Universe buzzes in and beats contestant Shannon to the punch “What is Visa declined to return back to the UK?”

Alex: “That is correct!”

Okay, so maybe I’m not on the game show Jeopardy with Alex Trebek, but I do feel like the Universe buzzed in with a different answer than I originally anticipated.  I just received the news yesterday evening stating that I cannot come back in to the UK with a Visitor Visa again as I have have already used my days this year.

As much as I am disappointed, something just tells me that this is not accidental.  I keep hearing that there are hidden blessings in this creation from the Universe.

Right now I am really trusting that the Universe has something even more delicious to place upon my life plate, because right now I feel like an uprooted flower who is looking for that pot to take root into.  I also sold my car, and am officially without wheels.  My first chakra is definitely not feeling at complete ease, but I’m going to put out my cup towards the Universe.  Fill it up until it runneth over~!

Stay tuned for more updates

When you Shine your light you are living life authentically for you. You are living joyously, and doing what you love. You are standing tall and saying “Yes, this is who I am. I am Spirit. I am creative and powerful. I happily share my Divine gifts with the world as nothing gives me more joy.”

When you read those words up above I know that your inner Spirit quivers in absolute orgasmic delight. You all came here to shine your light.

Although, I know the body or what we will call ego will shout, whisper, and worry while it says “It’s selfish to shine. You’re meant to lay low so nobody tries to judge or hurt you. Who are you to think you are so gosh darned special? If you shine no one will like you, and you will have no friends. Stay dim and we all win.”

The truth is when you shine your light, do what you love, you are giving the world a healing. How, you may ask? Just by being your authentic self, you are giving permission to others to say “Wow! Look how bright that person is. Look at them follow their dreams, their passion, and their bliss. If they can do it, I believe I can too!” Doesn’t it just give you goosebumps to know that just by doing what you love you’re helping heal the world? I know it does for me.

Check your light switch. Is it off or on? Remember you have permission to shine!

The new year started with me saying good bye to my old Joy Cafe radio show, and me bringing in a new co-host Echo Bodine.  Together she and I were able to take our wisdom and share how to own your intuition to our listening audience.  It was such a blessing for me to get to work with Echo.  I swear this woman was my mom in a previous life time.  I’m so incredibly grateful as Echo assisted me in opening up my business evening more.  Thank you Echo for sharing your gifts and laughter with me!

Next, as February rolled in I took a solo trip to see my aunt and uncle in Arizona.  The warm sun was a treat after the heavy snowfall in the Pacific Northwest.  It was this trip where my Uncle Ron helped me make the right connections to finally get my proper paper work so I could get my well needed passport.   Man, that passport was a lot of work to get.  Your average person only needs to have their driver’s license, birth certificate, and to fill out the forms.  Not me, I had to turn in 32 pieces of documentation.  That’s right I said 32! All because my loving EXTRA YOUNG parents at the time didn’t realize that when you give birth to a child in Mexico that you are required to fill out paperwork in the states stating that she’s an official citizen.   It’s okay mom and dad I forgive you.  You gave me a story to write about, and my passport was just that much JUICIER to receive in the mail.

March was the month that I turned 38 years old, and received my passport in the mail.  That was a delicious birthday gift!  I also was able to fly back to Arizona to visit this time with not only my aunt and uncle, but my cousin Stevie and her family.  I enjoyed the warm sun again, and found myself doing things I normally wouldn’t dream of doing.  For example, I got to ride a horse in the desert (who did have a name by the way).  I remember being so scared because the lady said “Whatever you do, do NOT let your horse go down to eat the shrubbery.  There are rattle snakes out here, and if your horse gets bit they will run, and you will most likely not be able to control them.”  Okay, guess who had the horse who had an appetite for food like me?  That’s right!  Mine!  My horse couldn’t keep her nose out of the shrubbery buffet, which meant my nerves were on edge the whole entire time.  Luckily, we didn’t meet any rattling slithery friends in the desert.  Whew!

April brought me to Oregon to teach a class.  Twenty people showed up, and I enjoyed giving each of them an individual reading.  It was so fun to travel by myself via the car to Portland.  I have to say prior to this year I allowed everyone else to drive me around.  I have grown more confident in my ability to get myself from point A to point B…but I must admit owning my GPS unit is key to that.

