Friday, January 26, 2018

February 2018 Snake Oil/Tough Times/Little House on the Prairie Wisdom

FEBRUARY 2018 SNAKE OIL 
 Tough Times/Little House on the Prairie wisdom

I caught an episode of the 70s/80s television show Little House on the Prairie the other day. It was from the second or third season, when the show was still both painfully cheesy and still really good. How brilliant were the characters of Mrs Olsen and Nellie? If you’re too young to remember Little House, (or as my obnoxious oldest brother called it: “Little House of the Fairy”) or if you just never caught it, the premise of the show was easy to follow. It was set in the late 1800’s, and based on a series of books by Laura Engels Wilder. It was primarily about a family that set out to relocate to a small town called Walnut Grove. The charismatically handsome father was played by Michael Landon. “Charles” took his beautiful wife and three girls from Wisconsin to create a better life for the family in Minnesota. The show was tremendously popular in its day. While at times it was a bit cliche and preachy, it was often funny and highlighted the timeless and amazing potential of the human spirit and the value of being part of a loving family.
Right before I watched the show, I had received a call from a friend with some astounding news about a likable guy from my gym who was going through some painful relationship issues. I hadn’t seen Pete in months, and wondered why he vanished. The news was that he had committed suicide in December. It was painful to hear about such a sad loss. He left behind four children and a devastated Mormon family. This was not the first time I had heard about a death or loss in one form or another in the last few years. This one just seemed to hit too close to home. So many people around me seemed to be struggling, but this news really took its toll on my spirit. I decided to surrender my need to compulsively analyze and understand why such a loss occurred and committed to the episode of Little House that I had recorded on my DVR. The show was about a tornado that whipped through the small town and destroyed most of the Engels farm. The night it came, the family was celebrating an abundant, perfect crop that was ready for harvest. It, along with livestock, a barn, and many parts of their home were destroyed. The family and especially Charles Engels was struggling with the common human feeling and mental anguish that all of us experience at one time or another, during trying times of, “Why has God abandoned me?” “We are good people, why are we being punished?” “What did I do to deserve this?” The destructive storm damaged the town as well, but the Engels farm was hit the worst.
The realization of the impending winter and current financial ruin meant Charles needed to scramble to find work or solutions to their current dilemmas. He diligently tries, but after a number of failed efforts, he decides to give up the fight. He has lost all faith and decides to sell the farm and go back home. The rest of the family wants to stay and accept offered help from their friends and neighbors, but Charles has understandably lost all of his strength and remaining optimism. The rest of the family reluctantly agrees to sell the farm and return home. Deep inside it is clear that they would prefer to stay and work together to make it through the coming winter, but the rules of a patriarchal culture win out.
I knew it was no accident that I caught this episode. I’d probably watched it during my childhood back in 1976 or 77 when it originally aired, but now I could truly identify with its message. I myself had experienced some “mini tornadoes” and “bad episodes” as well in the last few years, and I knew I was not alone in this experience; Many people had similar trials. The last few years have not been easy ones. The housing market tanked in Phoenix and my homes value plummeted so much that it’s worth next to nothing. Credit card debt had strangled me for years and I had no choice but to default on some of them and give up my good credit rating. Relentless phone calls from debt collectors trying to get money I did not have were frequent. My business took a forty percent drop in 2008. Understandably, many of my clients were experiencing similar problems and had to cut costs, so I became a casualty of those cuts. I picked up a lucrative part time job to supplement my income in 2009 and briefly had some temporary abundance. Yet, after two years that also ended when the owner couldn’t keep up in a difficult economy, and had to shut his doors. This was not the first time in my life when I had struggled with adversity, yet it was the longest in duration by far. I took practical steps to increase my business with advertising, and those steps were now finally bringing results. After three years of up and downs for me, things were finally improving. Obnoxious collections calls were still coming through, but they were beginning to lose steam. Like most people, I was phobic from struggling for so long. I had a lot to catch up on, but I knew that at least the darkest times were now behind me and for many of my friends and clients as well. Many of us had thankfully weathered the worst of the storms.

