There is a generosity of spirit I continually refer to in dealing with others.
The best way I can describe it is intent, creation, and maintenance of a state of mind
that is flexible, open eyed, and playfully creative.
It trains itself to see abundance in the environment,
experiences simple, present-moment emotions of happiness,
maintains a grounded, connection with internal wisdom (quickly when needed)
and surrounds itself with reminders
to look upward and inward for its answers.
The mind attracts the thing it dwells upon.
Dorothy Perry is a Chicago natural light photographer of intelligent and spiritual portraits, personal branding for women entrepreneurs, and intimate family documentary.
This is a little story of the application of abundant thought to creating a new auto. In short, this is how I made my new car happen!
I am a fan of the Volvo 240GL car – it is a very unique and beautiful car to me, and I have already owned four!
My current 240 was classic and beautiful, had deep sentimental value, and ran like a champ. But 3 years ago, a motorcycle hit and run damaged its side, and my energetic pleasure for this car decreased when I looked at it. The quotes for body work alone were more than it cost!
I was reading a new book for creating abundant situations in daily life, and chose to test their ideas with my car situation.
In meditation, I felt how I looked and thought about it in a continual state of dissatisfaction.
I did not want to feel this way about this car, which was great in every other way.
So I began to really love the heck out of this car just the way it was,
seeing memories of its dependability and protection in my mind,
memories of washing and cleaning it,
happy moments driving in the beauty of nature, and talking with loved ones,
saying that it would resolve itself in an even better way than I can imagine,
and most importantly, leaving it alone, and not dwelling in doubt that my desire would be granted in its own Divine order.
I blessed the situation with this confidence and abundance mindset for four months to see a change in the situation. It happened quickly and happily.
The Fourth of July saw a rash of gunfire in the area where I was visiting, and my car window was shot out by a stray bullet. No auto glass places, even the ones famous for older models, could find a window for it.
I lost my mind a little in the energy of ‘fixing it’ – activity that often makes things more expensive or worse! – searching want ads, frustrated at the communications with strangers, while dealing with the realities of errands without a car.
I forgot I had to speak what I desired into effect.
Now with sanity restored, I looked at the photographs of my car and thanked it for its’ years of dependable, safe operation, the memories driving loved ones, and its dependability, and wished its next owner years of pleasure and safety in driving it.
I then began to describe a beautiful auto of the same style that had been well cared for, and would be a stable, good running vehicle for myself and my family.
The change in the situation happened the next day. My searches led to a new auto website, and the details of a car lovingly cared for came on the market four days ago! Within a week this lovely gold 240 was mine!
From stating my desire to seeing it in the energetic presence of a new car took about four months. It is exactly what I desired, and I enjoy owning it even more, knowing it came about in this manner.
I believe to send those you know and don’t know uplifted thoughts of love, acceptance, and abundance is a shift in mindset that assists that bringing about the good you desire.
Now the car is here, I have changed the statement that everyone who saw, heard, touched, or even briefly heard of my car and story would be blessed, enriched, and have doors opened for opportunity and abundance in their lives!
See you around Chicago!
Dorothy Perry is a Chicago portrait photographer specializing in custom family portraits, modern headshots, & personal branding for women and executives at home and on location.
Please contact her here for commissioned work.
A counter-intuitive inspiration for today:
Any energy you ‘fight’ you are actually feeding.
If you are pushing something away, you are actually inviting it to stay.
To get the wisdom of a lesson, practice allowing
emotionally charged or upsetting feelings to happen
and then continue to pass through you like clouds.
In time the feeling could be re-framed as your internal signal
to get into quiet or nature, or to pay attention to the part of yourself
calling to you for attention, compassion and healing.
Contact Dorothy for custom photography here.
A valuable skill in our sensitive, seeing world
is relaxing the eyes’ focus (letting the eyes ‘go fuzzy’)
when waiting or resting.
It rests more than your eye muscles:
it also gives the ever-spinning wheels of mind a rest, too,
and lets your intuition come through
to show you how to see something new.
Dorothy Perry is a Chicago portrait photographer specializing in custom family portraits, modern headshots, & personal branding for women and executives.
