WHEN LIFE THROWS YOU TOO MANY CHOICES

Before I start this blog, I just want to apologize for my absence last week. There had been some issues with my website, which did not enable me to post. So now that things are fixed, here is my post that I would have posted last week. Again, sorry if you missed me heheheh… but now we return to our regularly scheduled program…

THE FORK IN THE ROAD

We’ve all been there: that fork in the road that presents us with a choice, or even many different choices and it is up to us as humans to use our better judgement and free will to make the “RIGHT” choice. But what IS the “RIGHT” choice? IS there a right or wrong choice? Or do we ultimately end up making the choice we were MEANT to make, as in, we were predestined, and the Universe, God, or whatever higher power you believe in, KNEW that you were gonna make that choice, and that set the stage for the rest of your life? OR is the choice just as up in the air TO that higher power and they kind of have to adapt to whichever choice it is that we make, at that same moment we do? I often get a silly picture in my head of my spirit guides and guardian angels just looking down on me as I make the less obvious choice, just shaking their heads as if to say, “Great Job, Juss… now WE have to deal with your bullshit, once again…” What a funny thought, isn’t it?

I guess I am writing this because like every human being, I am faced with some choices at the moment. I have been an aspiring entrepreneur for a year or so now. I have many ventures and ideas, but haven’t really been able to monetize them due to my own personal mental blocks. They’re not so much creative blocks, that area I’m all set. BUT they are huge blocks attached to my mindset, and how I feel about money. I feel like a lot of creative people deal with this, and most often than not, us Right-brained creatives don’t get along with our left-brain too well. Creatives often feel like the things that we create might not be “worth it”, as in, a price we would deem acceptable to be paid for our work we pour so much blood, sweat, and tears into.

Off track for a minute, but I promise you, I’ll come back to that thought… A couple days ago, a concern was brought up in one of my FB tarot groups about whether or not it is ok to read the tarot for ourselves. I replied and reassured them that it is just a silly myth designed to scare people (this myth was probably thought up by some really desperate phonies who thought they wouldn’t be paid otherwise if people would start reading for themselves).

Listen, here is my quick advice on reading for yourself:

NOBODY KNOWS YOU BETTER THAN YOU KNOW YOURSELF! 

The tarot can give us much insight about our own issues, probably better than anyone else can. BUT, that’s not to say that it doesn’t help to have the opinion of another tarot reader. Of course it does. I’m not saying they’re all phonies, just reiterating and trying to clear any misconception about reading for yourself. If you are a beginner tarot reader on the fence about doing your own, because of the things you’ve heard, I am here to tell you to ignore all of that bs! (It’s also a misnomer that you have to be gifted a deck, also NOT TRUE. It’s actually better if YOU choose a deck that you’re naturally drawn to. This will enable you to connect with it on a much deeper level.

ANYWAY… sorry for getting off track… but my whole point in that little paragraph long rant is just that: I am having trouble making a choice, and I felt the need to consult my cards for some insight on this matter that seems to be troubling me at the moment. When consulting the cards in making a choice, I like to pull a card based on each choice I am presented with, and then make my decision based on the vibes I get from each card. I feel like we always KNOW deep down what the obvious choice is, but sometimes we just need to seek our higher power or our inner voice to reassure us that we are in fact making the RIGHT decision.

So here is my issue at the moment. I have 3 business ventures that I have been kind of juggling for the past year or so, and I’m really trying to see which one would have the most success in monetization. I have even talked to a business coach on the matter recently, and it’s so funny because her advice is pretty much showing in the cards. This is all stuff I already knew, so it’s so crazy how the cards are always so spot on! Ok so here we go...

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MY CHOICES

The first card I pulled was for the first venture I stated out loud…

 JustinasWorld – ACE OF CUPS 
Cups is the suit of love, emotions, and Aces symbolize New Beginnings, a New Relationship, etc.  Now Justinas World is a venture that’s been really near and dear to my heart. I have had this domain www.JustinasWorld.com since 2001 when I started a career as a singer song-writer. The site has changed tremendously over the years. I would showcase my music on there, performance announcements, and some blogs about the career I was pursuing. For a long time, I had someone else manage it. Over the past year I had the crazy idea to revamp it and make it into a safe haven for me to combine all of my passions into one site. There was so much of me that my fans and followers never knew about because I always kept my music “persona” very separate from my personal life. I dunno what’s changed, but I really feel like I want to resonate on a more personal level now. I think just growing up made me realize that being “real” and TRUE to the people on the outside looking in, would resonate much more than just a “persona” or musical image like we see in Hollywood, etc.

Over the course of me rebranding and revamping this website, I have decided to play up the whole theme of Justina’s WORLD and really use it to focus on putting more good back into the world and making this crazy world seem like a “not so crazy place” after all. On this blog, I love to post about my spiritual musings, feature art, music, poetry, my fictional writings, dreams, goals, aspirations, my love of tarot, and other things I enjoy such as Travel and EXPLORATION! I have even started to develop some art courses that I plan to host on there as well, and try to form a sort of movement through art and music combined. I want to get people from all different countries and cultures involved, and I think this is kind of the dream with this blog. Can I see it making any money? Would I be able to quit my day job if I made this the main focus? I’m not sure. It’s a feel-good venture, and even though I have many minimal streams of income off of it through youtube affiliation and music sales, it is definitely not enough to pay the bills from month to month. Will it ever be? Maybe… but not in the near future, as my following on there has dwindled over the years. I kind of attribute that to laziness to maintain contact with followers, and also laziness in creating the content it takes to keep a crowd engaged. It’s a lot of work, for sure.
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I am definitely agreeing that Ace of Cups represents JustinasWorld because I love this venture so much, but as far as income, maybe I shouldn’t pursue this area as hard. This site is just a FEEL GOOD venture, but that’s not where the money is at… clearly. I mean I might be able to generate some cash flow via my Tarot Readings (which I also offer in my 3rd venture).

