Angel Card Readings by Barbara

Hello fellow light followers. 

I now do personal Following the Light/Angel Card Readings over the phone, by Skype and in person by appointment. For an in person appointment in the local Acadiana area please email me via the “contact me: form and I will respond with availability. Thanks!

My new website and blog spot are at http://followingthelightangels.com/

Postive Changes - 2014 Year of the Horse

OMG another year is here...and so much is changing in my life yet again. Just bought a house, have two new pets, my boyfriend and I are getting serious, and I am starting my Following The Light business this year, which will include intuitive angel card readings.

I don't know about you, but for me 2013 was a year of great transition. Emotionally I let go of so much of the thought processes that kept me stuck. Spiritually I joined a Catholic church and am going to be a confirmed Catholic on Feb. 1st. I felt I needed structure in my spiritual life and my grandmother on my mother's side was Catholic and believe she has led me to the church. I remember her reading her rosary every night and when she came to visit over the weekends my Dad taking her to mass on Sunday. She was so at peace with her life and always so positive. I miss you grammy.

My sister and brother came out for Thanksgiving last year and it was so nice to visit with them. The Nelsons hadn't been together for quite awhile. It was their first time in Louisiana. I hope they come back. Perhaps during crawfish season!

So why intuitive readings? I can't seem to get away from doing them. People hear that I do readings and I end up giving them a reading. And I feel God is leading me there or the doors wouldn't be opening. For so long I waited for doors to open and no matter how much I prayed and pleaded with God, they remained closed. So I detached from pleading with the Universe to give me something that it wasn't ready to manifest yet. Nothing happens before it's time. Sure you can make plans, but unless the Universe is behind it, it just won't happen.

You don't do this type of business to make money. In fact, it's kind of like the movie Hereafter, with Matt Damon. You really don't want to do it, because you don't want everyone to know you are different and have this gift. But it keeps coming up and you can no longer deny it. So my brother is helping with the website and I hope to start doing readings once I am settled into new home.

Gosh so much is happening and it has a lot to do with the upcoming Chinese New Year on Jan. 31st which is proceeded by a new moon on January 30. And it is one of my favorite animals The Year of the Horse. Horses represent movement. And is it no surprise I am moving next month. Wow!

It's going to be one heck of a year with this animal leading us. So hold on tight, changes are afoot. To find out more about the year of the horse and about how it will affect you just Google "Chinese New Year" or "Year of the Horse." Make sure you find out what animal you are and how this year will interact with that animal. Pretty interesting stuff I think anyway. I am a dog.

So onward I go, much happier for sure. I love my two pets Lucy and Sofie and my boyfriend Corwyn. I hope he doesn't get mad that I put him last. LOL. They all fill my life with so much light and laughter!

A New Path to Walk

Has it really been that long, since I've been motivated to write on this blog? Holy, moly...I guess it has indeed. So many things have happened in one year. I've finally moved into a home. Apartment living definitely has its limitations on one's life that's for sure. This home has amazingly peaceful and positive energy. It's way out in the country, but close enough to where I know my neighbors and my landlord. Shopping is also close, as is a gym that just relocated closer to my side of town.

My home has an eat in kitchen. And with the addition of a Christmas gift from my sister, a Kitchenaid mixer, I've started baking again  I am also planning a herb and vegetable garden as soon as it warms up a bit.

The two-bed room home has a huge yard with shade trees and lots of greenery. I often get up and watch the sunrise and arrive home from work to watch the sunset. I've seen all kinds of wildlife and been serenaded by several types of birdsong from the sweet high-pitched Cardinal in the morning to the moon-loving ominous hoot owls at night. It's my slice of heaven and ever so serene, especially after a long day of working in the corporate world Monday through Friday.

However, my work life is a bit calmer this year. Last year my company underwent an international merger. My role was to lead the marketing department in the re-branding of 71 national offices, redesigning our website and all of our marketing collateral and support information. No small task, but it was a success.

Now living happily in this country setting, I can concentrate on my passion of spiritual enlightenment. Nature has a way of connecting one to the Divine at a deeper level. And in seeking the Light for several years and through many trial and tribulations along the way, I am wiser and now wish to be of service to those also seeking the Light.

During the last two years, I've also started attending a Catholic church and church group on a regular basis. My grandmother was Catholic and even though she has long since passed, she is still with me in spirit. Thanks grammy, I love you.

So within the next month, I am launching my own business called "Following the Light." I have embraced the fact that I am an empath and an intuitive and feel the gentle tug of God calling me to serve others also on their path in the ascension process or to a deeper understanding of life.

I have taken several classes throughout the years and read countless books on angels, energy, the ascension process, astrology, numerology, Kabbalah, working with the Light and guides, the power of conscious intention, Reiki, and many other new age topics. Still my belief in Jesus Christ and regular bible study keeps me grounded. My latest class is Doreen Virtue's Certified Angel Card Reader course that will help me to provide more focused and meaningful readings.

