Monday, August 27, 2007


August 28, 2007
Unedited


VAST OPEN SPACES

In seven days I drove 2700 miles. Last week I ranted about "ccc" and this week the vast openness and beauty of mother nature has left me speechless. What are the right words to capture the aliveness of the Rocky Mountains in Denver, Colorado, the ancient rocks of the Badlands in South Dakota, the red rise of the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, the symbolic meaning of the image of Crazy Horse carved in a mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota and the thundering power of Niagra Falls in Canada? There are none.


The interview with Natasha which was supposed to run today will run in two weeks.
Next week will be the one year anniversary of "Emotional Money!"
By then I may have the words to explain the cellular shift caused by experiencing the vast, ancient, breathtaking sights of being in unlimited and untouched spaces!


Thank you Emily for posting and sending my blog while I was on the road!!!
Thank you Julia for being the catalyst for this amazing journey.
Thank you Natasha for your patience and understanding.
Thank you Roxy, Maya, Daniel, Jennifer, Sharon and Cheryl for your incredible hospitality!
Thank you P.B., navigation queen, for leading the way and being YOU!
Thank you Princess and Panther for enduring 7 days of dog barking three feet away.
Thank you Mommy and Terry. Your contributions made all the difference in the world!
Thank you Mommy and Jim for everything!
THANK YOU!

I'll let these few images speak for themselves.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12313051@N02/

For general information and to learn more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains
http://www.gardenofgods.com/home/index.cfm?flash=1
http://www.nps.gov/archive/badl/exp/home.htm
http://www.crazyhorse.org/
http://www.niagarafallsstatepark.com/

UPCOMING
"Emotional Money": September 3, 2007 - One Year Anniversary!
"Emotional Money": September 10, 2007
Interview: Natasha Yannacanedo-actress, director, writer,teaching artist, acting and
public speaking coach. Learn first hand from someone who turned her
financial life around without a fixed income!



If you have an upcoming event, seminar, performance, etc. please email me at samarra_am_management@yahoo.com. It may be exactly what someone has been looking for.
____________________________________________________
Any affirmations, suggestions, requests, job notices, teleseminars or
events please email me at samarra_am_management@yahoo.com.

Any comments regarding any of the weekly "Emotional Money" issues
please post and join in the conversation.

To unsubscribe to "Emotional Money" weekly ezine type in subject line
"unsubscribe Emotional Money." To unsubscribe to all notices regarding
Samarra Am Management events type in subject line "unsubscribe Samarra
Am Management."

Saturday, August 11, 2007


August 20, 2007
Unedited

"CCC"

I want to start a revolution!
Wars, race, weapons, drugs, communities infiltrated.
Smart, intelligent frustrated people needing a way to escape.

The enemy positioned
on college campuses,
at the bank,
at your favorite stores,
and lurking quietly in your mailboxes.
SWIPE.

criminal activity
if you "CCC" were in the form of a human being
you would have been tried and found guilty long, long ago
but you were given power and are integral to the destruction of the fabric of this land

before millions were forced to file for bankruptcy
before shame spread like a disease across the land
people charging purchasing bling, bling
at night in cold sweats knowing what they just charged
they can not afford

but running from their past
trying to keep up with the Joneses’
they just want it really, really, bad
trying to make up for their failed marriages
trying to make up for their failed careers
trying to make up for their failed dreams

you prey on their dissatisfaction in life
you pray that they will look the other way
it's in the fine print you say
you prey, adding to the further decay of this country

But you aren't the only one to blame
if you were human, "CCC" you would be in jail
therefore what was the arrangement made with the powers that be
how is it that you are able to get away with your outright lies,
seductions,
making promises you know aren't true?
oh-it's in the fine print is your excuse

preying on the miseducation of our land
preying on the young and innocent
preying on those that feel trapped and come to you for a fix
SWIPE.

You count on that.

it wouldn't be so bad except that you know
you know your target
you know and you prey, pray and count on them needing their fix

when someone calls you on it
someone sick of the shame
you make them dance through hoops
US: "I want to close my account, what address do I send my official letter to?"
THEM: “send it to this address”
I receive my next bill and check
Account has been closed, yes
but the interest rate, has risen again.
I call, I'm told my letter wasn't received
US: “That's funny-I have a copy of it right here
THEM: “Please hold”
“Well, what address did you send it to”
US “the address I was given by you....”
THEM “Please hold”
“Sorry m’am that address is incorrect. To reject your rising interest rate
you'll need to send another letter to this address.”
US “You have got to be kidding me.”
THEM “Please hold”
US “I sent you a letter to the address I was told. I want those charges off
immediately.”
Like a criminal you always change the rules.”
THEM “Yes m’am, now I see that your letter was sent but it was sent to the wrong
address, please send the letter again to the correct address.
Interesting.

