Please, come visit http://www.jupitergardens.com/ and check out my new store and site design!

We will be dramatically increasing our inventory over the coming week (tracking those UPS boxes as I type...), so I encourage you to visit early and visit often. Tons more incense, delicious soaps and lots more!

A huge thank you to Athena's Creations for the lovely new store and the lovely new design! She's brilliant people. Go visit her and visit Waterrose Creations. http://www.waterrosecreations.com/ and http://www.athenascreations.com/

Blessings!

The human mind is a wonderful thing. With it we can create our environment, shaping the world in which we want to live.

There was a time, when I started looking into metaphysical topics, when I thought manifesting things was just an urban legend. After all, thinking happy thoughts doesn't make them happen, does it? You can't just think yourself into a winning lottery ticket.

It's true that you can't make yourself win the lottery, or have someone give you a brand new car, but you can make smaller, probably more significant changes, in your life. It's hard work. It takes daily practice, even several times a day.

If you're just starting on the journey to manifestation, or already on it, here are a few tips to help you:

1. Continual practice. Don't get discouraged. Keep working on your manifestation.
2. Work on broad issues, such as more patience or abundance rather than something specific.
3. Remember what we want and our higher self thinks we need can be two completely different things.
4. Trust that you are on the right path.

Good luck on your journey.

Ten years ago we wouldn't have thought about downloading movies or television shows. Books? Forget about it. The idea of scanning in all those pages was simply too daunting for most. But now? The entire world has changed. Files, bytes, data, it's all digital. It's all free, right?

Wrong.

Maybe I'd been living with my head in a cave for too long. Yeah, I work with tech guys. They tell me all about the latest movies, and as a fiction author published primarily in ebooks, I'm well aware of the piracy issues. But I guess I believed that those who had a spiritual quest in life would be immune to such, well, pettiness. Boy, I was wrong.

I stumbled across groups, several of them actually. I won't name them. They claim to have gotten the author's permission to post the books for free, but most authors I know of wouldn't want their work posted for free to several hundred people. Not with the state of publishing as it is, and certainly not when those could be translated into sales. Sales that may mean the difference between paying rent or getting another contract with a publisher. Yeah, publishing is rough like that.

Let's take a look at this rationally... An individual seeks to improve him or herself. That individual looks for books, groups, basically anything with information on how to become a better person. And, that individual runs across a group full of free books. Free books! Cool! Not, really.

Downloading books, engaging in piracy to be truthful is bad karma. You're stealing.

The Internet is a wonderful place, a place for seekers to come together and a place for knowledge to be exchanged. Yet, if we're not careful it can be a slippery slope to bad karma. If you run across a group with "free manuals" double check. Not everything is free, and all publications are covered by copyright laws. If you didn't write it or create it you don't have the right to share it with a thousand of your closest friends.

So come on to the Internet. Share. Make friends. Be happy. Learn. Just think about what you're doing. Don't rack up bad karma. It's not cool.

Oh we may think we do. After all, seemingly unconnected events happen. We're late for an important lunch meeting one day. Later on in the week, our child may suddenly announce that he or she needs 30 cookies for treat day. A family member calls with unexpected news. And a dog that never once ran beyond the fenced-in yard suddenly decides he's a world traveler.

These four things may not seem connected, except for the fact that they all happened to us and may happen in a short time span. After all, it's not like your boss, mad at you for missing the important lunch meeting called your child's teacher to get her to order the cookies. To think that the universe worked like that would be, well laughable. At least to me. It's like the joke I share with my partner, that he's convinced the cats to conspire on the days its my turn to clean the litter boxes because they seem to be so well-used then. Our six cats may be many things, but being conspiracy theorist isn't one of them.

If we don't live in a random universe, then what does it mean? Well, everything happens for a reason. Sure, we may not know the reason, at least not consciously. And the connections between events may not be apparent. Whether we believe its karma, a divine creator, the universe, or aliens are behind the connections doesn't matter to too many people outside ourselves. The more humbling thought is really, everything may happen for that reason, but the reason may have exactly nothing to do with us as ego-centric individuals as a whole.

Talk about news to rock you back on your heels. Or is it?

We get mad at the rain, or we rejoice, except when it's too much, or the thunder is too loud, or the lightning hits our favorite oak tree. We wish the wind would stop howling, or we wish for a bit of a breeze. The dust swirls across a dry landscape. We don't like that it gets all over our cars. Wildfires work on a cycle of death and rebirth, and yet, we gnash our teeth when they come too close to our homes. Energy gathers, spawning a hurricane out in the ocean. It looks cool on the satellite photos, and then we have to worry about friends and loved ones who may be in the way.

In the end, it usually all comes back to us. Kind of sad really.

And I chuckle now, because I'm an only child. It's all about me, me, ME! Did I mention it was all about me? Yeah, it's an affliction I'm getting over. Personal growth and all of that. But the good news is, if I can start to look at the bigger pictures and perhaps make changes in my life, well maybe, others can too. Except then, oops, it's all about me again. *grin!*

It has been said that life is a just a big game. And no, she who dies with the most [fill in your favorite addiction here] doesn't really "win." After all, none of us know for sure what's on the other side or how, or if, the game is scored. The universe isn't random. Everything happens for a reason. And it's fun sometimes, just to sit back, live in the moment, and smile as you watch everyone else hurry by. Maybe, they'll see your smile and take a moment to stop and enjoy the show too. Once we're all stopped, who will we watch? Maybe, we'll take time to enjoy the universe and all that she provides, and then, perhaps, we'll realize a divine truth that suddenly becomes clear. Because sometimes, we have to step outside of ourselves and revel is simply being.

 

The name "Jupiter Gardens" most likely conjures up images of gardens on some far, away moon orbiting a planet in our solar system. Or, perhaps it just brings to mind pictures of flowers, a lush tropical paradise where you can spend hours wandering down paths and enjoying nature. Either way, there's a good chance the image it creates is a positive one. So what exactly is "Jupiter Gardens"?

Jupiter Gardens...nurture your inner worlds.

We each have these gardens inside us, whether they're stark desert landscapes or vibrant rain forest homes. We have physical gardens, emotional and spiritual ones as well, and every single one needs tending. My hope is that Jupiter Gardens helps you care for all three.

My vision for Jupiter Gardens is that this will be a place for people to go to find things: information, music, books, incense, wellness items, nutritional supplements - all designed to help nurture their winner worlds. We understand that people come from diverse paths. Some are ready to run full-steam ahead down the road of natural and sustainable living. Others need to take baby steps. That's okay, there's room in the gardens for everyone. Same with metaphysical and spiritual matters. Some know exactly what they want and what they need. Others may be exploring. That's okay. Come on into the garden!

***NEW PRODUCT***
Jupiter Gardens is pleased to announce the arrival of GladRags, a natural menstrual alternative. No more excess packaging, plastic, and over wraps. Just natural cotton. Also available in organic cotton, and organic undyed.