Zazzle discount code and shopping help for my Dear Readers ~

So I splurged a little yesterday, and bought some Zazzle products I'd had my eye on - and the result was I got a gift for you: A discount code for $5 off a $20+ purchase! Now, I'm going to tell you about the products when I get them, so I can post some photos of my goodies in "real life." And I'll post the discount code at the end of this article ;) Meanwhile, to whet your appetite and give you some shopping ideas for the holidays, I'm going to show you some ways you can put that $5 discount to good use:

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How about refreshing someone's desk (maybe your own) with a matching coffee mug and mousepad? I've shown them here in my Neon Fantasy design, which will surely brighten up the office on even the dullest winter day. But if if you want some less girly, I have a range of designs to choose from. The mug and mousepad set is regularly $24.90, but with your discount it becomes an affordable gift for under $20.

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There's still time to send out Christmas cards - or solstice, or New Year's, or just a heartfelt greeting to distant friends. From my new Holiday Shoppe collection, this Time for Peace card makes a lovely greeting for anyone, anytime. A set of 10 full-sized cards is normally $24.50; with the discount it becomes just $19.50. What a great gift - and matching postage is available, too!

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With the New Year coming up, you need a calendar! I have two designs in my store right now - and this one lets you collaborate with me! I've filled the pages with the best of my collage and photo art work - and each image is set up as template so you can replace my pictures with your own! This is great if you want to try your hand at designing a calendar, but don't know where to start - or don't have enough pictures to fill out the months. Of course, if you can just buy it the way it is, and enjoy my designs throughout the year! With the discount, a large-size calendar goes from $20.95 to just $15.95!

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Time to replace that grubby old shopping bag? Zazzle has great totes, and the discount code lets you upgrade to to this deluxe, Impulse version. I've shown it here in my Form Exists design - an ancient Chinese saying made into a wordle - great gift for the geek in your life! This bag version is regularly $25.95, becoming just $20.95 with your discount.

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All right, here's that discount code:

BIXPWDPLRBEFFHWXHQBR

Just paste it when making your purchase, and it will be automatically applied - but please hurry because the code expires on December 15. And if, despite my best efforts, you don't see anything you like in my store (I have many more designs than just the few I've referenced), feel free to keep shopping the site. A built-in code gives me a bonus for each purchase that is referred through my links. How cool is that - you get a discount, I get bonus, and some lucky Zazzle seller gets a sale! Now that's enough to put me in a holiday mood, in 3, 2, 1.....

Notable Quote: On Borders

Borders in general are a source of difficulty as well as a pointless labor for government bureaucrats, not to mention anguish for the pople who wish to cross them, or who do cross them only to find misery different from the kind they fled. Whenever I hear yet another news report about the nonsensical contortions, both semantic and political, of our government in its attempts to legislate immigration, I wonder why we need borders at all. This may sound patently absurd, given the state of the world. It would take a planetary revolution of the most drastic kind to undo our system of nation states and border controls. I am aware of that. And yet the national borders in Europe and Africa, for example, are a relatively recent development, when seen in the vast trail of human history. There is the added irony that at a time when Europe is relaxing the notion of strict borders - witness the European Union and the attendant ease of crossing borders - the United States is busy building fences and deploying armed guards.

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As practically absurd as a borderless world might sound, it is equally absurd that certain residents of a place should be "legal" and others "illegal." Besides "illegal" people, borders make possible invasions, occupations, detentions, prisons, and so many other evils. Why shouldn't people come and go freely on the face of the earth? At least as freely as money and corporate investments, which are rarely detained at borders.

~ Lynn Sharon Schwartz, from Not Now, Voyager

Jan says: I found this passage very compelling when I read this book last summer. Then I recently watched The Syrian Bride, a fine movie about the effects of a border on peoples' lives, and it moved me to post this quote.

December's Energy is The Lightning

We've turned the calendar page into the last month of this old year, dear readers. Be prepared for lots of excitement as we head into the holiday season, because December's energy is The Lightning ~

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Image provided by Bing Clip Art

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We've been given an interesting energy to ride out the year. In the Star+Gate card system, The Lightning is defined as critical energy that shakes things up. This is good if you've been feeling like you're in a stuck place - a little shaking-up is just what you need!

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Yet Lightning can also be fearsome. It certainly represents raw, elemental power; yet it is also regenerative and nourishing. Here in the Southwest, I find a lot of my clients have a positive reaction when this energy comes up for them. Living in a desert, we generally consider rain to be a good thing, and the Lightning portends rain!

