Volume 1 Issue 1 ISSN# 1708-3265
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Walk Your Talk with Aleesha Stephenson 
"I open myself up to the great abundance of opportunities which lie before me every day."Aleesha Stephenson What a powerful experience this can be when you begin to practice it daily. I began to hear the whisperings, "you could create your own magazine" back in February of this year. I had just completed my second issue with Body Mind Spirit Magazine and loved every aspect of it. I didn't understand why I heard those whisperings, and I chose to ignore them, after all I was really happy working for, and with, Jeni Mayer (the publisher of BMS). As the days passed, more issues came online, more learning opportunities and life experiences came into my life, and suddenly I found myself in a position of having to really think about publishing a magazine on my own. At first the thought terrified me but within moments, I found myself getting really excited about the possibility. Could I actually do this myself? I was already getting all the writers together, finding most of them by searching out websites on the Internet, and then contacting the people via email. I would take Jeni's theme for each issue and ask my writers to twist it to make it their own, finding their own voice within it, and assisting them whenever needed. From offering suggestions of where their article could go - to minor editing, I enjoyed the whole process immensely. Watching as the writers shone their light so brightly… this brought me such great pleasure. (Many of you know about my "birch tree philosophy" and watching others grow is definitely one of the perks of my position!) So could I take this a step further? Could I purchase web space and shine my light and the light of others? As my mother often says; "if it's your bat, your ball and your park, you get to make the rules." Could I step out from under Jeni's wing to do this alone? Well, as life sometimes happens, events occurred which made it a necessity. Jeni was ready to take back the reins of BMS and I was out of a job! Or was I? I started contacting people to see if they could assist me to create a website for my own magazine because I had absolutely no idea how to do this. I called html "hotmail"… (a testament to how much I truly didn't understand!) I even needed to find someone to do graphics to create the ads. I needed to find a name for the magazine, which not only would "sing", but also be numerologically balanced… not an easy task! There was so much on my plate but I kept asking the Goddess to assist me with my path. "Help me find someone to teach me what I need to learn". Then one night the stress came crashing down on me. I decided it was too difficult. I was seriously considering throwing in the towel.
It was at this point a very dear friend came to my side, and she sat beside me and explained html in a way I could grasp. She showed me basic code and made a template for me to work from. From that moment on everything started falling into place. I found, once I understood the code, it was easy to create my vision. I got myself a graphic program and within hours I was creating ads. Everything just started feeling easier. I was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and know it wasn't a train! So this particular opening became an auspicious one indeed! It not only allows me to create my own unique vision but it will also allow me to assist others in doing the same. Even though we may feel the fear...sometimes we have to do it anyway! (and I really felt the fear with this one!) I believe this 'opening' for myself has brought another gift into my life, or rather into the life of my 17-year-old daughter. She was able to watch me go through this process of not understanding any of the technical aspects of creating a magazine and finding ways to discover the answers. I know my strength is normally in assisting something which is already in form to continue to grow and thrive, but the planning and beginning stuff wasn't my strength at all! She was able to see me feeling the fear and choosing to do it anyway… a gift, which I hope she will choose to emulate in her life. So here it is. I hope my learning experiences from the last months bring a smile to the faces of those who read this publication. much light, Aleesha Stephenson Aleesha is the Publisher, Editor, Graphic and Web Designer as well as a Regular Columnist for Timeless Spirit Magazine. Head of the Publicity and Development Department of Elder Grove Press, and Executive Director and Publicist for "Magi's Magick Spells". An Eclectic Wiccan Practitioner, Reiki Master/Teacher and Faery Shaman, she home-schools her three spiritually enlightened children and is a life-partner to David. Her life is filled with much light. You can contact Aleesha at: TimelessSpirit@shaw.ca |
Copyright (c) 2003 by Timeless Spirit Magazine. All articles are the copyright of the particular writers and cannot be reprinted without their expressed permission. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means whatsoever, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permission of the copyright holder. We retain legal counsel to protect our copyrights.
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