So, I know what I want to do, regarding work.

[SeattleGirl]

I'm struggling in my job. I realize it's not what I want to do anymore, even though, when I'm at 3/4 or full time, it pays very well.

But, I've lost total interest in it. I struggle daily, trying to get things done.

What I want to do is floral arrangements. I have done it as a hobby for years, mostly for weddings.

I'm good at it. I have an eye for it (with no formal training).

It's what I want to do.

So,

I am going to work on manifesting that. The creative side of me is really clamboring to come out.

I think it's time I let her!

[Why Syzygy]

1. Why wait?

Buy your creative side some things to create. I keep things around to color, drawing paper, sketch pad, etc. And there are my journals. Play!

You can possibly find someone willing to train you on the job. I took floral classes in '92. Unfortunately when completed, I was looking at a starting wage of $5.50 p/h. Unbelievable. Something I hadn't bothered to investigate. Fortunately ex-dh made a decent income. I persisted, though I had to give it up and get a 'real' job in '98. I'm looking around for shops who need extra Valentine's help. Do you have time to 'volunteer' your services to a shop? It is tough standing most of the day. But it is nice to be able to move around and get exercise rather than sit behind a desk all day.

Go for it!

[SeattleGirl]

7. What I'm going to do is put more focus on that desire.

I like the idea of volunteering. I know the owners of a very nice floral shop that I have to call anyway, for rose petals for my daughter's wedding. In fact, I think I'll just stop by and talk to them.

[cassiepriam]

2. Strange coincidence........

One of my most vivid and important past lives is somewhat similar to your life right now. And the reason I keep being shown this life is that I am supposed to have significant learning about it now.

Since I am a strong Pisces I have had many past lives as a victim/ martyr and I am supposed to stop doing that in this life.

The life I keep being shown is as follows:

I am working as a washer woman/laundress in a grand manor home of an aristocrat. I have many small children to feed so I must work. I have no husband, he is gone, either dead or he has abandoned the family. We live in abject poverty, I make very little in my position as a laundress because my boss is cheating me all the time. He pockets the money that is supposed to go to me. He keeps promising and tricking me that the money will come, but it never does.

This boss is mean, crazy, evil and making me insane! Making me sick. We fight and fight all the time and it gets me no where. The crazy boss keeps doing something dysfunctional and then I up the ante in retaliation and on and on it goes. Till it is very sick and bad.

The odd thing is that I am shown two possible endings to this life. The one I chose, and the one I could/should have chosen.

I am shown one ending where I just stay there and keep doing the same thing over and over. I become very ill and die young. My children are filthy, dirty and starving and must live on the streets after my death. It makes me sick to see this ending. My boss just hires a new victim to cheat and use as a target for his insanity.

Then I am shown the life I could have chosen. It is amazing. In this life even though I am a washer woman I have always loved flowers. On the way to the manor house every morning I see some ladies selling flowers on the corner (like Eliza in My Fair Lady). They have a central place where the farmers who grow the flowers sell them and I also go out of my way to walk by there everyday. It is the highlight of my day. I dream that one day I can somehow sell flowers. In my bad ending life I ignore that and figure I can never do that.

In the good ending life I keep thinking about it. I cannot afford to be foolish and take a gamble so I have to be smart about it all. I talk to the flower ladies and I talk to the farmers who grow the flowers. I start looking at the flowers and thinking. I tell the farmers I have a better idea, and how they can make more money. At that time the farmers just pick their flowers and dump them into carts. Vendors who buy them have to arrange the flowers themselves. I tell the farmers that they can arrange them nicer and by quality and by color at the farm and bring them into town looking
beautiful, not just dumped into the street.

They can have them arranged in bouquets at the farm and packaged so that they can get a higher price. This way they can sell directly to the high end stalls.

The farmers laugh at me and tell me that they do not have the time or energy to mess with flowers on their farm. They just grow them, it is woman's work to arrange them.

One farmer isn't laughing and he takes me aside and asks me if I would like a job on his farm. He would like to give my idea a try.

