Tori Hartman’s Blog

To Self-Help Or Not To Self-Help?

I just got a stack of self-help books today. I review for my spiritual gardening site, Blessed Gardens. They’re sitting right there on my table. And there, I presume, they will stay for a while.

I’m just not in the mood.

Don’t get me wrong. I love self-help books. I’m in the business of self-help. But sometimes, when I’m feeling under the weather, such books make me feel worse….like I should be scrambling to fix my life rather than sit and feel my feelings.

My Creative Director, Kristen, and I were talking about it yesterday. Sometimes the best course of action is dive into great fiction or see a movie and simply let go.

Yes, this is coming from a person who touts intention and focus and enlightenment.

But have you ever noticed that the moment you let go, the moment you throw up your hands, that’s when the answer appears?

It’s much the same with manifesting. The real key to manifesting is in the intensity prior to letting go. It’s the time when the trapeze artist has let go of the handle bar, swings in mid-air, and in the most magnificent show of faith, spins in the hands of partner with perfect timing.

Can you imagine being caught? That is the magic of intention…the power to trust Spirit. And the only way to achieve it is to let go and completely trust that everything you have done to this point has prepared you to make your best performance.

And this is when you are completely breathtaking to behold. It is in the moments of vulnerability that we give others that chance to share who we are with them.

It is in that delicious mid-air spin with Spirit that we can connect.

Consider the flip side. You let go and fall to the net below. You bounce a few times and climb back up to reposition yourself.

Fear or faith? The first choice brings you back to faith’s door, the other to Spirit.

I’m in mid-spin today. When I catch Spirit, I’ll swing with it and land on the other side with a thirst for knowledge. Then, with greater faith, I’ll reach for one of my amazing new self-help books.

I was interviewed on a conservative radio program, and then, on a liberal radio program. Same day. Same question.

Who will our next president be?

“You’re psychic,” they say. “Tell us your prediction.”

Now, for some folks, the pressure would be on. Nerves, you know?

“It doesn’t really matter all that much, does it?” came my reply. And I meant it.

Whoever is sworn into office in January 2009 is going to have the toughest four years of his life. This is not some mild pickle we’re in. An entire nation has lost morale. There is a general pallor that has shaded over people. The planet is rebelling.

And I’m supposed to step up and be positive?

As a nation, we’re in a situation akin to standing on the beach before a tsunami or thinking Hurricane Katrina is just a passing shower. Energetically, a storm’s a-brewin’.

So, what do you do?

Understand that the planet is like a person. It has been warning us for a while.

Ever notice that when you don’t get a lesson it just keeps on coming? I know that’s true for me. If I don’t want to see something, I can very effectively stick my head in the sand. And it works! Really well. For a while.

We can’t do that anymore. We can’t blame one person in one office. We can’t possibly believe that any one person is going to change the tide. It has to be a whole mess of us. The whole lot. When you hear folks, like Joe Vitale, say meditate – do it. Immediately, we have to start imagining a better world and creating it.

Visualize peace and security. Bless the president…whoever it is. Let’s stand for something again.

It doesn’t matter who our next president is going to be.

Remember, we have set up our leaders to be poker players. There is no way we can read what is really going on behind the façade. It’s time to stop the don’t-blame-me-I-voted- for-so-and-so game and face our mess. We have four years of clean-up ahead of us. Yes, all of us.

When the tsunami hit or Katrina was in full force or the towers were in rubble, I can pretty much guarantee not ONE person was concerned about the President of the United States. That came later, after survival and shock.

Then we began to place the blame, because it’s not as frightening as the realization that something so devastating can happen randomly. It’s easier to blame than to sit with the pain and loss. It’s easier to blame than to think we had done something bad to deserve tragedy.

Ask anyone who worked for the Red Cross during Hurricane Katrina, and they’ll tell you that Wal-Mart trucks carrying free supplies reached the victims before our own government.

Here’s another risk. Ready?

We choose our lessons, but not how we will learn them. Want patience? You’ll encounter long lines. And the list goes on. No one prays for a disaster. People pray or wish for things, but sometimes, the road there is uncomfortable.

I knew a woman who prayed for a happy marriage, and her husband left her. Now, after going through hell and back over that loss, she is finally happily married.

The moral? We create what we need. Think long and hard about what we have created.

My thoughts? Our planet is crying out in pain. We may not have “started” it, but with knowledge comes responsibility.

Let’s all begin to pray for love and unity. That is the way we find one another again after a disaster. Let’s not be attached to the person in the White House. Let’s be attached to love and healing.

So we’ll all wake up on a Wednesday this November and find ourselves with a new regime. No matter which lever you pull, make a firm commitment to be in this together. All of us. Then, whoever is in the White House rolling up his sleeves can turn to us to for help.

Namaste.

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Waiting for the Wave

A client phoned the other day worried about the business decisions he’d made. He was in upset because he’s been at a job that he termed “an under-earning situation.”

I reminded him that during the past year he left a 20-year marriage and was confused and disoriented when he first took that job. He did not make a bad decision, he made the best one at the time. Who he is today is someone that doesn’t fit there.

