’s this intense process of trying to get on the recording calendar.

Check out my Eventual Millionaire interview!

Upcoming Canberra Speaking Events!

WELL! Fuck a duck!

Look at me getting out and about!

The hermit is outta the hills and gettin’ out in the world!

I’ll be the keynote speaker at two events in canberra in the coming weeks!

13 April: Canberra Business in Heels
19 April: Canberra Wellness Hub

At both events, I’ll be speaking honestly about the journey of building a multi-million dollar company, how I’ve become a best-selling author, the mistakes I see business owners making + I’ll also doing Q&A sessions.

Come see me in Canberra!

Okay my dearests… I’m sending you all so much love + gratitude as always…

Thank you for being my tribe of goddess sisters…

Totes wishing we could set up a teepee commune somewhere for a few days…

It would be like Burning Man… but more like… Radiant Woman.

Big love + cuddles,