Putting up more videos on YouTube lately. Here’s my cover of Stars from Les Miserables. I also share in the beginning how I’m capturing sound and some inexpensive hardware I use. Enjoy!

2012 is the year of video! I have better lighting so look for more video updates from me. Here’s me singing, I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables, along with some of my helpful hints for using your laptop’s camera (plus what my screen looks like for a time when I use Screenflow for Mac). Enjoy!

Recently while I was browsing YouTube late at night, looking for any new videos about Indigo Children or Druidry, somehow I happened upon Angelo Nasios and all he had to say about his experience as a professional Tarot reader.

The cool thing – he’s young, incredibly knowledgeable, has a snappy and infectious sense of humor, and he’s doing all the right things to position himself as an expert in what he’s passionate about – Reading the Tarot!  He posts regular videos on YouTube, has a business website, a tarot blog, and also uses facebook to show others his passion.  I don’t even think he’s barely 23 or 24, but he’s doing everything right with regard to our “new era of social media” and what I call “expert soloprenuership.”

As a web designer and coach for solo business practitioners – I can safely say that Angelo’s web presence can teach quite a lot!

So I decided to friend him on facebook and also buy a reading!  Angelo delivers his tarot readings via email, but they are just as inspiring, passionate, and sometimes full of the same wit he displays in his YouTube videos.

I’ve been changing a lot too, so for my 2-card reading, I asked a simple question (ha! – simple..hmm.) – What is my path to self-improvement or self-actualization?

You can download my reading here to see what his work is like!

So because I have also been there as a soloprenuer with passion (heck.. I’m still there), I want you all (yes all of you!) to get your own reading from Angelo, even if it’s just a 1-card reading.  Go Get it HERE!  NOW! Spread the love for this up and coming rising star, and maybe learn some things about yourself in the process with the question you ask.

To buy a reading from Angelo Nasios and learn more about him and the Tarot visit his websites!
http://www.angelonasios.com/

http://www.thatstotallytarot.com/

I thought I would end my series of posts on living car-free with a more positive note. I’ve found a lot of joy and happiness along the way! There are so many other paths that a person can take to experience life, and my walking out of car culture helped me to see and feel a richness that I couldn’t have experienced in an automobile.

As an introduction of sorts, here is a video by the Swapathgami Network in Udaipur, India. Many thanks to Manish Jain and Shikshantar for producing wonderful films like this! While this video addresses more of the system of Education, I believe it applies to our very thought processes and lives. We can close the book on what everyone expects us to do or be, and truly live!

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(This is the first of a multi-part series of blog posts)

Today marks two full years of living without a car for me!

Today I feel really great, because I have been able to have a great life these last two years, and life just keeps getting better. I take transit everywhere now in the Twin Cities, belong to a car-sharing organization, and also now a bike-sharing one as well. I’m looking forward to the beginnings of year three of car-free living!

It wasn’t always this easy though, I will have to tell you. Going car-free for me was a mix of personal conviction, personal challenge, and a final push of financial need to unload my vehicle. In 2009 I was living in Duluth, MN after going through a foreclosure on my condo in Northfield, afterward living in a toxic intentional community, not working very much as a massage therapist due to pain still lingering from an auto accident in 2007, and to boot – I was financially depleted. So in 2009, financially, I had to make the choice to no longer own my car. I needed the money I was spending on car payments, car insurance, and gas to continue to support myself. Financially, I chose to let go of my car.
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Just wanting to share the good news that I finished the course with the School of Coaching Mastery, and passed the exam! Many thanks to Julia Stewart for offering the course!

One of the things I’ve really been pondering as of late is that of trying to live in more in my “Higher Self” rather than revert to my “Ego” in stressful times or situations. I’m sure a lot of us know this drill. Something causes us to feel hurt, alone, distressed, or even more simply “like something has changed” – and our Ego, or “so-called protector” jumps in.

The Ego snaps at people, adopts a defensive posture, gives “the look” to others, and has to “win” any argument, even if it’s imagined.

Today I had a few too many Ego-moments, and I need to remind myself that “I’m strong when I’m fragile.” My Ego creates a huge weight sometimes, and it’s the reason I struggle with my friends, partner, and even sometimes strangers on the street.

I found this song by Sara Bareilles today called “Gravity” that I’d like to share. While listening to the song and reading the lyrics, I address the words to my Ego, as it’s time to start the process of breakup.

Enjoy!

Most of you know that I’ve been taking the Free Coach Training Program from Julia Stewart and the School of Coaching Mastery. It’s been a wonderfully great learning journey for me! The test opens this weekend (in the midst of the busiest time I’ve ever seen in my business! When to study..? hmmm..), and hopefully soon I’ll have a nice certificate for this 28-hour coach training program!

A few weeks ago I gave Julia some free tips and tricks on how to maximize her links for search engine optimization, and in turn, she offered me a spot as a guest blogger on the SCM site!

Take a look at my guest blog post at The School of Coaching Mastery. I talk about the quality of this training program, what I learned, and also what I found out about myself in the process.

Many thanks to Julia Stewart for this great opportunity to guest blog!

*Note: I just finished the exam! Wish me luck! I’ll know if I passed next week!

Greetings kindred Druids!

If you are a fan of any of Ellen Evert Hopman’s books (A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year, A Druid’s Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine, Priestess of the Forest, etc), there is a real opportunity to help her to give even more back to the Druid Community.

Ellen is attempting to raise money on Kickstarter.com, collecting pledges to travel back to Ireland where she will dig deeper into the roots of the land, lore, and history, to assist her in her next book.

All you need to do is pledge an amount, and only if she reaches her goal, will your credit card actually be charged. I put in a pledge of $20, and that’s my challenge to all of you.

Ellen has given our community so much! Please consider giving back, and also spreading the word by forwarding this message on!

Here is the link to her kickstarter page where you can read about her project and pledge your support, or you can click the widget to the right!

http://kck.st/biXu8l

Many Blessings. May you never thirst!

Scott Schumacher

I realized that I skipped around a bit with Julia Stewart’s Free Coach Training program, and completely forgot about the module – What Drives Your Client. Interestingly, it was probably the Universe or my Higher Self that allowed me to take this module right at this time.

A great exercise in this module is to List 20 things in your life that you are “tolerating.” These are the things that are happening or that you are putting up with that aren’t allowing your life to move forward, or to pull you forward.

Here’s a portion of my list.

I’m Tolerating:

1. Not having an organized office space at home
2. Not having enough furniture to feel I could entertain guests
3. Not having a clean or uncluttered space to meditate or do yoga
4. How every flat surface in my apartment starts collecting piles of paper

So, these were all environmental influences on me that were keeping me a little stuck in feeling motivated.  The clutter, disorganization, and arrangement of my living space just wasn’t in line with how I wanted to live.
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