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Wanna know the most common question I get asked in my practice?

"Why?"

That's it. That's the question.

Oh, sure, it's usually, "Why can't I stop ___?" or "Why can't I start ___?"

You can fill in the blanks with anything you like. I've heard it all. Well, maybe not all, but certainly things I never thought I'd hear.

"Why can't I stop biting my nails?" Often.

"Why can't I stop overthinking?" Tons.

"Why can't I stop planning how I will  murder my husband?" More than a few times. And none were kidding.

"Why can't I stop feeling like a dolphin?" Once.

And the "Why can't I start?" questions have an equal range from - 

"Why can't I start forgiving him?" Often.

"Why can't I start losing weight?" Tons. (oops. Let's replace 'tons' with plenty.)

"Why can't I start changing how I think?" More than a few times. And often with a lot of frustration.

"Why can't I start to be a different person?" Once.

What I've noticed is that although 'why?' is the most common question I...

For years - decades, even - the number one reason people booked a session (or more) with me was because they said they were stuck.

Really. That's the word they used. Stuck.

They used to say "I can't seem to get out of this relationship. I'm stuck."
"I can't quit this job. I'm stuck."
"I can't stop smoking/eating/spending/drinking/adopting cats (the list was endless). I'm stuck."

I'd listen to their narrative and hear 2 things:

I'd listen to their narrative and hear 2 things:

1) They didn't understand their current situation enough to be able to move beyond it. It still held some pull for them, even if it wasn't an attractive pull. There's a lot of things we're not attracted to but we feel stuck with. (My extra 10 lbs come to mind. ‍  )

And 2) They didn't have the vision to see how they got there and what was beyond it.

That's when I used to pull out my subconscious mind tool of choice. I knew they needed a bigger picture.

If they were stuck, it was in the...

Here's something you may not know. I've never been very woo-woo.

I know, I know. I spent mega-years as a past-life regression therapist in Vancouver. I held regular groups and did thousands and thousands of one-on-ones with lots of woo-woo people. And plenty who weren't.

As a trained transpersonal psychotherapist (yes, that's 9+ years in university), I found that doing regression work was the best subconscious mind tool in my toolbox. So I used it. A lot.

You didn't have to believe in past-lives to do 'the work'. You didn't have to 'speak spiritual'. There were no crystals or vision boards in my office. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It was just not my focus.

Sure, I attracted a lot of woo-woo people, because *past-lives* does that.

But really, my focus was on you. And I knew to meet you where you were - woo-woo or otherwise.

I knew that *you* knew the truth - about your confusing situation, your strange symptoms, your irrational reactions, your greater visions, your...

Yesterday, the gal who likes to flirt with me at my local coffee shop asked me what my favourite pie was. What a tease.

I gave her a look like someone who was blowing a mental fuse. Favourite? Pie? Not possible.

Everyone loves pie and I'm no exception. Lush fruit pies, heavenly cream pies, hit-the-spot savoury pies - I have no favourites unless I can say that they're all my favourites.

It's the crust that's king in my pie fantasies and realities. The filling, the queen. And every pie I bake or consume has to have the king and queen equally represented, not one over the other.

Or what's the point.

It's just like the spring offering I've been telling you about. Someone hit reply to the last email newsletter I sent out last Wednesday and asked me what the channelled message is in my new spring offering. Great question! And one I wrote on and on about - to her.

Then it dawned on me that you might want to know too.

'All Access' is a pie. It has a crust and a filling and each component...

So...I used to be a fruitaholic.

Scratch that.

I *am* a fruitaholic. But I'm in recovery. Most days.

But like any 'holic, I would tell you that it's not my fault, and then I'd tell you why.

I grew up surrounded by huge dark sweet cherry trees. We had 4 majestic ones in our front yard. We also had 102 pie cherry trees in 'the back 40'. I know. I counted them one day. Cherry pies were the first pies I made.

We had one perfect prune plum tree, 3 sister Anjou pear trees, a thick highbush blueberry row backing onto an enormous Willamette raspberry row. I used to lean out my bedroom window and pick a Yellow Transparent apple right off the tree. It was my evening snack from July onward.

Most days I had 3 not-very square meals in fruit town. I found my sweet tooth in fruit, no question about it.

