The new year is here!!
Happy 2024 
It is anticipated that this year is one where some major spiritual shifts will take place in the collective consciousness.
Are you ready for transformation?
I spent New Year’s at our family cottage hanging with family.
Being present. Having conversations. Laughing. Eating too much. Reading, relaxing and reflecting.
The photo above captures the joy I feel here, and a vision I couldn’t see before it became a reality.
It got me wondering .. how do you enVision to create your reality?
You may think it was outer circumstances of seeing a great cottage and simply buying it with $$ we had, and you wouldn’t be wrong.
But the outer world is only half the reality.
Over the last decade of going inward, I’ve learned to look back differently to see things I couldn’t see at the time.
This process has helped me create realities that have come true I could never have anticipated and allows me to keep creating what I most desire.
Winter is definitely a different vibe than summer – quieter, peaceful and a great time for reflection.
My parents are in their 80’s and moments in person feel numbered with each passing day.
I treasure this precious time much more these days.
17 grandchildren came along and have created “soul moments” here since the birth of my niece 26 years ago.
I was in University when my parents bought this place so I didn’t grow up here.
My children and their cousins did, and developed a family bond I wish I could bottle and send out to the world.
The most precious things in life can’t be packaged or given away; they can only be experienced from the light of your own soul.
It’s this part of you that is co-creating your life from your inner world of reality.
I took a deeper look back reflecting on “how did this cottage experience” that’s evolved over time become my reality”?
My mom can’t swim, and was always concerned about us being near water. She made sure all of us took swimming lessons!!
So having a cottage by a lake I couldn’t see with our family …. or could I?
Reflecting Back on Your Year
When I’m at the start of a new year, I do a lot of reflection.
I scrolled back through my past year’s photos and noticed “what happened? Who did I spend time with? What experiences stood out? What am I grateful for?”
Then the deeper reflections: “What was I willing to step into? What hard decisions did I make? How did Spirit show me I’m on the right track with signs and synchronicities?
What were the big lessons here for me?
I slowed down to remember what was happening before we got this cottage, and a hidden inner reality began to unravel.
“You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”
~Maya Angelou
Where Have You Been?
I happened to be with my parents when they made the offer to buy our family cottage 35 years ago.
Was it a mere coincidence I was there?
Their agent had made a ridiculously low offer given my parent’s budget and said “let’s take a chance and see”.
The secret piece of manifesting your dreams is recognizing where your own light plays a role in co-creation.
Think of it like your deepest hidden desire with your intention being sent out into the field of possibility.
Then you engage by paying attention, acting on, and making decisions that may feel like a “leap of faith”.
Think of something you are truly grateful for and see if you can look back to see:
What was I experiencing back then internally, what did I SAY and DO that may have influenced what transpired?
Who you choose to BE today is where your light comes in for what you want to create tomorrow.
The Hidden Reality You Co-Create
The story I have told friends about how we ended up with a family cottage goes like this:
My father always wanted a boat and despite my mother’s protest against such nonsense, he got one.
A “mid-life crisis” perhaps – he was 50 at the time : )
My father asks for very little, and rarely buys anything.
It wasn’t until I saw the joy and peace he experiences driving a boat that I understood.
Time waits for no one. His “if not now, when” moment had come.
When will it be for what you desire, if not NOW?
Where do you put a boat that doesn’t fit in your garage? It needed a home. So they got a cottage to store the boat.
My parents were looking for something small and simple, and weren’t willing to spend much.
Most of their hard earned $$ had gone into putting 6 of us through private school.
Our family vacations were spent driving a motorhome across Canada and the U.S.
Since we were a family of 8, it had to at least sleep 8 of us!
After weeks of looking, their agent finally said “there’s one last cottage outside your price range I want to show you. It’s been on the market for a long time”.
I was getting tired of looking at places with my parents.
The outside was unimpressive – a dark brown wood, and the whole place looked old and clearly needed work.
But when I walked down to the lake and stood on the dock. Time seemed to stand still. The view was spectacular.
I knew immediately this was the location before I’d stepped into the cottage.
Have you ever had a moment where it feels like a quiet voice is whispering really loudly?
You don’t have all the details to make a big decision – just enough for a leap of faith you must be willing to take.
I was not a daughter who voiced her opinion strongly, but this time I heard myself boldly exclaim “LET’S GET THIS ONE!!!”
I knew nothing about the extent of work it needed or costs involved … the roof had to be replaced, it leaked inside, the deck has been re-built 3 times, windows replaced in every bedroom, even the dock was replaced.