At the beginning of May I was able to use my passport for the very first time as I traveled to Montreal Canada.  It was there that I received my Reconnection training with Dr. Eric Pearl which helped expand my healing abilities even more.  There I was able to get my first real experience of being in a place that spoke mainly French.  Talk about being an English girl out of water.  Laughing.   At the end of May I traveled to Florida to team teach with a former Intuitive Boot Camp student Sunne Young.  I was able to rent my own condo right next to the ocean.  When I wasn’t teaching I was sitting by the ocean enjoying the sunshine and crashing waves.  I can still smell the lime coconut lotion when I think of this travel experience.

Then June brought even more travel.  This time I flew to Europe for the very first time.  I remember touching down in Amsterdam for a two hour wait before getting on a little plane to head to London, England.  During this trip I was able to go on a narrow boat trip in Wales, travel and visit castles, and teach a spiritual class to 63 people.  It was amazing.

July and August were clean up months where I did paper work for my divorce, which I am happy to say was an amicable one.  It was one of those times in our lives that we both realized we were growing into two different paths.  We loved each other enough to let each other go.  It was a two year process of letting go.   I cleaned up all of my stuff out of the closet, and packed the rest up in the attic to prepare for my trip back to London in September.  I also said goodbye to the Echo and Shannon Joy Cafe show.  Just like my marriage I knew she and I were traveling down two different business roads.  I’m so incredibly grateful for our journey together.

September I flew back to London on a 6 month visa stay.  I’ve been adjusting to life.  It’s been fun experiencing life in a new way.  I’ve learned how to dry clothes by hanging them on a clothes rack, and to walk to the store to bring back the groceries.  I’ve got to experience being with a wonderful person who matches me on so many levels.

October was fun as my mom was able to come visit me here in London.  She said that she had never seen me happier as now.  I do second that comment as I have been able to be my authentic self here in London.  Also, October brought back the new Joy Cafe radio show live from London as I hired my producer Rob to help run the show again.   I also was able to do my first group psychic gallery with 20 people at the Hummus Bros, which turned out successful.

November was my first experience here in London without family during Thanksgiving.  That was a little rough for me, but I managed to enjoy a great meal with my new best friend of lamb and sweet potato: both foods I never ate prior to coming to London.  I finished editing my book Intuitive Boot Camp, and now am working on finding a publisher.

December the daylight was minimal especially with my crazy go to bed at 4am and wake up at 1pm sleep schedule.  This only gave me about 3 hours of daylight, which really can confuse a body at times.  Is it day or night time.  I didn’t know whether I should be wearing my pj’s or regular day clothes.  I spent the Christmas and the New Years Eve quietly with my friend and cat.  The year has been one of many changes, and I am looking forward to 2010 as being another delicious year.

My intentions for 2010 are the following:

• To get my Intuitive Boot Camp book published in paperback
• To publish my ebook online helping others who desire to become spiritual practitioners
• To initiate my official Joy Tour project with the public
• To get another radio program with a larger audience
• To travel and teach my favorite classes to the public in person
• To create an online Intuitive Boot Camp program so people can take the program on their own
• To publish my Create More Joy Oracle cards both in hard copy, on my website, and as an iphone/ipod app
• To lovingly strengthen my relationships with my family, children, and partner
• To get my visa taken care of so I can live in the UK and work at the same time
• To continue to live authentically and joyfully following my bliss not worrying what others think

I know I’m going to sound woo-woo, but hey I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t.  Today I decided to tell the Universe what I wanted: a hairdresser who could cut extra thick long blonde hair into long layers beautifully without talking much.  What can I say, I really enjoy not having to answer questions while I am getting pampered.  Unlike most women who go to the hairdressers I really don’t like to talk at all.  Zip.  Nada.  Zilch on the talking.

So, after asking for what I desired I grabbed my coat, and headed out to the 11 million populated deep city of London.  I had zero clue of where I was going to get my hair done, but I knew my intuition would lead me to the perfect one.  After roaming around the local part of East London I decided to get on the train and head to Stratford (where they are holding the 2012 Olympics).

As I roamed around the Stratford Center I discovered a little shop where they did eyebrow threading instead of waxing.  Now, I don’t know about you gals, but I have never ever heard of this prior to today.  Threading is an ancient Indian art of using thread to shape the eyebrows instead of using wax or tweezers.  Well, I took the plunge and had my first threading experience.  I must say it was quicker than waxing and tweezing.  It was almost painless, and besides having to walk around the mall for an hour with red eyebrows I highly recommend it.  Let me know about your experience with it.  I’m definitely going to get it done again when its time.  Much faster and painless verses me doing it myself.