I then see myself and all my children in his wagon being taken to his farm. It is sunny and beautiful out in the country. My children and I spend our days out of doors picking flowers and arranging them into beautiful bouquets and wrapping them with pretty paper and ribbons for the wealthy. The farmer and his wife are very kind and generous since I am making so much money for them. The children are happy, well fed and thrive. I am very happy as well.

[stellanoir]

3. Cassie that is one of the loveliest stories of redemption EVER.

How inspiring and thanks so-o-o much for sharing it.

SG- Here's a prayer from Kryon that may help. . .

"Dear Spirit place in me what I need and give me the wisdom to create what I need."

[cassiepriam]

5. I know, it feels like such a powerful story, at least to me.

I left out much of the detail, but you get the drift.

I figure it is a nice way for Spirit to tell me to stop being
an idiot, go be happy and sane. Easy for Spirit to say :).

But I love flowers and have a head for business, marketing,
as well as an artistic eye. And my birth solar eclipse is supposed to give
glimpses of genius. So the story does seem to match my talents.
None of which I am currently using. :(

Funny my home is all florals, I love pretty light things.
And I have a knack for going to inexpensive stores and putting
together things in an unusual way for the house that look nice.

I guess that all comes from past lives. I was an artisan supposedly
in many past lives, all that Pisces. Jeweler, dress maker, etc.
Funny, when I was young, while I have no drawing ability whatsoever,
I used to draw women's dresses all the time.

Any way I hope this story helps SG! :)

[SeattleGirl]

9. Thank you, stella.

That's a lovely prayer that I will use.

[SeattleGirl]

8. cassie, what a wonderful story!

Absolutely wonderful. Goes to show that the way opens for us when we are doing what we love.

[cassiepriam]

14. Hope it works out for you!

Around here some folks have opened up discount flower shops, some sort of franchise. Have you heard of this?

You can get flowers much cheaper than in flower shops.

[SeattleGirl]

15. I think there are a few of those around here.

What I need to do is get a wholesaler's license, so I can get wholesale prices instead of retail.

[cassiepriam]

16. In my state it is called a vendor's license. It is easy to get.

At least it is in the state where I live.
All you have to do is get the forms from the county where you live.
And pay a small fee. And do the paperwork. Then you can get materials at wholesale prices.

[SeattleGirl]

25. My daughter's future MIL has a wholesaler's license.

She can get many things at wholesale prices. I looked on the Washington State website under licenses, and there isn't any for florists, so I'm going to check with the WA Floral Assn. to see if the wholesaler's license will do it.

[cassiepriam]

27. In my state it is a general wholesaler license for all retailers.

For anyone who will be reselling anything retail.
You don't have to get a separate license for each specialty area.
You have to report what type of goods you will be selling,
and that is recorded by the county, but it is the same license for all.

But you have to get it through the county where you live.
You go to the county website and type in vendor's license.
And the form pops up. It is all done by mail. At least that is how it
is done where I live.

[Why Syzygy]

17. Flowerama?

A woman I went to design school with opened one. I worked for her briefly.

[cassiepriam]

26. No, it is something new that I never heard of before.

Not Flowerama, we have some of those here already.

It is a new concept, something about discounted fresh flowers.
They do not deliver I think. And you can arrange the flowers on site yourself. More hands on type place

I am forgetting the name. If it comes to me I will pm it...
It is the first in the area. There was an article in the newspaper about
it and it sounds really neat, and people were talking about it the next day.

I didn't realize it was a franchise, but someone I know in the flower business told me that it was a franchise and may hurt other shops. But I think flowers are overpriced and am glad to see more reasonably priced flowers come to the area. It is way north of where I live so I have not been there yet.

[Why Syzygy]

29. Thank you

I would be very interested in knowing, if you remember. I'll snoop around google too. I love the concept!

[cassiepriam]

31. My friend in the flower business will remember.

I will ask him.......

[Dora]

4. That's wonderful.

I work with a woman who is also a freelance floral designer. She keeps a spare fridge in her garage, and does weddings and special events. She relies pretty much on word-of-mouth, and has a few floral "gigs" a year. Her long-term plan is to open a shop.

She also recently became certified - got some new letters after her name and everything. She first did an online certification course. That was wonderful for us - she donated all her projects to our office for display. After that, she took a master florist course that the state offers.

