Meet Tracey Pettis, Fantasy Portrait Photographer

Selfies and snapshots can’t capture the inner you.
 But your Fantasy Portrait can.

Tracey Pettis will help you step out of your daily life and into your authentic self by taking a fresh look at the inner you from a completely new perspective.

Every human being wants to be seen, wants to be loved, wants to be understood. Through Fantasy Portraits, you can uncover and experience your special beauty, creativity, and gifts. Learn more by visiting FantasyPortraits.co.

1. What gave you the idea to create Fantasy Portraits?

I have been working in advertising for the past 20 years as a creative/art director. But I felt empty. I realized it was time to leave the world of advertising, feeling that companies were placing more importance on data, templates, and stock photography over the kind of creativity I was interested in.

I have always known I wanted to get back to one of my first loves, photography. But I wanted this version to be more than just creating pretty pictures. I wanted to bring the viewer into the process. I wanted to make the process more experience driven. Thus, Fantasy Portraits was born.

2. What's your process like in determining what an individual's Fantasy Portrait should look like?

We start by getting to know you through a discovery session. You share what you're comfortable sharing: your dreams, desires, hopes, aspirations. The object is for you to let go and explore.

Through this process, a concept will gel. Together, we'll fine-tune it, getting more excited about the portrait as we go.



3. Do you think the #nofilter Instagram selfie and other phone photography has changed how we define portraiture?

I think it's added to our choices immensely! We are changing all the time. Having that instant access to capture ourselves while immersed in an experience is a great advantage. And that's why I knew that Fantasy Portraits had to be something different than "just a portrait." It had to be an experience. As we say, "Selfies and snapshots can't capture the inner you. But your Fantasy Portrait can."


4. How can photos make positive changes in our lives?

So many ways! Our mission at Fantasy Portraits is to help women go deeper and learn how to connect with their inner beauty and deeper soul. Through getting to know and understand your spiritual self, your self-esteem and self-love increases.

A photographic image is a preservation tool. Your Fantasy Portrait becomes part of who you are at this stage of your life's journey.



5. What else would you like readers to know about you and your work as a photographer?

I think if you look at some of the Fantasy Portraits we've created, you'll see the attention to detail that you won't see in some of the other "fantasy" work out there. We put a lot of thought and heart into making each image special and unique, and not what you would expect.

If you'd like to explore creating your Fantasy Portrait, send an email to tracey@fantasyportraits.co.

Thanks, Tracey!

Meet Marilyn Redmond, Author

Marilyn Redmond was born in Seattle, WA and graduated from Western Washington University. She has three years of graduate work including the University of Washington, and she is a retired school teacher. She is also a candidate for a doctorate degree. Marilyn was ordained as a spiritual minister to do spiritual counseling along with instruction in healing, regression, past life therapy, and other related spiritual training. She continues to actively participate in courses and researches cutting edge information to help her clients.

Learn more about Marilyn by visiting AngelicasGifts.com.

1. Would you tell us a little bit about your books that are currently available?

I have seven books on Amazon.com available. Five are e-books for Kindle.

The Kindle books focus on overcoming the lessons in life from trauma, drama, and disease. Taking responsibility for my thoughts, communication, and actions as part of relationships or activities is the total answer to making the changes necessary for better results. These short articles are powerful, insightful and my experience in finding answers.

These books offer spiritual solutions to typical concerns of an awareness and personal growth. All Time Victim won an international writers contest. Peace on Earth: Finding Your New Life has original charts for showing the vibrations in our growth path. Vasanas: The Gifts that Show Us the Way was published originally on the internet to show that we can overcome our shortcomings and they point out what needs to change.

Incest: Love Heals the Soul shows that it is not necessary to remain a victim and give your power to those who steal your personality and soul. Forgiveness frees the victim from the guilt and chains to move forward in a new loving way. Spiritual Alignment: Are You Ready for 2012? is a book that answers the question: Can you master your emotions instead of letting the ego continue your misery and illnesses? The new energy coming to earth allows moving into a higher consciousness of love for the first time in thousands of years.