"CCC" if you were in human form you would have been in jail long, long ago.

So close to ridding myself of one, suddenly out of the blue, the other two double their interest rates.
assuming I'm still living in shame
I'm told the reason is because they want me to pay down my debt-
the debt I've been paying down for over a year with no new charges
the debt I've always paid on time
That debt
I'm not afraid of you.

2 weeks later lurking in my mailbox
A plea from the one I closed, "reopen your account-we can offer you-gold, bling, miles, but, no sorry it would still have to be at the increased interest rate."
The other two cards inform me, as I near freedom from their chains, that I am now the lucky recipient of an already increased credit limit, of course this wasn't requested by me.
Lying, they exclaim "free of charge."
I refuse your SWIPE!

"CCC" if you were in human form you would have been locked up long, long, ago
like a criminal always changing the rules
your excuse always-it's in the fine print.


it's a conspiracy I think
am I crazy?
it must be a conspiracy

how is it "CCC" that you have risen to such power?
how is it that you are allowed to get away with this criminal activity?
contributing to the decay of our land
it’s in the fine print you say

if you were human you would have been locked away long, long, ago
under the jail, in fact,
But you don't act alone
what was the deal cut
the trade exchanging our land for your power, wealth and control.

do you know?
do you care?
you and the powers that be
are destroying the fabric of our land - the spirit of its people

The spread of shame
the spread of hidden truths
the spread of lies and being kept
like a hamster running in a cage

can lead no where...
to doom

The land-the spirit of the people
finances not taught in our schools
it's apart of the plan

soon,
now, as foreclosures and bankruptcies filed climb to an all time high,
middle class neighborhoods forced to succumb to the bills that they could never have paid, loans approved based on lies. Their shame and need, your greed;
as the gap between rich and poor grows wider and wider
and the middle class lose their battle to you
"CCC" will you show remorse, will you have any regrets?

as you watch the destruction of our land
the spirit of its people
shame etched in these unpaid loans and debts

"CCC" and the powers that be will you show remorse, will you have any regrets
or will you simply bask in your power and say
"it's listed in the fine print?"

__________________________________________________________
I implore you to stop using your credit cards as if they are free money.
THEY ARE NOT.
If you feel emotionally conflicted. If you're thinking about the short-term thrills of impressing your friends, or trying to fill an empty void in your life or if for many of you, you feel that you really don't have any money, consider this: What did generations do before the introduction of the credit card? Act as if it doesn’t exist and see what possibilities show up!

Please read:
On My Own Two Feet: a modern girl's guide to personal finance by
Manisha Thakor, MBA, CFA and Sharon Kedar, MBA, CFA
It is a straight forward no-nonsense book that provides all the basics of getting a handle on your finances. On pg. 14 there is a chart that shows if a person has $5,000.00 on their card in Year 1 and they pay their minimum due of $1,679. $827 will go to the credit card company in interest charges for the year and the remaining $852.00 will go towards reducing the debt. It will take 34 years to pay off the card! They market it has free, it feels free to swipe but the costs are HIGH, HIGH, HIGH!

To order this book for only $10.36 please go to their website at http://www.onmyowntwofeet.com/.

PLAN OF ACTION:
1) Cut up all except one of your credit cards! That one is only for dire
emergencies or when you are have a zero balance (not interest rate, BALANCE) and
are paying for only what you can purchase within 30 days!

2) Starting NOW, put at least an extra $50.00 towards your minimum payment on your
card with the lowest interest rate.

Please share your credit card stories! The good, the bad and the ugly!
We must share and educate ourselves and each other!
Email your questions and stories to samarra_am_management@yahoo.com.



"Emotional Money" Next Week: August 27th:
Interview: Natasha Yannacanedo-actress, director, writer,teaching artist, acting and
public speaking coach. Learn first hand from someone who turned her
financial life around without a fixed income!



