Editing . . .

Life has been quite intense over the past month and a half. My Dad was putting under Hospice care on June 4th. He is stable and at home now with constant loving care. My dear friend, Marguerite Barringer, died suddenly. She had a heart attack on the 4th of July and was off to heaven on July 10th. Wow! That hit me really hard.

I haven't been getting all my normal work responsibilities done. Finally over the past 4 days I've started to find myself again. The intensity of loved ones failing or passing over left me emotionally raw. Through sunshine, rest, swimming and a tiny bit of gardening I've regenerated myself. Most of the work responsibilities are accomplished and now I'm free to edit my manuscript.

I have a book under Publishing Agreement with Llewellyn Worldwide. This is my first time as an author publishing with a large publishing house. In order to provide a good final manuscript I have hired an editor to help me finalize the project. The majority of the work is done and now the process of tweaking, removing non-essential anecdotal stories and molding it into a professional book is at hand. I've started working on the edit sent back to me by this fabulous editor and I am enjoying the process.

Because I already have a heavy workload, I've had to cross off all the days that I have free and made an appointment with my manuscript. I'm looking forward to finishing it so we can go through another round of editing. I didn't know that birthing a book was such a process and I'm happy to be learning the process.

So enough dilly dallying writing in my blog . . . . off to the manuscript I go!

Subtle Bodies

My physical body is not so subtle. It's obvious, full, round and very healthy. I am grateful to Botticelli who found bodies like mine worthy of great art. Most women have a belly - it's natural. Thighs and hips are meant to carry babies both inside and outside of a woman's body.

From a spiritual or metaphysical perspective, there are 3 more bodies within our consciousness or energy field. These bodies are considered subtle by title, yet their nature is not so subtle. The emotional and mental bodies are pretty obvious to me. The spiritual body though is much less obvious.

Feeling and thoughts , emotional and mental bodies, are just as real as solidified objects. They create and rule our lives! How we feel and what we think creates reality. From an individual perspective, it creates your immediate world. How your days goes, who you connect with, creation of synchronicity, manifesting your desires and so on. Many perceive they are the victim of circumstances. In some degree, this is true yet what we do with those circumstances can either make us happy and fulfilled or playing the victim role of "woe is me."

Observe yourself without judgements to shine light on your thoughts and feelings. Once thoughts and feelings are revealed to you, use the awareness to have revelations on shifting your life the way you want it to be.

This is a life-long practice. I must be diligent in observing myself to see how I end up creating circumstances. Sometimes I am successful at consciously creating circumstances and other times I realize I'm living a result of my unconscious thoughts and feelings.

The act of self-observation helps one to align with the spiritual subtle body. I speak more of this subject in my book, Crystal Consciousness, to be released in early 2010. I am holding the vision to see my book in print with full color photos of the gemstones, selling well and high above any one's predictions! Hold the vision with me and buy the book when it gets published. It's with the publisher so imagine with me!

Thoughts on Being . . . . Superwoman!

Mama Mia! I am constantly amazed at how much I get done, how much work I still have yet to do, how much more I accept to do, and how much I want to just sit and read a good book under my favorite quilt.

One of my staff at The Crystal Garden has convinced herself that I don't sleep at night but instead, plug into a wall socket to recharge as I keep on going. My best friend, Melissa Applegate, thinks most humans can do only 20% of what I accomplish. So, now I'm bragging a bit, yet it feels good to pat myself. I can hear my mother from the Other Side saying, "Margaret, SPS! Self Praise Stinks!" The thing is - I'm not so sure it's a compliment to be over-the-top the way I am with working on so many things.

There is a downside. I love to garden and despite my distant admiration, my garden continues to bloom and grow. I know some weeds would like to be pulled. I also know it's time to feed my plants their fertilizer. (For those of you reading who don't know - I live in South Florida. It's good to fertilize when the weather cools down - it's 77 degrees! HA!)

Lately, I have been pausing to attend my yoga classes. I have a great instructor, Mary Rosi, at my store, The Crystal Garden. I like the realignment the class provides to me. My body feels stronger, my mind is clearer, my emtions more balanced and my connection with the spiritual realm is reinforced. It makes for a better yoga practice when Mary suggests to dedicate the practice for that given class to someone or something that is important to you. This is a very effective tool. I've dedicated my practice to my manuscript, Crystal Consciousness, which is soon to be published by Llewellyn Worldwide. You may want to get on my mailing list so you can be in on the first copies that hit the shelves. Sign up at info@thecrystalgarden.com

I've also dedicated my practice to my father, Al Lembo, who is 95 years old. WOW! He's an amazing man and I've learned so much from him. If it wasn't for his generosity, financial support and constant you-can-do-it encouragement, we all wouldn't have The Crystal Garden today. So cheers to Al Lembo and my mother Antoinette. (She's guardian spirit now . . . .) I believe I got my super powers from my family heritage. My father always had many jobs going on at the same time and so does my brother today. It must be coursing through my veins to accomplish all that I do.

Yet I must say, I really love it! I'm very creative and I feel I have a mission. I know I only have a specific time frame in which to achieve it so I have to hurry up and get it done. I am Divinely Guided so I can't ignore the responsibility to serve my fellow humans.

• I know I must continue to publish books, oracle decks, spoken audio CDs and more.
• I know I must assist my fellow retailers, authors, vendors on a national level by serving as President for the Coalition of Visionary Resources.
• I know I must run my father's businesses to ensure the funds to care for him and preserve his work for my sister, my brother and I.
• I know I must be a good friend and partner to my sweetheart Vincent.
• I know I must be a good family member to my cousins, neices, nephews and more.
• I know I must be a good friend to my friends.
• I know I must be a good manager and leader for my staff and the community.

So, I'll stop and plug in for a while, re-charge and revitalize!!! I don't look too bad - actually I look marvelous! I'm smiling at YOU!

Truth be told, I'm off to my chiropractor and then to Macy's. See I do stop and play a bit!

Many Blessings,

Margaret Ann

Sequestered with my book, Crystal Consciousness

I'm tucked away with my laptop working on my book. I've sequestered myself within a hotel looking out at skyscrapers. Some authors go to a mountain cabin. I guess you can't take the New Yorker out of me, so I'm gazing out at tall buildings overlooking the Miami River! It's not NYC but it is an easy drive away to change the setting to keep me focused.

Really . . . how focused am I if I'm having a moment of diversion writing in my blog? Oh well, I've achieved quite a bit this morning so a little break of writing on my blog is still writing, isn't it? I'll just consider this diversion a bit of time dedicated to creating a pre-publication buzz for my book.

It's really a great book. I'm extremely excited about it. Although it's primarily about crystals, colors, chakras, aromatherapy, herbs and resins - Crystal Consciousness is much more. I've incorporated spiritual teachings from various indigenous cultures including Toltec, Native American, Mayan, Italian, and Buddhist philosophies. The book is a tool for transforming your life and incorporating spiritual practices into daily life with the sparkle of gemstones and the scents of essential oils, plants and tree resins.

I'm really ready for the final editing process to be complete. My good friend, Melissa, is working with me to edit and tweak the 12 chapters.

The publication of Crystal Consciousness is set for Fall 2009 by Llewellyn Worldwide. That is, of course, dependent upon the actual completed manuscript getting delivered within the next 10 days or so. There are many pre-publication jobs on the to-do-list. But for now, I must stay focused on completing the editing. So now I return to my sequestered state of consciousness!