Contact her studio for commissioned work.
In areas of my life, I sometimes think of a classic idea in cartoons:
the hero or main character runs off a cliff and continues to keep running in air – as long as they don’t look down.
The concept of following one’s own path has something of that same slightly unreal feeling at first. But instead of anticipating a fall, I believe my path will carry me over the chasm to the other side and keep on going.
I have a mind that wants to extrapolate and guess all the combination of possibilities beforehand. It serves me well, but sometimes I have to step out on faith, and follow the decision to reveal myself publicly as a photographer who uses intuition and psychic sensitivity freely in my work and in my life.
I work for myself, so when I feel tense or anxious, I “reboot” by reading something short, simple and inspirational.
For ten years a beautiful book of meditations called “The Language of Letting Go” has been my friend when I feel crowded by a workday of too many calls, tasks, or demands on my time.
There have been newer versions with new affirmations as she continues to write and evolve, but this edition from 1990 continues to be my personal favorite.
Today’s entry referred to consideration of the idea that what we are learning at work often reflects and resonates to the things we are working out in private life. My issues of clearer communication with my clients can echo my issues of effective communication with my family.
Issues of establishing policies and boundaries with my clients can reflect where I place my boundaries with my loved ones–or where to place them in new relationships.
Issues of money, sexuality, childhood, self-esteem, fear of failure (or fear of success) can still appear at the most inopportune times. But they have less power to keep me off-balance all day as in years past. And I can tell immediately when something doesn’t feel right with me…and why.
So I welcome my visitors from the past, and redefine them with physical modalities like EFT and my eye exercises. I have respect for the lessons they still have to teach.
More and more these days, I am seeing that where I want to be in my decisions, photography career, and life is over on the other side of that ‘leap of faith’.
Dorothy Perry is a Chicago portrait photographer specializing in custom family portraits, modern headshots, & personal branding for women and executives.
Contact her for commissioned work here. Thank you.
Within the mindset that what we do for others, we are working on in ourselves, I see the actions I am taking to help someone grow
are the things that are my struggle to grow with as well.
My son and I have been a tight pair since he was born. He was not an easy boy to raise
after vaccinations caused developmental regression at an important stage of life.
School, Aspergers, socialization, therapy: we had our roles: I was his cheerleader and advocate, tried to anticipate issues, ease him into trying new things –
and dust myself off when well-meaning experiments sometimes went south (I actually wrote some pretty good poetry about this period of time.)
Over time, I came to realize that some of these well-meaning efforts ‘bubble-wrapped’ him
against the work he needed to do to stand on his own feet…
Steps he needed to take himself.
I realize to be an advocate of his independence in this new stage of life, I needed to step back and let him
make his own decisions,
set new expectations,
disagree with me,
fix his own dinner,
handle his finances,
figure out his own schedules,
make his own mistakes.
Old habits die hard, and being a ‘helicopter mom’ was second nature for twenty years.
It’s still hard sometimes not to take the wheel for him when he is working things out.
But this is the work towards a measure of independence that we both have to do in our own lives.
It has taken longer in time than some young adults need, but that is what it took. It takes different types of strategies and preparations, and some hand-holding,
but that is what it takes as well.
And with extra time, reassurance and ‘figure it out yourself’,
I see that he is more assured, trying his wings, making short flights.
And succeeding.
One thing, though never changes.
I have a little ritual in the mornings, where I watch him walking to work in the crowds, as far as I can see him, until he is out of sight.
And then, saying ‘thank you’ in tears of gratitude
for the marvel of a young man walking down the street to work –
a vision that looks so everyday and ordinary,
but is evidence of beautiful, positive growth that has happened in ours.
Update of sorts: the time at home over Covid and the preparation to return to work caused some anxiety we could not manage or assuage, and in time he left the firm.
I am creating our schedules with more attention
on doing the things he does here at home himself
to take responsibility, care for himself, and figure things out.
All as quietly as he usually does things.
No matter what it looks like from the outside,
I have dreams of this next step and germinating it
until it is strong enough to flower.
Dorothy Perry is a Chicago portrait photographer.
