United Colours of Design • Red Edition • April 2021

WARNING: This may be a bit woo woo for some, but I know if you’re reading this, you’re one of us. A Rainbow Warrior

This magazine was not created as simply something pretty to look at, although I think it is. It was not born just to give you industry tips, although there are many. It’s not even here to help you grow and expand your creative business, but it will. It was created to show those that choose to read it, that colour goes so much deeper than what we learned in school.

My secret is this magazine was created to take you on a colour journey with me (because a journey is always better with friends)! Along the way, it is my hope that we all learn more about how to take charge of our own spiritual healing through the gentle rays of colour. And in so doing, the industry tips included on these pages will be of service. It’s through this exploration of colour that the business advice will soak into your DNA and alter limiting patterns. It’s through the energy of light, that you will be inspired to create and collaborate with other Rainbow Warriors on this planet!

This path is not an easy one. We throw our fragile hearts out on the proverbial table every day with our designs and art forms. We open ourselves up to criticism and public opinion like no other profession does. So why do we do it? What gives us the ability to be judged over and over and still wake up wanting to create more? I believe we do it because we are dancing with a partner that has our backs. Colour.

Colour fuels us, colour protects us, colour empowers us. We have the ability to enrage one person and enlighten another with the same creation. We can attract a potential client or repel them. We can walk in a room and be the centre of attention or we can hide in plane view, all with our choice of colour.

Colour is a mirror. Picture this, you get up and you’re in a fabulous mood and you choose your favourite colour to wear — a gorgeous red dress. You feel amazing and are energized by the brightness of your outfit. Now imagine you meet your BFF for lunch and after your hugs hello you notice they are a bit ‘off ’. Your passionate red hues may be triggering a possible money issue, or maybe they just had a fight at home and your red dress has now become a mirror they are facing head on, hence their ‘offness’

I never gave much thought to how the colour of my clothes was affecting those around me. I would wear what I want to wear, not really understanding the messages I was saying about myself or what I was triggering in others. I only became conscious of how colour works when I began to study with the Colour Mirrors system in 2016.

I was attending a conference in Toronto, Canada and I was drawn, like a moth to a flame, to a booth with a wall of coloured bottles and a woman with an accent I couldn’t quite place. I heard her say the bottles were part of a dynamic energy system called Colour Mirrors, created through Melissie Jolly out of South Africa.

She had me at coloured bottles!

I have spent the last 5 years completely immersed and enamoured with the lessons Colour Mirrors has to offer. There is colour, light, energy, numerology, astrology, past life connections, scent and so much more packed into each coloured bottle. For the first couple of years I studied for my own personal healing. I faced shadows head on, I was open to seeing where my blocks were and began, colour by colour, working through my own shit. Essentially, spiritual Olympian comes to mind when I think of all the healing and mirror facing I have done lol!

But here’s where things get JUICY!!

In late 2018 I was at a networking event, and as networking events go I was wondering around answering the “What do you do?” question with “I’m a graphic designer”. Again and again the response would be, “Oh that’s great, my cousin is a designer” (or my sister/brother/neighbour is a designer). Since I could not compete with someone’s sister or cousin I would walk away feeling defeated.

Near the end of the night I decided to answer the same question with “I am the only designer on the planet who incorporates your soul colours into your brand story” and BOOM! Suddenly I saw a jaw drop. Suddenly I had their attention. And when I told them they could take my colour report (mental note: add ‘create colour report’ to my do do list asap) to their own designer if they like, they were hooked!

Since then I made a promise that I would only work with clients who are interested in more than a quick logo or book cover. I work with people who want to know, understand, be inspired and make use of their soul colours when creating their brand story. It’s what makes me unique, it’s what sets me on fire, it’s why I’m here on this planet at the time of mass global awakening. If we don’t add some soul into our business, our business won’t survive. You’ve heard the saying “We buy the why.” Essentially your why is inspired by your soul’s purpose and your soul’s purpose can be revealed through colour and numerology.

I’m not telling you this to sell my services, I’m telling you this because this shift in my business was the catalyst for this magazine. I want you to be inspired by the stories hidden in colour and then use this information to consciously create, consciously serve, consciously do business.

In choosing to do a magazine about colour and it’s psychology, it means that I, and those who choose to read, write for, or advertise in, are entering into an intimate relationship with each colour. We are all impacted by the edition in both the positive aspects and the healing properties of each colour.

Don’t believe that even though you had no idea I was creating this, you were also going through the process with me? Check this out:

Prior to and during the creation of the first edition (Black, July – October 2020) I was taken into my own dark night of the soul. What will I do to survive during this pandemic? Am I too old to start something new? Will people want to read such a magazine? Can I support the creative community in a positive way?

The pull to keep going was stronger than the fear to stop. Think of the timeline above (July to October of last year) were you afraid? Were you rethinking your career? Did you go into a dark place? On the other side of that dark place, was there inspiration found? Did you start something new? Were you pushed by your fear to create? This is all a black story and we went through it together!

Again, as I and the columnists were busy creating the second Copper edition (November 2020 – January 2021) see if any of these aspects applied to you. Had you had enough of the world being put on hold? Were you ready to get clear on your ideas born in the dark? If you were laid off were you looking to finally do something that served your soul? Did you engage the services of a coach or teacher? Or perhaps you were hiding, depressed, not feeling safe on this planet? I was beginning to understand that this magazine was going to be a real thing! That people did want to read it and be a part of it and if that was the case I had better get clear on what it was going to be. I used our copper spritzer throughout the entire production schedule to ensure that I was grounded and kept my focus. There are tools to support you as you walk this path with me! Just ask 🙂

Now we’re here with Red and boy o boy it’s been an action packed ride. I wonder what this last 3 months has been like for you. Let’s see if we’re still on the same colour path!

Red is first of our lower chakras and together with the sacral and solar plexes they hold a lot of the human issues that we spend our lives working through. Everything that it means to be human spins around in these energy centres. Money issues, family issues, confidence, physical energy, wealth, drive, ambition, greed, sacrifice, pain struggle all live in the colour red. Over the last 3 months I have definitely struggled with money issues, family issues and my body has not been co-operating! All these are my shadows popping out to see if I’m really serious about this project. I’ve used red to support me over the last 3 months. I’ve worn red, eaten red food, sprayed and bathed in red bottles. I have faced red and made friends with it. Have your shadows come into play to stop you from taking action on a new project? Have they tested you to see if you’d be thrown off track?

Every columnist who writes for this magazine is given a brief on what each colour means and how they can relate the colour to their expertise. Many of them are Colour Mirrors practitioners or teachers like myself and are here to support you no matter where you are on the rainbow path.

Red is not easy to categorize. It has carried many different meanings across cultures and periods in history. From the bright scarlet of vermilion to the cool crimson of a carmine lake, its history is as varied and bold as the colour itself.

colour of blood, it has historically been associated with sacrifice, violence, and courage. In Roman mythology, it was the colour of Mars, the God of War. Roman soldiers wore red tunics, their generals wore scarlet cloaks, and they celebrated victories by painting their bodies entirely in red. Earlier, Egyptians coloured themselves with red ochre during celebrations, as did many ancient cultures, including the Indigenous people of Australia.

“ Royal Readheads”

during celebrations, as did many ancient cultures, including the Indigenous people of Australia. But red can also signify charity, fertility, and love. Brides in Ancient Rome wore a red shawl, Chinese brides wear red wedding gowns, and in Greece and other Balkan nations, brides still wear red veils. In many Asian countries, red is the colour of good fortune and happiness.

For better or worse, red hair seems to increasingly receive attention in contemporary society. With many events and products specifically catering to redheads being introduced every year, including Redhead Day UK in London and the Irish Redhead Convention, it is hard to ignore redheads these days.

Red hair was a symbol of royalty in ancient times or a witchcraft sign during the Inquisition times. All because natural red hair is the rarest hair colour in the world, only occurring in 1 to 2 percent of the global population. Since red hair is a recessive genetic trait, it is necessary for both parents to carry the gene, whether or not they themselves are redheaded.

While redheads are found around the world (yes, even in Africa and Asia), they are primarily located in the northern and western fringes of Europe, especially Ireland and Scotland. Regardless of ethnic heritage, redheads tend to have fair skin that is much lighter than the skin of non-redheads.

Did you know?

• Redheads are more sensitive to pain and need more anesthetic than people with other hair colours because the mutation that causes red hair also affects their pain perception.
• They have more sex than blondes or brunettes. “The sex lives of women with red hair were clearly more active than those with other hair colours, with more partners and having sex more often than the average,” Hamburg sex researcher Professor Werner Habermehl told the Daily Mail, after leading a survey of 6,000 German women through the Hamburg Medical Research Institute in Germany.
• Redheads most commonly have brown eyes. The least common eye colour: blue, so red hair and blue eyes are the rarest hair and eye colour combination in the world.
• They won’t go gray. One of the many facts about redheads is that their hair will never turns gray. The pigment in their hair that causes it to be red will just fade over time, causing their hair to turn blonde or white, but never gray.
• Redheads have less hair. People without red hair have about 140,000 strands of hair, while people with red hair have only 90,000. But red hair tends to be thicker, so it looks just as full.
• Having red hair isn’t the only thing that makes some redheads unique. They are also more likely to be left-handed. Both characteristics come from recessive genes, which like to come in pairs.
• Bees have been proven to be more attracted to redheads

Everyone should try red hair at least once – colour or a wig. Try it for yourself to see how it feels to be so different and stand out like our favorite redhead icons – Nicole Kidman, Lucille Ball, Christina Hendricks, or even cartoon characters like The Little Mermaid or Jessica Rabbit.

Perceptions of redheads possibly fluctuated over time, just like today. Either way, we can safely state that redheads drew a lot of attention in ancient times, and they probably always will. Our rare redheads will always be noticed! Stay beautiful! xo xo Anastasia Kravtsova

In this third issue of UCoD, we meet our first Primary colour, Red. A primary colour is one that cannot be truly made out of combining any other colours together. There are variations of red, but true red stands alone with blue and yellow as ancient visual markers that have been observed, used, and interpreted for millennia across the globe.

Red is something that transcends time; it is practically primordial. It is in our genes as humans to revere it, to be attracted to it and also to fear it. The most intense of the primary colours, red evokes some of our most basic natural reactions and responses. Red can raise our blood pressure, heighten desire, caution our actions or even make us feel more powerful and more confident. It is no wonder that red is used so often in so many different commonplace aspects of our lives, red is often perceived as the colour of life.

Due to its bevy of meanings and interpretations, the positive aspects of red sometimes fall to the wayside with more focus on the “negative”. Whether good or bad, the innate power of red is undeniable, and can and should be harnessed by makeup artists to properly educate and serve our clients.

There is nothing, NOTHING, like a red lip. The bad rap of a red lip being “too aggressive” “too bold” or simply “too much” to be feminine is utter balderdash. The integral sensuality and attraction that is instantly commanded by a perfectly applied red lipstick is a force of nature, human nature, and is the core of femininity and sexuality as a whole for all genders and orientations. Red’s ability to increase the heart rate of the viewer, to emit an air of passion and romance, to alert others of the wearer’s power, while giving the wearer a boost of confidence are all amazing, positive effects that can be harnessed when placed with a balanced makeup look.

“A red lip is like a diamond tiara.  You either want to wear it everywhere or you keep it at home not knowing what the heck to do with it.”

Depending on your client’s make up purpose, you may find a variation of red to be a suitable choice, while also taking into consideration their unique skin colour and undertone. A cooler bright cherry red or warmer scarlet can be youthful, energizing, and playful on the correct skin tones. Fire-engine red with stronger orange hues is cutting edge and fashion forward. For a more sophisticated or thoughtful look, reds with larger hints of blues and purples like maroon and burgundy make the perfect colours for headshots and formal occasions. For a Bride or a new CEO, a true red lets others know that they are running the show. And let’s face it, sometimes our clients need a little extra help in the confidence department! If not for that, what are we really there for?

A red lip is like a diamond tiara. You either want to wear it everywhere or you keep it at home not knowing what the heck to do with it. Marilyn Monroe was famous for her porcelain skin, ruby red lips and sultry bedroom eyes framed by look at me jet black liner and the softest crease-work. Conversely, stars like Angelina Jolie have been seen pairing their red lips with blown out, smoky eyes that capture attention and don’t let you go. They key is in the balance.

Styling your client appropriately depends on what they need the make up for and then the other details like outfit colour scheme, comfort-level with makeup etc. comes into play when determining the parameters of balance. Balance for classic Western bridal make up for example is going to differ greatly from balance of make up for an art director hosting an opening gala. More or less creativity on the part of the artist is given with each purpose of the makeup, and what is appropriate for the client to exhibit.

Taking an account of these factors separates you from being an artist and being a professional make up vendor. We are all creators, creating for a purpose is what we are hired for.

One Bride, two looks. Look at the difference of this client’s perceived personality when we changed her morning fuchsia look to her evening floral look. Both dramatic and eye-catching, the deeper toned red lip paired with the black and glitter eye gives this Bride an air of regal sophistication while also a fun twist that is reception ready to shimmer in the strobe lights.

Our looks are our name card. Whether we like it or not, you first judge how nice, then you judge how wise. If you have a date, interview, or social media live stream, you should look your best. Our clothes tell others about who we are, our temper, job, hobby, social status, etc. Clothes help us shape our image, and bring out certain emotions from other people. Thus, if you are willing to show the world your confidence, power, and sex appeal, choose red! Shades of red are perfect for those who are no afraid to show their emotions; they are positively oriented and feel happy. Plus, this colour is liked by leaders.

“It’s time to take control of your wardrobe”

Male political leaders use red elements in their image, e.g., a tie, to demonstrate their power. Dark shades of red are the best for a business wardrobe. The beauty and richness of such intense colours as burgundy, ruby, and pomegranate make business-style clothing and accessories respectable and meaningful. Those shades speak about the ability to make decisions which is considered to be one of the most critical business skills.

An abundance of red can cause fatigue and irritation. For this reason, never choose red clothes if you have a business appointment or a first date.

The red colour suits everybody; you just need to find the shade that will harmoniously flatter your natural beauty. Look at your complexion, eye, and hair colour to understand whether you need a cool or a warm shade. If you are a bit afraid that the red colour might increase the redness of your face, avoid red tops. But you can wear a red belt, gloves, or a bag. Famous women tend to wear red shoes for parties and special events to exhibit their confidence.

A combination of bright colours and red creates a colour block. They are confident, sustainable, and avantgarde combinations. Bright red mixed with the dark colours looks outstanding. The dark colours serve as a background for red in this pattern. Black enhances the richness and expressiveness of the red shades. This is the trick I used in my outfit, which you can see in the photo.

What about the combination of bright red with other colours? Delicate light colours get outplayed by bright shades of red. Such colour combinations are unattractive.

Black can be successfully replaced by dark or burgundy reds. They make your body look slimmer, but these gorgeous shades do not work well with black. You can create a more attractive combination using chocolate brown, red, olive, forest greens, cream, and blue. Mature women should avoid intense, dark, and bright colours that might put them at a disadvantage.

Remember about red underwear! If a dress-code doesn’t allow this active colour in your look, you can hide your secret weapon underneath. A social experiment revealed that women wearing red lingerie performed better in an interview. Those women felt more confident, strong-willed, and stress-resistant.