“What do I do?” he asked.

“Wait for the wave,” I said.

“Huh?”

I laughed with him. Sometimes, being psychic is a strange experience.

A few weeks ago, I was out with a few friends. We were chatting and then, out of nowhere, I turned to the bartender and asked when he was leaving for Fiji.

He shook his head and asked me, rather confused, “Do I know you?”

I had pulled an “oops.” Sometimes without knowing it, spirit talks to me and I think that I’ve had a conversation with someone, when in fact, we’ve never met. I try to keep this at a minimum to avoid freaking people out. I’ve learned to ask questions.

This guy was in a similar place to my client, Pete. He didn’t know what to do, if he should go. There were a few variables.

He was a surfer. I asked him what he did after he paddled out on his board.

“I wait for the wave” he replied.

I waited. He nodded and got it instantly.

Teasing, I said, “So you don’t wonder what you can do to make the wave come or if there ever will ever be another wave in your lifetime or if…”

He waved for me to stop, laughing, and then shrugged as he wiped down the bar. “It always comes if you wait long enough.”

When we are lost, the key is to wait it out. I’m not talking about doing nothing.

I’m saying that after we make our request to the universe to give us signs (and I often ask that they be billboards, so I don’t miss them), we have to wait for the answer…or the wave.

And here’s another part to the surf analogy: when you ride a wave, it’s the only zone you can be in at that time. You must be present. Your entire being must be in it.

We are always doing the best we can in any given moment, but remember this: even for a surfer, no one can expect to be in balance at all times. Life is about being out of balance and stepping back into it.

Remember that no matter what is going on in your life, you must determine where you are and how to get into the zone.

Are you:

Here’s how to bring yourself into alignment no matter where you are:

Getting into position? You may be changing directions and not sure how to do this next part. This is change.

If you are paddling, focus on the next intended action. Keep paddling.

Scrambling for the wave? Slow down and take stock. Is the moment right? Check for typos, so to speak. Look for mistakes that make you look unprepared. If you feel a panic right now, you may be trying to gain momentum in something that’s not ready to happen.

Miss the wave? Forget this part. Don’t dwell on it. It’s wasted time. That was not your wave, not your moment. “If I had bought that property five years ago…” Well, you didn’t. Timing is everything. Again, accept that wasn’t your wave.

Did you catch it? Check within. Where are you? What are you truly feeling? Get excited. This is your moment. Try to relax. Often we confuse excitement with worry.

Wiping Out? Yeah, go ahead and chuckle. It’ll happen. Get back on the board and paddle.

Are you riding the wave? In the barrel? Smile, enjoy and have fun. Feel the exhilaration of this time. Be in the moment. You are in the zone. This is the reward.

Coming into shore? How will you step off your board? Will you fall? Crash into shore? Slide into shore? Go back out? Take a break?

No matter what phase you’re in, there is a different approach to each. It is easy to see that waiting for the wave is the place to do nothing but meditate. This is when the universe is going to send you someone or something that will get you up and running again.

And take heart. This is a cycle we’re all on. And once you know where you are, you can determine what to do. Each place has a very real action. Rest assured that you are in motion, even if it doesn’t feel like it.

   Tori Hartman is a professional psychic who created and uses her own line of Intention Candles, Gratitude Bracelets and Chakra Vortex Jewelry for her high-end Hollywood clientele.
   Tori was psychic to Jeff Lewis during the negotiations of the hit Bravo TV Show, Flipping Out.
   Now she is pleased to bring her line of spiritual accessories to you with the hope that you’ll gain easy access to manifesting miracles in your life. All of the products are based on the Law of Attraction, urging that whatever you focus on grows.

   The products you find at www.ToriHartman.com were born from a decade’s worth of intuitive guidance, helping others to create miracles in everyday life. The goal is to enhance consciousness by showing people how to manifest greater good through simple spiritual rituals. The items we offer support this vision.

   You are now invited to discover these powerful spiritual accessories for yourself at www.ToriHartman.com.  As a gift for visiting the site, download your FREE prosperity meditation to help during these changing times. Remember, someone, somewhere, is happy, healthy, prosperous and inspired. Why shouldn’t it be YOU?

   What are you looking for? Prosperity? Luck? Love? Divine guidance? The products at www.ToriHartman.com  will empower you to create the life you want to lead. It all starts by setting a simple intention. We’ll even show you how to do this on our site and in the intention-setting booklet that accompanies the order of every Intention Candle.

   Tori Hartman Intention Candles are no ordinary intention candles. Each one is hand-poured in Colorado by a reiki practitioner and contains five keepsake crystals. They are soy-based and burn clean for 168 hours. Each candle is blended with unique aromatherapy that supports the energy of your desires.

   Check out our entire line and notice if a particular piece calls to you. This may signal an area of your life that needs clearing or is up for manifesting. If you ever have any questions about our products or how to use them, please contact us.

   This site was designed with your deepest desires in mind. Many blessings.