Here's some of things I've learned along the path to enlightenment. Oprah I hope you don't mind but "What I know for Sure" is:

Being myself is the only way to true happiness.

My beliefs about life is what shows up in my life.

No one circumstance can change my life, but my continued thoughts about it can.

Money is not my source of happiness my connection to the Divine is.

Everything happens for a reason and sometimes we don't know the reason until long after its over.

We see faults in others that are mirrors of what we need to work on oursleves.

Most of the time we don't appreciate what we have until its gone or they leave us.

I can't change anyone else, I can only change myself and in changing myself my Light vibrates higher and may end up changing them anyway.

However, I can't take anyone anywhere they aren't prepared to go by themselves.

There is no perfect relationship, only perfectly loving someone for who they are and how they show up in our lives.

Doubt and fear are the only causes of unhappiness.

I can change a condition by changing my mind about it.

Sending Light and letting go and letting God creates miracles.

I may not get what I want...but I always get what I need to grow.

Trying to make someone love me is disrespecting myself and in the end they either love me or they don't, nothing I do or say will ever change that.

Love isn't about getting, it's about giving. If I go into a relationship thinking only about receiving I will leave empty handed. If I go into a relationship with an open heart and a giving attitude, I will be changed by the experienced.

Giving from the heart always attracts more love and when you give you will receive, perhaps not from that person or at that moment, but trust that it will come.

There is no separation between me and you.

We are all one and what I think about you, I also think about myself. What I do to you, I also do to myself.

We are all creators and create our own realities...but in order to create what we want, we have to use conscious intent.

If you aren't conscious, you are living in an illusion.

Now is the only moment that exists, everything else is an illusion.

There is no power in pondering the past, nor worrying about the future. The Power is in consciously creating in the Now moment.

Concentrate on what you want more of, not what you don't want.

We are here to experience for God and God is love.

Jesus  loved everyone, but He was also discerning. Jesus only picked 12 to follow him, not everyone fits into your circle, choose wisely.

Light attracts Light and darkness attracts darkness.

Satan or darkness exists because if all were Light and happiness, we wouldn't need to be here. We need duality to learn.

The darkest room can be illuminated by the smallest light.

There's always more to learn and when the student is ready, the teacher shows up.

Positive prayer works!

Please take with you from this what aligns with your spirit. Namaste!

Another Rainy Day in South Louisiana

It’s been over six months since my last blog entry and I find myself in a very different place, maybe not geographically, but spiritually and emotionally. I am on my own again, living in a one-bedroom apartment in Lafayette, LA. Although I made several attempts to leave here, for whatever reason the Universe has me staying put for awhile at least.

While I look out my bedroom window where my computer is situated, the rain is falling. It’s supposed to rain all day, but that’s ok with me. I am getting over a touch of bronchitis, so I have all the windows open and am enjoying the rain drops as they fall over the evergreen South Louisiana landscape. Plus the rain makes for a better crawfish season and I can’t wait to enjoy the tasty mud puppies again. Crawfish are only in season for a few months. You can get them all year long, but they taste best February through May.

Everything has its season even relationships; and as I sit here writing this blog, I release yet another lover, who for whatever reason did not work out. And although I will miss him, I truly believe it is for the best. He was an old flame that much like the last time we met burned brightly in the beginning but soon fizzled. I believe he was a soul mate, which I believe we have many in our lifetimes. Soul mates don’t always stick around. In fact, sometimes we learn more about ourselves in their departures.

In this relationship, being more conscious and a bit wiser, I finally was able to witness my abandonment issues as they unfolded. I realized I still had work to do on my painful childhood and finally put it to rest. Otherwise I would play out this scene with every subsequent lover who crossed my path. Preventing me from experiencing the love I truly deserve.

It isn’t easy finding fault with oneself, but unless we see that every relationship comes to us so that we can look deeper insides ourselves, we will miss the very essence of life. Every relationship takes us closer to the Divine inside ourselves. We will miss that if we pin the blame on the other person in the relationship. No matter what happened in the relationship, it was our choice that we stayed, our choice that we allowed, our choice not to speak up and finally our choice to walk away.

In walking away, I realized that I was still repeating a pattern of falling in love with a man’s potential and not who he was right now. We all have this fantasy lover that we believe will somehow make us whole. But when we project that fantasy onto an unworthy love match, we hang in there awaiting the imaginary partner to appear someday. They won’t, and we are kept in the longing for love stage and not experiencing the love we so deserve.

One of my favorite authors is Sandra Anne Taylor, who has a radio show on Hay House Radio. Lovelorn callers often ask her about love relationships. She tells them to ask themselves one question when it comes to love relationships “does this love honor me.” In your being, you will know the answer.

