I Sink I'm In Zeee Wrong Place!

I think and think and think about why certain people do not come into my Three Lights Sanctuary. I'm in a new location, three doors away from a country store and 2 antique shops. I'm near a liquor store, and across the street from an insurance office and Auto Audio. I look out my windows at the mega traffic go by and stopped at the light very close by, thinking that they must see my sign while they're stopped, anyway. Maybe they'll come in one day? And what about the people who live in the house my Sanctuary is in? They sit on the porch smoking with their dog barking...for hours...while I'm open...they don't come in, and I have only met and spoken to one, yet he won't come in he says, "because I don't have any money." I told him he doesn't have to buy anything, that I'd just like to show my shop to him. No soap. He sat on the porch with his barking black lab...and I wonder if that's going to contribute to keeping people away. Someone else was on the porch and his dog was loose...trotted up to me when I opened yesterday. I love animals and hold nothing against them. But, "am I in zeee right place?"

Why are people so unfriendly? While I was at Pinewood Park the last year and a half no one came in because I was out of the way, off the beaten path, and know from experience that few people will drive out of their way to come to my shop. They have to want something I have that they can't get anywhere else. What I don't understand is why didn't the women in the offices next to me come in in a year and a half? Not even out of curiosity! I am so different than the people I'm surrounded by. If someone moved a shop nearby I'd go in, introduce myself and be excited to look around to see what they were offering. What's so hard about that? Not a thing. I want a professional opinion why people are the way they are. Is it the area? I can be next door to people and they won't come in..."I must be in zeee wrong place!"

What about the waitress down the street where I get pizza and veggie pockets and have been for 22 years? She went out of her way to show me a stone she bought in the next state, so when I bought my new stones I gave her flyers of all my stones and their meanings. She told me where she gets her stones and thanked me for thinking of her. I have more stones and am much closer...will she come in? Probably not. Why not? This is what I don't understand. People who know me in my own town treat me like I have a contagious disease. They stay away. They show no support whatsoever.

If I knew someone and they opened a new shop I'd be one of the first to check it out. What is wrong with people? So I thought about the people who DO come in. Strangers. People from out of town. And they give me compliments and they're friendly, and they buy, most of them, and they have something in common with me. So that's why I took out another full page ad that will be in this weeks papers, two of them, in Connecticut, as I'm only 7 miles away.

I had an interesting thought recently. "What if I am in zeee wrong place?" What if I don't belong here. My mother told me I was conceived in New York City when my parents were on a Thanksgiving vacation! I write and paint, and I used to sing and dance and love music and the theater. I used to be a star-struck teenager and wrote to every movie star I liked and have an album of autographed photos, post cards and even a letter from singer, Dee Dee from the old Dick and Dee Dee. I have seen many musicals and still attend a concert here and there if someone very special is performing in the area, like Josh Groban - I have tickets to see him in November. The arts are "in my blood." What if we are meant to live where we were conceived and not where we were born? Think about that for a moment. Think about you as a little soul around the people who made you...and there you go, into the mother's body where she was...in New York!!! Not in RI!!! Geeeze...this is why what I do isn't working for me. "I Sink I'm In Zeee Wrong Place!" (...and yes, that's a French accent I threw in because I think it's funny. It's a phrase Sebastien used when David Miller came out from auditioning for IL DIVO!...by the way, they are both members of IL DIVO...and yes...I saw them in concert at Mohegan Sun...beautiful voices and handsome faces and soooo talented!)

So, what if? I would have been in zeee RIGHT place in NYC. Surrounded by the arts. By musicians and artists and theater and dance. Did I miss the bus? Will I have to wait for the next lifetime for the right bus? So my parents played a dirty trick on me. They made me in New York and moved me to North Smithfield, RI. Thanks folks. Hope you're having a good laugh in heaven or wherever you may be. So here I am, wondering what's wrong, why aren't people coming in and why do I have to keep moving my shop from place to place? Now I know that it could be as simple as, "I Sink I'm In Zeee Wrong Place!

Beatles and Julian Lennon - 'When I'm 64'

Celebrating Being a LEO!

Celebrating "My Day!"

Article in The Glocester Advocate

An article about me and my Three Lights Sanctuary is in this month's issue of The Glocester Advocate and can be seen online, page 11, at:

www.theglocesteradvocate.com.

Full Page Ad for Sanctuary Opening

Larger Room at the Sanctuary

My table of tumbled gemstones in the center of the larger room off the front room at Three Lights Sanctuary. Ready for opening day, next Saturday August 6th.

Photo by Sandy Bell - The Glocester Advocate

This photo and others are part of an article she wrote about Three Lights Sanctuary and myself in her August paper due out this Saturday!

I also composed a full page ad for next week's Bargain Buyer with photos to ensure any words or mental images about me and my shop in the Glocester Advocate aren't entirely taken to heart. I believe that no one understands me or my Spirit Art and Stones of Galilee writings better than I do...hence I decided to be proactive and let the public read about what I offer from THIS horse's mouth!