If you have an upcoming event, seminar, performance, etc. please email me at samarra_am_management@yahoo.com. It may be exactly what someone has been looking for.
____________________________________________________
Any affirmations, suggestions, requests, job notices, teleseminars or
events please email me at samarra_am_management@yahoo.com.

Any comments regarding any of the weekly "Emotional Money" issues
please post and join in the conversation.

To unsubscribe to "Emotional Money" weekly ezine type in subject line
"unsubscribe Emotional Money." To unsubscribe to all notices regarding
Samarra Am Management events type in subject line "unsubscribe Samarra
Am Management."

Tuesday, August 07, 2007


August 7, 2007

JOURNEY

Returning from the beautiful hills of Vermont last week, I had time to wonder at the beauty of nature. I had time to ponder my own development and journey. My life has turned out so differently than I expected. Recognizing myself in my customers, I realized that the last two weeks we've all been either impatient with ourselves wanting to get to what we want on our timeline, wishing we could skip the emotional journey and responsiblity required. Or beating ourselves up for what we didn't know or didn't do. As I have in the past, I offer the words of Mark Nepo for us all:


Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 07:47:58 -0400
Subject: Weekly Reflection-8.6.07
Dear Friends,

This week's reflection speaks to the ongoing dynamic between who what
we are and who we are. And, as always, I would welcome your own
reflections and reactions.

I hope this finds you well.

warmly,

Mark
*****************************************
I AM BECOMING
Mark Nepo

When God is asked in the Torah for His name, a reply comes from the
unseeable, *I am Becoming** At once, *Becoming* emanates two
meanings. As a noun, it suggests that God is a process, that the sacred
reveals itself in a life of transformation and unfolding. As a verb, it
suggests that God is still emerging, still not completely defined,
beautifully as unfinished as we are. All this implies that our unfolding
and God*s unfolding are intricately connected. You could say that the
aim of any sacred becoming is not to arrive at any finished state, but
to taste everything in our brush with life and thereby know, through
experience, the hint of what is holy.

The kind of courage this requires is both real and noble. Noble in what
Parker Palmer calls *a fidelity to the best potentials of the human
spirit,* a faithfulness to what is possible if we keep sparking
tomorrow with who we are today; and real in a fidelity to the
inescapable, though terribly avoidable, fact that the only way to
*become* is through facing our experience directly. The mystical
Persian poet of the thirteenth century, *A***r, who was an immediate
ancestor to Rumi, endorses this kind of courage when he says, *Seek
for your soul, spiritual knowledge from what is Real.*

In other words, though it is understandable to pray for God to remove
us from our pain and confusion, God waits at the very heart of that pain
and confusion, if we can *become* our way through it. So it might
serve us better to pray for the wherewithal to endure the flare of
earthly moods that rims God*s presence. For experience heats us into
what is central and sacred the way that gold is melted at intense
temperatures. It presses us into what is immediate and clear the way
that coal is pressed into a diamond. It wears us into what matters the
way the ocean wears the sharp edges from the mouth of a shell.

Yet how can we enter our *becoming* now, today? Especially in an
age whose crosscurrents keep us skipping on the surface. Our constant
initiation is the call to go below that surface. No easy task. But in
truth, any moment of experience will draw us below if we can ride it
instead of fight it. And when asked, along the way, *What are you?*
we can answer with Buddha, *I am Awake.* And when asked, as we fall
or rise, *Who are you?*-we can answer with Yahweh, *I am
Becoming**
*****************************************
These reflections are excerpts from several books. Mark has two new
books appearing in 2007: A new book of poems, Surviving Has Made Me
Crazy, CavanKerry Press, released in February 2007; and a new book of
spiritual non-fiction, Facing the Lion, Being the Lion: Inner Courage
and Where It Lives, Red Wheel/Conari Press, will appear in September
2007. For more info, please visit www.MarkNepo.com.


PLAN OF ACTION: Journey.


"Emotional Money" Highlights for August
August 13th: Snippets of Life Part II
August 27th: Interview: Natasha Yannacanedo-actress, director, writer,
teaching artist, acting and public speaking coach as well
as an Argentine tango dancer. Her motto: The first principle of a
warrior is not being afraid of who you are.




If you have an upcoming event, seminar, performance, etc. please email me at samarra_am_management@yahoo.com. It may be exactly what someone has been looking for.
____________________________________________________
Any affirmations, suggestions, requests, job notices, teleseminars or
events please email me at samarra_am_management@yahoo.com.