I would also like to share about my two paperback books. These are filled with more information and are valuable books for someone engaged in personal growth or a spiritual path. Roses Have Thorns is my own story of trauma growing up and married. The poems came spontaneously to me over time while I was taking a writing course. My teacher published them because she felt the book belonged in every reception area of a counselor's office. It chronicles my childhood into my awareness. People coming into feelings and expressing themselves from conflict find it validating. The fable Delusions or Dragons has a valuable moral. It is "Make friends with fear if you want to find success." I added illustrations that are also mine.

The Real Meaning of 2012, A New Paradigm for Bringing Heaven to Earth is a timeless book. It has received five stars from three readers and praise from more people. One woman wanted to meet me after reading it, and we worked this out. It is a simple explanation of the changing energy on planet earth. The book explains reducing the influence of the ego from right, wrong, judgment, and criticism for ascending into unconditional love of a higher consciousness. Leaving the darkness of the past into the light of goodness is on our doorstep to accept and enjoy.

My forthcoming book will be out by the end of the year. Paradigm Busters, Reveal the Real You offers the explicit information of how to raise your thinking, communications, and actions into a loving response, instead of reacting from the fears of the past. This book explains a universal principle in each chapter with illustrations, tools, and understanding of how to employ this concept for acting in a higher, loving approach to life. It shows that our lives are based in cause and effect. When the cause is changed, the effect is more productive and rational.

2. What inspires you to sit down and write?

My inspiration comes from responding to seeing people around me unnecessarily miserable, uselessly sick, and needlessly suffering in their life.

I am an international spiritual counselor, spiritual teacher, consultant, writer, and speaker. As an ordained spiritual minister for counseling, giving readings and also a psychic and medium, I have access to higher information from the Fifth Dimension and above. I channel from "Higher Realms" to provide answers that are important to bring reality to our lives. I use my own experience to present answers to life's problems that work.

I seem to be guided to write and share. When I see a need for sharing certain information, I seem instinctively to sit down and write information for the issue to find a happy resolution. It applies to all parts of our lives. I love doing it.

My work is on YouTube, my blog, Amazon.com, and my website, Angelica's Gifts. In working with my clients, classes, researching and consulting, I find opportunities to add truth to their information. Fear is the absence of information. People have been mislead, misinformed, and lied to for centuries about our lives and how they work in energy of the universe. I try to bring honesty, sincerity, and detachment to promote a happy and harmonious life for everyone.

3. How do you utilize your spiritual gifts/experiences to help others?

I utilize my spiritual gifts and experience through my many actives mentioned above as writing, consulting, speaking, and teaching. However, the gift of counseling that includes regression therapy, channeling, and giving readings is extremely valuable for essential and critical information. These bring hidden information from the altered state or meditative status for awareness for healing to occur. As a spiritually trained minister for counseling, I guide the individual into a healthy, loving resolution.

When a person chooses to move out of fear into a loving consciousness, real change can happen. I found that the basis for life on this planet is transcending fears and karma. This is possible for relationship issues, resolving childhood dramas, medical problems, and illness. In addition, I am on the board and internationally board certified to do past life regression therapy (IBRT). I am on the American Board of Hypnotherapy (ABH).

Emotionally, the bigger part of the iceberg below the surface motivates your life. Your subconscious runs your life. Old energy needs to rise above all fears. What you do not know about yourself runs your life. I help people become aware by releasing fear, so they can make healthy, rational choices for a peaceful and balanced life.

4. In your therapeutic work, how do you help clients to help themselves more fully in their own lives?

In my therapeutic work, I help clients by providing a model to balance life physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. They grow into maturity.

With balancing life physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, the past or future is not a concern, as living in the "NOW" is the only focus. I include using affirmations for a new mind-set. In addition, flower essences support emotional change to a higher consciousness. Physical health means eating non-toxic foods or drinking not toxic beverages to create a healthy vehicle for the soul. Prescriptions, all drugs, and addictive actions are released for a healthy heart. Spiritual change comes by meditation and spiritual material that supports trusting the universe to support you, rather than traditional experts, friends, or family. The clients become autonomous, empowered, and mature.