Yet, there were many people who were still struggling or just beginning to experience dark times, and I truly felt for them. In 2010 and 2011 I lost two friends to cancer and was aware of a number of other people who lost spouses, friends, children, and other family members. One of my family members was diagnosed with kidney failure. I was aware of three different people who committed suicide, two of them because of financial hardship. There were lots of people who lost homes, had to return to work after being semi-retired, or struggled with relationship problems or disease in one form or another. I had a number of clients who could not find work no matter how hard they tried. Some were living off savings or their retirement money long before one is “supposed” to cash their future security in. While not everyone has been directly touched by some kind of disaster, we all know family or friends who had been. The last few years have been really difficult ones, and many people have lost hope, just like Charles Engels. There were more than a few times when I briefly felt the same way. 
The saddest part for me was how many people perceived their difficulties as personal failures and reacted by closing down and retreating in one form or another in shame. Men are more likely to respond this way to a sense of failure than women. Because of current economic difficulties, many people have been relentlessly bullied by banks and other financial institutions. This bullying has contributed to making many of us feel like we are now “failures, dead-beats, and even criminals.” But taking economic conditions personally is a myopic perspective. Other societal influences contributed to the lack of current abundance, like excessive greed, arrogance, destruction of the middle class, corruption, spending money that wasn’t there, and the rise of the influence of the religious extremists were just a few of many contributions to our current depression. We were broken at many levels and we are all paying the price to repair these ruptures.
We often think that because we live in “modern times,” that we shouldn’t have to go through the really tough times that people experienced in the middle ages, biblical times, the depression or any other difficult historical periods. As a species, our history is rich with times of jubilation, advancement, and prosperity, as well as times of great sorrow, disasters, and troubles. There are “hazards on the physical plane.”  As much as we are uncomfortable with these times of difficulty, they are realities in this world. Sometimes the trials really, really test us. Loss, sorrow, and struggle are aspects of our human experience. If we can move through them we can see that they are usually meant to teach us how to not struggle in the future. As troubling as these times are they always have purpose. The Little House episode ended with Charles turning the corner in the last 10 minutes of the show. He decides to stay and rebuild his farm and accepts help to do this from his friends in the town. They know it will not be easy, but they band together as a family and do what they must. Inevitably happy, prosperous times follow. Life isn’t always an easy resolution like on a television show. Yet, we can tap into the amazing part of us that has the strength and perseverance to survive adversity if we choose to. Sometimes we have to ask for help from friends and family. Sometimes we have to be willing to ask for help from Spirit. No matter what, or how much difficulty we have endured, we are often stronger than we know. Light will follow darkness if we recognize that there is always another side to adversity. It can make us wiser, stronger, and even a little bit of a bad-ass from the strength that becomes part of us precisely because we have survived the storms.
Jim Ventura 3-2012
Notes


New columns on the way in the next few months. With the addition of doing a number of television spots (three so far) and a busy start to New Year, juggling dealing with a sick cat, and a host of other things there have been some real detours challenging, but growth in some positive ways. The Little House column originally ran back in 2012. 2008 through late 2011 were very difficult years for me and many people. The recession was at its peak. I learned a lot of valuable things during that period but endured some real tests. Thankfully I was very aware that I had no control over the economy. That was truly a group “creation,” but I did get to see where I made mistakes that lead me there at a personal level. “As we are tested we fund the power to avert blockage and defeat. At the same time, we develop in ourselves an aversion to the conduct that creates stress in our lives.” Quote from the book of Runes. I have been in such a good space, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and financially for more than five years now- And yes, those four things are connected.
The struggles from those difficult times are truly far away in my rear view mirror. 

I just sent out referral discount comps to all the people who referred my services to others in 2017. Either directly or through Face book, column shares, or in your own unique creative ways your referral efforts are always appreciated. I really do get a lot of my referrals still from google, yelp and similar sites, but the personal touch of direct client referrals is still very appealing. 
In future newsletters, I am going to feature both for local and national businesses of all shorts a short plug to market some of my readers (one each month). I will do this here in my monthly column/newsletter and also through Face Book. The column now reaches about 1700 people each month! If you are someone who receives this newsletter and you have a business you would like to mention, you can submit that information to me (in one or two short paragraphs along with website link) and I may run your information at some point. Depending on how many submissions I receive I will consider every submission sent to me for review. 

Second appearance on ABC show The List:


Wishing everyone a good February as we settle into this new year and the Chinese year of the Dog. Cheers, Jimmy V

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear-not absence of fear.” Mark Twain

"Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian." Shari R. Barr


New Client Special 2017:

January 1st 2018 thru March 31st 2018 Special: New Client introductory offer
$10-15 off listed rates for your first 45 minute session, 70, or 90 minute session! Ask for the special when you email
Venturasag@yahoo.com to book. Debit and credit card payments get $10 off for 45-90 minute sessions. Local in-office clients can get an extra $5 off for cash or check payments for sessions. If you want to buy a new client a thoughtful gift of a session you can also take advantage of these rates!
My current rates (new clients can subtract the above discounts from these rates): 45 minute sessions $85. 70 minute sessions $110. 90 minute sessions $130. Sessions can be in-office or by phone.
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou

Channeled corner. I read many, many books from different trance channelers in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Unfortunately many of them are now out of print, but I still have a huge collection and will share some of the best material I have collected over the years.


“As we reincarnate from lifetime to lifetime on our soul's journey -- gathering experiences, learning lessons, and fulfilling agreements -- an evolutionary process transpires and that course of development is called, Soul Age.
Soul age refers to how a person has grown from experience on the planet, not just to how many lifetimes he or she has lived. No person is "ahead" or "behind" any other, but is simply occupying another place in the continuous circle leading to and from the Tao.
Each soul age brings a unique perspective and an array of lessons that offer experience, individual choice, and ultimately, the opportunity to learn and evolve.
During this cycle of incarnations, the soul progresses through five soul age stages on the physical plane. Each stage is a mark of the soul's evolution. 