If you don’t fancy looking provocative, you can experiment with colours gradually, starting with wearing red accessories. You can try shoes, gloves, a scarf, a bag, or a hat. Men might like a tie or a pocket square. After a while, you can add to your collection with a wider range of red items. You needn’t worry about what colours go with red. If you choose warm and cool balanced classic red, it will work well with other colours of your outfit.

The colour of Ferrari’s Rosso Corsa sports car is a good example of a popular red hue, where warm yellow and cool blue are perfectly balanced. Other colours can help you tone down red. Achromatic colours work best in this case. The achromatic colours are gray, white, and black. You cannot mess up with them as well as with blue that always balances the colours of your outfit. It should be taken into account that red can emphasize your flaws. It means you should avoid wearing red on your weak parts, especially be careful with stretchy fabric and tight clothes. To best effect, wear red on your strong parts.

Red represents the fire of love! Women in red radiate a passionate and sexual vibe. Reddish skin is thought to be evidence of good blood circulation, health, and physical condition. Excitement increases blood flow, and the skin becomes flushed. For this reason, we link similar signs to a particular clothes colour. Men find ladies in red sexual and powerful and even dedicate songs to them.

Thus, a red outfit helps you stir passion, amp up sexuality, and hint at more intimacy in relationships with your partner. However, red suggests not only sexual excitement but also an anger rush. When a person gets angry, their heartbeat and blood pressure increase and the skin becomes red. If you are, for this reason, a bit afraid of provoking negative emotions, smooth and soft silhouettes will help you avoid it. Choose oval, round, and smooth lines avoiding straight and sharp ones.

Knowing the rules of how to shape other people’s impressions makes you the controller and a master of your life. Run your clothes if you don’t want to be run by them. Let a red outfit bring you the desired willpower, longing, and passion for life!

Until you feel emotionally safe in public, marketing your business online may trigger your nervous system, over and over again.

Our need for safety and security drives our subconscious and conscious mind with every decision we make. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physical safety is one of our top priorities. But what about emotional safety?

Red is the colour of our Root Chakra, the energy center located at the base of our spine. It is responsible for our primal need of physical and emotional safety and security.

As our collective consciousness evolves, our emotional security is arguably just as important: feeling grounded in who you are, what you stand for, and how you show up in the world- ESPECIALLY when your business is your livelihood. Your connection to your truth is the foundation for your messaging, marketing and visibility on social media.

In primitive days, our survival instincts would kick in if we felt threatened or if we were being chased by a saber-toothed tiger. Fight or flight. The fear of rejection and public criticism as we post on social media is our modern day saber-toothed tiger.

This is because our inner safety and self worth are so intricately linked to our sense of belonging. And if we have a different opinion, teaching or viewpoint or go against the grain, we risk being eaten by the tiger, so to speak.

So, how do we create emotional safety around our ability to show up?

Truth be told, this internal safety comes from YOU.

When you keep outsourcing your sense of confidence and self worth to how OTHERS perceive you, how many likes or comments you get, you stay in an emotional dance of the triggered nervous system. (and this waters down your message, which in turn attracts the wrong people.) To create your own emotional safety, you must feel GOOD with yourself and the content you create, regardless of how it’s received – criticism or accolades included.

2020 propelled a lot of people forward in stepping up and voicing their opinions publicly and starting new businesses or taking their existing businesses online. Our voice is our most powerful yet vulnerable asset.

The visibility paradox is real. “I want to be seen” and “I fear being seen”. I see it time and time again with my clients, and as I’ve experienced it myself.

Every time we reveal a part of ourselves, our stories, our teachings, our opinions online…there’s a little voice inside of us that thinks “what will people think?!” (Yes, even the most successful + visible entrepreneurs feel this way too.)

WHAT’S MY VOICE?

Speaking of the Root Chakra, let’s get to the root of your visibility fear:

It’s not really about finding your voice. It’s about figuring out WHY you stopped using it!

Can you think of a time that you were ridiculed for speaking up? Made to feel ashamed for knowing the answer or getting a starring role, or a time you were mocked for being you? Maybe your parents didn’t express their love in the way you needed, you were ignored or bullied growing up or had a critical parent. What is your earliest memory where you didn’t feel safe to be yourself? From the visibility memories, identify the core belief that limits you or keeps you stuck. Flip it! What do you need to believe instead?

CORE WOUNDED BELIEF:

“No one cares about what I have to say.”

NEW EMPOWERED BELIEF:

“When I speak, everyone listens.”

The Visibility Paradox is this feeling of wanting to be seen, yet feeling invisible, and also that everyone is judging you too.

Your brain cannot hold two conflicting beliefs.

It’s the conflicting beliefs that you are both completely invisible to everyone around you, and that you are ALSO being watched and judged at all times. Your subconscious belief will override your conscious belief.

“The fear of rejection and public criticism as we post on social media is our modern day sabre-toothed tiger.”

The solution? A new belief.

“I am seen and appreciated by all the right people at all times for all the right reasons.”

Your brain will naturally look for evidence to confirm your beliefs. Start looking for evidence that people love and appreciate you!

Once you are grounded in your truth and have cultivated the self trust and confidence to put yourself out there, in comes the ART of communication! This is where RED passion and magnetism comes in.

When you’ve mastered your visibility, made peace with vulnerability and can show up authentically sharing your story, teaching, medicine or wisdom with the world, you will naturally seduce the right people to you! (and of course, you won’t be phased by those who don’t resonate because you’re strong enough to not take it personally!)

Speaking your truth publicly requires the tools, not just the pep talk. Your own emotional intelligence and self awareness are part of those tools that will equip you to fearlessly market your business consistently. When you feel emotionally safe, you can truly tap into your red passionate magnetism, abundance and earning potential! Your emotional safety lays the foundation to build a strong financial foundation as you grow your business, mission or art!

So, let’s get visible! Visible! *Insert music*

2021 has been interesting. January continued with us working remotely and getting through a global pandemic, and then February came. February started to show that there was light at the end of this endless tunnel, but for me, that light burnt out very quickly. Super Bowl night (Feb 7th), I got a meeting invite from upper management of the company I work for. The subject of the meeting was ‘update’. I saw the invite early Monday morning and immediately felt a pit develop in my stomach.

I knew what it was. Meetings like this don’t happen, something was wrong. It turns out I was being let go.

Seven years of pushing the envelope and driving innovation all came crashing down. I was told that I don’t fit into the restructure and that my services were no longer needed. It was the typical bullshit that corporations throw at you without telling you the truth. So now what? What’s next? Where am I getting my income? Who is paying for the food on our table, the roof over our head? Everything went dark and panic set in.

Personally speaking, I was having a great year. I was working out daily, I was eating better and I was spending more time with my family. I’ve lost weight, felt positive, had some great projects on the go and things were looking up. So how do I keep this momentum, how do I keep this drive going? Honestly, I am not sure if I know.

The day after it happened I opened up my contacts and immediately shared what happened. Family, friends and professional contacts all reached out. Some had leads, some did not, but all had positive words to share. All words of positivity came shooting at me; “One door closes and another opens”, “There are better and brighter things for you” and so on. Some of my best friends, however, have yet to reach out. It’s amazing how events like this show you who has your back and who doesn’t. I believe those doors will open and that there is something better out there, but when will it happen?

I immediately jumped online and updated my resume. I hit all the socials and updated where I needed. My LinkedIn is up to date and I’m searching online job boards daily. Anything I can think of, I’ve done it. A few weeks have passed and so far there are tons of leads, but during a worldwide pandemic, options are scarce.

While on my hunt, an old friend reached out and we talked about what happened. He’s in the online world and offered some advice, as well as some web space free of charge. This was an amazing offer and given I haven’t spoken to him for at least 15 years, a total surprise. Now during my hunt for full-time work, I can focus my skills on refining my digital design skills, get some UI/UX design under my belt and get my name out there. Until now, I’ve been a solid print guy, but this will allow me to develop new skills in the digital world. It is growing daily, so it’s about time I hop on board and learn as much as I can about it and expand my knowledge. Honestly, frustration has been at an all-time high and most of it has been kept to me, but this has allowed me to have something else to focus on and positively use that energy. It’s given me a purpose to complete a site that allows me to show off my work and gain some customers through online channels. And who knows, I may be able to develop a new set of skills and gain some new clients along the way.

“They get their ass in gear, stay focused, don’t stop and don’t let other people take charge of their life.”

I don’t think I’ve come to the realization yet, but hopefully while reading this, it’s helped you realize that life can have some sharp curves in the road. It’s up to us to navigate through them and stay on track. Get your ass in gear, keep focused, don’t stop and don’t let people take charge of your life. Life has funny ways of telling you things sometimes, but it’s up to you to figure out what the message really is.

You are in charge of what is over the next hill, around the next corner and through the next door.

The day will come (soon I hope) when red roses are no longer reserved primarily for romantic gift-giving. It is 2021. Let’s look beyond the typical “man impresses woman on Valentine’s day with a dozen red roses”. Being in the floral industry for so long, and after watching decades of blockbuster romantic comedy films, it’s easy to see where the stereotypes are rooted, and in fact, are still perpetuated today.

Red evokes emotions far beyond romantic love. Red is energizing, stimulating, powerful, strengthening, courageous, radiant and motivating. These are prime reasons national flags incorporate red, or why so many businesses use red in their logos and product design. Celebrity red carpets and firetrucks use red to attract attention. It is also why so many people gravitate toward red clothing, red furniture and accessories, and even red brick homes or red cars. So knowing all this, what will it take to put stereotypes to rest when it comes to red roses and start choosing them during the other 364 days of the year? What will it take to redefine who can give and who can get red roses? Yes, red will always symbolize love, but from now on, every time you see a red rose, let it serve as a reminder to broaden your perspective to include: the strength of a friend, a passion for life, motivation for the next milestone, or even courage for self-love. Tell yourself is perfectly OK to include red roses in a gift for any of these situations. And yes, it is OK to treat yourself to red roses when it is your time for self-care.

“Let go of stereotypes, traditions or even ingrained childhood memories and try something new”

It is wise to think broadly about red roses. As a floral designer, aside from designing arrangements, an important aspect of my role is to encourage clients to think differently about the flowers they want and colours they pick. This is similar to the way interior designers or fashion designers use colour in innovative ways to break the current mold. The same opportunity exists for flowers – red roses in particular – if we allow ourselves to let go of stereotypes, traditions, or even ingrained childhood memories that ultimately limit our willingness to try new things.

When I had a flower shop, I nudged clients to incorporate red roses to communicate emotions other than to express love (like for thankyou gifts, hostess gifts, or sympathy and birthdays). My advice was sometimes met with a polite wince, as if I had suggested something unacceptable or risky. I’m not giving up though. One person at a time, I will continue to encourage anyone to incorporate red roses outside the status quo. You can too.

4 Basic business rules you must know before engaging a client in a virtual production

1. Virtual Expectations

We all have expectations of ourselves, and our virtual partners. The outcome can often be unpredictable even with the very best platforms and technology out there. So how can we minimize the damage and meet the client’s expectations?

You need to be emotionally intelligent as the decisions your clients are making are not necessarily educated and often apprehensive. Many in house, independent, corporate & meeting planners have not yet ventured into executing a virtual or hybrid event. They have no idea what the experience will be or how it will engage and entertain.

Clients tend to be more critical in the virtual world so as a virtual event professional you must be very clear on what the expectations are and how you will manage them. Ask your client what a successful event looks like?

Expectations like those being made at the corporate level vary from client to client but since COVID, began, every client requires an education.

Get rid of your fear of making mistakes and focus on co-creation with great partners who will make you look like a champion. Trust me on this, because I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly.

2. How Much Will it Cost?

The general perception is that virtual and hybrid events are more cost effective than physical events.

(I am not sure if that idea was coined before COVID or during COVID? If anyone reading this thought that you’re mistaken.) Physical venues, plane tickets, food service and live entertainment are on hold for the foreseeable future. However, virtual and hybrid events are here to stay and the options are just as expensive and in some cases more expensive than a live version.

There’s the platform cost, the tech team, the speakers, the videos, swag gifts and the most important part, the virtual event experts that you need to run the event seamlessly.

Virtual and hybrid events are being hosted in virtual venues, designed to create an exciting destination with plenty of tools for attendees to get involved. Talk to your event professional who will guide and help you to provide a realistic budget. Perception is reality.

Do not fear breaking the news to your boss or your client, they will find the funds once they understand the cost of a virtual production. Who knows in the future, you might be paying for it with bitcoin!

3. Content is QUEEN!

I know that I am spending far more time on screen now that my world has turned completely virtual, but I also know that to gain my attention it takes amazing visuals and great content to keep me in my seat.

The most important thing an event professional can offer is ‘Choice’! For example, enough break out rooms with a variety of content so that your client’s brand can tailor the experience to suit their personality. Making sure to offer sessions of varying lengths and lots of breaks to stretch, snack and network in between.

Having a blend of live and pre-recorded content is a must if you want the audience experience to be seamless. You must consider that if technical problems arise during a live recording, the pre-recorded content is a welcome fix during an unexpected circumstance.

Having a blend of live and pre-recorded content is a must if you want the audience experience to be seamless. You must consider that if technical problems arise during a live recording, the pre-recorded content is a welcome fix during an unexpected circumstance.

If your budget will allow, hiring a host or facilitator is important if that person has enough personality and energy to keep the audience engaged consistently. Your host will also serve as a virtual “guest services” letting attendees know where to go and when. If budget is not available, make sure your virtual signage is well curated by a graphic designer so that everyone watching knows what is happening and where to go at all times.

Having the tools like chat boxes, video rooms, polls and Q&A’s will automatically engage the participants and bring you the analytics that all clients expect

4. Glitches to be Expected

Why is being an event professional the sixth most stressful job in the universe? Because you need nerves of steel when you plan any event, whether its virtual, hybrid or live. As an event professional, we assume the risk that comes with the job. For example, bandwidth, signalling, audio and visuals, and the drama that comes with every event we do.

Successful virtual event management means planning for and preventing tech errors before they start. The first rule is, be very clear on how everyone logs in. A lot of platforms will only work on certain providers. Brief everyone not once, but twice before hand. Make 100% sure that everyone on your team knows where to find you on the day of, especially now that everyone is working remotely. Create a back-up plan. Remember that pre-recorded content? Make sure that your speakers and performers are working with stabilized WIFI.

Working with experienced experts can solve a lot of problems up front. It can make or break your event because they know how to resolve problems quickly.

There is nothing better than piece of mind. Happy client, happy life.

RED! Red means passion! It means unignorable, like a fire truck. It means urgent, fire truck again! Coincidentally my nickname in school was “Towering Inferno” (tall, red hair, lots of energy). So red is a colour I can relate to. After the many years since I started my business my hair is no longer red (I’m calling it strawberry blond) and nobody calls me Towering Inferno because thank goodness (I’m sure people think) I have calmed down a bit, but it’s not as if the fire has gone out. I’ve just got it under control. And figured out along my journey how to harness its energy for good. Let’s look at the fires of passion, being unignorable, and urgency as they relate to a career in photography.

“Remember that charging less than your worth is more likely to teach a client that they can expect great work for little money, than that your work has value.”

There is a lot of energy expended around the idea of finding your passion and then figuring out how to make money in its pursuit. But just because something is your “passion” doesn’t mean it’s a viable career choice. I think Stephanie Burns whose May 2019 Forbes article entitled “Why We Should All Stop Following Our Passion” might have it right. Maybe it is the other way around – passion follows, not we follow it – which is why the sooner you start on your 10,000 hour quest towards expertise the sooner you will find your passion. You create that passion by diving in, getting really good at something and feeling the deep satisfaction of being able to reliably and repeatedly create something excellent, while generating enough income to make a living, which will in turn allow you and your passion to continue to thrive. So how do we ensure our business is viable?

You need to be unignorable, have the confidence to really show up, to know your value and to charge what you are worth. Your career depends on it. And in fact so do the careers of your fellow photographers who depend on your doing what you can to maintain the value of our profession. Someone who can’t be ignored and knows her value as a professional negotiator and coach is Fotini Iconomopoulos who comes to mind partly because of her signature red wardrobe. Like Wonder Woman in her red cape Fotini is unapologetically confident and impossible to miss. As she says “If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else?” The tie in for photographers is of course not the wearing of red, but the power of confidence. Whether you are pushing your technical boundaries, or photographing your desert island movie star, or a grumpy, harried executive, remember that confidence begets confidence. So dig deep and fake it until you make it if you have to. The success of your shots will depend on your subjects feeling that they can trust you and can’t ignore you. That is how you get a great shot out of them. They look great, which makes you look great, which then pumps up your increasingly unpoppable (red) balloon of confidence.

A note re pricing: remember that charging less than your worth is more likely to teach a client that they can expect great work for little money, than that your work has value. When you suddenly raise your prices having taught them that they can find someone who will do it for less, just like you did, they may flee. So what do you charge when you are starting out? The advice I got was to charge the same fee as an experienced photographer. As it was explained to me, all low balling my quote would do is indicate to the client that they were getting someone worth less than the other guy.

The key to success is to consider a bunch of things “urgent”: continually growing professionally, figuring out and nurturing what sets you apart from every other photographer, and shouting it out to the world. All this ties into the skills you’ve developed while building your passion, and the confidence that comes from that. It is urgent that you do great work. It is urgent that you charge enough to make a living and make people understand why they should choose you instead of hiring the cheap guy. It is urgent that you be out in the world (as challenging as that is during the pandemic) because you can’t stumble across opportunities if you aren’t.

It is urgent that you pay attention to the market and what people want. The bottom line is that one could probably make a career out of being an ‘ok’ photographer who is great at business, but the most brilliant photographer likely won’t make it if they don’t embrace the urgency of being smart about their business.

When we think of red in gemstones and jewellery, Rubies come to mind. However, Rubies are not the only gemstones that come in red, in fact, many gemstones have different shades of red and might share similar chemical composition and only gemologists can differentiate between them. Rubies are very beautiful gemstones, sometimes tinged with purple, and the most valued colour is known as Pigeon blood red.

According to www. Galleriemagazine.com the highest priced ruby sold was by Cartier “The Sunrise Ruby” an extremely rare ruby and diamond ring weighing 25.59 carats sold at Sotheby’s for $30.3 million in 2015. Don’t be discouraged Ladies, not all Rubies are that expensive. Today many Rubies are heat treated to improve their colour and clarity. There are synthetic Rubies available too, but their value is a tiny fraction of the real ones.

A look alike gemstone to Rubies is called spinel. For many years, the exceptional largest Timor Ruby in the world centered in the Crown Jewel of Britain turned out to be a Spinel stone and not a Ruby!

It was only in the late 19th century that gemologists could make the difference between the two. It is understandable though as both stones share the similar chemical composition and hardness. Spinel is an affordable alternative. This gem has great wearability, too, and makes an excellent choice for an engagement ring. Traditionally, Rubies are recommended for your 40th anniversary, so hang in there ladies.

The pinkish red variety of Tourmaline also known as the modern October stone is Rubellite. The name has nothing to do with Ruby, but for those looking for a raspberry red engagement ring, These gems offer another affordable alternative to rubies. For those of you looking for the ultra-rare, you might be interested in red diamond. In fact, only a handful of red diamonds have ever been mined. Most of these weigh less than one carat, the world’s largest red diamond, the Moussaieff Red Diamond, weighs 5.11 carats. Because of their rarity, these diamonds have sky-high prices, too. Be prepared to pay six figures for less than a carat.

For a more affordable option, consider getting a diamond treated with high pressure/high temperature (HPHT) to change its colour. These stones have prices like white diamonds but can give you that coveted red colour. There are so many other red colour stones that can be an affordable option to Rubies and many designers enjoy working with them as they are more affordable – Garnets, Topaz and Red Beryl.

I personally love red, and I have made several pieces using this colour in gemstones and mixed media. Many of my pieces traveled the world and are owned by clients who appreciate them.

Many of my clients tell me that they LOVE red but don’t know how to incorporate it in their homes except for painting a wall red or doing an accent wall with exposed red brick look.

Back in the day, people used red only in their kitchen or dining space but over the years this colour has evolved and can be seen as an accent in a room, to showcase the main door, main and accent furniture pieces, furnishings, almost anything you can think of. The key is to pair this rich, bold and glamorous colour with other complimenting ones and to balance it by using a sense of scale and proportion.

LOVE RED?

DO: Choose the right complementing colours
Red is one of the warm colours on the wheel, so it works really well when paired with cooler colours like blue, green and white. In this living room, the cool palette of blues and whites create a perfect contrast for bold red velvet chairs. Vases with pink and red buds repeat the warm hue creating a nice balance of colours.

DO: Make a bold impression with wallpaper
Using red wallpaper with a bold pattern is something your friends and guest won’t ever be able to forget, just like this powder room. The key is to keep everything else simple and neutral, white shade sconces, chrome mirror, white window and fixtures.

DO: Create the kitchen of your dreams
A rustic red island is all this kitchen needs to make a statement and to start a conversation. White cabinets and walls, simple white pendant lights and dark floors all help in bringing the attention to this beautiful island and you will never fall short of compliments.

Here’s how to use it with style

DO: Decorate with red
Start with smaller décor objects if you want to introduce red in your home. Ruby red pillows and a shiny crimson table lamp combined with soothing tones of dusty pink and navy blue creates a bright, happy and inviting look

DON’T: Overuse
By now you probably know that red has to be used in right amount and paired with complimenting colours to get that WOW look. If you feel there’s too much red in one space, consider taking a step back. You could add more neutral and earthy tones to mute the bright hue.

DON’T: Playing safe
Once you have decided to use red in your rooms, be sure to be bold, confident and ready to experiment. Take your time, plan the pieces and decide if you want bigger items in red or just a splash in the décor. Be as bold as the colour itself, think out of the box and take risks.

The best shades of red:

• Heritage Red Benjamin Moore
• Hearthrob Sherwin Williams
• Million Dollar Red Benjamin Moore
• Rectory Red Farrow and Ball
• Ruby Red Benjamin Moore
• Real Red Sherwin Williams

BRIEF HISTORY OF FENG SHUI

Feng Shui is an ancient art and science that originated from China over 4000 years ago. Feng Shui translated means wind and water. The Chinese associated calm winds and clean water with good health and good crops. Energy is the vital life force in all substance and materials. This life-force energy is known as “Chi”. In Feng Shui the “cosmic trinity” represents the Chi between heaven, earth, and man. Ancient Feng Shui Masters studied the interaction of these “cosmic trinity” energies and how they affected people. With this knowledge, we are able to enhance our quality of life by working with the environment where we dwell. Chinese Emperors used Feng Shui to win battles by strategically placing soldiers with advice of the Feng Shui Master. Feng Shui was used by farmers growing and securing crops from the forces of nature. Feng Shui was used in ancient times for choosing burial sites for the ancestors. It was believed a grave site with good Feng Shui would bring abundance to the descendants.

Feng Shui was founded by Master Yang Yun Sang a principal advisor to Emperor Hi Tsang (A.D. 888). He is considered to be the Founder of Landscape/ Form School Feng Shui. This School branched off into 2 “schools” of Feng Shui, Compass School and BTB (Black Hat Tantric Buddhist). Professor Lin Yun (BTB) is known for developing this Western Feng Shu School in the 1980’s in California. Pyramid School and Intuitive Feng Shui Schools are also studied in the West.

Today, Feng Shui Practitioners analyze and determine the best methods to balance Chi in your home or business. Feng Shui encompasses good air quality, fresh drinking water and good sanitation. In present times, geo-pathic stress and EMF pollution is very important in a Feng Shui analysis. The Yin-Yang theory, 5 Elements theory, the Bagua (energy map), Land form study, Compass (Luo-pan), Flying Stars, and transcendental cures are some of the most common components and may take years to study. Feng Shui is not a religion and can be used by people of all faith. Feng Shui is not only useful in the home, large companies such as Banks, Auto dealers, Hotels, Restaurants, Municipal planning, and more. It can be difficult to understand Feng Shui because we cannot see it, yet we cannot see Wi-Fi or gravity but know they exist. Every client, every home, every business and every property are unique. Feng Shui practice should never be based on fear and ALWAYS be used for the Highest good.

RED, CHINESE CULTURE AND FENG SHUI

Due to its auspicious symbolism, red is prevalent in Chinese ceremonies and festivals. It represents happiness, success and good fortune. It is the national colour of China. Traditional Chinese brides wear red. Red envelopes are filled with “lucky” money and given to children and family members at weddings and Chinese New Year. Red envelopes are usually presented in singles or multiples of 9. In Feng Shui, many clients present Practitioners with payment in a red envelope. This ritual is to express respect and trust for expertise that helps the client resolve their problem. The red envelope ritual holds a mystical belief that also protects the expert and their wisdom & as a form of energy exchange. Chinese red eggs are presented for special birthdays to family and friends signifying joy and renewal. The Chinese also use Red for protection. Legend states that a big mythical beast (nian shou) would devour farmer’s livestock and was afraid of the colour red. So, the Chinese would paint their buildings red and light red lanterns and bang pots and pans to keep the beast away. In Feng Shui, red is the most Yang colour and used to attract and stop Chi. Red provides a sense of protection from fear and anxiety. No doubt, the colour red stimulates our basic SURVIVAL instinct.

As a Feng Shui Consultant the most frequent question I get asked is regarding colour. We know that colour is light and light is energy. Colour has its own vibrations and frequency. It is excellent for balancing the Yin and Yang energy of a space. In Feng Shui, colour is specifically chosen to represent one of the 5 Elements required to activate positive energy or negate negative energy. Red is the colour of the Fire Element in Feng Shui and should be used moderately as it is a stimulant. Red has more personal association than any other colour.

Red attracts attention to specific spaces where energy is lacking. When used correctly red evokes warmth and beauty to any home. I advise Real Estate agents in order to speed up the sale of a house to add items of red in specific rooms where the fire element will activate action. I have seen it work very well!

RED PHOENIX

One of the most recognized images in Feng Shui and Asian culture is the glorious Red Phoenix rising from the ashes with his powerful wings flying upwards into the sky. In Land form Feng Shui, surrounding property of a dwelling or structure is studied and the correct land form ensures the best quality of Chi for positive energy in the environment.

The Red Phoenix represents rebirth, opportunities, fortune, success, ambition, happiness, resilience, determination and auspicious Yang energy. The mythological Red Phoenix is known as one of the four “Celestial Guardians “. In Feng Shui, the four Celestial Guardians protect the house while the Chi is entering the house. The Black Tortoise to the north (or back), White Tiger on the West (right) and the Green Dragon on the East (left). These four celestial animals metaphorically create the ideal landform protecting a structure from harsh environments. In Feng Shui, this is known as the “arm chair “formation. This land formation allows the Chi to enter through the front (Red Phoenix) while the other Celestial Guardians protect and keep the Chi inside the house and property.

The mythical Red Phoenix with flame like energy rising up and outward truly denotes the fiery auspicious colour of red!

FENG SHUI AND THE BAGUA

Our homes are more important now than ever as many of us are working from home due to Covid-19. In Feng Shui, red represents the Fire element. The Fire element is represented in the South direction of the Bagua. The Bagua is an energy map and literally means “eight sectors” with a center sector. Each sector is associated by a Trigram (3 lines either broken or solid representing Yin and Yang which originated from the I-Ching), Element, Direction. Number, Season, Colour, Family member, and Body part. The Bagua also represents 8 life aspirations: Career/Lifepath, Knowledge/Self Cultivation, Health, Family, Wealth, Marriage /Relationships, Children/Creativity, Helpful People/Travel. The Center “gua”/sector is called “Tai Chi” and affects all other areas of the Bagua. There are 2 Bagua-Classical Bagua and the Western Bagua.

The Bagua is used to analyze Chi flow in a house or space. The Bagua Map is superimposed over the blueprint or layout of your house or space. Classical Bagua is directional while Western Bagua is non-directional.

RED AND THE BAGUA

Red is the colour associated with the Fire Element, South directional trigram, and the “Fame and Reputation” sector. Red signifies the Fire Element in Feng Shui. For example, if this area of your home or office is in the South direction you can use the colour red (fire element) to activate your “Fame and Reputation” area. This is the area associated with “how you shine your light to the world”. Would you like to establish more recognition at work? Would you enjoy increasing your notoriety in the community? Would you like to have more fame? Would you like to enhance your Public Relations work? Would you like to be more ambitious? The south area or “Fame and Reputation” area of the Bagua is the area to activate with red. Paint one wall in this area a shade of red to activate this energy. I suggest using a low or nonVOC (volatile organic compound) paint for better air quality. Lighting, artwork depicting animals and people, shapes and patterns in triangles, stars and pointy shapes, accessories made from animals such as wool, faux fur, leather, feathers and bone all represent the Fire element in Feng Shui. This is the perfect area of your home to display diplomas, certificates, trophies and awards. Place affirmations in this area with red pencil or ink to set your intentions.

KITCHEN

In Feng Shui, the kitchen is considered one of the most important rooms in a house. Cooking and nourishment depict good health and wealth. When we eat healthy, we have the stamina to work and thrive in our CAREER in exchange for money for SURVIVAL. Red represents the Fire Element in Feng Shui. Kitchens already have plenty fire elements – the cook top, oven and cooking appliances. Red represents the Fire Element in Feng Shui. It is best to use red in moderation in the kitchen. Red stimulates the appetite, yet it is also action orientated so we may tend to eat quickly if there is too much red in the kitchen. Fast food restaurants are painted red to move customers in and out quickly. We want the cook to be happy but not aggressive! Red used wisely creates a cozy space. You can add pops of red with tea towels, placemats and small decorative accessories. I would not suggest painting your walls red in the kitchen. It is best to decorate with red accessories that can be interchanged when working with energies that change annually on February 4th (Flying Stars Feng Shui).

DINING ROOM

When dining we want to feel relaxed and tranquil. A place we can host guests and family and enjoying good food and happy times. Red candles are a lovely decoration to perk up guests and conversation. For a romantic dinner for two red will stimulate PASSION! You can also use red placemats, red napkins and red glassware to amp up your dining experience. Artwork is also a way to pull in the warmth of red. The colour red helps children and elderly who require encouragement to eat for their health. It is often used in long term care and pediatric hospitals to stimulate patient’s appetite. Dining experiences vary depending on meals being served. For a zestier dinner like ‘taco night’, red will get the party started!

LIVING ROOM/ RECREATIONAL AREAS

This is the area where family and friends gather to enjoy each other’s company. Families play board games, cards and watch TV and movies for entertainment and fun. It is a family place for fun and laughter. Red is a great colour for the living area in moderation. Red will wake up sleepy areas of a room and bring in energetic life force. Red in excess creates aggressive behavior, arguments and physical aggression in people. Red can be introduced through art work, textiles, rugs, and accessories in rooms to bring in joy and enthusiasm. This is a great area for a fireplace!