5. What else would you like our readers to know about you and your work?

I have spent my whole life experiencing hell and then through my awareness and desire to change, I found heaven on earth. It is my life dream to help others accomplish this through my experience and learning the truth.

I found there are many deterrents outside of ourselves that can stop our looking within for our own answers. Loving yourself you can then extend that love to those around you. Most people extend their fear to others not love. When the pains of growing out of the wounded child are healed, wholeness can occur. At this point, the real you can emerge into a life of peace, prosperity, happiness, and joy. The best place to be is in the presence of love. Today I am fearless.

Each day I say, "I am in joy. I am in gratitude. I am in the presence of God." This is reality. God did not make anything negative; therefore it is not real. The Great Reality is within when you release the obstacles emotionally from allowing your love to flow. This loving, unconditional love can flow through your physical life for health. Life is about giving. It flows out to others and returns in wonderful ways. What you give is what you get. What are you giving?

Thanks, Marilyn!

Meet Kareem Maize, Blogger, Musician, and IT Professional

Kareem Maize is a 26-year-old musician and information technology professional with a passion for learning new aspects of life every day. On his journey to express himself, Kareem began blogging to share his ideas with others. Now he intends to create interesting and engaging content for his viewers to help them grow spiritually, physically, and mentally.

Visit Kareem's blog here, and also find him on Facebook (also here) and on Twitter.

1. If you had to summarize the goal of your blog, what would you say?

My blog is an environment to help people with personal development by exposing them to different ideas and belief systems.

2. Why do you think that many people feel a lack of abundance in their lives?

They created a limiting belief about their current circumstances regarding the assets in their life they did or do not possess.

3. In your own life, what has helped you gain insight and to experience personal growth?

I had several good mentors, but ultimately I always had a feeling that that a single person can accomplish great things. As a child I had the crazy belief that anything is possible and funny enough I still do.

4. When it comes to being more solution-focused rather than problem-focused, what are some things we can do to start seeing more solutions, rather than problems, in our lives?

The best way I have found to conquer a problem is to realize that it is only temporary, and you are greater than any problem you currently face. Once you realize it's only temporary, you can shift your focus to a solution instead of being consumed by it.

5. How do you see your blog growing over the next year or so?

I want to have a good following in the personal development community and thousands of subscribers.

Thanks, Kareem!

The Launch of Mizpah.com

A friend of this blog, Helena Lind, is getting ready to launch a new website for her company, MIZPAH® Jewels. Helena is a creative artist and professional who has taken a great deal of time and care in creating her line of jewels and gifts. The line is named after a word from the Holy Scriptures which is translated to mean "hopeful expectation" and to symbolize peace and wisdom.

The jewels are made in Britain and the European Union from solid, natural metals. The designs are detailed and have been created by artisans to meet Helena's high standards. There are pendants, charms, and other pieces as well. Truly, the project is a labor of love. In Helena's words, ""The mysterious word MIZPAH spoke to me since I was little. To me it was a magical spell of goodness, not knowing then that it would be exactly that for my life one far away day."

Keep up with the launch of this beautiful jewelry line by following Mizpah on Facebook.

Meet Andy Gray, Podcast Host and Entrepreneur

Andy Gray is the host of A Congruent Life, an interview project that explores themes and stories of authenticity and happiness, particularly when people reinvent and live their lives in a way that is more congruent for them. Andy is also a software entrepreneur, helping small businesses and non-profit organizations bring their ideas to life.

1. What inspired you to start A Congruent Life?

A Congruent Life is a project that's been gestating for a long time, and has finally taken shape over the last couple of years. Like many projects, it started with a whisper and a tiny flash of inspiration: late one night several years ago, the phrase "a congruent life" popped into my head, and I registered the domain name on a whim, not having any idea about what I might do with it.

The dots started connecting a couple of years ago during a Vision Quest experience. I spent several days alone in the wilderness at a time when my work in the corporate world wasn't very aligned with the work that made me the happiest. I was looking for guidance and inspiration from others who had managed to align those successfully, and one important insight that came from that contemplative time was the realization that I could be of service to others in similar situations by simply sharing the very same stories that I wanted to hear, rather than keeping them to myself.

