Summer is finally here, drying us Southern Californians from the torrential and endless rains we've experienced from earlier this year. Summer makes me think of Father's Day and Graduation Day, of vacations and bar-b-ques, of apple pie and the 4th of July. Since the onset of spring I've been following my bliss by taking on projects and doing things that I find interesting and appealing, that speak to my heart and that simply feel good. With the advent of summer finally here, I'm experiencing the full bloom of these new found joys and new resources for recreation.

For instance, since March I've been taking hoop dance classes with Rayna McInturf whom I featured in my last newsletter. Can I just say: it has been such a blast dancing with a hoop and making my own hoops to share with my friends and family! Amazingly (and if you had told me this would happen when I started hoop dancing I would not have believed you), six weeks after completing my beginner's workshops with Rayna, I'm now fire hoop dancing! I've also been taking flamenco dancing with Rina Orellana in Santa Monica. Flamenco music has always been a passion of mine, and now I can dance an authentically Spanish Sevillana (1st Copla, only four more to go!) has enriched my love for the music even more. But the most exciting project I've taken on so far is a collective group art project that has received a grant!

During my exploration in following my bliss and doing things I've love or have always wanted to do, I met an amazing woman by the name of Gemini Fairy. We hit it off immediately! Gemini is such a sweet woman with an effervescent personality and so many positive things to say that I simply just had to share her with you here. Let her words inspire you, just like she inspired me, to live a fuller, richer life. A life of joy and peace. Namaste!

Best,
Tanja Barnes, LMT

Joyology 101
by Gemini Fairy

A Joyologist is someone who intentionally explores the endless dimensions of joy. To access these specific dimensions of existence, one can take many avenues. The most effortless and rewarding approach is that of welcoming each moment of life as it unfolds before you, with open arms, without making the experience 'right' or 'wrong'. Allowing how life is happening right now is crucial in accessing the state of joy. A lot of the time, people refuse joy without even knowing they are refusing it, simply because it likes to dress up as what we resist the most: everything that is uncomfortable to experience, including thoughts, feelings and emotions.

This is experienced as a loss of power or loss of self-expression in one's life, a breakdown: failure to function effectively and powerfully. This is what most try to avoid and get away from, which is where the resistance for how life shows up begins. Resisting how life is unfolding inside and out, is like trying to fight the emerging light of dawn. Now, how silly is that! And how silly are we, to think that by simply trying to stop how life is happening the way it is happening, we're going to succeed in Joyous Full-fill-ment.

The catch-22 here is that the other side of pain is Joy, both, which are known to act together in the work of transformation. Like Emerson reminds us, "bad times are times a good learner would not miss".

Pain is a door to Joy.

Pain is an opportunity to discover Joy.

Joy is pain un-covered/dis-covered.

Joy is suffering transformed.

Joy is the result of dis-covering & un-covering the face of pain.

It is common for Joy to wear the mask of pain.

If pain is allowed to be experienced, it will reveal Joy.

Suffering is an opportunity to know where personal power can be brought forth/cultivated.

So when you see a breakdown coming, this is the perfect time to prepare for a breakthrough as well. Really, allow yourself to receive the gift of how the presence of life is gracing you. It may be that you need to undo the knotted ribbons of pain, to get to the present of Joy. Train yourself to receive life joyfully, or at least with grace (the absence of resistance), no matter how it looks or how it feels; a powerful tool to achieve this with ease is gratitude. Be great-full for how life is occurring, as it is occurring, in the moment, regardless if the experience is pleasant or dolorous. Don't let your thoughts/feelings get in the way of your gratitude for life.

The 'bigger' the breakdown, the 'greater' the breakthrough.

Breakthroughs begin as soon as breakdowns are allowed.

Gratitude for life as it is happening, speeds up the process of a breakdown and allows for full purging to occur right from the start of the hardship.

Your concern as a human is not in how life shows up for you, but how you receive it and perceive it. Taking this on will instantly eliminate half of your current 'problems'. Problem: a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved. This takes as long as it takes, depending on how much you resist or welcome your challenges. So look not at the world, places, people, objects or circumstances to have a life you in-joy living, but look to yourself and only yourself. You are the sole author of your life story.

There are two things you can count on; that life changes and that it gets better and better all the time, with or without your permission. You can count on this. Once you choose to great-fully receive life just the way it gifts itself to you, then, can you be confident to also count on yourself to live a powerful life, no matter what, regardless of the circumstances.

It is amazing to notice how we sometimes react to adversity/problems; we act like something is wrong. We act like the problem is not supposed to be happening to us or happening at all, for that matter. Now that's another silly misconception of being alive as a human. We all know that the reality of being human includes 'ups and downs'. This is clear. In knowing this, we can gracefully receive what life gifts us, as part of life.

So I invite you to receive and perceive 'problems' as opportunities for Joy. I in-courage you to de-light in breakdowns, knowing they will transform into breakthroughs. Allowing for breakdown to take its full course is the work you do for which the pot of gold called Joy appears in. I support you in celebrating where you are, no matter what!

Hooray for Living Life in JOY!

Hooray for Life!

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Gemini Fairy is a Joyologoist and a spiritual life coach mirror, showing surrounding fellow beings to their own Joy. Gemini has been on a committed path of personal growth in the last 5 years and has completed many extensive courses on transformation and self-realization. She believes that the best way to cultivate a more positive environment on this planet is by being a living example of Joy itself. She is currently producing a children's project called 'Celebrate Life', which supports and educates children in recognizing the beauty of Life. For questions and/or comments, please feel free to contact Gemini at http://www.GeminiFairy.org. She would love to hear from you!