I worked for a florist for a few months when I was 17. I loved it.

It's a wonderful line of work. Congratulations!

[SeattleGirl]

10. Thanks, Dora.

I have a friend who is a florist in Utah. She started out as a part-time cashier, when her son was still in school. She gradually learned from the head designer, and now she is a florist, and she just loves is. She, too, always had a good sense of floral design, and I'm so happy that she is now doing it and getting paid for it.

I don't really have a desire to open a shop. What I would ultimately love to do is be a free-lance designer, and have people fly me all over the place to do their weddings and other special occasions.

My daughter's weddng photographer does that. She has no formal training as a photographer, but she has one of the best eyes for photos I've ever seen. She is now highly sought after, and people DO fly her all over the world to photograph weddings and other occasions.

If you didn't see the my post with some of my daughter's engagement pics in it, here's the link:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/SeattleGirl/237

[Sanity Claws]

6. Congratulations!

I wish you the best.

[SeattleGirl]

11. Thanks!

Having now declared what I want to do, it feels as if space is being opened up in front of me for that to happen.

[Bluestar]

12. You mention that your daughter is getting married

Hi Seattle Girl:

Maybe you are already doing this, but why not design the florals for your daughter's wedding (free, of course). Have some business cards printed up beforehand and when everyone oohs and aahs over the flowers, you slip them a card--instant business!

The other idea costs some money, but you could rent a space at a crafts show (these happen all year all over the country)and display your floral designs offering your services for weddings.

I think you are closer to manifesting this dream than you might think.

Love and peace,
Bluestar

[SeattleGirl]

13. I actually am doing the flowers for her wedding.

I did the flowers for my own wedding, too. :7

I like your idea of doing some business cards. I could probably print some off here at home. Thanks!

[cassiepriam]

18. I would think weddings would be a great marketing target.

People are spending a fortune on weddings these days.

And always looking for ways to cut costs.

Around here there is a flower wholesaler, just a warehouse of flowers.
If there is place like that near you perhaps you could work out some sort of
deal.

Also proms are big business these days, flowers needed there.
Valentine's Day too.

And I have started buying inexpensive flowers during the winter for my house.
A cheap way to brighten the place up and gives me a big boost!
During the summer I have lots of cut flowers from the yard but in winter of course not. Maybe that would be a marketing idea. "Spend a few dollars to brighten up the winter days". Something like that.

Oh how about woo woo flowers? Spiritual and psychic flowers?
I know that is a really niche market but there are certain flowers that will enhance meditation and psychic abilities. Like the star gazer lilly. I am so hooked on them. They smell heavenly and will transport you to somewhere else.
Womder if they would sell at psychic fairs? People seem to spend ungodly amounts of money at those fairs. (Like me:()

Sorry, once I get going on ideas, I can't stop!

I think Bluestar is right, get your business cards ready to give out at your daughter's wedding. I know your child is getting married, but hey, business is business!

[SeattleGirl]

19. Interesting ideas, cassie.

BTW, my primary weddng flower was the stargazer lilly!

[cassiepriam]

20. You are kidding! Most people don't even know what a SG lily is!

That is amazing. Do you mean the huge reddish, pinkish ones with knock out
fragrance?

They are supposed to promote psychic abilities, had you heard that?

Do you know anything about them? Where they are grown etc.
I usually get only one stem, because they a bit pricey.
But I hate the yellow pollen that gets everywhere, so I have been cutting out the stamens right away.

[Why Syzygy]

21. You can leave the stmens

and just clean the pollen off with your fingers. The florsit should do that for any open blooms.
They do smell divine.

[cassiepriam]

22. I try to get them with closed blooms if I can.

And the pollen is such a strong yellow that gets every where!

I will try just taking the pollen off, not the whole stamen.
Will taking the stamen off make the bloom last longer?

The fragrance is really out of this world. I can see why they say it
produces psychic energy.

[Why Syzygy]

30. It will stain your fingers

if you do many of them, but should keep them from dropping or getting anywhere else.