After getting my eyebrows threaded I walked by a salon, and heard “This is the one!”  I went in and booked my appointment for today at 3pm, and went off to kill time afterwards.  I had lunch at the local Pizza Hut in which all the servers were extra friendly to me.   I don’t know if I just had that aura around me of “Be nice to her, she’s recharging” or “OMG! That lady has red eyebrows, lets be nice to her.” Either way it was fun to get treated extra special as I went out on the town for my recharge day.  After pizza and a salad I looked at the clock, and saw it was still 30 minutes early.  However, I decided that I was just going to head back to the salon.  I figured, worse case scenario would be I had to wait for my appointment.

Well as luck or intuition would have it, as I opened the door to the salon the gal finished up with her last client, and invited me that moment to sit in the chair.  Wow!  I love it when I follow my gut feeling and it turns out!  As I sat down she asked me what I desired, and went right to work on it without talking except to verify what she was doing was to my liking.  Perfect!  Meanwhile, the barber to my right was talking about the show Medium and how much he enjoyed psychic shows.  Part of me wanted to say “Oh, me too.  I love that stuff so much that I even became one.” However, this was a day that I just wanted to be known as that American girl who waited too long to get her haircut.  Today, I kept my psychic card in my pocket, and delightfully received my first London haircut.  Feels good to pamper myself after waiting so long.

The teleconference will begin with Shannon leading everyone through a high vibrational chakra cleanse meditation. She will then open up to Spirit to channel a personalized intuitive message and energy healing to each individual on the call. Also, Shannon has received the personalized message from Spirit reminding her that those who gather together for this session will benefit from hearing everyone else’s personalized readings as well. Remember it is no accident that this particular group has gathered together during this Sacred space and time.

Shannon already has people from England, Norway, Ireland, and the United States signed up for this empowering gallery. There is room for just a couple more people. However, for those of you who miss this one, be sure to sign up for Shannon’s Weekly Cup newsletter to find out when her next International Psychic Healing Gallery will take place. If you are drawn to take this class be sure to sign up here.

Also, there is much more coming, so check back weekly or sign up to our newsletter to keep informed on the latest and greatest.

My mom Caryol and me with our brand new English style hats and scarves.

I had my first company here in London a few weeks back.  It was enjoyable having my mom come visit.  It had been quite a while since I had seen her last, and I was excited to go on site seeing tours with her that I haven’t been to yet.  Luckily for me I have an incredibly generous mom who shares in my love of site seeing and yummy food.  Thanks mom for spoiling me for the 5 days you were here.

To begin with mom rented two hotel rooms for us next to the Heathrow Airport as she and I both like to have our own private space.   This was quite a long trip for me to get there from where I am currently living.  It took me 2 1/2 hours after 2 subway rides, a hop on a bus (twice as I got on the wrong one the first time), and a 5 minute walk to the hotel.  I’m getting pretty proud of myself with my ability to travel and make it to my destinations safely.

I did learn that I don’t like to travel on the Underground when it is rush hour.  The people tend to be a little more (okay A LOT more) impatient and rude.  I once put my suitcase down on the ground for one second to look at the map, and a gentleman behind me scoffed and bitched under his breath letting me know his disappointment of having to walk around me.  I think I might have killed 1-2 seconds of his travel time right there.  How unthoughtful of me.

Enough of my sarcasm, and on to the fun time I had with mom.

First we (okay mom had a hankering to see this) decided to head to the Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum where the oddities of the world are located.  I’m including some of my favorites in this post, just because I’m amazed at one can do with postage notes, gum balls, and dryer lint.  Impressive indeed!   My favorite part of this whole entire museum was the light and mirror maze.  It took my mom and I forever to make it out of here.  We kept running into the glass mirror dead ends.  We felt like little trapped rats.  Squeak!

1000's of Bubble Gum Balls create Ripley

Princess Diana created with dryer lint!

Artist James Butman suffers from agorophobia, so his friends give him stamps to create beautiful art work like this Saint art.

Red Light Mirror Maze…took us forever to finally get out!

After we were done with this crazy event we headed to the Pizza Hut (mom doesn’t really care for the UK foods) and ordered up some pasta, pizza, and cheesecake.  I have to include the cheesecake picture, because I absolutely love the desserts (or as they call them puddings here).

Raspberry, Chocolate Fudge, and Ginger Lime….oh my….