Eventually the entire cottage needed to be torn down and rebuilt.
RECOGNIZING YOUR TRUE VOICE
I suddenly remembered this same “inner knowing” feeling when a real estate friend got me to see a home she thought I would like.
I wasn’t even looking for a new home.
She was helping my sister -in-law buy a home in my town, and it wasn’t a layout she wanted.
As I walked through – I knew immediately this was meant to be our home. It was way beyond my price range.
If you can learn to trust from within, and take a leap of faith — things magically show up to help make the impossible possible.
When I look back — my best decisions got made when this inner part of me was lit up and I could use it to jump into a new reality.
The Unseen Story Behind the Story
I didn’t think I envisioned our family with a cottage, or did I?
In the year I turned 11, our family moved and I met a friend who invited me to her family cottage on a Lake.
I wasn’t sure what a cottage was, but it sounded fun!
The answer was NO. My mom’s rule: no sleepovers.
My friend later asked again, and even though my parents had met her very respectable parents – it was still a NO!
Could that missed desire have planted a seed to envision a “cottage on the Lake”?
Fast forward to high school – a different friend invited me to their family cottage on a different lake. Still a NO.
It wasn’t fair or even reasonable to me!
How will I ever experience life if I can’t go to a cottage when my mom knew their parents who lived just around the corner from us??
I protested.
Finally my mom caved in. I got to enjoy my first “cottage experience” – playing board games with her family on Lake Michigan in the summer sun, meeting new friends and having FUN!!
The idea of a cottage on the lake I could now enVision because I experienced it.
Where have you persisted for what you wanted? What brought you JOY where you’ve been?
A few short years after visiting that cottage I stood on our future dock with my parents who were ready to buy a cottage.
Our “inner knowing” is so quiet compared to what we easily see on the outside we think make our decisions.
Unseen forces are at work when we follow our internal light.
Canada has the most freshwater lakes in the world .. around 2 million – my province of Ontario with the highest number.
The first cottage on the lake I was invited to I never got to visit?
It was one of 3 large lakes that flowed into same contained system. I could boat to that lake!!
I had forgotten. I didn’t connect these dots. Reflect back and pay closer attention.
I recently reached out to this same friend, and we plan to re-connect this year! Who knows? Maybe I’ll end up visiting their cottage after all : )
When you’re clear on what you want – it needs to come from inside of you.
Inside I was carrying the joy. The fun. Families together. Laughter. Sharing meals together. Connection of what a cottage meant for me.
“Consider your soul’s journey as if you were sitting in a row boat. There are two oars that move you through life: One, is the oar of the outer world (left hand), the second, is the oar of the inner world (right hand). For you to make progress (forward momentum) you must balance and coordinate the actions of both oars to move you forward toward your destination.”
~Celestial Teacher Vutia, received by Chris Maurus
We bought our cottage in 1988. 8 is the sign for infinity. 88 to me means infinite possibilities.
After I took the leap of faith to invest in my home – I discovered the lot # was 88.
When I go after what I really want from my “inner world”, Spirit will confirm it was meant to become something greater going forward.
Love of family is our highest value and we all work to ensure harmony, and respect here.
Spirit works in mysterious ways.
How to Envision Your Future
You can be the co-creator of your own life when you practice accessing your own inner Spirit and set your intentions from your inner world.
Your deepest thoughts for what you want need to be matched with high vibration feelings of the spiritual fruits we all seek that allow your soul to grow: love, joy, laughter, peace, freedom.
When you decide what you want in each major area of your life – health, career/vocation, and relationships – it comes with a feeling of light vibration of a way you want to experience your life in that area.
What is the experience you want and how will it serve your soul growth?
Because we are here to have life experiences that progress our soul, when you choose desires that grow you, miracles show up.
My theme this year is TRUST. Stepping more into Trusting “me and my Inner Spirit of God”.
Creating your life for what you most desire comes with trusting in God within you – this relationship is key so you can take a leap of faith.
How can I trust myself this year?
I go into stillness to reflect on the day ahead the moment I awake. I reflect on what I’ve been given, I ask questions about my journey, how I can best serve those in need of my gifts, what I can create and listen for answers.
Strength lies in what you can give, not what you have.
It grounds me inside so that whatever shows from the outside I can handle at my own best with Spirit on my side.
A Guided Visualization for Your 2024 Goals
Regan Hillyer created this powerful visualization I’m using this year for my desires that incorporates your imagination (co-creating with your Divine fragment) in the process.
Thought you may want to try it for your greatest 2024! It has 88K views – I’ll take that as a sign : )