I don't know if the stamen has any effect on the life of the bloom. I just imagined all those lillies with no stamens, and it made me kind of sad. I would even leave the pollen if it weren't such a mess. Do what you gotta do.

[cassiepriam]

23. A picture of star gazers.

[Missy Vixen]

33. Stargazers were the main flower at our wedding, too

I love their scent! I also had freesias, bachelor buttons (aka cornflowers,) Ariana roses and ivy in my bouquet.

:hi: SeattleGirl!

Julie

[cassiepriam]

41. I didn't realize how popular they were!

I just goggled Ariana roses, they are gorgeous.
One man who owns a huge rose farm named his daughter after this rose,
he says Ariana roses are from God, so it was the right name for his daughter.

Your bouquet sounds beautiful.

[SeattleGirl]

42. No kidding?

How cool!

:hi: Julie!

[SeattleGirl]

24. Not kidding at all.

I got some of them from my deck garden -- I had 36 blooms going at once one year, and when I left the window open, my house smelled like stargazers!

The others I ordered through a local florist.

Around here every year, we have the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, and there are several growers that show up and sell bulbs, as well as stems of every kind of lilly you can imagine.

I just did a search for info on stargazer lillies, but mostly what I found were places to order them.

When I have time, I'll scan a few pics from my wedding, showing the flowers.

[cassiepriam]

28. LOL I just posted a pic of some..... hope it is the same variety you are

talking about. Would love to see the wedding pics with the SG lily.

Wow, 36 blooms at one time? Wow, I am lucky to have one or two in my garden at a time. I cannot imagine the fragrance in your house. Two stems in a room fill up the house with scent! It is intoxicating. Even my husband who doesn't notice such things usually, remarks about the SG strong scent.

[SeattleGirl]

32. Yes, my stargazers were the same as those you posted.

I know -- 36 blooms at one time! That's why I'd only open one window. :7

[SeattleGirl]

43. cassie, you're gonna love this.

I'm sitting in a Thai restaurant, waiting to meet with my boss, as we do every month. I happened to look up, and on the wall, between my table and the next, is a framed photograph of stargazer lillies..... :7

[cassiepriam]

44. The universe is speaking. :)

[SeattleGirl]

45. Thought you'd appreciate that little story...

;)

[u4ic]

34. It is time!

:toast:

I wish you every success and happiness, SeattleGirl. :hug:



I've been struggling a bit lately, too, with how I want my life to move forward. My health is on the upswing, but it's been a slow rise. I'm not a patient person at the best of times, but am learning to be in the moment and just enjoy. Yet I'm also regaining that fire and spark that I naturally have but was dampened by being ill, and am finding myself craving more and more in my life.

Today, I sat down and listed all the things that I need. Not want, but need; to be a happy and fulfilled human being. I've been through too much hell to go back to a dull and stagnant existence.

I've got some ideas, and it's time to start putting it into action. :)

[SeattleGirl]

35. u4ic!

I'm so glad you're health is improving, my friend. :hug:

I, too, need a happy and fulfilling life, and darn it, I'm worth it! (To quote the Al Franken character, Stewart Smiley -- I think that's his name.)

Thank you for your good wishes. I wish the same for you!

[bliss_eternal]

36. Go for it...!

...now that you've let your intention be known, don't be surprised when synchronicity starts to bring you opportunities--to study, learn, apprentice,...whatever will allow you to make your dream a reality!

I'm excited for you, Seattle Girl--can't wait to see how this all unfolds for you. ;) :hug:

[SeattleGirl]

37. Thank you, dear bliss!

I won't be surprised, but rather delighted at whatever opportunities present themselves to me. :hug:

[SeattleGirl]

38. Now, I want to come up with a good name for my floral business.

Not sure yet what I want to call it, but I'd like to come up with something before my daughter's 3/3/07 wedding, so I can print up some business cards.

[Why Syzygy]

39. When you do

come up with it, you can check out the numerological energies at http://affinity-numerology.com/
Use your birthdate (that's what I do anyway).

Of course you're aiming for the energies you want to manifest :hi:

[SeattleGirl]

40. I have actually done a lot of numerology work.

That's a good suggestions, votes. Thank you! :hi: