Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 12 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Tina M Games whose book Journaling by the Moonlight: A Mother's Path to Self-Discovery (and its accompanying deck of 54 journaling prompt cards) is celebrating its 1st birthday on Amazon on Tuesday May 3, 2011.
Author Tina M Games is a certified creativity and life purpose coach. She calls herself the "Moonlight Muse" for women who want to tap into the "full moon within" and claim their authentic self, both personally and professionally. Through her signature coaching programs, based on the phases of the moon, Tina gently guides women from darkness to light as they create an authentic vision filled with purpose, passion and creative expression.
Yesterday, Tina visited Debra Simpson at Syndicating Your Content where she answered about why write this book, journaling process leading to the book, discoveries and what she hopes people will take away after reading.
Today, I'd like to share with you a recent interview I had with Tina when I got to ask her some questions on how this idea took shape, astrology’s role, tapping into intuition and thoughts on living an authentic life. I hope you enjoy it.
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Tina M Games: Thank you, Dawn, for your interest in my book, Journaling by the Moonlight: A Mother's Path to Self-Discovery and its accompanying deck of 54 journaling prompt cards.
I believe that mothers are a significant part of the "ripple effect" - that will transform the world into a more loving, more nurturing place. Imagine for a moment a "pebble thrown into a pond." It creates a ripple that goes on and on and on.
When a mother is living life with complete authenticity, she's subconsciously giving permission for her kids to do the same. She's truly at her best - creating powerful change for her family, her community, and for the world at large. It's all part of "the ripple."
It's my belief that "a happy mother makes the best mother" - and our kids really do want to see their moms happy!
Dawn Espelage: Tina, when did the idea for Journaling by the Moonlight begin to take shape?
Tina M Games: Shortly after the birth of my first child, and after making some fairly significant life changes at the same time, I fell into depression - a place that felt so foreign to me, a place where I felt like I had fallen into a black hole with no way out. It was during this time, a period that spanned over two years that I had disconnected from everything that made me happy. Because my son suffered from chronic illnesses related to serious colds and severe ear infections, I made a very difficult choice to give up a successful career in order to care for my son full-time. I hadn't realized until this experience how much of my identity was tied into my career. I really enjoyed working. And without that opportunity in my life, I felt very lost and very unhappy.
It was during this time that I fell back on a great passion of mine - journal writing. And as a mom of a baby who did not have a normal sleep schedule, I found myself exhausted and emotional much of the time. So night after night, after I'd get my son settled and after my husband went to bed, I'd grab my journal and retreat to my favorite chair - beside a big bay window where I caught a glimpse of the moon. It was the moon that taught me the meaning of transition. I'd watch this beautiful lunar goddess, night after night, move in and out of her various phases. And before long, I began to connect her phases with my own emotional tides.
I noticed that the moon always began in darkness and gradually, she'd move into full light - and cycle back around again. And I noticed the contrast between dark and light - the darkness of the night sky against the beautiful full moon light. I started connecting to this - as if I was being divinely guided through my own transitions of dark and light. I began to notice the ebbs and flows of my emotions. There were good days and bad days.
And then one day, several years later, I had an ah-ha. After several conversations with my own mother and other mothers whom I had encountered along the way, I began to wonder, "Are there other moms out there who may be having a similar experience?"
I decided to create two focus groups of mothers where we could have honest discussions about motherhood, careers, and life purpose - and how they all fit together. These dialogues eventually led to a series of articles and then to the creation of my coaching practice - where I could work with moms on a deeper level.
This is when I decided to write my book. I wanted mothers to realize that every human transition begins in darkness and gradually moves into light, where we get a glimpse of what is possible. And then we retreat, to ponder the many ways we can manifest these possibilities into reality. This requires deep work, where we step into our own truth and into our own power - and where we can emerge in the most authentic way possible. This is what I call the Blue Moon phase - when we finally realize that we are here on this Earth to be WHO we are, to put our personal thumbprint on the world in the most truthful, most authentic, most unique way possible. Each one of us are individuals being divinely guided on our own purposeful path.
Dawn Espelage: How does astrology play a role in the work that you do?
Tina M Games: In astrology, the moon represents our emotional nature. It also shows the type of relationship a woman may have with her own mother as well as the type of mother she may be herself (her style, her demeanor, her strengths, her weaknesses).
Wherever the moon shows up in an astrology chart is an indicator of where we might have the strongest emotional ties. For example, if a moon shows up in the 1st house (the house of self), we will have strong emotions when it comes to how we perceive ourselves - our appearance, our body image, how others may feel about us. And the astrological sign of the moon (the zodiac sign) sheds light on how that emotion will play out.
Many of us aren't aware of our emotional patterns until someone points them out. Astrology offers insight based on the astrological sign and the astrological house - and helps a woman better understand her emotional nature and how best to manage it in a way that most benefits her.
Whenever I work with a client around her mothering patterns, I look at the moon in her astrology chart and guide her from there - looking at what's natural for her and what she might need to do if she wants to make some adjustments. And if necessary, I look at the moon signs of her children to see how they naturally receive her on an emotional level.
Dawn Espelage: Intuition also plays a strong role in your life. How do you tap fully into that?
Tina M Games: Intuition is our "divine channel of wisdom." It always knows best. And when we listen to it, we can't go wrong. It feeds a mother's soul with the right messages for her children - and it feeds her soul with the right messages for herself. And when we can be fully open to it, it always gives us the answers we need. When we doubt it, even in the smallest of ways, we can be thrown off track - sometimes in a very painful way.
This is where journal writing can help. We can ask ourselves the deep, thought-provoking questions and we can listen for the answers, allowing them to feed through us. We are all divinely guided - and when we are willing to ask the questions and when we are open to receiving the answers, we can travel a more purposeful, more authentic path.
In my case, I knew what was best for my son - and at the same time, I knew what was best for me. And I knew in a pivotal moment of my life story, that the two were not the same. But I didn't fully listen to my intuition. I only listened to part of it. I let guilt take over.
Looking back at that time in my life, my intuition was screaming, "You can give your child what he needs and you can give yourself what you need. There are ways it can be done." But guilt consumed me, and I gave in to what my son needed - and in a sense, I was telling myself, "You don't matter." While my son's needs were met, mine were not. And this resulted in depression.
What I learned from this experience was - a mother really does know best. She knows what's best for her child - and she knows what's best for herself - IF she really listens and follows her gut instincts.
Dawn Espelage: Any last thoughts about living an authentic life?
Tina M Games: Wouldn't the world be a much better place if we were all following our hearts? If we could truly live life with passion and purpose, everything would have a richer and deeper meaning. It would create a ripple of positive and loving energy that could literally heal the world.
I believe that mothers are a significant part of the "ripple effect" - that will transform the world into a more loving, more nurturing place. Imagine for a moment a "pebble thrown into a pond." It creates a ripple that goes on and on and on.
When a mother is living life with complete authenticity, she's subconsciously giving permission for her kids to do the same. She's truly at her best - creating powerful change for her family, her community, and for the world at large. It's all part of "the ripple." And if our children could live life in a way that honors who they really are, it would make the ripple even bigger because they would touch lives in a positive way, too - just by living authentically.
Because moms are natural role models, our kids are observing all the time. There's a lot of truth in the saying, "Monkey see, monkey do." In other words, when a mom is modelling the value of following her heart, her kids "get it" - much more than they would if she was just saying it. Kids feel energy. They know when a person is happy and when they're not. So why not be happy - and let the ripple flow?
Self-empowerment is a beautiful thing!
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I hope you enjoyed this interview with Tina M Games and that you’ll check out her book and card deck Journaling by the Moonlight: A Mother's Path to Self-Discovery this month at Moonlight Moms Circle
Here's why:
FREE 3-DAY PASS
When you visit the page at the link above and request a "launch reminder", you will automatically receive a FREE pass to Tina's 3-day "I’m a Mom… But Who Am I Really? Telesummit" with 11 creative writing moms and grandmothers speaking on how to use intuition, journaling and creativity to explore life purpose. You can listen to the telesummit online in the comfort of your own home, and even ask questions during the broadcast.
This telesummit is a completely free "no purchase necessary"
gift from Tina, to celebrate the 1st birthday of her book.
FREE GIFTS
When you buy Tina's book or the card deck during its birthday celebration on Tuesday May 3, 2011, you can ALSO receive a complete library of beautiful personal development gifts from authors, speakers, coaches and other enlightened professionals from around the globe including one from me…
Treasure Chest - An e-Guidebook
along with another e-Guidebook ~ May Queen Musings
To claim your 3-Day Pass and read about the free gifts, go to: http://moonlightmomscircle.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html
Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.
AND… be sure to follow Tina tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is Pat Montgomery who will be interviewing Tina on importance for kids to follow their heart, journaling importance for moms, moon in our lives and Tina’s on learning lesson. To visit that "stop" on the tour, go to http://www.parentsrulewithpat.blogspot.com/