CHILDREN’S BEDROOMS

Children require a good night sleep to balance their high energy. I do not suggest painting your kid’s bedroom red. Red energy is too active and ambitious. It has been proven that red makes kids hyperactive and aggressive. A Feng Shui Consultant was once asked why her young son never slept in his own room and always cranky. She went upstairs to assess where the boy slept. Two of the walls were painted red and the wallpaper was covered with more race cars. His bed was even in the form of a red race car. He had matching curtains with little race cars all over them too. No wonder this poor child couldn’t sleep. He was so stimulated with action-based robust energy it was impossible for him to settle down at night. Young children are very sensitive to colour. Bright and vibrant colours are best for the play areas in the home.

FRONT DOOR/FOYER AREA

In Feng Shui, the Chi’ enters through the front door of your home. Many people paint their front door red because they believe it is good Feng Shui. Unfortunately, that is not always true. First of all, do you like the colour red for your front door? Do you want to attract a lot of attention to your home? Do you feel red will protect your home? Will red enhance your landscaping scheme? Will a red door work with your personal energy and element? Will red support your home’s specific element which is determined by compass directions and period of construction? (Flying Stars Feng Shui). There are many factors a Feng Shui expert takes into consideration when suggesting colour choices for your home.

Feng Shui Red Tape cure Tip: If you have a staircase in line with your front door you can place a piece of red tape under the last stair with the intent of keeping the Chi in the house for prosperity.

MASTER BEDROOM

In Feng Shui, bedrooms determine our health Chi. Permanent and annual energies in your home where you sleep can influence your health. A Feng Shui Practitioner can suggest colours and elements to reduce negative Chi and/ or enhance positive Chi. The master bedroom should be a sanctuary, private retreat for rest, romance, sleep and overall rejuvenation. Red is a colour of PASSION, sensuality and love. Red is sexy and hot. Decorate with red to fan the flames for sexual energy. You can light red candles, add red cushions or a red throw (remove later for sleeping) to amp up the mood. Try out your new red lingerie! Soft red lighting will enhance the mood too. Do not paint your bedroom walls red as it too energetic for good sleeping. Area rugs with a touch of red will ground you while creating good energy flow beneath your bed.

Feng Shui Red Tape Cure Tip: If the door to your bedroom is in line with your bed you can place a line of red tape on the side of the bed facing the door. You can hide the tape under your bedding. Always state your intention to stop the Chi from coming towards your bed too quickly.

BATHROOMS/POWDER ROOMS

This is an area that gets a bad rap in Feng Shui. In ancient times toilets were usually outside and not very sanitary. The bathrooms of today are spa like, beautiful and often the toilet is in its own space called a “water closet”. Our bathrooms are a private sanctuary where we release toxins from our body and cleanse ourselves. Unless you spend 8-10 hours a day in your bathroom using red or any colour you enjoy in the bathroom is fine. Always keep the toilet lid down for sanitary reasons. In Feng Shui, plumbing may pull “Wealth” Chi down the pipes to the outside taking it away. I also advise keeping your drains closed when not in use (check frequently so water doesn’t spill over).

Feng Shui Red Tape Cure: Wrap your pipes with red tape or tie a red ribbon around them to stop the Chi wealth from being pulled down the drain.

You have churned your creativity into a piece of art.

Where does it belong?
Who decides it’s worth?
And most importantly, are you ready to reveal your creation?

You might wonder, what does this have to do with the colour red? Well, red is the colour of our root chakra. The energy centre at the base of the spine. Connecting us to Mother Earth, keeping us grounded and secure. As an artist, I view my creations as my babies, the period of gestation when I’ve nurtured the inspiration within my being, and the birthing process being a labour of love.

You might wonder, what does this have to do with the colour red? Well, red is the colour of our root chakra. The energy centre at the base of the spine. Connecting us to Mother Earth, keeping us grounded and secure. As an artist, I view my creations as my babies, the period of gestation when I’ve nurtured the inspiration within my being, and the birthing process being a labour of love.

That is what I am going to share. My process of inspiration, creation, and determining the value, place and purpose.

1. Inspiration/gestation: The womb of Mother Earth. Everything is transmuted to pure energy. Swirls of red interspersed with gold.
2. Inspiration/gestation: The womb of Mother Earth. Everything is transmuted to pure energy. Swirls of red interspersed with gold.
3. How does a creator determine the value of awe, wonderment, gratitude, and love?
4. Purpose: Of this I am certain. The Soul Art Express has begun its journey. Exploring the chakras along the way. I can already feel the warmth of the deep red energy move upwards, turning to a brilliant orange. For now, we can rest assured, secure, and supported.

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax” -Albert Einstein

6 Buckets are all you need to organize your expenses quickly & easily!

1. Business Expenses

Three keys guidelines;

1. Any expense incurred for the purpose of gaining or producing income
2. Incurred with a reasonable expectation of resulting in future business
3. Is reasonable under the circumstances Common expense guidelines;

Claim 50 % use for cell phones unless it is a business-only phone.

Claim 50 % use of home internet is suggested

Keep Receipts? You need copies of receipts to identify if sales tax like GST or HST were charged. Digital receipts are accepted by CRA – Canada Revenue Agency.

Examples:

• Cell phone
• Internet
• Memberships
• Office Supplies
• Advertising
• Marketing
• Coaching
• Accountant
• Legal
• Credit Card Interest
• Bank Fees
• Business Travel

2. Training Expenses

You need to be constantly investing in sharpening your skills, training and courses can be 100% tax write-offs if they are ordinary in your industry.

Ask yourself the questions,

• Is the expense common and accepted?
• Is it helpful and appropriate for your business?

New for 2020

• $250 training tax credit
• $500 digital news subscription tax credit

Examples:

• Books
• Courses
• Workshops
• Seminars
• Retreats

3. Home office Expenses

You can claim home-based business expenses as long as your home office space meets three requirements.

• It is used as your primary place of business
• It is used exclusively for your business
• You regularly work there

Two ways to calculate the % of expenses that can be deducted. The number of rooms used, for example, the guest room of a 2 bedroom apartment.

% of space = space used / total space

Examples:

• Rent/Mortgage Interest
• Hydro
• Gas/Heating
• Insurance
• Property Taxes
• Maintenance/Repairs

4. Vehicle Expenses

If you use your car for business purposes, for example, traveling to meet clients, going to purchase office supplies, visiting your accountant, or attending training, you can deduct some of your vehicle expenses.

You can lease a car or purchase, either way, it is a moving tax deduction for your business. You will need to have a record of the following;

• Date of the purchase or the lease start date
• Make, Model, and year of the vehicle
• Price before sales taxes
• A copy of the original agreement is best. Maximum amount $30,000

It is important to track your mileage because it is the % of the business-use that is tax-deductible.

• Total kilometers driven
• Total driven for business

Example: 1,000 of 10,000 = 10%

Examples:

• Fuel • Insurance
• Repairs
• License & Registration
• Loan Interest
• Parking – 100%
• Tolls – 100%

5. Food & Entertainment Expenses

For meals and entertainment to be justified as a business expense, it must meet three criteria;

• For meals and entertainment to be justified as a business expense, it must meet three criteria;
• Create goodwill
• Thank customers or associates for a job well done.

Tax Filing Tip:

Enter the total amount paid less taxes on your tax return.
The tax software will calculate the 50% reduction.

Examples:

• Team Dinner
• Client Lunch
• Coffee with a Prospect
• Dinner with a Colleague

6. Equipment Expenses

You might purchase property, such as a building, furniture, or equipment, to use in your business or professional activities. Since these properties may wear out or become obsolete over time, you can deduct their cost over a period of several years.

You might purchase property, such as a building, furniture, or equipment, to use in your business or professional activities. Since these properties may wear out or become obsolete over time, you can deduct their cost over a period of several years.

You can claim tax write-offs for equipment that you already owned before you started your business including your computer, camera equipment, or any other equipment. Again, original receipts will be required to calculate the amount.

Things to note;

• % of personal-use
• Asset classes – each type of equipment as a class with a predetermined percentage.

Examples:

• Computer
• Camera & Equipment
• Video Equipment
• Tools

So here we are beauties. Our 3rd very sexy RED edition of this magical magazine! How are you loving it so far? As a columnist who was present virtually at the conception of this beautiful baby, I am truly honoured that I get to share my PASSIONATE RED RAMBLINGS, in hopes that even just one heart-centred creative soul might shift their perspective by just one degree and in turn, consciously manifest miracles of their heart’s desires into their life.

Might I help someone create their own ‘Heaven on Earth’, the life of THEIR dreams, their Miracle Life?!

What a freaking awesome privilege that would be. One less person NOT dying with their REAL MUSIC still in them. And for you skeptics, those afraid of ‘The Woo’, I am here to boldly claim that miracles ARE actually backed by science. Yes SCIENCE (cue 80’s song)!

I am actually in a very cool course right now, called ‘The Science of Miracles’ offered by a world famous (‘Time Magazine’ top 100 innovator), Harvard trained neuroscientist, and now my wonderful friend, Dr. Larry Farwell.

This beautiful man who has aided the FBI and CIA catch ‘the bad guys’ is my brilliant & delightful teacher. I actually manifested this opportunity. SO blessed I am! Dr. Farwell has proven with virtually 99% accuracy on scientific equipment, that our thoughts/conscious mind DO affect matter. Is that not the COOLEST thing?

As a Miracle Mindset CoacHealer, with a 27 year health sciences background, it does NOT get any more exciting & life affirming than THIS. So here’s the thing I ask you to consider. Your thoughts DO create reality. Who do you need to become and what thoughts do you need to have in order to create a most passionate (RED) life of YOUR dreams?

You have science & the Universe on your side. Your thoughts truly create outcomes. You simply need to believe and then access EVERYTHING you have ever truly wanted and believe you deserve in this lifetime. By having everything you truly desire and by living aligned and authentically, you CAN become FULLY self-expressed, so you need not die with your REAL MUSIC still in you.

Do you have an idea that lies dormant (or awake for that matter) in you, but you fear bringing it to life, for fear of getting judged if you ‘went for it’ or fear of it not working out or fear of yada-yada-yada? OK. I am here to say you seriously need to STOP THAT. If it’s IN YOU, it’s IN YOU for a REASON. Your Creator did NOT put that passion, desire or talent in you for it to be wasted. It isn’t IN you for it to fizzle out and die.

And if your Creator brought you here in this lifetime with your passion/ dream/talent, it’s because the world needs it. YOU are meant to SERVE with it. Also, you becoming ALL you were meant to be in order to bring it to life, enables you to UPLEVEL. So you can reach your goal of becoming aligned and authentic and FULLY self-expressed in THIS lifetime as you were born to do.

Isn’t it abSOULutely cool how the two work hand in hand? Living YOUR passion, YOUR TRUTH, NOT your parent’s or society’s. This actually makes YOU a better (happier and healthier) YOU. Can you see any reason why you shouldn’t burn all the ships behind you to connect to YOUR greater purpose and live YOUR best life, beautiful soul?

Isn’t it abSOULutely cool how the two work hand in hand? Living YOUR passion, YOUR TRUTH, NOT your parent’s or society’s. This actually makes YOU a better (happier and healthier) YOU. Can you see any reason why you shouldn’t burn all the ships behind you to connect to YOUR greater purpose and live YOUR best life, beautiful soul?

Don’t ask for what the world needs. Ask for what makes you come alive… because the world needs people who have come alive. – Howard Thurman

Don’t die with your REAL MUSIC still in you.  – E.V.Hopper (inspired by Dr. Wayne Dyer)

Get out of your own f’n way… your Miracle Life Awaits – E.V.Hopper

Have you felt the shift?

The wheel of consciousness has turned and we are living in a new age of awareness, the beautiful Age of Aquarius and it’s all about community and serving at the highest level for the greatest good of all. In doing so the universe showers us with abundance beyond our wildest dreams. This is available to everyone who believes and acts in accordance with the understanding that it is our right and responsibility.

A journey towards authentic financial empowerment is not defined by debt-freedom or how much money you have in the bank. It comes from your inner sense of security, your acceptance of self and commitment to the most authentic version of you. It comes from connecting to your higher Self, the version of you that sees all your beauty and wounded parts and loves them equally. The awakened version of you that strives to be conscious everyday with the understanding that there are no coincidences and that everything happens for a reason.

And so a journey towards authentic financial empowerment, as I’ve discovered, can blow open doors to new opportunities, completely shift old paradigms and elevate you to your next level; a place where fear, doubt and uncertainty don’t loiter around. This place feels closer to home.

Why are we here anyway?

We’ve all asked this question at some point in our lives but have you ever received an answer that you’ve been satisfied with? Until now I haven’t. I fell into the same ‘ol trap so many of us do; working as hard as possible to make the money to pay the bills and hopefully one day retirement will come and that dream life of living with passion and purpose will be realized, albeit at old age but at least it’s something to look forward to right? This IS a trap and if you can relate, you need to know that this is NOT why we’re here.

“Life is our best teacher but only if we are conscious.”

It took me 41 years on this planet, in this lifetime, to learn the profound lessons of Self love, Universal trust and fierce boundaries. I’ve come a long way from that poor, dysfunctional, abusive and alcoholic home that set the stage for my adult experience where I repeated the patterns I learned as a child. With an unrealized sense of self-worth it was inevitable that I would end up in toxic relationships and battle with substance abuse. All along, life was my best teacher, continually showing me what I needed to see in order to learn what needed to be healed. I began to have moments of consciousness and clarity about what I was feeling and wanted to change. I changed my mind and my behaviours followed. I evolved into a woman who had the courage to leave a second toxic marriage, quit drinking and smoking for the last time and fell in LOVE with myself for the first time.

A commitment to never-ending personal growth leads to financial empowerment.

Authentic financial empowerment is experienced when you know who you are: a powerful human being gifted with unique abilities intentionally provided to serve the collective at the highest level and for the greatest good of all, as a result you are blessed with financial wealth. You trust that you are universally supported with everything you need and feel safe and secure in every aspect of life. You listen to your inner voice, lead with your heart and take the courageous leaps even when your ego is screaming NO because you trust and know your truth. It’s when you embody the highest vibration of love and in turn magnetically attract more.

I understand this may seem ridiculously difficult but so can living in fear. You get to decide.

Are you old enough to remember Seinfeld’s “worlds colliding” episode where George’s romantic interest, Susan, was about to hang out with his friends crossing the border between two worlds and making things very (very) bad for independent George? My career for the last 13 years has been in recruitment. Like George, it turns out, I like to conveniently compartmentalize myself. Past: Art History Student. Hobby: Writer and Blogger. Pays the Bills: Recruiter. No overlap. Thinking about drawing from my recruitment experience to inform creatives on job search matters and doing so under the umbrella of the colour red, presented an interesting challenge. As I delved into it, however, red became the obvious connector, the bridge between my separate worlds. The self-contained-motion colour from Kandinsky’s theory I studied twenty years ago, morphed into the red flags, which are part of the professional jargon we often use in recruitment, to signify concern.

As a creative, you may have spent a significant amount of your career working as a freelance, entrepreneur, or involved in other project-based work. You may find yourself forced these days to take on contract or permanent positions to adapt to a changing market affected by COVID19. I have compiled a list of potential “red flag raisers” or mistakes to avoid at different stages of your job search.