And so it is, yet another lover leaves and I thank God for my cat Rizzo, who is the true love of my life. Always cuddling up next to me, no matter how good or bad of a day I’ve had. We have weathered much together these past few years and with him as my constant companion, I am never lonely.

What’s next for me? I am the marketing and communications manager for a company that just merged with an Australian firm, taking horseback riding lessons, making new friends, working out and enjoying my life. And when a love comes a knocking next time, I’ll be even more conscious and better prepared to deal with my part in the dance of intimacy.

The Harvest and The Droughts of Life

It's been more than two months since my hip replacement surgery, and I am now walking without the aid of a cane. Full recovery is expected within three to six months of the surgery.

Meanwhile, I've had a lot of downtime these past few months, but I hit the ground running after the surgery (well almost). I am volunteering at a local Food Bank to do their public relations. I also started writing a weekly inspirational column for the website Global Light Minds. I've also had time to hammer out the first five chapters of my book Following The Light - thanks in part to my editor friend Sue, who has been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement.

However, I've let go of trying to figure out where the Universe will take me next. Sometimes all the planning in the world will never get you what you think you want. During this mecca to find my purpose, my truth, I've often had to throw my hands in the air and say "not my will but yours God."

I've also had to look at the darker sides of my being and honor them and then release them. Loaded with limiting beliefs that held me back, I was truly stuck and couldn't find the path forward. I've knocked on doors only to find that no matter how hard I rapped they would remain closed to me. I scratched my head, cried in fear, called out to God in the darkness asking "why." Only to find the answers didn't come.

The voids are where I feel you do your best work on your soul. You have time to look in the mirror, because there are no outside influences being thrust upon you. You have to talk to yourself. You have to fall in love with all of you, the good, the bad and the ugly parts.

None of us are born perfect. No matter how we want to believe we are whole, parts of us remain in the past, parts of us are contemplating the future and parts of us we have yet to discover.

Sitting in the unknown zone for so long, I am now OK with not knowing. My plans have changed so much since I left the Northeast, that I can't even remember how many times I've sat in bewilderment of what do I do next. I still make plans, but I detach from the outcome and I no longer put all my energy into a desired result.

It's take a lot of courage to be remain detached, to wait, to not push and that's what I had to do. My whole life I had grand plans and most of the time I strong-armed them into working out. But then here I was asking to live my truth. At the time, I thought I knew what that was, but it seems it was so deeply buried that it would take nearly two years of soul-searching to unearth it. Had I know this before I left, I am sure I would have stayed put and worked my nine-to-five public relations job in the city, did my three-hour commute daily and been satisfied in doing it. But that would have been a mistake, as we seldom are given enough insight to know failure will be our greatest teacher.

After leaving New York/New Jersey, I moved to New Mexico and nothing worked out. A full-time job never materialized, one of my roommates threatened me with violence and I didn't find love. I lost my dignity and my shirt, so to speak and it took a long time to forgive myself for not being more prepared for the worst. I thought the magic carpet would be rolled out for me, since I was following my truth. Well truth isn't what or where one might think it is, or so I have come to find.

The truth is we are human and we make mistakes, and life isn't supposed to be a bed of roses. Life has drought times and harvest times, we have to learn to appreciate both. In the drought years, we look inside for nourishment in the harvest years we look outward. During the drought times, we find out the most about ourselves. During the harvest times, we find out most about how we interact with the world. Both are required. All the time we are healing, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

If we are lucky, we have more harvest times, but don't expect them to last. We can't exist in an eternal harvest. A farmer knows enough to let a field be idle for a year, because it can't support continuous life. The soil needs to be nourished and to rest.

I believe its the same aspect that's been happening to the economy. We experienced an over abundance and the Universe had to pull it back into perspective or so I think.

Drought times aren't the most enjoyable, especially when you are ill prepared for them. But still they are necessary for soul development and for advancement, because whether or not we are conscious of it healing is taking place, changes are made and hopefully what emerges is a something better.

I don't have all the answers. All I know is life is change and we need to enjoy and honor the transformational energies in both the harvest and drought periods.

Namaste.

No Thanks, I'll Pass

I recently had a dear friend call me and say she met a man that needs a good woman and she thought of me. This isn't the first time this has happened. These recommendations from friends nearly always start off with "well, he's recently divorced and depressed," which immediately sends up red flags in my brain. I can't stress this enough when someone says anything remotely like this to you: run like hell.

I am currently single and have been divorced for 12 years. Some how people equate being single with being miserable. In fact, the opposite is true and until you can be happy being single you will never achieve happiness in a relationship.

First off, you are not responsible for any one's happiness but your own, nor are you responsible to to heal someone from a bad divorce or break up. Believe me I've been there and done that and have no need to repeat this experience.

