But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. Matthew 13:16 (NIV)
You may or may not notice it, but I’ve been MIA on the blogosphere for quite some time—for a good reason.
Well, not quite so good, in fact.
I had to deal with a set of then-mysterious health challenges.
Dear (Miki the) Tabby: How much does pet sitting cost? Miki is back with me to answer the number one million-dollar question all pet sitters get from people right off the bat:
How much do you charge?
Take a look at my list of standard/base rates for overnight/live-in pet sitting and cat and critter sitting daily visits in Redlands and surrounding areas. I’d love to give you an exact amount, but I can’t give it to you unless you tell me what needs to be done specifically. What I can tell you is that it depends on the workload. One size does not fit all.
Sure, you can always ask your friend, relative, or some kid off Craigslist to save a few bucks. But do you just trust anyone who gains access to your property and takes the responsibility to care for your critter family members? You may be rudely surprised by what these folks can do, and then some!
So a better question to ask yourself is “what’s the value of quality pet sitting?”
To avoid sticker shock, here are things that you need to bear in mind: Continue reading
hold on to the roots
rock steady—easy does it!
ground (zero) control
toss and turn and let it burn
let’s return to center stage
This is my second week of learning to let it be, let go, and let God.
Funnily, the exercise started with a string of minor annoyances, big enough to rattle my usual excitable, anxiety-prone, hyperactive mind. Enter the earth and sky meditation, based on the common grounding technique of visualizing light and energy from above, flooding our entire being from head to toe, crown to root—roots from the base of our spine reaching deep into the earth, locking us in a stable, firm, unshakable position—and filling our heart center, radiating everywhere to animals in need of peace and healing. Without any pressure or expectation, we invite them to take as much or as little energy—or none at all—as they wish. Trust between us and the animals is established, resulting in an effective Reiki treatment, even if we don’t immediately sense anything at first. It’s the moment for us to let them take the lead in this energetic two-step. Continue reading
This is a five-part series corresponding to five weeks of the Animal Reiki Workshop, for which I signed up in a short while after the fact after Boston, a fellow pet sitter/friend’s pit bull, was suddenly struck with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA). I wanted to help in some way after learning that natural approaches have been used successfully to treat various diseases, including autoimmune disorders. I had already wanted to sign up for the workshop for quite some time, so the timing was spot on.
Reiki, literally translated as spiritual energy or spiritual life force, is a Japanese holistic healing system incorporating touch and meditation. Used to treat both humans, animals, and even situations, it promotes balance, relaxation, pain relief, and stress reduction among many others. Continue reading
Passions are like potato chips. No one can have just one.
That’s how we multipotentialites/polymaths/scanners/Renaissance personalities/Jacks and Jills of all trades roll. We flit from one interest to another, picking up a bunch of stuff and diving deep into it, then ditching it, going to the next new thing, then back the old thing again. Repeat cycle ad infinitum.
I’d always been A-OK with my plural nature—until society said that it wasn’t. And it’s still sticking to its guns. There’s always been real pressure to specialize because financial security is top priority, especially if you come from an immigrant community like I do.
I’ve always been a swan in a pond full of ducks. For the longest time, I’ve felt alone and inadequate, being judged for not being able to settle with one thing permanently.
A lot of us multipotentialites have been branded as freaks, slackers, flaky, unfocused, irresponsible, and easily distracted. (SQUIRREL!)
Yes, I’m definitely freaky and guilty of squirrel pursuit, but slacker? Heck, no.
It takes a lot of effort to spin many plates. Multipotentiality isn’t for couch potatoes. Continue reading