Resume Submission:

Always tailor your resume to match the job you’re applying for by:

• Editing and eliminating: Tailoring your resume to match the job doesn’t mean altering reality or changing facts, but rather applying critical thinking and editing skills to examine your experience as presented. Go through your resume with a fine tooth comb and consider removing irrelevant roles or professional courses that have no correlation with the experience and skillset the role you’re applying for requires. While you want to show continuity in your work history and not remove jobs from your resume creating unexplained gaps there are some exceptions. You may have two overlapping jobs or projects, one of which is irrelevant. There may be an older job that can be taken out without damaging the flow and continuity of your experience.
• Elaborate and build up relevant portions: Always strive to demonstrate the parallels between your experience and the responsibilities the role calls for. If you’re a Graphic Designer applying for a Graphic Design role that’s easier to do than if you’re a Graphic Designer applying for a marketing position since some of your experience included marketing. If you can identify with the second scenario, make sure that your relevant experience, even if secondary, is immediately discernable on your resume. You can use visual aids, such as bolding specific keywords you don’t want overlooked. Alternatively, you can create a sub category under your Graphic Design experience entitled ‘Marketing Responsibilities’ with a proper recount of related duties. Do not rely on the employer to seek out your relevant experience, make it stand out to them. It is a well-known fact that recruiters and trained interviewers spend as few as 7 seconds reviewing a resume before making their decision.

Avoiding to make the efforts listed above may raise a red flag and read as lack of judgement to the non-discerning recruiter who sees a Graphic Designer applying for a marketing role, or as laziness to a more discerning recruiter who is actually able to see the relevant parts of your experience buried under less relevant bullet points.

Phone screen:

* Be informative and sound engaged

Sounds simple, right? When a recruiter or Hiring Manager calls you sound like you actually want to be there. The way to achieve that is by injecting energy into your voice and offering information. While these suggestions sound like a given, many interviewees feel that it’s up to the interviewer to ‘get the information out of them’. While this is true to a certain extent, it is also true that monosyllabic or one-sentence answers usually don’t translate as enthusiasm. Sure, the recruiter should navigate the conversation but they should not be expected to dominate it. Supporting your answers with examples is one way of becoming more engaged. If asked about a strength don’t just say “I think outside the box” use an example to illustrate it. I recognize that your portfolio probably speaks for itself in certain situations, in others there’s an HR person on the other side of the line, and they may not be trained to listen to portfolios. Your mindset should be, ‘how can I help this person understand and see my suitability’ for the role.

Lack of effort or engagement at such an early stage translates as lack of interest on the candidate’s part and that’s about as red flag as they come.

Job Interview:

Do your homework by:

• Familiarizing yourself with the company: Before your interview review the company’s website and get to know them. You should be able to demonstrate an interest in the company based on familiarity with what they do (not just interest in the role, as the same role could be performed elsewhere). A good source to read up on a company is usually the “About Us” page on their website which would typically be dedicated to history and notable achievements. Another potential resource would often be a company’s ‘careers’ page where they’ll often place some of their ‘marketabl’ information, which makes them appealing to job seekers.
• Preparing questions: This not only offers you a great opportunity to find out more about the company and role and make an informed decision on whether you’d like to join them or not, but also, once again, demonstrates interest and enthusiasm.
• Find out what the dress code is: As creatives we often express ourselves through clothing. It’s advisable to find out a company’s dress code before interviewing. As we all may interpret ‘corporate’ or ‘office casual’ differently feel free to ask the HR person or even hiring manager on the phone for more clarity, and check the company’s website and ‘Meet our Team’ page as an additional resource. It is usually a good idea to overdress for an interview, later tweaking your attire to better match the environment, than the opposite.

Familiarizing yourself with a company you’ve applied with is not just common sense but also common courtesy. Neglecting to do your homework makes you seem unprepared or uninterested. Last tip before you go. Red isn’t just for flags. It is also for flamenco and the colour of passion. Look for parallels between your experience and the job requirements, but also define your uniqueness and passion. What sets you apart from other candidates may be that edge that lands you the job.

In Simon Sinek’s 2011 book ‘Start with Why’, he challenged our assumptions about the way people connect with the businesses around them. Sinek started a revolution with the idea that people care more about why we do what we do than what we do. He went even further by saying that people buy our why, not our what, and provided numerous examples of how important it is to connect emotionally to a company’s why.

Yet, despite overwhelming evidence that our why should be the driving force behind our business, we often don’t spend the time to really think about and craft it in a meaningful way. Your why helps determine the look and feel of your brand; it helps guide your messaging and positioning; and most importantly, it helps your customers connect with what it is that you do best.

Tapping into your motivation will help you communicate your why from a place of authenticity and attract the right clients.

Ask yourself what drove you to start this business when you could have been doing anything else. And if you’ve been in business for a while, think about whether your motivations have changed. When you are connected to why you started your business, you can communicate about it from a place of authenticity. Something that I recommend clients ponder when they’re crafting their why statement is what they’d want people to say about them at their funeral. Sounds morbid, right? But thinking about what your legacy will be after you’re gone can help you make thoughtful decisions in the present—to treat people better, to make change, to do something meaningful, to be happy. If what you do every day doesn’t fit in with that vision, what needs to change?

When you understand your why, and create a business around living that why, it will inform all your branding messages and as a result, you’ll become a magnet for like-minded people.

You can also use your why as a measuring stick against every business decision you make. As yourself “does this client/opportunity/program/offer get me closer to my goal or further?” If the answer is closer, then you’re on the right track. If the answer is further, then it’s a no.

In essence, your why is a combination of two things: the contribution you want to make and the impact you want to have on the world.

YOUR WHY = CONTRIBUTION + IMPACT

People want to work with companies with which they have a shared purpose. Craft a why statement that resonates deeply with you personally but also fits your growing business and those who work with you. This requires asking through-provoking questions and digging deeper than you’ve ever dug before.

So what your WHY?

Here are some questions to get you thinking about why you do what you do.

1. What’s important to you and what makes you happy?
2. What gets you out of bed in the morning?
3. What excites you?
4. What is the legacy you want to leave behind?
5. What do you want people to say about you when you’re gone?
6. What contribution do you want to make?
7. What impact do you want to have?

One of the most common things you do in the shadow of red, is to act out road rage. Losing control of your emotions in a road incident indicates that you have unresolved or suppressed anger.

You have in your lifetime experienced many occasions where you decided to be the nice one and not say how angry you really feel. When you failed to express your true feelings they had to go somewhere – as once a feeling is created it has a life force of its own, a creation made by you. Your shadow steps in to welcome those energies you created and stores them for you. There they lie until an opportunity presents for your shadow to give them back to you. A road incident in the privacy of your car and in a relatively anonymous setting on a highway is the perfect place to release those buried frustrations. In this ideal setting you also tend to get away unchallenged with the loss of control over your darker emotions.

As you judge yourself, you also become your own executioner.

As hot and intense as red is in your shadow as suppressed anger, it can also be in the positive side of red, as hot and intense passion. What if you were able to direct that force of red energy towards your creative business instead of dumping it on the highway? You have a red resource within your shadow side to ignite passion and energize you to get super creative! Learning more about how to release your pent-up red energy and understanding the cellular programming attached to this red frequency will help you become more self-aware and avoid your shadow’s emotions putting you in dangerous situations.

The Red Judge, Jury and Executioner

Red is a colour that forms the foundation of your material life. Red is the colour of money, survival, family, health and everything that relates to you as a human to exist on this planet. In your shadow there is an embedded programming that relates to red survival, and that is to judge.

This programming has been a part of humanity’s design since the beginning of time. Your parents would have passed this belief on to you so that you would be on the alert to be suspicious of people not like you. Suspicious of anything that acts, speaks or looks different to the tribal community you grew up in. Even though in modern times, travel and technology has begun to connect one another and you are less afraid of your neighbours and their different cultures and beliefs, the need to judge is still within your cellular programming.

When you make a judgment, you become the judge, the jury and the executioner. Judging gives the illusion that you are now safe as it separates you from the person you deem bad or different. However that is when the real dramas begin for you. Judging locks anger into your cells and you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of road rage type incidents and being judged by others.

The one you end up judging the most is of course yourself. Constantly measuring yourself up against your own set of good behavioural, moral and beautification standards. Your shadow is so aware of those standards and loves it when you trip over your own rules and get angry with yourself. As you judge yourself, you also become your own executioner. So what punishment are you enduring because your inner jury deemed you naughty or not good enough? Are you financially struggling? Are you in psychical pain? Are you isolating yourself from love and affection?

Stop being at war with yourself by stopping the self-judgments. Surely if you stop judging, you will attract less judgment from others too? The Law of Attraction is very clear on this:

Who you are, you attract.

The more you judge, the more you attract to be in judgment of. Judgment requires stupendous amounts of energy and resources. It needs walls to be built, laws to be obeyed and armies with weapons to defend you.

Judging goes against your soul-self. Your soul sees everyone as divine and perfect and part of the all-ness of creation. Your soul has no judgment on culture, sex, beliefs, good or bad deeds. Your soul simply sees perfection unfolding in every moment and in every person regardless of whether they are expressing themselves from their light or their shadow side.

So give it go, see yourself and everyone else through the eyes of your soul and see what there is to love, instead of what there is to judge.

RED: On this planet you experience what it feels like to separate yourself into categories, male versus female or good versus evil. You use culture, religious beliefs, skin colour, and borders to create opportunities to judge and fear one another. Your fear requires law enforcement, armies and systems of authority to help you retaliate, defend and punish those that are not ‘like you’.

Judgment goes against what your soul believes about your existence. Your soul knows you are divine, a particle of light manifested into physical form and everyone and everything is created from that same source of light. No one has more light than or less light than you. You are in judgment of yourself or others and that judgment has created what has become the root cause of all the current struggles in your life. What you focus on, the spiritual law of attraction has had to bring you more of to be in judgment of. When you stop judging you will begin to feel the perfection of you in a perfect world where both the dark and light serve your spiritual body to fully experience everything your soul has contracted to feel through a human body.

PALE RED: Your reality is created by your beliefs. If you fear that someone has more power than you and wants to harm you, your shadow has to create the dramas to serve this belief.

You are in a situation where you feel vulnerable and looking for others to help protect and defend you. When they join you in your response to defend, your inner-victim feels validated. Shadow loves to buddy-up and gather its army to be on the defensive side. Who are you blaming and defending yourself from as the diversion to avoid taking responsibility for the mess created by your shadow side?

When you no longer need your shadow self to create situations where you feel under scrutiny or attack, and instead choose to believe that everyone actually has your best interests at heart, you may begin to hear the support being offered instead of the threats. Your current defences are blocking you from receiving what is an answer to a prayer. You are safe to move forward now and explore a new way of resolving your issue.

RUBY RED: As a spiritual being you are particles of light dancing in the cosmos fascinated by the concept of feeling separated and being an individual. As part of the human experiment you love to set boundaries or have no boundaries at all to feel the difference between unity and separation.

Are you currently burnt out and exhausted because you are experimenting with the no boundaries game? Are you unable to say no? The first step is to be honest with yourself and admit that you cannot do it all alone, then either delegate or return what you know you cannot stay committed to complete. Keep clearing till a third of your day is open to just having fun and not entirely related to work chores.

Have you set too many boundaries in place and become isolated? You feel in control, however your strict boundaries have resulted in limiting your growth. Open to advice and support from others by employing someone to work with you, bring together a board of advisors or join a group for accountability and sharing. Practice personal spatial awareness by ensuring you are standing an arm’s length away from the person to whom you are speaking.

Choose the right legal structure for your business

1. SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP

A sole proprietorship is perhaps the most well-known and common option chosen by start-ups. It is an entity where the business is owned and controlled by one individual who is accountable for the business’ debts and obligations.

Particulars of Sole Proprietorship

• The sole proprietor/owner may need to register a business name (if the business is not carried in the owner’s name) and to obtain the required business licenses and permits.
• The owner is personally accountable for any liabilities incurred by the business.
• Income from the business is reported on the owner’s personal income tax return.

PROS

• INEXPENSIVE: The registration and lawyer’s fees are lower.
• EASY: The sole proprietorship is straightforward to set up and manage.
• CONTROL: The owner has full control of the business.
• SIMPLE: The administration of the business and taxes are the simplest of all structures.
• PROFITS: The sole proprietor receives all profits and claims all losses.
• MANAGEMENT: The owner has sole responsibility for the decision-making.
• TAXES: The sole proprietor pays personal income tax on the net income generated by the business

CONS

• UNLIMITED LIABILITY: The owner is liable for all debts and obligations of the business.
• LEGAL ENTITY: There is no separate legal entity of the company.
• RISKS: The owner assumes the risks of the business which may extend to the owner’s personal assets.
• FINANCING: It is more challenging to raise capital and obtain financing from the banks.
• CONTINUITY: The sole proprietorship cannot be passed to another individual if the owner dies or decides to close the business.
• TAX: The owner must declare all revenues and expenses of the business at the time of filing the personal income tax return.

TAKE AWAY: For a small business owner, the sole proprietorship option may be the easiest way to get your business off the ground and running. However, if your business is sued for any reason, you could be personally on the hook for any damages.

2. PARTNERSHIP

A partnership consists of two or more individuals that join together to carry on a business. Each partner contributes money, labour, property, or skills to the partnership and is entitled to a share of the profits or losses of the partnership. Partnership agreements are needed to set out the rights and responsibilities of each partner and may limit potential conflicts between partners. Limited Liability Partnerships may be suitable for certain professions and may provide some protection to the partners from personal liability for certain acts done by other partners.

Particulars of the Partnerships

• Partners share profits and financial responsibilities of the business; are personally liable for the business’ obligations; have fiduciary duties to the partnership and one another; and, pay taxes through their individual tax returns.

PROS

• INEXPENSIVE: Partnerships have low registration and set-up costs.
• PROFITS: Profits flow through to the partners.
• RISK: In partnerships, the risk is shared between the partners.
• SIMPLE: Partnerships are easy to set up and to report the taxes.
• CAPITAL: The start-up capital of the partnership may be divided amongst partners.
• MANAGEMENT: In partnerships, the management is shared between the partners.

CONS

• ENTITY: A partnership does not have a separate legal existence from its partners.
• LIABILITY: All partners are jointly and severally liable for the debts, obligations, and responsibilities of the partnership. Each partner can bind the partnership, and therefore, any partner may be responsible for the actions of the other partners.
• PROFIT-SHARING: All partners share the profit of the partnership.
• BUYOUT: A partnership’s buyout may be difficult if a partner leaves the partnership.
• MANAGEMENT: All partners take the decisions jointly.
• DISPUTE: Partners may disagree over the partnership’s decisions

TAKE AWAY: If a partner fails to meet a contractual obligation, any partner could be personally liable. Alternatively, you can register a limited liability partnership to protect you from other partners’ malpractice or wrongdoing.

3. PARTICULARS OF LLPs

• Partners must file registration documents with the local government.
• A partnership agreement sets out the rights and responsibilities of the partners and how the business will be governed.
• Partners can choose to be taxed either as a partnership or as an individual.

PROS

• LIABILITY: In, LLPs partners have limited liability.
• ADMINISTRATION: For LLPs, there is a reduced amount of record-keeping and filings than with other legal structures (e.g. corporations).

CONS

• DISSOLUTION: If a member leaves or dies, the partnership dissolves, however the partnership agreement prepared by a lawyer can be designed to prevent this situation.