2. I was impressed in looking at your website because it seems that you've found a way to align your professional work with your personal and spiritual interests. What do you see as the intersections between your career in software development and your spiritual work?

Thanks, Mandy--it's nice to hear that's the impression that you have from the podcast and the website.

I think, though, that really what I'm trying to live out is a perspective of seeing spirituality as something that's integral to the way that we are in the world, not something that is separate and that we need to try to find a way to intersect with the other parts of us.

I know that words like "spirituality" can be pretty loaded for many people, and I sometimes wrestle with people associating that word with the A Congruent Life podcast. The reality, though, is that we're all spiritual beings--and I don't mean that in a religious way (though that can be a meaningful path for some).

Rather, I see spirituality as about connecting our individual lives to something bigger than ourselves--recognizing that your life is really not just about you, and living that out in a meaningful way. I find it fascinating and inspiring to hear stories of people who have found a way to align their personal skills, passions, and values with some larger purpose that's meaningful to them, and especially seeing how much more happiness that they experience in doing so.

And sharing those stories with others is exactly what A Congruent Life is all about.

3. What particular resonance does the word "congruent" have for you?

Well, congruence is a key concept in mathematics and geometry, so that works well for my engineering mind. This project isn't about geometry, but that's actually a good analogy.

I'm not a big fan of "work-life balance"--as if these are separate competing things to be weighed and traded off against one another. But I love the phrase "congruent life" because it implies alignment: putting the various pieces of our life--our values, our passions, our relationships, our skills, our body of work--together into a coherent whole.

4. In your own life, have you had some turning points where you saw an opportunity to make a shift--and based on your own experience, what is your advice to people who are feeling a sense of crisis, tension, and/or change?

Yes, these turning points that you describe come up all the time! Life is a series of opportunities to learn, grow, transform, and reinvent--some big, some little; some relatively easy, and some way more challenging.

Some of what I've learned from others and through my own experiences: when you're feeling a sense of crisis or tension, it can be really helpful to reground yourself with your values. Deep down, what are the things that are most important to you--and equally important, what are the things that are truly not important to you? Clarifying and prioritizing your values can provide a helpful framework for making decisions and staying steady when your world gets tumultuous.

And when it's time to make a change, take action. There is great power in action, and even the tiniest step in the direction of your dreams can combat that feeling of being stuck and start a snowball of positive momentum. And when the doubts start creeping in, trust your instincts to keep you on course; your intuition will provide far more wisdom than the naysayers (who will be quick to tell you why your dreams are silly).

5. I like your idea about sharing "tiny stories" that can inspire and motivate us. What do you think it takes for ordinary people to realize that they are capable of doing--or maybe realize that they are already doing!--extraordinary things?

That's a really great question, Mandy. It's a simple concept that can be oh-so-hard to remember and actually apply! And I know that it can sound trite, but it's absolutely true that we all have genius inside, and we are all capable of doing extraordinary things.

I think that a lot of it is who we surround ourselves with and the messages that we feed to our minds. And the question that you raise is exactly why I interview the people that I do on A Congruent Life. Most of my guests aren't "famous," just ordinary people with some inspiring stories to share. I personally find it encouraging to hear those kinds of stories, which reinforce the fact that whatever the challenges and discouragements we encounter along the way, everyone can reinvent and construct authentic, meaningful lives.

Thanks, Andy!

Meet John Culbertson, Spiritual Teacher and New Age Author

"Mystic" John Culbertson is a shamanic practitioner, spiritual teacher, new age author, and professional psychic/intuitive counselor.

A published author, motivational speaker, and in 2010 nominated as one of the best psychics in Southwest Florida by readers of The Natural Awakening magazine, John has positively influenced many people to become masters of their own lives.

John not only provides insights into the past and present and makes predictions about the future, but also teaches his clients and students how to tap into their own intuitive and spiritual side, changing lives forever.

Learn more about John by checking out the Life Improvement Toolbox.

1. As an author, what are your main goals in terms of what you want to share with your readers?

As an author, my main goal is to inform the reader and give them insights into what I've had to spend lots money, time, energy, and effort in learning. If I can take what I've learned and put it into a form where someone else can more easily digest that information, then I've done my job as an author.