Custom "Spiral Energy" Paintings

"Snail Spiral"

"The spiral is an archetypal symbol that represents cosmic force"

~ Carl Jung

I am now offering Custom "Spiral Energy" Paintings as an addition to my "Spirit Art."

Please go to my web site for details.

Click on the Spirit Art and/or Art-Stones-Gifts links for details.

http://www.threelightssanctuary.com/

Lunamont Signs ~ Trego, Montana

My sign has been shipped for Three Lights Sanctuary! Lunamont Signs has photos posted at the top of page 3 of their samples pages. I love it and love the colors...I think it's so cool to see a photo of my sign hanging in Montana! :) One photo is of Steve, the owner, hand painting the lettering. They are going to keep the photos right there at the top of page 3...how nice of them. In exchange I'm going to put their business cards out in my shop! They are so kind and have been wonderful to work with! View photos on their site:

http://www.lunamontsigns.com/

Click on page 3 of the Sample Pages

New Sign

This is the mockup for my new sign for Three Lights Sanctuary. I love it!

After running into a snag with a local business, I had the idea to seek a sign company on the internet that could do everything, and I was fortunate to find the perfect one. They are in the sign making business only and create beautifully painted wood signs and are the easiest and nicest people to work with. So simple. They are already building it and I will have it for installation outside my new location early August!

I recommend this wonderful company & people for anyone looking for a wood & paint sign.

Lunamont Signs ~ Trego, MT

http://www.lunamontsigns.com/

Home

"Home is the most popular and will be the most enduring of all earthly establishments."

~ Channing Pollock

It's Independence Day!

New Hours & Business Cards

After a lot of thought, I decided to change my hours at Three Lights Sanctuary. All the business is on the weekends, and being free during weekdays to run the house is a better option. I left the door open stating "Weekdays By Chance" in case I have nothing keeping me at home and want to open. I already feel less pressure.

I went through several more pages of business card options and found one that may be better, not to mention the ones I ordered have the wrong hours now. The 3 candles reflect Three Lights, so I think it's a better fit, although I do like the other card. I can always use a red marker and cover up the Thursday and Friday hours.

I packed everything up at my old space and all the cabinets are ready to move over the weekend. After the furniture is in place at the new location I'll be able to empty the tubs I filled today and will then be able to use them to pack my paintings.

All is going well.

Wings of Light

"Life is so delicate..., is like a candle in the wind..."

Moving Three Lights Sanctuary

Due to zero business at Pinewood Park and my landlord wanting my unit for his friends who want to downsize, calling me twice to tell me he wanted a year commitment if I wanted to stay, I decided I wouldn't be happy there any longer. Tom and I drove to N. Scituate Village to see if there were any places for rent but there were none. On the way home Tom noticed a For Rent sign smack in the middle of Chepachet Village in a duplex 3 doors away from Brown and Hopkins Country Store! There has been a sign out front for a year that was for a gutter company, so we, and I'm sure everyone else, thought that side was occupied. I called immediately to find that the unit he wanted to rent was for an apartment on the other side. But since he asked what I wanted to rent, he was interested. We met the next day, and I am now moving out of Pinewood Park and back onto the Main St. where all the walk-in traffic, and traffic period, is.

It's small but perfect for me. A small room and good size second room. The floors are beautiful large wood planks, walls are half wainscoting and half freshly painted sheet rock in off-white. All window & door casings are beautiful wood, carved w/medallions in the corners. The front door is dark red, house is grey w/white trim, and a covered porch. The door has square panes and sidelights w/square panes. There is a sink and counter with glass door china cabinet in the second room w/small refrigerator, which I need for water and anything else I want to keep cold. A small bathroom off the front room, but it serves the purpose. Built-in shelves in the front room and a variety of closets and cubbyholes! It's going to be fun getting set up! I plan to open Aug. 4th. I put signs in the windows at both places this morning to get people used to what's coming in! The Ancient & Horribles Parade the 4th of July in Chepachet Village will bring hundreds to town, so hopefully they'll see my sign. Now working on getting a sign made to hang near the road from an existing post.

I ordered new business cards yesterday with a couple of tee-shirts with new logo...think that's a good idea...wearing shirts with my logo...then all I have to get ready are my jeans of different colors.

Things are looking positive right now...Happy Days!

One Of Those Days

It's one of those days. A dreary, misty morning, cool with showers on and off. One of those days that makes you feel like staying in your pj's, get done what has to get done, then think. I have had days like this recently where I want to ponder my life asking myself, "what do I really want to do?" I have accepted that I may be living in the wrong place for what I want to do...what excites me...this area is dead! People don't have $$$ to spend on much more than the necessities. Who is going to buy my paintings? Retail is bad, period.

I keep writing pros and cons and really get in touch with my feelings, not just using the logical mind. Maybe what I want I cannot have, so I have to make the best of my life as it is or think of something that I can do that makes me happy and that works for me, even if that something is being alone during the day and forgetting about the outside world and stop trying to fit in a place that doesn't exist.

I'm going to pull out of the antique store in CT the end of the month. I'm in the hole and wouldn't stay there through another winter, not to mention it's a hassle having to find a parking space to carry tubs in there just to lose $$$ and merchandise. Just another thing that doesn't make sense to keep doing, unless it was fun and made me happy...doesn't.