4. CORPORATION

Corporations are legal entities that can include one or more shareholders, directors, and officers. A corporation has the same legal rights as a natural person; hence it can sue, be sued, enter into contracts and obtain a loan.

Particulars of the Corporation

• Corporations are required to file paperwork with the local government.
• Corporations need to establish several by-laws that govern the business’ operations.
• A corporation must adhere to specific corporate formalities on a regular basis.

PROS

• ENTITY: Corporations have a separate legal identity from their shareholders.
• LIMITED LIABILITY: Shareholders are not responsible for the company’s debts or obligations.
• FINANCING: Corporations can easily raise capital from investors and obtain financing from banks.
• PROFIT: A corporation’s business income may be paid out to its shareholders by way of salary or dividends, allowing shareholders to optimize their own income taxes.
• CONTINUITY: A corporation has continued existence, and therefore, it could be sold or transferred.
• TAX: Corporations have some flexibility with the disbursement of income and expenses (e.g. nondeductible expenses, income splitting) in order to gain tax advantages.

CONS

• EXPENSIVE: Most expensive business structure to set up and maintain.
• COMPLEX: Incorporating and maintaining a corporation may be more complex.
• REGULATION: Corporations are tightly regulated and are required to file paperwork with the government on regular basis.
• PROFITS: Corporations are taxed when they earn profits.
• DIVIDENDS: The dividends distributed to the shareholders are taxed.
• LIABILITY: The shareholders, directors, and/or officers may be found personally liable for the debts of the corporation

TAKE AWAY:

PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION Certain professionals (e.g., dentists, lawyers, accountants) can form a Professional Corporation which allows for limited personal liability for the shareholder.

Red is a colour I can sink my teeth into as a wealth strategist. I love safety and security. In fact I love it so much that I do it for a living: building security for others, grounding them from their fears, creating strategies to move them forward, and avoiding pitfalls of tax erosion. The colour red denotes wealth and ambition. Sometimes ambition is perceived as a bad thing: “Money is the root of all evil.” But is it? I can tell you I struggled with this. Messages from church, messages from society, messages from my subconscious, and then confusion around feeling worthy and deserving of money – “Is it ok to receive a commission from my clients?”

What holds us back from meeting our most primal needs of security and survival? Furthermore, what holds us back from actually thriving? If we truly believe in our service and creations, we are free to tell the world, to share, to grow, and to build to receive. This is how we reverse the stigma that being creative and financial success do not go together!

Red is Boots on the ground, let’s get to it. See how we master money, ambition and create wealth! How can you shift from just surviving at the basic level, to thriving financially?

Shift Your Thinking

Money brings up deep emotions because it is linked to messages we picked up along the way from intergenerational to societal morals. Have you heard the parable “Money is the root of all evil?” or “Don’t sell your soul?’ These underlying messages can prevent us from earning and charging our worth.

Money is an energy. It is a tool to help us along the way. When money is earned, it is used to provide a standard of life for ourselves, our families, to create change and build legacies. Red, the root chakra is all about balance. Let’s put our thoughts into balance. Talent is rare.

Being gifted is rare. These gifts have been bestowed upon us to be fruitful.

Try these new beliefs:

• Know your worth. As a limited resource, add 10x to the cost of your service.
• Know there are more customers than you can serve.
• You are built to do what you do. Be driven by red passion to serve all who you can.
• Be ready. You are the steward of your gift. Be fruitful.
• Creativity leads the world. You need to be in the game to play. Many will pay high dollar for your services. These people will energetically lead you to more. The more we can attract, the more we can create legacies in how WE SEE THE WORLD.
• Start with a vision. Those who have created change or wealth in our world, only started with a vision and a passion. Breed momentum

Know Your Burnnate

There is a certain dollar amount that all of us need to live each month. KNOW THIS NUMBER. This is the amount of money you will burn through each month to live. Let’s use 2 examples here.

An artist who needs $5000 per month to live and another artist who needs $10,000 per month to live because of overheads.

The $5000/month artist will need to know:

• How many items are needed to sell each month to bring in the $5000/month after expenses
• The cost of each item to buy or create.
• The amount of inventory needed to provide a continuous offer to generate $5000/month after expenses.
• How much income tax to put aside each month for the $5000/mo. income after expenses.
• How much rainy day money is needed to prevent stress should a month or a few months be slow. Mindset is everything.
• Add 10% in this number to be put aside into a savings bucket. The $10,000/month artist will need to know a little bit more:
• That “bricks and mortar” are a fixed cost and must be factored into your sale.
• Your profit ratio on your service. For example: $100 sale will provide $70 of profit as $30 will go to direct overhead.
• Taxes and HST need to be set aside in a separate bucket. Never co-mingle this money.
• You are in business to make money, charge accordingly.

Create Money Buckets

We create safety and wealth by dividing our money into buckets. By having separate buckets and goals, the money will have a place to land. If there is nowhere for it to land, it will not flow in. Money only flows to the amount we ask for. If we only ask for our bills to be paid, this is survival and this is all we will get. If we ask for abundance to fill out buckets and make us a good steward of this money, this is what will appear.

Be driven by your passion, not fear or just getting by.

Create at least 3 buckets:

• Short term bucket. This bucket will hold funds for emergencies, a short month of income, to allow us to work from abundance.
• Medium term bucket. This bucket will allow us to use funds for our retirement one day. This is our “do not touch, no matter what” bucket. It also allows us to work from abundance.
• Dream bucket. This money allows us to dream and start building a fund for something that we want one day. This bucket can be expanded on the most. Remember this bucket when you are costing your product or service. There is a higher good. Daydream greatness into your life!!

Set up Systemic  Withdrawals

Choose a small amount of money that you can afford and do it monthly. The absolute amount is not as important as doing it consistently every month.

• Money attracts money. I have seen over 35 years, that those who start to save pennies, build mountains of savings. An annual income need not be high to build wealth. Consistency is the key.
• Do not wait to pay off all debt. Start now. “Pay yourself first” is a priority here. Many of us tend to have some debt, waiting to pay off debt could delay you 40 years. Start saving today. Do it!
• “Make yourself broke” by saving. If we spend all of our money anyway, why not pay into our buckets each month before paying any other bill.
• Ask for help. No matter small your investment is, research has shown that we always accumulate more wealth, when seeking out the advice of a financial advisor
• Be proud that you are profitable. A bright self-esteem attracts more customers than any sales pitch or ad. Beam and Build!

Invest in Yourself

There is good spending and bad spending, just as there is good debt and bad debt.

• When spending your money, ask yourself if there is a return on your impending purchase.
• Will your purchase bring you a return on your investment?
• Mentorship is invaluable. There are many people who have paved the road before you and would be more than happy to show you the ropes. Always have one person ahead of you to provide a lead and one person behind you so that you can hold their hand to bring them forward.
• A good coaching program is valuable. When using a coach, use one who is from your industry. There are far too many coaches floating around today who are only too happy to take your money. Your industry leaders have stood the test of time. Buy from them. They will help you grow.
• Knowledge is power. You want this to succeed. Read, attend, learn anywhere you can to be able to get ahead and create a sustainable business: one that changes the lives of those who you deal with. Be the change!

Many of us are driven by fear, or by anger, or by greed and the best of us of are driven by passion and integrate this with sustainability to provide a service that is second to none. It is time to reverse the stigma that being creative and financial success do not go together.

Go out and build your wealth and build your Legacy!

TIMELINE FOR FORECAST: April, May and June 2021
COLOUR FOCUS: Red
PHYSICAL ENERGY: Passion
NUMEROLOGY: 2021 = Number 5 Year
RULING PLANET: Mercury, Green, New Space.

SPRING 2021: April is starting as Red for Mars (Aries) in a Green year; The Sun & Venus in Aries moving beside each other for an interesting start to spring. April will be a much easier month in general. This at first glance looks exciting but the Sun is burning hot so Venus is not shining. Be careful of spending money you think you have and promising love where there is not. Wait until after April 14th for shopping and romance when Venus will go into Taurus. Please read the Copper issue for more insight on how your year will go in general.

Mercury goes retrograde May 28th and this one is in Gemini (its ruler), so definitely – buy nothing, sign nothing, really you should just do nothing. Vacation time sounds good about now, maybe a road trip if flying is not an option. New love relationships or revival of old ones can happen now. Do your best at this time to keep moving forward and create as much joy in your heart as possible. There will be two eclipses with the Full Moon on May 26th in Sagittarius. This may be time for fun parties at the beach and the Solar Eclipse June 10th in Gemini would be a good time for big gatherings with old friends.

ARIES: Warriors, Wow, with Venus in your first house you are looking and feeling hot. Red for passion, you feel like a warrior. April 1st is an amazing day for just about anything and the April 12th New Moon in your sign, a very powerful time for beginnings. The Sun conjunct Venus sounds good but when they are too close, the Sun burns Venus, so watch your spending and financial habits at this time. Love & money go together; this will increase after the 14th of April with Venus going into Taurus, your second house of money, make sure there is more money coming in than going out. There will be a lot of activity in the 2nd house of money, 4 planets and with Mercury there is communication about money as well. In May, with Jupiter going into your 12 house in Pisces on the 13th you will be supported and given spiritual protection. If you are thinking about education, or a new business contract in the spiritual world, there will be strong energy for this, especially after the Eclipse May 26th onward. On June 10th there is an Eclipse in Gemini in your 3rd house, could this be about buying and selling, maybe property? Get the red and blue out for any business meetings, red for money and blue for trusted communications. If it’s a romantic meeting, you would do nicely to pair the red dress with a matching spring coat.

TAURUS: Lovers, are you clear about what you want in your life? This is the time to get clear with a positive mindset. A lot of energy is in your 12th house, you now need to face your fears about addictions and belief systems that no longer serve you. Go within, try mediation, quiet your mind to get in touch with what needs to heal. Mars is in your 12th house, so pay off bills, make more money or save more money. Then on April 14th with Venus in your first house you are looking radiant, so try a new hair cut or go shopping. The last 10 days of the month expect the unexpected, look out for water damage or floods or emotional outbursts, perhaps crying? May 11th is the New Moon in your first house of self, together with Venus and Mercury, and this brings very positive exciting energy. Then Jupiter will enter Pisces on May 13th your 11th house, what a wonderful time to be with new and old friends. In June, Venus enters your 3rd house of your environment- this a time for running errands, social functions and fun conversations. The Eclipse in Gemini is in your house of money. This means new starts in financial success and good luck. What does red mean to you? Is it a new pair of red shoes or just you and your loving passionate ways?

GEMINI: Communicators, where in your life experience of trauma can you take what you know and help others? Do you feel like starting a charity? Humanitarian groups might be of interest to you with all that Aquarian energy. Mars is in our first house of self. This might motivate you to get going in parts of your life that have been stagnant, so running or long walks might make you feel wonderful at this time. In May from the 13th to July 28th, Jupiter will go into Pisces in your 10th house of Career. This will be a preview for 2022 – are you spiritualizing your work? Or getting into radio, TV, broadcasting and getting your business out on social media in a big way? In 2021, Mercury retrogrades three times in air signs this year, May 28 to June 22 in Gemini; this is a time that requires reassessing life in general, reflection, and taking things a little more slowly. Having a Solar Eclipse on June 10thin your first house of self, can be life changing for the better. Spend some time at the beach because the sun is shining on you this month. Shopping is definitely in order. Red sundress and strappy gold sandals, sounds amazing for you.

CANCER: Beach Baby’s, April starts out with putting the fire back in your business with Venus giving you love and money conjunct Sun both in Aries in your 10th house of career. When you love what you do, you always win but this is not the time to spend money. With the New moon on April 12th in fire, new beginnings, leadership and career power plays are strong. Cancer isn’t always comfortable in front of the camera but if there was ever time to go for it, this is it. Mars is going into your first house of self on April 23rd and this energy will give you the feeling of taking off in a new direction. You are full of energy but you just came out of the sleep phase so just pick one area of your life and put all you’ve got into it. This is a great time to get back to working out, doing yoga or hitting the gym. With the June 10th Solar Eclipse in your 12th house, make sure you are living in reality and that you are getting your rest. After June 21st it’s time for you to shine with Your Birthday coming and the Sun in your first house. You are sparkling, all eyes are on you. June 24th is the Strawberry Full Moon how gorgeous. Red lips and a floral sundress will make you feel fabulous.

LEO: King and Queen, April 1st is a wonderful day for fun. The Fire Moon is in the 5th house of romance, the Sun and Venus is in the 9th, this is a time for foreign business travel or dealings if you can make this happen. Another fantastic day is the New Moon on April 12th in Aries; maybe you hear good news from afar. Since Saturn has moved into the 7th house of your opposite sign, this can give you some relief with the work and health area of your life, and partnerships are getting real. Fortunately, Jupiter helps ease you into this new phase, spending a good part of 2021 in the same house, but then on May 13th it goes into Pisces in the 8th house of growth and expansion. You may see some benefits; joint finances, shared resources, intimacy, healing, or personal transformation. This is a time to get advice on financial planning and strategies. June 10th is in Gemini in your 11th house of friendships so new friends might enter your life at this time. They may become very important in your life. Try to get out and have some fun with friends and tell them all the news about what you have been doing all year. Red is definitely a wonderful colour for you. I would go head to toe with this magnificent colour

VIRGO: Earthling, you start the month of April with the New Moon in Aries on the 10th, 8th house which represents other people’s money, life, death, and rebirth, money in the bank or inheritance. Mars in the 10th in Gemini in your career house, there will be a lot of intellectual and mental stimulation at this time, till the end of the month. With this energy it’s a fantastic time for writing, speaking and detailed work with maybe younger people. May you have many planets in the 9th house of spirituality, and foreign travel? Could this be that you meet someone important from out of town as well, and with a higher purpose. May 13th Jupiter goes into your 7th house of relationships till the end of July, this is exciting, could it be business, or marriage? Could this be the one, Virgo? Solar Eclipse on June 10th powerful new start with a job or open your own business perhaps. This will be the power move that will take this energy to the moon and back for the next 6 months, good luck. Red is not really a colour you typically wear but the last year or so has not been easy, so, sundress with yellow green and red will brighten up any room you enter at this time.

LIBRA: My beauties, Air feeds the Fire and April has all the fire you need, with the Sun and Venus in Aries in your 7th house of marriage and partnerships. The New Moon in Aries joins the party on the 12th – are you getting married? Planning a wedding? Could there be a new start with a business with a partner? So much excitement is in the air Libra. Jupiter will go into our 6th house on May 13th until the end of July and back in 2022 for a full year. Is your daily routine full of joy and happiness, or how can you make this happen, or are you helping others? The May 26th Lunar Eclipse is in your 3rd house of teaching or siblings – how are you communicating in these areas? This influence will be for the next six months. The June 10th Solar Eclipse in Gemini is in your 9th house – how are you sharing your thoughts, what is your new mission statement? Is it more spiritual than it used to be? Mercury is retrograde at this time so pay close attention to how you are getting your message out into the world. Red lips and a new red sports car? Wow that’s dynamic, whatever red you add to your life now, make sure to enjoy it.