Yes, it is true that after a certain age it becomes increasingly difficult to find quality people to date, especially for women. That is unless you want to date much younger men, which I've done, but with very little long-term success.

However, to my point. I have no desire to enter a relationship with anyone who thinks I can provide their happiness or uplift them from some deep dark hole they find themselves in. People just out of a relationship are rarely ready for a committed relationship. If they say they are, they cannot be alone, which should send up a reg flag. Processing issues from a breakup, especially from a long-term relationship takes years, not months.

I believe when the time is right, when we are at our happiest, we just attract the right person. In a healthy relationship, both parties are happy. Both parties can maintain their own lives. They don't need someone or something outside themselves to make them so.

But as we all know, most relationships aren't formed on happiness. They are formed on need and until one can provide for their own needs, they have no business in a relationship.

Also I would like to talk a bit about Internet dating. Hated it. Over a five-year period I attempted to meet someone from a myriad of sites. Most of the time I wanted to run from the meeting place screaming. I think these sites are fine for people in their 20s and 30s, who base love on lust and physical appearances. But when you want a relationship with more depth, I just feel you just have to be patient and wait on the Universe to bring it to you.

As you work on yourself and become the person you love, when you fall in love with your own life, you just naturally attract into your life the kind of person and the kind of relationship you desire. I don't think you can force the Universe to give you something you aren't ready for.

You are the one standing in the way of a good relationship. When you are still thinking about your ex, whether you are missing him or are thinking about killing him, you are telling the Universe that you want him or someone just like him. The Universe doesn't process hate thoughts, so when you think about a past love on any terms on a regular basis, you are sending messages to the Universe that you want him back.

Like I said it takes years to process a breakup and until you are ready for love again, you are going to get everything but.

I have finally reached a point where I just don't care anymore whether or not I meet someone. I am happy with me. A friend of mine said to me one day a long time ago, you just have to let go of thinking about men and get on with life.

I am here now. Thank you God!!!

To The New Earth

Spring is here or soon will be. Of course down here in South Louisiana it's been in the 60s and 70s for months. Today's high is 85. Don't envy me too much for summers here hit the high 90s and if the heat doesn't kill you the humidity surely will.

I am past my hip replacement surgery and boy does it feel good to be on the other side of that one. I am one month out now and am walking with a cane. I can drive at six weeks and look forward to my regular gym workouts in two more months.

I feel a new beginning coming on, after what was the hardest two years of my life. But I digress and if you want to hear more about my harrowing journey you'll have to read it on previous blog entries. I am leaving the past in the past.

Now, I am concentrating on healing, then a full-time job in Austin, the move there and my new life there. Yippee Ki-yay!!!! Can't wait to taste Texas BBQ, especially beef ribs. It's hard to find good beef ribs. I like pork too, but beef ribs are the best.

Yes, I still eat meat. I've been toying with becoming a vegetarian, but never could get myself to stay away from the occasional hamburger or BBQ.

In the recovery and time off, I've got to keep up on the world news. My heart goes out to all those suffering in the recent earthquakes and tsunami as well as those in the Middle East struggling to overthrow their fascist regimes.

We can't deny that the earth and the world is changing. Chaos seems to rule the day on several parts of the globe. People say this is the end times. Yes, perhaps many things are going to end. I would be glad to say goodbye to the way the banks and corporate America rule this country. I would like to see humans pull together instead of fighting religious wars. I would like to see hatred of Jews and Muslims end. I would also like to see American and other countries be less dependent on oil and put funding into clean reliable energy. I don't feel it's nuclear power for reasons now obvious.

Change, yes things are going to change. I believe more earth and climate changes are ahead as well. I also see more non-democratic countries coming into consciousness and wanting their freedom. It's like the whole earth is waking up and saying no more. No more materialistic thinking. No more religious persecution.No more poisoning the earth. No more restriction of freedom.

Perhaps end times are followed by a new beginning. In many cultures including the Mayan, there was either no prediction of what was to follow 2012 or it was total destruction. Perhaps it's left up to us. Perhaps we either choose to love one another or continue to hate. I believe a new beginning must be based on love and freedom, not hatred and restriction by governments that have outgrown their usefulness.

We are on the verge of a new way of life here on earth and those clinging to the old ways of living are going to be left behind. Perhaps that's the Apocalypse means. For me I am going to live each day to its fullest.

It hasn't been reported so much on the news as of yet, but I can't help but notice how we are pulling together more than ever before. Japan is getting aid from all over the globe and now several countries including the Arab world have united against Libya to rid it of it's fascist leader. So some good has come out of some very bad situations or so I think.

Blessings to you for living during this amazing time on earth. Enjoy the beautiful full moon and Spring Equinox energies. Love to all!