Our next great adventure took place at Windsor palace.  Oh, that was a marvelous castle.  Luckily for mom and me, the crowds were minimal and we could enjoy the spacious castle even more.  There was one little blonde toddler who amused us named “Isabella.”  In fact, she made me giggle hard when at the beginning of the tour they have you wait at the gates until you are given permission to go pay for your tickets.  Well, little Miss. Isabella had no intentions of waiting.  That cute little blonde girl busted through the gate running and smiling with her great achievement of breaking and entering a top notch security zone.  It took 3 security guards to chase the little cutie pie down, and she was eventually corralled like a baby calf, and returned to her mom whom was blushing in dismay.  Down below are all the different pictures of the castle from the outside.  It was HUGE!  Unfortunately you couldn’t take pictures of the inside which held Mary’s doll house which is the exact replica of Windsor castle, and the luxurious decorated royal rooms.

One of the things I found fascinating was going into the Cathedral inside the court yard.  Inside they actually have all the different people from royal past buried there.  Imagine the look on my face when I realized I was stepping on memorial graves.  No one warned me about that part, but yet I found it incredibly fascinating.  I love the architecture here, and the cathedrals are beautiful with their stained glass and large ceilings.

A view before entering Windsor Castle…it's HUGE!

More Windsor and you can see the infamous toddler Isabella being held by both parents. Teehee

Entering Windsor Castle

One of the main towers at Windsor Castle

Entering into the apartments of Windsor

A view of the side of the tower. There was a beautiful garden and waterfall.

loved this horse statue in the middle of the Windsor court

More Windsor Castle views from inside the court yard

One of our final stops with mom was visiting the Queen of England’s home Buckingham Palace.  I remembered as a little girl watching this from the states, and being in awe.  Little did I know I was going to grow up, and live here some day.  I’ve included some pictures from that day as well down below.  The chuckle I have with my mom is she didn’t believe the guards were real people because they held still like manikins.  Too bad we were too late to see the changing of the guards to prove that they were real.  *giggle…snort….giggle

Yes, mom, they are "real live" people. They are not fake!

I took this shot of Buckingham Palace from the large statue across the street.

the gates of Buckingham Palace

The statue at the round about across the street from Buckingham Palace

Another angle of the statue at Buckingham Palace

After a really fast visit mom left back to South Korea.  It was very enjoyable.  She’s trying to get me to visit her next time, but I tease her that I really have a difficult time sitting on my knees to eat and I really don’t like my food to still have it’s face on when I’m eating.  Sorry, mom, don’t know if I’m quite ready to visit, but quite glad you came here.

I normally love to give, but I wasn’t taking care of myself.  I missed my walk in the park two days in a row, which is my reconnection with nature and higher self.  My body was grumbling at me, and others around seemed to be matching my irritation/out of balance feelings.  Not a good thing!

Yesterday, when I woke up I heard the words “wouldn’t it be a good day to do art today Shannon?”  Of course, I thought to myself “sure, just let me finish handling the many e-mails I have in my in-box.”  However, my computer stopped working, it simply froze and then threw my Internet addicted  bum to the streets.   Oh, I started to growl, scoul, and hiss “Stupid #$)#*$ computer!  WTH is wrong with you?”  Just then I heard again “perhaps doing some art would help you unwind” in my head.   Damn it, was it my guides helping me out again, knowing that I needed a break from work and needed to recharge?

I got out a picture of a cat, and started to draw it, and then watercolor it.  When I figured I was through, I put the art down and attempted to get back on the Internet.  Now, the router wasn’t even registering on my computer.  Basically, it was non existent to my computer.  Again, I grumbled about how I couldn’t do the work (I’m stubborn at times to the signs my guides give me).   I heard again “perhaps more art is in order.”  So, I grabbed my notebook, and once again started to draw, paint, and felt my body start to relax.

Finally, after feeling a little bit more refreshed, I attempted to get back on my computer, and magically everything was back to normal.  Amazingly errie and surreal if you ask me.

Now, back to this morning…I was out of sorts yet again as I was attempting to do all the e-mail returns and prepare for other work pieces.  My body was grumpy, and saying “I don’t wanna!” like a cranky 3 year old who is dragged to the store during nap time.   Again, my computer acted up, and other frustrations occurred so I decided to give my inner grumpy 3 year old a time out.

I set foot on my Nike’s not knowing where I was going to head, or what I was going to do, but I did know that I needed something to help bring some well needed balance before my inner 3 year old bit someone or threw a big unnecessary temper tantrum.

As I was walking down the road rather abruptly I heard “wouldn’t a movie be nice today?”  Ooooooh!  I hadn’t been to a movie theater ever here in London, and did think that it would be refreshing.  However, the only movie theater I could think of was in Western London.  So, I decided to travel there.  I didn’t know what I was going to see, or what time it was on.  However, I did choose to follow my intuition.