SCORPIO: Intense Beings, April 1st the Moon (your emotions) is in fire in your second house of Money, Sun and Venus is in Aries the 6th house of work and health. This could mean that this is where your energy is going and this will increase April 12th with New Moon beginnings. Are you changing your diet and workout programs? if so, what a great time to start. Great month for buying a new house or property in general, but something else in your life might be holding you back from decisions. Mars is in the 8th house, so if you have money problems, money might come out of the blue. On May 13th Jupiter goes into your 5th house of children and romance. Do you feel fulfilled in your love life? If not, then find a way to bring back that loving feeling. June 10th the Solar Eclipse in Gemini in the 8th house, other people’s money, will begin a conversation of detoxification of relationships. Maybe you will get the loan for the house you are looking at, and start to plan a fun week at the beach as we enter the time of water. It is almost summer time and red is your colour. Pleather pants with black lace top are diffidently a hot look for you.

SAGITTARIUS: Flower Child, April 1st Moon in your sign in the first house of self, what a beautiful way to start the month. Venus and the sun traveling together in your 5th house of love and romance in Fire as well and on the 12th the New Moon in Aries will join them, an amazing time to decorate your home or have a house party. At the end of the month Mars is going into your 8th house, a great time to rearrange your money and take a look at your pension. In May Jupiter will go into Pieces on the 13th from your 3rd house to your 4th house in Pisces; are you expanding your home? Moving? The Full Moon then enters the 12th house on the 28th of May, this is great time to go into nature to meditate for your peace of mind. June 10th Eclipse in Gemini in your opposite sign – are you resetting relationships? Maybe going back to school? Wow it’s finally summer and maybe time for the beach on the Full Moon on June 24th. You will need some beach wear. A red hot bikini and beach towel to match, for a passionate time, maybe a vacation? Have fun.

CAPRICORN: Mountain Angels, it is time to try new things. It has been a very wild ride the last couple of years. You are changing how you communicate. April starts off with a lot of fire, this is not that comfortable for you but your energy is coming back and this is a good thing. Jupiter in Aquarius most of the year and your mind is on money. When Jupiter goes into Pisces May 13th to July 28th there can be some kind of spiritual awakening through this time and all of 2022. On May 26th there is a Full Moon Eclipse in Sagittarius in your 12th house of rest and healing. This should give you some closure to bad habits and behaviors that are holding you back. If you can go on a spiritual retreat this would be the time. On June 10th there is a Solar Eclipse in Gemini in the 6th house of health, both mental and physical. I feel it would be good to talk about this with someone at this time. If you don’t know what you are doing at the gym hire a trainer. Full Moon on the 24th of June is in your 7th house of relationships. I hope this means a hot summer date night so wear your sexy red dress and gold sandals for this one.

AQUARIUS: Alien Beauties, Fire is everywhere this month and this will give you the fuel you need to put all of your well laid out plans in place. April 1st moon in fire will be great for you, if you just got a new job and making new friends at this time. April 12th New Moon in Aries will join Venus and Sun together traveling in your 3rdhouse. This can mean short distance adventurous travel in your community with the one you love. Don’t forget this is a time of change for more freedom of self and home all year. May 13th till Jul 28th Jupiter will now go into Pisces, your 2nd house of money. This is going to give you opportunities for more money. Self-esteem will rise, your values will rise, just say yes because this might come out of nowhere. Don’t forget to save this money, as it is not a time to spend and this will be the influence the entire year of 2022. June 10th New Moon in Gemini in the 5th house, but Mercury is retrograde, since it’s in your house of children and not just romance. Maybe there is a reunion, a new type of communication with your children or ex-lover, make sure you are having fun. Summer is here and the beach is hot and so are you in your new red purse.

PISCES: Lovely Mermaids, after the amazing month you just had its time to make some relaxing spiritual time for healing yourself, Jupiter in your 12th house. Not a time to start something new now. April 1st the Moon in your 10th house makes a positive aspect to Sun and Venus in Aries, your second house of money. Once the New Moon in Aries on April 10th catches up to them, there will be a lot of Fire in your second house. A new job or pay raise sounds great and may be on the horizon. On May 13th to July 28th Jupiter is going into your first house of self. Be careful of weight gain; sorry but it’s true. It can also be a very lucky time as well. Mars is in your 4th house of home so maybe a lot of spring cleaning is much needed, you will have plenty of energy for the task. June 10th there is a Solar Eclipse in Gemini also in the 4th house, you may have big changes to your home. Decorating or even moving to a new house is a possibility. The Full Moon in Cancer June 24th is a great energy – there will be love, romance and fun with children at the beach. Red lips and large red sun-hat will look absolutely marvelous.

According to the Forbes Billionaires annual survey, Roger Federer is the first tennis player in the 30 year history to land at No. 1 after drawing $100 million off the court, thanks to deals with Uniqlo, Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz and 10 other partners.

Red energy is all about control, passion, drive, activity, energy, dynamism, determination, vitality and money!

Federer is the absolute definition of the Leo archetype with all the bravado, ego, confidence and drive of a true champion. He is a legendary sporting icon who has claimed his fame and fortune, harnessing his red fire energy and dominant 8 influence to continue winning!

I’m not really a tennis fan as such, but this man deserves some admiration. But what drives him to continue winning? Maybe there is a subconscious pattern at play that prevents him from failing?

As a Numerologist specializing in Colour Therapy, I observe the world through the lens of the soul. Before we incarnate upon this earthly paradise, we must make an array of fateful choices. These will determine our true purpose, personality blueprint, deepest inner yearnings, how we are perceived by the outside world, our strengths and weaknesses and the best times to embark upon new projects and ventures.

This is not only reflected in our numerological influences such as our Ruling Number, Day Number and Peak Years of Maturity but also through a sequence of soul colour vibrations. The time, place and date we are born and the name we select for ourselves become a reliable roadmap, which will navigate us gracefully along our journey to fulfilling our important missions.

NAME: Roger Federer
DATE OF BIRTH: 08/08/1981
SUN SIGN: Leo
PLACE OF BIRTH: Basel, Switzerland
RULING NUMBER: 8
SOUL URGE NUMBER: 8
OUTER EXPRESSION: 8
DAY NUMBER: 8
CURRENT LIFE LESSON: 16/7
PERSONAL YEAR: 4
ARROW OF FRUSTRATION: Lack of 4, 5 and 6
THE ARROW OF THE ENQUIRER: Lack of 3, 5 and 7

Soul Urge Number The total of the vowels gives you the Soul Urge Number – An inner number, which represents your inner self, your emotional self, your feminine energies.
Outer Expression Number The total of the consonants gives you the Outer Expression Number – An outer number, which is your face to the world, your masculine energies, your outer self.
Current Life Lesson Number When we combine the two single-digit outer and inner numbers together we get the number that relates to your current life lesson.

The most obvious pattern evident is all of that 8 ‘Saturn’ energy which dominates both his Birth Chart and Name Chart.

In many cultures, the number 8 is recognized as being highly auspicious. The Chinese pay thousands to have it appear in their phone numbers, car registration plates and addresses as its vibration offers abundance, prosperity and good fortune. If we analyze the sacred geometry of the number 8 it clearly appears as two circles, one on top of the other. This is said to represent completion on the earth plane and the spirit realm. The number 8 in Numerology is about independence, organization and control. Anyone with this number dominating their Charts needs an independent expression of their feelings, emotions and intuition. They have power, ambition and can achieve great success. They are often found at the head of large businesses or financial institutions, as inspiring leaders or senior figures in humanitarian organizations.

Roger falls under the astrological sign of Leo which is a fire sign embodying more red energy. The ruling planet of Leo is the Sun, which is full of dominant, masculine, ego energy. The true ‘I AM’ presence. Leo’s are powerful leaders when living positively with an arrogance that demands the world to recognize their power, light and beauty.

All of Roger’s major influences such as his Ruling Number, Day Number, Soul Urge Number and Outer Expression Number are governed by the number 8, which is extremely rare. I have been creating reports for many years and have never witnessed his powerful pattern before.

What is a Ruling Number?

The Ruling Number reveals our life’s purpose including our talents, obstacles, skills, strengths and abilities and how we experience our emotions. It also helps us to comprehend why we have chosen various life lessons, circumstances and challenges. The lessons we are meant to learn are usually the most difficult for us but it also reveals where we have the most potential. It offers the biggest influence in our Birth Chart so is an exceptionally important number. It is calculated by adding up all of the numbers in our date of birth and reducing to a single digit, except in the case of a 10, 11, and 22/4.

What is a Day Number?

Our main purpose in life is indicated by our Ruling Number but we are not intended to only pursue this purpose without some contrast which enables us to develop other aspects of our personality. This is what our Day Number is for, which is derived from the actual day of the month we came into the world. This reveals the manner in which we express our outer self to the world.

All The Eights – Strength & Dominance! Ruling 8 – Independent, Organized & Controlling

Number 8 is on the Soul Plane and relates to our independent, emotional expression. Anyone with a Ruling 8 has the potential of becoming a powerful, independent manager and leader, oozing self-confidence and strength of character. However, it may be challenging for them to express love and appreciation for themselves or others. Ruling 8 people, like Roger, resonate with finances and possess admirable skills to make and manage money better than most. 8’s feel compelled to do good on the planet, as they strive to nurture people who are less fortunate than themselves. This is an evident aspect of Roger’s personality as he has devoted much of his time and fortune to philanthropic pursuits.

Day Number 8 – Like Roger, these individuals possess the power to achieve great success. Their natural gift is the ability to dominate. They pursue excellence and desire success in whatever they do. Competitive and unwavering unless another goal catches their attention. Financial dominance may become available to them as they know how to handle money, power and strength. They are dynamic, productive and ambitious. By concentrating on the desire to succeed, they can be stubborn, impatient, and too ambitious.

Soul Urge 8 – Here is a deep yearning to improve the quality of life, guided by a strong humanitarian responsibility. As a negative aspect, it can manifest as over-ambition and idealism which may result in the ego taking control and focusing too much on self. It is interesting to observe both patterns appearing in Roger’s life.

Outer Expression 8 – These are people who prefer to act individually to the extent that they dare to be different if the need demands it. In this manner, they are perceived by others to hold strong personalities that do not follow the sheep. Federer has clearly paved his own way by not conforming to societal expectations and limitations.

Colour Influence – 8 – Saturn (Pale Violet / Deep Violet)

This is the planet of ‘old father time.’ Saturn and teaches the value of persistence and insists that any new structure must be built on a solid foundation. Roger has demonstrated nothing but a determination to be the world’s leading tennis champion from a very early age when he devoted his life to tennis. We must also look at the influence of the number G8 as it appears four times so is amplified and compounded.

Colour Influence G8 – Illumination (Deep Magenta / Deep Magenta)

This bottle is called Illumination, as it is only by going into the darkness and embracing it that we have the potential to step into the light. It’s about accepting our shadows and releasing our fears and judgments. It appears when there is a need clear our genetic line of the physical, emotional and karmic patterns have been inherited so that we can become a conscious creator. By clearing unconscious blocks we can return to clarity and claim our absolute magnificence.

This challenging influence is amplified by his ‘Arrow of Frustration’ (lack of 4, 5 and 6) in his Birth Chart as it indicates difficulties during his childhood.

We know that Roger did not have the easiest of childhoods as his parents were very strict. He admits that he felt pressurized into learning, performing and devoting all of his time perfecting his techniques in the game. This resulted in a display of red anger issues which he had to seek counselling for.

Roger holds a record-breaking 20 Grand Slam titles. At age 12 he started focusing on tennis and he received his first junior championship at age 14 and his first sponsorship at age 16. By 14, the teen was competing in two or three tournaments a month.

In 1998, a 21-year-old Federer went pro. He won Wimbledon for the first time in 2003 and has done it seven more times since then. So did Federer sacrifice his childhood for the sport?

He told Fox Sports: “I definitely made a lot of sacrifices, I believe, especially leaving home at 14. I think that was maybe the two years that marked my life in the biggest possible way because I was still very young…I was staying with a different family from Monday to Friday.” There is so much more that we can read into Roger’s charts but for today, we will leave it here.

I take my hat off to the ‘Red Fed’. He is an inspiration to anyone striving to become the best version of themselves. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth and due to all of his red activity, passion and drive, he has achieved the highest expression of the 8 – philanthropy.

A flying dragon is roaring, raining fire and smoke, creating havoc and destruction! People below are scrambling to get out of the way and prevent damage. A Knight in silver armour steps up to skillfully deflect the dragon’s fire and smoke, calm it and thus stop further damage. The Knight befriends the Dragon once peace is restored, sharing wisdom and teaching it to when use its fire.

The term “seeing red” has me envisioning people in “dragon mode”. They are out of control, often verbally or physically aggressive, temporarily unable to problem solve effectively because of fight or flight response hormones, which are flooding their bodies. Getting angry is normal. Handling anger and teaching your children to deal with it can be complex. Behaviour is learned and children need clear strategies and practice navigating the expression of anger.

When my family was quite young, I read two books that saved my sanity as a parent and later, as an educator. The concepts made sense, were well explained and easy to apply. “Raising Your Spirited Child” by Mary Sheedy- Kurcinka discussed having clear expectations, setting children up for success by talking through situations before they occur, possible consequences and the importance of established predictable routines.

“The Explosive Child” by Dr. Ross Greene PhD explained the mindset “children do as well as they can when lacking skills”, anger management can be learned, trigger events that may lead to an explosion can be identified and the Basket A, B and C method of problem solving can help children negotiate, learn and practice new strategies. I highly recommend both of them. When a child is in extreme emotional distress at school, attempting to hurt others, themselves or damage property, I strap on my figurative armour and assist de-escalating tense situations and supporting students in “dragon mode”.

My armour includes a blend of strategies and approaches.

• Mentally I repeat “I am calm, cool, collected and in control.” Children who are out of control need adults who are calm and can assume control of a situation. Speak calmly, but firmly, in a clear low voice. • Remember that children in “dragon mode” need simple language with 1 step instructions. Use the broken record method which is to repeat the phrase calmly, as many times as necessary, until the instruction is followed. Ignore attempts to engage you in a power struggle. Phrase instructions in a positive fashion. Tell what you want to see, not what you want them to stop. Say “Put the blocks down!” instead of “Don’t throw blocks at your brother!” Only give the next instruction after the preceding one has been completed. Keep them clear, simple and easy to follow.
• Separate adversaries and send them to neutral spots for time and space to cool down. Remove any audience after reassuring them that you are taking care of it, people get angry and need time to calm themselves.
• Offer choices, once the child starts to follow instructions. “You still seem angry/upset. Would you like to bounce a ball on the stairs or walk off your feelings to help calm down?” Others ways of calming themselves down can include deep belly breathing, drawing, working on a puzzle, building with Lego or some other type of physical activity. Wait for the child to engage in the activity, focus and settle down. Watch and note what works for your child so you can suggest it as a choice later as necessary.
• Let them know that you will be talking over the incident once they are calm and ready to chat. People recover selfcontrol at their own pace. Allow some time, then ask your child if they are ready to discuss the situation. If not, set a clear timeline and expectation that the situation will be discussed.

Use the “Restorative Mindset Questions” to guide the conversation. They are an effective, prescribed set of questions that are asked in sequence to focus on understanding the other person’s point of view and repairing relationships and harm.

When speaking to someone who has caused harm… (*It can be one or more depending on the situation. People can cause harm and then receive it.)

• What happened?
• What were you thinking at the time?
• Is there anything else you want to tell me?
• Who do you think has been affected by what you did? How were they affected?
• How do you think you can make things right?

When speaking to a person who was harmed… (*It can be more than one person depending on the situation. Sometimes people receive harm and then cause it.)