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The Lightning's nearest neighbors on the Star+Gate pattern are:

1. The Lover ~ a way of being in the world that is intimate, giving, passionate - and possessive.
2. The Tree ~ like a sturdy oak, this is the mature side of ourselves, when we are stable, sheltering, knowledgeable, and not swayed by fads.
3. The Star of Impulse ~ like the slogan says, Just Do It!
4. The Star of Reaching ~ a basic energy that impels us towards new growth, channeling our energy in a specific direction.
5. The Rose ~ the challenge of how we achieve perfection; the Rose reminds us to do our footwork and allow the perfection to unfold naturally.
6. The Eye ~ the gift of vision and perception at all levels, allowing us to see the unseen.

The energy this month contains a sense of freshness, of beginning a new cycle, and all the excitement that entails. We'll be able to apply our talents and abilities to the challenges this brings up for us, which is not a bad thing. Major themes revolve around the tension between "I want" and "I have" with focus on resources, pleasure, comforts, and possessions. (Santa, are you listening?) Instead of devolving into possessiveness, however, it is perhaps better to choose quality rather than quantity in life, to own one's own fire, and create substance.

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These energies peak around December 26-27, right as we're winding down from the holiday frenzy. This, of course, follows the Winter Solstice on December 21 (10:47 am Mountain time) and occurs with the start of Mercury Retrograde on December 26 (7:38 am). Since I'm committed to preparing a CycleCast for each of those celestial events, it looks like I've got my work cut out for me!

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Would you like to have a forecast of your personal energy cycles? My intuitive readings will help answer your questions and illuminate your path - and are now available by e-mail!. For information and to request a reading,click here, or send a message to burchjan@gmail.com.Visit my website www.GeoGlowConsulting.com for more information about my intuitive services.

Post-Thanksgiving Thoughts on Gratitude

Thanksgiving is over, the turkey is down to pickings, and we've even survived Black Friday! And I, for one, am thankful this particular holiday weekend is nearly over. It's been a lull I didn't necessarily want in my activities - just so you know, I'm pretty much without family connections, so that means another holiday spent alone. Since this is a long-standing pattern in my life, I'm pretty much okay with it now, and I stayed out of the pity-party this year. In fact, I put my time to good use and started a new collage project :)

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What does this have to do with gratitude? (Besides being grateful that it's over.) For one thing, I've been inspired to start another Gratitude Journal project to get my spirits in shape and uplifted for the final weeks of this year and into the next. Let me show you how it's done ~

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First, get yourself a nice notebook, like perhaps this Fantasy Flower Journal from my Etsy shop. Keep the notebook and a pen by your bed, or someplace where you can reflect quietly each evening. Each night before retiring, write down what you are grateful for that day. It could be something simple, like seeing a beautiful sunset. Or it could be reaching a major goal or overcoming a challenge. And it's always good to include daily blessings, like food, shelter, and the well-being of your loved ones.

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You can write as many gratitudes each night as you want, but try for at least three. Do this for 90 days. That's the key - consistency and duration of practice. And it is a practice - you might feel like you're reaching to come up with things that make you feel grateful. Fine; just keep doing it! At some point your attitude will shift, and you'll find yourself easily letting the gratitudes flow from your pen.

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I did this practice some years ago, and I remember that the shift came for me about 45 days into the exercise. I just kept going, and the very positive change in attitude I experienced has mostly stayed with me ever since. Now, I'm feeling that it's time to pick up the practice again - and I will, as soon as I decide which embellished notebook to use from my stash :) In the meantime, I'm going to jot down some things I'm grateful for, right now:

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• I'm grateful for this time of year. Really. Despite the recurring single-person-spending-holidays-alone angst, I really love this season. Yesterday I spent some time raking leaves ahead of the incoming cold front, and I felt so refreshed to be out in the crisp air, enjoying the stark beauty of the bare-branched trees and the colorful crunch of leaves at my feet. I've long said I'm a fall-winter person, and this proves it!
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• I'm grateful that I have a nice home, relatively good health, and food on the table. I'm eternally grateful for the loving presence of my dear cat LuvLee in my life.
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• I'm grateful for all my loyal blog readers, Facebook friends, and clients and customers of my business. You folks have kept me going all this time, and your continued support means more to me than you'll ever know!

The practice of gratitude rests on the truism that gratitude changes attitude. Or, as the mystic Meister Eckhart once said, "If thank you were the only prayer, it would be enough." Try it, and you'll see. I'm going to!