Any comments regarding any of the weekly "Emotional Money" issues
please post and join in the conversation.

To unsubscribe to "Emotional Money" weekly ezine type in subject line
"unsubscribe Emotional Money." To unsubscribe to all notices regarding
Samarra Am Management events type in subject line "unsubscribe Samarra
Am Management."

Saturday, August 04, 2007


August 14, 2007


SNIPPETS OF LIFE PART II
(Unedited)

Returning from a trip in the beautiful mountains of Vermont remembering the peace of swinging on a tire from a tree. Stepping off the airplane at JFK to hordes of people and loud noises. Amazing the difference nature provides only a half an hour plane ride away.

Returning from a long slow day at the office, I push for the elevator-it's only four flights but it's hot and I'm tired. The elevator doesn't come. After pushing many times, loaded with bags, up the stairs I must climb. There is a woman, my neighbor, just standing on the 4th floor holding the elevator door. With no signs of furniture or visible explanations, my neighbor apologizes to me profusely. From her reaction, I realize, my smile and nods were unable to hide the effects of my long slow day at the office and my load of bags.


Watching my beautiful kitty's in the hallway my neighbor all the way on the other side asks me questions. Her tone causes me to ask "what's the matter, you don't like cats?" Her response, "...not only do I not like them I want to kill them. If anything ever happens to them you'll know where to come." Beware, venom arrives at your doorstep when completely unprovoked and unprepared.

Standing in my living room, I hear a man making threats, a woman pleads, "please leave it alone." Looking out the window to the building next door, a man's testosterone rages demanding that another man move out of his parking space immediately. His woman tries to explain it to him, the man and woman in the other car try to explain to him. No listening, only yelling, he's enraged ready and wanting to attack. The guy in the other car tries to drive away but the enraged testosterone keeps yelling and calling him out of his name long after he's moved from the parking space.

The rage continues long after he's moved from the parking space.

Two men face to face, one enraged, the other wanting to make him understand, the woman terrified placing herself between, while pleading with her man. Raging testosterone now yells at his own woman to get out of the way. This cycle-rage, explaining, pleading, no listening-just get out of the way. This cycle-rage, explaining, pleading, no listening-just get out of the way. This cycle-rage, explaining, pleading, no listening-just get out of the way.

I suddenly felt like I was witnessing a snapshot for the reasons our young are dying in another land. I suddenly felt like I was witnessing a snapshot for the reasons our young are dying in this land. I suddenly felt like I was witnessing a snapshot for the reasons fear governs our land. The noises in my window below ended with all going their separate ways, but I felt that I had glimpsed a profound truth to the terror and destruction that is governing our land. This cycle -rage, explaining, pleading, no listening-just get out of the way.


One day on my job a person is there, two hours later, no longer. Fired.
A cross country drive planned 6 months in advance. A drive with 3-planned 6 months in advance. 2 weeks before the trip, it's now 2 instead of 3. Only one number a way, two weeks before, variables planned so far in advance, now changed.
One day there is no surgery-dancing and fun. Suddenly surgery. Tests run. A heart murmur. One week all was fine, the next pain, murmur's and unanswered questions.



Balance from within. That is truly all we can aspire to.
Everything else, unknown. Balance from within.


"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion and desire." Aristotle (384 BC - 322BC)


PLAN OF ACTION:
Seek a daily activity that will aid you in being grounded from within.


"Emotional Money" in August
August 20th: I Want To Start A Revolution-A Poem Dedicated to CCC
August 27th: Interview: Natasha Yannacanedo-actress, director, writer,
teaching artist, acting and public speaking coach as well
as an Argentine tango dancer. Her motto: The first principle of a
warrior is not being afraid of who you are.



If you have an upcoming event, seminar, performance, etc. please email me at samarra_am_management@yahoo.com. It may be exactly what someone has been looking for.
____________________________________________________
Any affirmations, suggestions, requests, job notices, teleseminars or
events please email me at samarra_am_management@yahoo.com.

Any comments regarding any of the weekly "Emotional Money" issues
please post and join in the conversation.

To unsubscribe to "Emotional Money" weekly ezine type in subject line
"unsubscribe Emotional Money." To unsubscribe to all notices regarding
Samarra Am Management events type in subject line "unsubscribe Samarra
Am Management."