When I finally arrived 18 stops later in western London, I got off at the Underground and started up the escalators.   Today, as I was going up them I read the signs that were on the wall.  They were incredibly profound.  They read “Like is mediocre and watered down love.” “Do what you love!” and “Love what you do!”  For some reason, these words which are ads for Blackberry over here really hit me profoundly.  No, sorry Blackberry I did not want to go out and get your new phone, but you did manage to stir up some rather intense emotional feelings inside.

After getting my inner love all stirred up I walked out of the Underground, and was greeted by some passionate rapping Jesus promoters in the street.  They were singing about Jesus saving, and if you don’t accept you’re going to go to hell.  It’s funny, because a few years ago I was would have scoffed at these people thinking “Keep your preaching to yourself, and allow everyone else to have their own spiritual path.”  However, today I was enjoying the beat, and was reflecting how this was their passion and they were loving what they do.

This is It was a wonderful movie to watch!

I just smiled as I entered the movie theater across the street having zero clue as to the time.  I watched people buy tickets from the machine in front, and followed suit.  I’m getting really good at watching others do things first before attempting myself.  As it was my turn I pushed the button, and saw that there was a 1:30pm showing of Michael Jackson’s This is It movie.  Well, I didn’t know much about this, but something told me this would be an excellent movie to go see.

I grabbed my ticket still not even sure how close it was until 1:30pm, and headed up the escalators to the theater.  I saw the snack stand, and immediately had a hankering for some popcorn.  As I ordered my savory snacks I noticed the time on the digital clock above saying it was 13:39 which meant it was 1:39pm.  Oh, that meant my movie had already began.  I didn’t freak out.  I simply went with the flow, paid for my snacks and headed for movie theater 5 to watch my movie.

I had amazing timing!  The moment I sat down into my perfect isle seat the movie started right on cue.  It was as if everything was divinely orchestrated just for me.   Goosebumps, tears, foot tapping, and smiles emerged as I watched Michael’s final debut on the wide screen.  This man lived a very amazing life.  His music moved so many people, and connected so many generations/cultures.

One thing is for sure Michael is proof of someone who loved what he did.  He was passionate, and we reaped the benefits of all his hard work and tenacity.  This movie was inspiring to me.  I loved watching the interviews of the dancers and musicians who were able to live out their passion and dream with Michael.  It is such a huge reminder to “love what you do!”   At the end of the film they even end it with his famous looking up towards the heavens, arms wide open, and we are left knowing for sure that he lived his life demonstrating that love through his music!

When you hear the words from Michael saying “This is it” for the London tour, it just makes you think how he had an inner knowingness that he was going home.  I am reminded of my sons uncle who called 2 weeks prior to his death saying that he was going to leave his house and property to my boys.  He never had any children, and felt mine were like his.  He had zero clue in the physical form that he was going back home to the other side in just 2 weeks.  Much like Michael didn’t know that his “This is It” statement was so profound.

Yep, today was one of those wonderful days where you remember to take care of  yourself, and you take life inventory asking yourself “Am I doing what I love to do?  Or is it just watered down in the form of mediocre like?”  Life is too short to settle for anything less than passion and love!   Like I say on my radio show “Until next week…Go out and create more joy!”

My Unwinged Angel

Tonight’s blog is going to be short and sweet, but I just had to take the time to say thank you to the unwinged angel that I ran into at Henry’s Cafe while my mom was visiting on her last day here with me.

I’ve taken a picture of him eating his chips, talking on his cell and sipping his wine.  This gentleman in the picture overheard my mom talking to the barkeep at the bar asking if they had any aspirin, because her daughter had a really bad headache.  Unfortunately, it is against company policy to distribute any forms of medication, so there was nothing the bar keep could do.  My mom came back to the table saying “Sorry, drink more water maybe that will help.”

As I sat down with a pounding headache, sipping water, this gentleman in the photo came out of no where and sat down a box of aspirin right in front of me. After over hearing my mom, he decided to go down the road to the nearest chemist (pharmacy) and purchase this box of aspirin.  The gift made my eyes water, and I was incredibly grateful.  I was especially grateful 30 minutes later after the aspirin dulled my pain, so I was able to enjoy my mom’s visit even more.  I was able to laugh at her silly jokes.

So, I hold up my virtual glass of wine and toast you “Mr. Unwinged Angel” for so lovingly assisting a gal you’ve never met.  Thank you for that random act of kindness. It felt incredibly wonderful to receive from such a generous Spirit!