So, what do I do with my space at Pinewood Park? I keep asking myself this question. Losing $$$ and am too far in the hole to ever make a profit, yet I keep it as an outlet...a place that's all mine away from home in a place that I like. I just have no support from the community no matter how much I advertise. A stray customer once in a great while...no one coming around that warrants keeping regular hours. So it's "by chance or appointment." It's not working...yet. So I'm not there for the money. I'm there hoping things will change. Waiting for someone to rent the old stove shop in the front that would bring in some "bodies!" The restaurant next to the stove shop doesn't open till 4PM...that was a huge surprise as they used to be open for lunch all week...now not! That changed everything. No one is there on Saturday - I'm in the middle of offices. So no one around me helps bring the public around nor do the people in those offices come in to even say, "hi." What is wrong with people, anyway? I am not like them...if there was a shop that opened near me I would at least be curious to see what they were offering and introduce myself. And the people who know me have never stopped by...no one is that friendly...no one will go out of their way to be "nice." They're friendly when they see me in town...then shun me where my shop is concerned. No wonder that I am depressed with life...sometimes I feel staying away from society is to be my true self...or is my calling. Maybe I need to forget about people, period, and stay home and write. Play on Facebook, write my blogs, and maybe put something together to submit to someone in the Writer's Market Book. I don't know. Cleaning the house and only cleaning the house is so not what I want to do with the rest of my life. The clutter will always be there. There has to be more.

That's why I like days like this. Days where I am not obligated to be anywhere at a certain time. Don't have anyone to please but myself. My animals are all set for the morning...they'll sleep all day...I'm free to do as I please, but what is that? Seems I have always needed outside motivation to light a fire under myself to do something special...something I can get excited about. It's my job to learn what excites me and just do it...if it's within what I am able to do. Oh well, one of these days I will have that "ah-ha moment" and will act on my newly found idea or thought. One that will satisfy what has been missing, then I will discover something I have ignored until that time.

Time to stop writing...but a very good day to do more thinking.

Silk Sunset

Just Because They're Beautiful

"Happy Birthday" to my Fabulous Four

Six years ago today at 5PM I heard Toby let out a cry! I knew she was due to have her kittens soon, and she picked the hottest day of the year to have her 4 beautiful babies! She had given birth to 2 when I walked into the room and although she had a box with newspapers for the occasion, she took them out of the box and tried hiding them under a chair. I put them back in the box and didn't leave Toby's side. I got a bowl of water and held it for her as she did her busy work! She was grateful.

Six years later it is the hottest day of the year once again.

Toby gave birth to 4 beautiful kittens, all white, but soon showing traces of color on their tails and ears/face. It was a beautiful experience, one that I have witnessed before with our old cat family gone by.

I didn't know if they were boys or girls but learned how to tell a little too late. I had learned from my Chloe and Dolly and Toby a bit too late how to tell girls from boys, so I got it right this time. They are Ewan, Gabriel, Olivia, and Little Joe who left us and went into Spirit after 7 weeks of life. He had "floating ribs" and they weren't where they were supposed to be, so he was taken from us prematurely. :(

Sadly, Toby, their mother, died last year from fluid in her lungs. She suffered badly at the vet before she was put to sleep, so I have doubts whether I will ever bring another pet to the vet to be tortured and then put to sleep. Dying at home may be the best choice...it depends on the circumstances.

But today, I celebrate their life...my beauties with paws! :) You make me happy and I appreciate the time we spend together. I love you and hope to post another birthday greeting the same time next year!

Fantasy Piano

I have been looking for and downloading pictures to use on Facebook and seeking quotes to match with them and came across this one which I fell in love with. It is me...me...me...me...me! I want Spirit to take over my fingers now and see what this image invokes. And so...

FANTASY PIANO

Oh, that's not my piano nor am I fond of playing. But the flowers are wonderful and I already had a drink of the wine that is no longer in my glass. Honey, pure honey is dripping from my mouth after my beloved and I are together in the next world. He is holding me now and you are wanting a message from us? Okay then...you shall receive one. Listen closely.

You are fortunate to be the one writing my words and not the one whose reflection you are witnessing in the photo of my piano and my lace neath the candelabra. Oh I said it wasn't my piano, but yes, I didn't speak the truth for reasons this piano is a haunted memory. You, however, are listening to this beautiful pianist with voice of strength and love and beauty. You also sang and played the piano...I see your black piano...in better shape then mine. So let us all rejoice in the spirit of music today while we are together in our respective worlds. There is not much preventing us from laughing and singing together...we can all smell the roses at the same time...we can raise our glass at the same time and give memories a chance to bring themselves to us all in unison.

Hold on to your specialness. Music is a gift to your world and it lingers also in this after world. I have one idea that will make this image remain alive for us...it is that you create something from this process you are using to gather communication from the other side of the lace cloth. I can see your face and light. I can tell that you love everything about this image before you. You reflect this image. This image reflects who you are in Spirit...musical, and live for beauty in life. Now you must depart from your message and continue writing other messages from other images that create emotion necessary to put in the written word.