Soul Age Stages
1) Infant Souls deal with issues of survival; they do not yet have a basis for making sense of what is “out there”—they only know that it is “not me.” Infant souls often live on the fringes of society, and their experience of life is simple, earthy, primitive, and mystical. Without loving guidance from older souls who teach them the difference between right and wrong, Infant souls may react violently to perceived threats.

Focus: Survival
Infant Soul Countries: Ethiopia, New Guinea, Cambodia, Areas Near the Equator
Attributes: (+) Innocent, untarnished by culture, purely instinctive (-) Fearful, withdrawn, without conscience, violent


2) Baby Souls have a need for structure and tend to live according to beliefs based on dogma, such as religious fundamentalism. Baby souls, focused as they are on bringing people together under the umbrella of civilization, see others, as being “just like me.” They can become confused and upset when those “other me’s” act differently than expected. Their experience of life is rule-based, rigid, dogmatic, family-oriented, and highly structured around adhering to the laws and mores of an institution or culture -- think of the Middle West and the conscientious drive to be the "model citizen."

Focus: Rules/Laws; right and wrong
Baby Soul Countries: Iran, Iraq, Haiti, Ireland, Libya, Middle East, Mid-West America
Attributes: (+) Community-oriented, law-abiding, family values (-) rule-based, rigid, bland, judgmental, black and white, religious fundamentalists

3) Young Souls are success oriented and set high standards of personal achievement. Young souls are learning to impact the world, and see others as “you”s they can impact. Their experience of life is competitive, industrious, independent, profit-motivated, win-lose, and in pursuit of anything that leads to prosperity. They fear aging, the natural decline of their bodies, and go to great lengths to preserve their status and appearance. Young souls could be the official soul age for face-lifts, Botox injections, and tummy-tucks.

Focus: Success/Achievement; win-lose
Young Soul Countries: USA, China, Israel, United Arab Emirates

4) Mature Souls are relationship oriented and tend to gravitate toward emotional drama. Mature souls, delving into their inner world and exploring relatedness, can keenly feel other people’s “stuff,” and perceive it in the same way they perceive their own. This can make for much intensity and, often, subjectivity. Their experience of life is dramatic, emotional, soap-opera-like, identified, intimate, empathetic, and self-aware.

Focus: Relationships
Mature Soul Countries: England, Austria, Italy, Poland

5) Old Souls seek the larger perspective of life, and have less interest in playing the material game. They tend to be more detached, and try to see themselves and others within a larger context, fostering a "live and let live" motto. Their experience of life is laid-back, easy going, detached from emotional intensity, spiritually-minded, and sometimes a little lazy.

Focus: The Big Picture; Philosophical Perspective
Old Soul Countries: Iceland, Holland, Finland, Czechoslovakia

Author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro Gave Mottos For Each Of The Soul Ages:
Infant: Lets not do it.

Baby: Do it right or don't do it at all.

Young: Do it my way.

Mature: Do it anyplace but here. 

Old: You do what you want and I'll do what I want.”
From the Michael Teachings website



Snake Oil Radio

Thursdays at 3:30 pm (there will be one live broadcast this month)
My next live broadcast of Snake Oil Radio will be Thursday, February 8th at 3:30 p.m. mountain time (same as Pacific time now). Most Thursdays you can catch a new show. Each 45 minute show will expand on my current column’s subject matter. It will also offer an opportunity for you to call in live (or chat with other listeners in the chat room) with comments and your thoughts about the topic of discussion. If you miss the live show, you can catch any of my previously recorded shows on the web site’s archive. You can also catch Snake Oil Radio on I-tunes (download my pod-casts there).
To hear a live show, all you need to do is be at a computer and tuned into: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Jim-Ventura  You may also access it by going to the site and type “Snake Oil” into the search option. You can also go to the shows that are currently “On air” at that time and find me. The call in number is 646-200-3966 for questions and comments.
"Low self-confidence isn't a life sentence. Self-confidence can be learned, practiced, and mastered-just like any other skill. Once you master it, everything in your life will change for the better." Barrie Davenport

Here’s my contact information to make an appointment for a session, or information on current classes: Email: Venturasag@yahoo.com (best method for contact).
Phone calls: (602) 957-3035 text only: (602) 349-0746 

Information about the different sessions and types of readings and services, past Snake Oil columns, and how to order my books and audio CD’s can be found at my website: Http://JimVentura.com 

“Friend” me on Facebook to get other extra offers and in between column extras! Signing up for my fan page will get you even more extras and first shot at reading specials. Simply click on “like” on the fan page and you will automatically get my weekly updates. 

You also may want to check out my posts on Tumblr.com: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/snake-oil-blog

All sessions/readings for 2017 are: Full (70 minutes) $110.00; Shorter session (45 minutes) $85.00;  Extended session (90 minutes) $130.00 (two people can split an extended session back to back for $65.00 each, although no other discounts will apply).  Email me for information about my Regular Client Program for even bigger discounts on session prices with the added benefit of monthly or quarterly check-ins. 
All Current Snake Oil subscribers get $5.00 off all listed prices for any 45-90 minute sessions (except when using a special discount promotion). Local in office visits receive  another $5 off listed prices for cash or check payments. 











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