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Abra-zine! – WHEEL OF FORTUNE  
The Wheel of Fortune is a card of the MAJOR ARCANA. These cards represent huge events in our lives and the Wheel of Fortune in particular represents a turning point, maybe even some luck or good fortune coming my way. I could not agree more with this aspect. Abra-zine is a global arts and inspirational E-mag that I have really been nurturing wholeheartedly and consistently for the past ALMOST 2 years. It’s a seasonal magazine (1 issue per season) that relies heavily on different contributors each issue, to form a global collaboration of different artists, storytellers, and creatives alike. I have really been concentrating on growing my reader base and keeping track of who exactly is reading, collecting my leads, promoting, etc. The mag has grown quite a bit in the 2 years I had started it up, and I’m really proud of it, and it really has become such a passion project of mine. I have a dedicated FB community of all of my followers, contributors, and readers, and it grows with every issue.

I definitely think I would definitely have the most success with monetizing this venture because it is so community based and gives every one a platform and outlet for their own artistic voices to be heard! I think I definitely need to put my focus on the magazine ALOT more, and maybe even focus on growing the mag in between issues, because up to this point, I have been relaxing on my “off” months. I am the editor in chief, ceo, creator, designer, talent scout, web master, I mean you name it, I have really been taking on ALL of the work, in addition to contributing some pieces during the issue production. I do ALOT of work, and I don’t get paid for it, but I do it cuz I love it. BUT… at some point, if we want to make a living off of our passions, we have to make certain choices. I’d love to say I do this for a living, and that it pays the bills. I definitely see the most potential in monetizing this venture because it already has somewhat of a built in fanbase, and I can add some things to sweeten the deal, like courses, and affiliations for my paying members to benefit from. I always said I would keep it free for readers and contributors, and that is my main goal. That’s why it’s so tricky. I want to monetize without making my readers/contributors pay for anything.

However, if my readers/contributors wanted additional perks, like courses, webinars, and the chance to INVEST in said magazine, i’d love to enable them to make their own money off of helping to spread the word, that is why affiliation marketing is great. I really think there are so many options with being able to monetize this. I think I just need to dive in a little deeper and keep the focus on this venture MORE.

​My last card I pulled is for the following venture:

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Bohemian Magic Studios – 2 of Pentacles
Now it’s funny I pulled this card for this venture, because pentacles is the suit of finance, and practicality. The figure in this card is juggling and TRYING to balance his pentacles, which to me says this venture was something that I threw in the mix to maybe give myself another option. Also I had this domain name probably since I had Abrazine, and I haven’t really done much with it, because I haven’t been able to decide what exactly to do with it. At first it was a site where I would sell my art and crafts, and post blogs about home and gardens stuff. Then it became a site about painting parties and jumping on that trend of offering virtual art classes (I mean it might partly still be that). Then it became a site of this and a site of that. Then this past year I started helping friends and guinea pig clients put together their websites and help them take their ideas and bring them to life so they could start up the business of their dreams. I really saw myself as the catalyst for making their ideas come to life. I then decided to make this site dedicated to helping the Creative-Preneur manifest the business of their dreams. And that is where I’m at now. I’m in the process of putting together some services packages and really trying to build up a client base as far this goes.

I am having more of a block with this venture, and I do feel like I’m kind of juggling it along with my other two. I think I got the 2 of pentacles here, because it is the only venture of the 3 that I’m actually making ANY steady flow of income for at the moment. It is minimal in the grand scheme of things, but it is the MOST I have made off of any of these 3 ventures. I think I am feeling the need to juggle this BECAUSE I AM seeing progress here as far as monetization goes. I DO actually LOVE helping people get their ventures up and running and helping them with learning their way around marketing and using the world wide web as a tool to get their business up and running.

The waves in the background of the 2 of pentacles definitely indicated that it is a bit choppy keeping up this end of my ventures to stay afloat with that cashflow while I’m also juggling Abra-zine, my BIGGER venture, where I see where most of the potential and opportunity for it to grow into something MUCH bigger. It already has taken on a bit of its own life form…. I even see the 2 of pentacles as juggling my part time day job. I think this card is just indicating me juggling many different LITTLE jobs as a means to make the money, and it’s definitely hindering my ability to put all my focus into the one thing I think has the brightest light at the end of the tunnel..

Abra-Zine will be my calling card, and my best fortune.

I think all in all… my own reading has definitely reinforced my uncertainty about which venture needs my most attention and even monetary investment. I think my goals for 2016 will definitely involve me finding a way to monetize the mag for certain and even hiring some help, even if it’s a few interns. I definitely need to start investing in the FB ads, and get my business cards made up. I think I really need to take this all the way if I want to make things work with this.

So when life gives you many choices… feel free to pull your own cards, 1 per choice that life is presenting you with. 

What does each card say to YOU about each choice? Which card feels the heaviest or seems to be pulling you its way the most?

That’s how you know what the obvious choice is… it might actually be the choice you were heading for all along… But sometimes we just need divine intervention, and some answers from the powers that be… Our spirit guides are always there, making sure that we are staying true to our inner voice, and reading our own tarot cards is the perfect way to make that voice a bit louder when it’s being muffled by our own insecurity…

I hope you enjoyed this exercise…
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What choices is life presenting YOU with at this moment? Try this out!
If you read your own, please share your reading as well! ​

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