But all things must find a balance and so it was for me and fruit. Maturity kicked in and I now honour fruit more than make it disappear. I savour, rather than gobble, which is what I do with my...

My son, Connor learned to drive stick by watched YouTube videos. He was 16 and obsessed with buying his first car. And then he saw his dream car. Online.

It was a '51 MG Replica with a '69 VW Beetle chassis. 1500cc 4-speed manual. He paid $5600 for it. Cash. He'd been saving all his life. Most of the money was $20s and $5s. I watched him count it out to the owner. He was gleeful to make the trade - cash for dream.

Then came the handshake and the longest pause I've ever witnessed. Why? Because Connor didn't know how to drive a standard car. He never even took the car for a test drive. His vision stopped when he bought his dream.

So...I stepped up and asked the gentleman to hold it a few days and we'd be back. And Connor got to work watching YouTube videos and practicing in his mind.

When the day came to drive his car home, I followed closely behind as he navigated the side roads with the clunkiness of a first-time driver. It was an experience for the books.

I look back to that time...

I grew up in the era of hand me downs, leftovers, and sharing a bed with my sister. A single bed. There were 2 single beds with 4 girls in one bedroom.

We had one bathroom for 6 of us. One phone that we shared with 6 other households. A party line they called it.

We weren't poor. That was country-normal in the '60s. And we didn't know any different and we didn't expect any different.

But if I had been offered my own bed much less my own bedroom, I would have jumped at the chance. 2 bathrooms? Sign me up. Privacy on a phone? My teenage heart would have burst.

Who wouldn't love being offered more?

I was thinking about all that last month as I was getting ready to offer more to YOU. You only know what you know. And you're usually fine until you find out there's more you can have. Am I right?

So I was thinking about how I've been offering one-on-one sessions for almost 30 years now. And how I've actually been channelling the universal truth for almost the same amount of time. And for...

My back tire blew as I was driving over the Granville Street bridge in rush-hour traffic.

It wasn't a slow leak. It was a loud and sudden jolt and swerve. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

This happened more than a few years ago when I lived in Vancouver, but it’s a memory that will always stick with me.

I hobbled to the far lane and limped off the bridge with my blown tire sort of intact. Madly scanning for a place to pull over, I spotted a mechanic shop. It was Sunday and it was closed, but I needed to stop and access the situation.

My son, Connor and I got out of my candy red VW bug and kind of stood them dumbfounded, staring at the shredded remains of my back tire. But our eyes suddenly noticed the owner of the shop as he came out from a side door, wiping his greasy hands on a well-used rag and looking at the car, not us.

I think I mouthed the word, 'help'. He exhaled and told me to drive it around to the back. I silently obliged.

In no time at all he put on my spare tire, then...

I didn't get my driver's licence until I was 27.

I woke up one morning and suddenly knew I was gonna need it. I didn't know why. But I knew I needed to book a driver's road test as soon as possible.

It felt urgent.

I had a learner's permit in my wallet. It was getting ready to expire. So I booked the driver's test for the following Saturday.

I didn't have a car so I asked a friend to rent one for me. Then I drove around Vancouver parallel parking and safely passing other cars all day Friday.

On Saturday morning we drove the Ford Taurus to my local ICBC and I took and passed the driver's test.

A week later I was offered a sales rep job that came with a company car - a nondescript blue Dodge Caravan. The job would pay me twice what I had been earning, so accepting it was a no-brainer.

But what I remember most about the whole experience was the feeling when the van keys were legitimately given to me and I sat behind the wheel, turned the ignition, and drove off. I distinctly remember...

Well, we made it to winter in this strangest of years. We’re still holding our breath and we’re still looking for the horizon. So I’m going to suggest we look up at the planets to see how they play into it all. 

The planets are the horizon of choice right now. The upcoming planetary movements and their influences in our lives give us insight and guidance so we can deepen our understanding of what’s influencing us. 

That’s why I had my seasonal conversation with my favourite karmic astrologer, Marielle Croft (croftastrologer.com) yesterday - a few days before the Winter Solstice.

We can all reap the benefits of having an intimate look around the upcoming and ongoing planetary influences, so let me share our conversation with you so you see the horizon too.

JONNI:  Happy Solstice Marielle. So what do the winter and new year look like from your vantage position?

MARIELLE:  Happy Solstice! The Winter Solstice occurs on Monday, December...