Right now my main aim is focusing on spirituality and helping those that choose to follow a more spiritual (as opposed to religious path) to understand the world from a spiritual perspective and an energy and wisdom based perspective.

To this end, my books Psychic Self Defense and Protection and Improve Your Intuition really hone in and focus on topics which those that choose to follow more spiritually oriented paths will find both enlightening and useful.

2. How do you help clients develop their own intuitive abilities?

Observation is the key word. I help people tune into their own observations thereby learning to trust their own inner selves. All people are intuitive. Be you call it intuition, sixth sense, psychic ability, or something else... it's a natural skill and ability that all people possess and are capable of developing more fully.

There are numerous techniques one can use in their quest for development and that's what my book Improve Your Intuition is all about. It starts at base zero, assuming someone has little to no knowledge of intuitive or psychic energy and helps them, through a series of exercises, to both develop it as well as learn more fully about the success principle that all people are capable of embracing.

3. What is the role of meditation in your life, and how have you seen it help your clients?

I typically meditate daily. Normally three times a day barring life events and so forth. When I get up I do a standard pranic or breath focused meditation. Before I start sessions with my clients I will usually do a progressive relaxation, chakra meditation, and guided visualizations that help me to enhance my session. Finally, in the evening before bed I will do a guided visualization focusing on the law of attraction or a shamanic journey to learn something new.

Meditation keeps me calm, centered, grounded, and down to earth. It helps me to relax and helps me to release stress that I pick up on a constant bases with the type of work I do.

As for my clients and students, I have seen people with high anxiety or deep depressions do a complete turnaround. I have also seen people with pain find some relief. I've seen people with little to no focus in life take life from a point of feeling like they are worthless and a failure to being popular and successful. Meditation and its cousin hypnosis can have so many different positive effects on people; they just have to be willing to work with it and make it a habit as opposed to thinking it is a one-time cure all.

4. What is your Life Improvement Toolbox? My Life Improvement Toolbox isn't really my Life Improvement Toolbox. It's the people who are reading's toolbox.

Essentially the Life Improvement Toolbox is a type of "secret society," if you will. Think of it as a membership area where people who want to learn more about various new age, self-help, and success topics can find "tools" to do just that.

It's a place where a collection of E-Books, Guided Meditations, Subliminal Sessions, Hypnotherapy Sessions, and Videos are hosted. Members pay a one-time fee to have access to all of this and all future updates (which happens about once a month). It's even backed by a 60 day money back guarantee.

Despite there being a members area, the fee a person pays to get access is a one-time fee. So there are no recurring fees or dues. Once you're in, you're in. You are entitled to free updates and all the materials in the toolbox as long as you choose to do so.

It's getting a new design and remake soon and the price of it is about to jump due to its success. So now is the time for people to get on board before those changes go into effect.

The redesign is going to include a forum for members to communicate with each other and better organization of the materials.

Right now topics inside include tarot, psychic protection, numerology, meditation, law of attraction based learning, and much more.

5. How do you find that developing audio and video content is similar to and different from writing books?

When I write books I typically am channeling them. In other words, I set them and just let the information flow. I let editors take the content and arrange it. I usually just try to get the information out on paper though. When I do video and audio content, the result is similar, just a different forum. It's all about providing to people something useful that they can use to either learn something fun and fascinating or something to improve their life in some way.

For those who are reading that want to know how to develop your own products, it starts with an idea and the belief that the idea can be successful no matter what anyone else may tell you or what you may hear anywhere. Without that foundation, I will tell you things will eventually fall apart. With that idea and thought process, however, you will discover exactly what you need to do and talk to exactly who you need to talk to in order to move your projects forward. This, my friends, is the law of attraction at its best. You don't have to know the how-to; you just have to have an idea that you can follow and believe passionately in. Let the Universe (also called God, God force energy, the Divine Goddess, and so many other names) help you find the how to.

I look forward to seeing and hearing from some of you in the near future.

Blessings to all,
John Culbertson

Thanks, John!