• What happened?
• What did you think when you realized what had happened?
• What impact has this had on you? Was anyone else affected? In what ways?
• What has been the hardest thing for you?
• What do you think needs to happen to make things right?

Have an open, respectful, turn taking discussion that encourages children to safely admit to and take responsibility for their choices, decisions and actions. Acknowledge their courage and honesty. Young children may need adult guidance but school aged children can identify positive options and create a plan to deal with similar circumstances in future. Children can use the plan next time, then reflect upon its effectiveness, evaluate and refine it and try again. The first time is the hardest. It’s an ongoing process but it works once children get used to it. If you need more information, google the bolded titles or feel free to reach out with questions.

Before we dive into this juicy introduction of an ancient Tantric practice, take a moment to centre yourself. Take a deep breath in and breathe out slowly. Do this three more times and then just for a brief moment close your eyes and feel any sensations that are alive within you right now. Allow them to receive your attention, your acknowledgment and your love. Your body desires a deep, intimate connection with you.

So often we are lost in our heads and in the busyness of our lives that we forget to pause and check-in with our physical body. We then bring this disconnection with ourselves into our relationships and wonder why we can’t connect with our partners. This creates disharmony and a subpar sex life. Our modern day relationships and sexual unions are missing the mark when it comes to creating deep, intimate connections and mind-blowing sexual experiences.

This is why I am so passionate about Tantra and why I coach couples on this ancient, sacred art. Tantra practices have the potential to help you and your partner connect deeply with more passion and intimacy that you have ever imagined to be possible.

In Sanskrit, the word Tantra means “woven together”. It is a practice of weaving the physical with the spiritual. It is about going deeper into our multi-dimensional beings and honouring the whole of us: body-mind-spirit. This practice brings together spirituality and sexuality and emphasizes the importance of intimacy during our sexual experiences. It is an art that has been practiced for over 5,000 years.

There are many benefits of tantric sex. Some of these include creating a profound sense of intimacy, tuning into subtle-energy within your body – everything from wild passion to deep love and awakening your sexual energy to flow freely within your body. It allows you to get more of what you desire in the bedroom and empowers you to be able to ask for it. It can help release sexual blocks, shame and enable healing from sexual trauma. Ultimately it allows you to access your fullest sexual pleasure and desire, which leads to longer love-making sessions and multiple full-body orgasms.

Yab Yum How to do the practice

Yab-Yum is a classic Tantric sex position that represents the union of Shiva and Shakti, the two divine energies of the masculine and feminine. The term Yab-Yum means “Father-Mother” and is the representation of the male deity in sexual embrace with his female consort.

1. Create a Sacred Space. Take some time to create a really beautiful space for you and your partner to connect. Clear any clutter from your space, light some candles and dim the lights. You may wish to sit on your bed or on the floor and it is recommended that you have pillows close by to prop yourself up if needed.
2. Set Your Intention. Tantra is so profoundly different because of the intentions that we put behind our actions. It is about being really conscious and present in the moment. Set an intention with your partner of what you would like your experience to mean for the two of you. It can be for creating deeper intimacy and connection, to be present with each other and enjoy the moment, or anything that is important for you as a couple.
3. Start Sitting Knee-to-Knee. Both partners sit in easy pose (crossed-legged) with knees touching. You can hold each other’s hands, forearms or knees, whatever feels most comfortable for you. Gaze into each other’s eyes without looking away. (NOTE: This is much harder than it sounds because we are not used to looking deeply into our lover’s eyes. That being said, if you giggle or feel uncomfortable, know that is completely natural and this will get easier with practice.) Spend a few minutes breathing in and out together at the same pace. Becoming more and more present as you do.
4. Moving into Yab-Yum. The man stays in easy pose and the woman then climbs into his lap. Her legs will wrap around his waist with foreheads touching and arms comfortably around each other. Eyes can be closed and you will continue to breathe together. Tune into your body and feel all the sensations throughout. As you move deeper into the more subtle energies and sensations you will begin to feel your sexual energy. The practice is to learn to allow this sexual energy to move up and down your spine, opening and clearing your chakras so that it can move freely within you. Start with a few minutes of conscious practice.
5. Move into Love-Making. After you have connected in this way, you have 2 options. You can continue to embrace and share your experience or you can move into love-making.

Yab-Yum is a great practice for us Creatives! Our sexual energy and creative energy come from the same source and are directly connected. If our sexual energy is blocked, we will find that our creativity is also stuck and stagnant. When this energy can flow freely throughout our body, then our creativity can flow freely out into the world. If you would like to learn more about Tantra and how to deepen your intimacy and connection with your partner, I would be honoured to guide you on your path!

What Do We Need to Know About RED?

Here are some quick basics about red. Remember, the energy of colour plays an active role in our day-to-day lives.

• Red is a warm colour, and because of this, it puts out energy and positive vibes into any space.
• Red is about power because it gets people’s attention.
• Red also means love. Red hearts, red roses, all indications of love and admiration.
• Red also represents anger. “He was so angry, he saw red!”
• Red indicates danger. Stop signs, school bus lights, or a red flag.
• Fun fact about red, the colour red was invented in 15,000 BC.

“The energy of colour is our invisible healer, psychologist, and best friend.

What is all this talk about Energy?

Energy has frequencies, and just like music, no matter what we do, say, feel, touch or speak, it all has a “vibration”, which is the energy that is being emitted by that thing or music. Colour has energy and it has a lot to do with how we feel. The colour of energy or frequency of colour is one of the best healing modalities next to aroma and music. Here is an example to think about; when you feel super tired or not very well, you have a tendency to wear or want to wear darker clothes. When you are feeling amazing, you will choose clothes that are lighter and more colourful. You, your energy, choose the colours for you because that is what you need at that exact moment to heal what you are going through. Yes, heal! Even when you are feeling fantastic, choosing a particular colour has healing in it.

This issue is all about red, so I will talk about what frequencies/ energy red emits to help heal us even if we really don’t know it. I always say that “the energy of colour is our invisible healer, psychologist, and best friend.” Here we are the 1st chakra/energy centre, the root, the base, RED. The “root or base” chakra is the first of the 7 major chakras or energy centres. It is located at the very bottom of the spine, at the lowest point in our body.

What is a Chakra/Energy Centre Recap

“Chakra” refers to energy points in your body. Your central nervous system, or spine, is the easiest way to envision these energy centre’s. There are 7 main chakras, and they are the most common and known. These spinning balls of energy start at the bottom of your spine and go to the top of your head (crown). The human eye cannot see these balls of energy; however, some people can. Luckily, I am one of those that not only feel and sense them but can see them. These balls of energy affect our entire body, nerves, organs, emotions, and our physical well-being.

Each “chakra” is associated with an organ, gland, chemistry, and body part within our physical and energetic body. Being an energy worker, I work on those energy centres when I am assisting clients. Each “chakra” carries its own message to your body and brain. When you are out of balance, that’s when people contact me for a reading or energy balance session.

What is The Root/Base Chakra?

This chakra or energy centre function is all about survival, security, safety, and grounding. It is our vitality, courage and self confidence. It is also the root of our support system, our foundation for living our lives our way and not by other people’s standards or expectations.

Grounding is one of the main functions of this energy centre. Not sure what this is? Do any of the following ring true to you?

• Think of a time when you felt scattered or, as I like to call it, squirrel mode.
• Your mind is here and there, and you feel a bit out of control. The ‘OMG, what the heck is going on’ thought.
• Feelings of insecurity, doubt.
• Do you constantly feel fearful or are you constantly living in survival mode?
• Do you feel like a balloon losing air and flying all over the place?
• Are you continually holding your breath from fear or anxiety and you have no clue why?

These are excellent indicators that your ‘root’ is out of whack, a few obvious ‘symptoms’. Yes, your root has become unrooted! Let’s get you in a better place, shall we?

The root chakra is all about survival. It is what gives us what we need in order to survive in our human form. The root chakra gives us our starting point; this is so important. When you sit on the ground or sit on a chair, you are sitting on your root chakra. Here is something to think about, and if you have had this happen, you have felt energy! Have you ever sat on something and it just doesn’t feel right, or you all of a sudden feel different than before you sat down? For example, you are in a really good mood, and then you sit down and suddenly feel sad, angry or super tired? That is because whoever sat there before you have left their energy on that chair.

Fear, which dwells in the base chakra, has sometimes been called “the demon.” This is because fear is one of the biggest emotions that resides in our root chakra. The moment we feel fear, we go into fright or flight response. Our hearts begin to race; breathing becomes rapid and shallow and, we start to breathe in our upper lungs, and it decreases oxygen to the brain. That is why some people faint after a fright or when they are really scared. They hold their breath (no oxygen to the brain), or they begin to breathe so shallow (breathing in the top of the lung), it restricts the oxygen to the brain. This, in turn, causes chaotic or even irrational thinking. That is the moment you need to focus on your breath! DEEP breath into your belly and slowly exhale. This brings your heart rate down, lowers blood pressure and begins a grounding effect. This is one of the quickest ways to ground.

A blocked or ‘out of whack’ root chakra creates an imbalance in the energy flow throughout the body. Here is a list of common traits if your root energy centre is blocked:

• Extreme negativity, sarcasm
• Eating disorders
• Greed, materialism
• Lack of focus
• Restlessness
• Feeling abandoned
• Depression, anxiety
• Feeling fearful

If you are feeling any of these, it’s time to get that root chakra and yourself grounded. Get yourself back in balance. A chakra meditation, grounding exercise or rebalancing your chakras are just a couple of things you can do.

The red edition is all about, to quote Amy Bell, “taking action and putting practical plans in place to support our physical journey on this planet. Getting a savings plan going, getting a new job or healing family issues” Taking action can be motivating, thrilling, anxiety provoking, and sometimes painful.

Imagine, you are getting ready for bed, you decide to be proactive and write a list of things “to do” tomorrow. You are ready to tackle all the things that you have been procrastinating about. You declare that tomorrow is the day when you can cross all those annoying tasks off your list. ‘Why not? We are in a pandemic, I have loads of time, I no longer have all of those distractions, it’s not like I can go anywhere or do much of anything anyway. I am going to do my taxes, book keeping, set up my Instagram posts for the next few months, book a medical appointment, fix the bathroom sink, change the oil in the car’, need I go on?

The next morning the alarm goes off…..snooze is hit, once, twice…well let’s not get personal. Finally you are out of bed. You shower, eat, get everyone organized for the day – dog, kids, spouse and yourself. Now, you’re ready to get all the things on your list done. Suddenly you look over and notice that the fridge needs to be cleaned out; and so the procrastination begins.

Why? What happened to the motivation? It is not your intelligence or talent that is causing you to procrastinate and most of the time it is not laziness. I know many motivated individuals who procrastinate. It may be your mental and emotional beliefs. We need to understand a bit about the mind to discover where the motivation went and how the procrastination set in.

There are two parts to our mind – the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. The conscious mind is the logical part of your mind that makes decisions and is able to rationalize.

“You use more energy avoiding a task than doing it!” –Samantha Timbers

The unconscious mind houses your memories, beliefs and emotions. It also runs the body such as breathing, blinking, digesting, and all the automatic functions that happen without us noticing. Many experts believe the unconscious mind controls over 90% of what we do and how we do it. The unconscious mind drives our behaviour using our memories, emotions and beliefs.

Why we procrastinate:

Our unconscious takes everything personally. If at some point in your past you completed a task and it was criticized by someone, this voiced criticism then led to a belief which was implanted into your unconscious mind. This belief could manifest as a lack of self-confidence, not being good enough, not smart enough, and so on. This can lead to avoidance of a task and will manifest as procrastination. It can also translate to unrealized fear, including fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, or a fear of the unknown. There are 3 key factors that contribute to procrastination:

The dialogue that is happening in your mind about the task often “ You use more energy avoiding a task than doing it! Samantha Timbers The Red Book April 2021 • 151 being perceived as tedious, not pleasurable, difficult or time consuming. Distractions. There are so many things that can distract us and take away our focus that can lead us down the path of procrastination. The task appears too large and creates overwhelm and stress. One of the ways to begin tackling procrastination is to notice the dialogue in your mind. What is happening? What are you making the task “mean”? Is it related to beliefs in the past? A client I worked with was having problems completing his taxes amongst other accounting details for his business. Each time he sat down to do it he would do anything to avoid it. I asked him to notice the dialogue in his mind. What was his belief or decision he had made about doing his taxes? He recalled when his father did his taxes and other financial things he was overwhelmed, stressed, and distraught. His father told him time and time again what a burden it was and that it wasn’t easy. My client internalized this at a young age and now had the unwavering belief that doing your taxes is hard and stressful. This belief then led to feeling overwhelmed and incompetent each time he thought of doing such a task, which led to procrastination. Through hypnosis I worked with my client to change his inner dialogue about his taxes and other financial obligations. Instead of thinking how difficult and stressful this task was he was able to change his internal conversation and state how easy it was with the right help and preparation he could accomplish this quite quickly and could get on with having fun.

Today there are so many things that can derail us and take our focus away – emails, social media, watching TV, cleaning the fridge etc. An effective way to rid procrastination is to work with the unconscious mind through modern day hypnosis to get to the root of the issues, limiting beliefs and increase your focus by 10,000 times.

When the task appears too large and causes overwhelm, instead imagine you have competed the task. When you imagine you have completed the task efficiently and effectively and you have the result you want, your focus will drive your behaviour. Your unconscious mind cannot decipher between what is reality and imagination, the completion of the task triggers pleasure.

To do this

1. Close your eyes
2. Picture yourself floating above your body
3. Allow yourself to float out into the future so you are 15 minutes after the successful completion of the task
4. Imagine yourself feeling wonderful and accomplished and ready to take the world
5. Now return to the present and you will find that the overwhelm has diminished and your task is easier to tackle being perceived as tedious, not pleasurable, difficult or time consuming.

Distractions. There are so many things that can distract us and take away our focus that can lead us down the path of procrastination. The task appears too large and creates overwhelm and stress. One of the ways to begin tackling procrastination is to notice the dialogue in your mind. What is happening? What are you making the task “mean”? Is it related to beliefs in the past?

Other effective methods: you can learn how to work with your unconscious mind through self-hypnosis, listen to procrastination hypnosis videos, or you can work with a hypnotherapist/coach to rid procrastination and become the person you want to be. To find out more book a complimentary procrastination hypnosis session with me.

However you chose to combat your procrastination hypnosis is an effective, drug-free method!

Red is the powerfully bright colour connected to passion and action. It is the colour of our blood – our life force, which flows through our veins, allows our heart and organs to pump and the magical liquid which energizes our physical body to move and exist in this world.

Red is the colour of our root chakra, in Sanskrit, our ‘Muladhara’chakra. It is the base of our physical, emotional and spiritual body. There are many poses, postures and flows in yoga that can create warmth and a fire within. Yet, when I think of our red root, connecting us to this earth, meditative postures such as Lotus position or any sitting postures that allow you to enter into a relaxed or meditative state come to mind. If you are not able to get into Lotus position (Padmasana) – sitting cross-legged, with each foot placed on the opposite thigh, find a comfortable seated posture for your body. When we are able to find stillness in our body, this allows for stillness in our minds. When we can find even moments or minutes of stillness in our minds, we can connect to our basic needs and true instincts. When we return to the base of ourselves we can connect to who we really are and feel into what lights us up, that red fiery passion of our soul’s purpose.