I know this is heavy right now especially before the Holidays, but there is truly only NOW. This moment is the only moment that really is, the past is gone, the future is completely unknown and this moment, in my NOW, I’m holding space that this can change and we can save a society of people that have been almost discarded. 

Do you wonder why we have so many drug addicts in our country, why so many people die from overdoses? The system is broken! Over the past couple of years, I have sat back and watched and shed tears as my son goes in and out of detox, back and forth with rehab. Every time it didn’t work out I would be heartbroken and think why doesn’t he want to get healthy? Why doesn’t he just stick with it?

Well, he is on the rollercoaster ride once again trying to do everything right and this time I’m trying to follow him every step of the way. Before Thanksgiving, he checked himself into detox. From the first phone call, I knew that he was pretty sick. His cough sounded horrible, he barely had a voice and he had a rash on his hand that was turning into ulcer sores. When he asked for medical treatment he was basically denied. He was told to sign up for the nurse that came in only on Mondays, 5 days away. He did that and was at the end of the list so was not seen on Monday. He was then told that he could check himself out of detox and go to the Clinic and then try to get back into detox the next day if there was a bed. HUH???? First of all, how many addicts do you know in the middle of detoxing can check themselves out, go to a clinic, spend the night on the streets and not use again sending themselves into another 7-10 day at least drug spiral? Simple medical care should be given to everyone.

Let’s think about this for just a moment, this is a sickness, period. No one understands this better than I. It affects some people and doesn’t others. Just like diabetes, high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, cancer… It is a disease. Now, I have heard some people say that it isn’t the same because you have a choice whether or not you TRY alcohol, cocaine or even drugs prescribed by your DR. Well, all it takes is one time and if this disease is in your make up then you go down the rabbit hole and before you even realize you have the disease it is too late.

I’m one of the lucky ones that this disease did not get its deadly grip on, not because I didn’t TRY. When I was in my teens I drank alcohol, smoked pot, did cocaine and acid morning, noon and night. From the age of 15 to 20 I don’t think I lived 1 “sober” hour. I did more drugs than any one person should do in 20 lifetimes. But then I found out I was pregnant, and I stopped everything without even thinking twice about it. It was easy for me. The father of my baby, the man I got started on hardcore drugs, couldn’t quit and I didn’t understand why he couldn’t. Fast forward to 5 years ago when I had both of my knees replaced. I was on so many strong narcotics for over a year that the Dr. I saw a couple years ago was amazed that I didn’t have an opioid addiction. Some people don’t get diabetes or cancer even if they eat sweets every day or smoke 5 packs of cigarettes. Because it’s not in their make-up.

Imagine with me for just a moment, that a man is told he has lung cancer. We don’t look at cancer patients and say, and we never should say, well that’s too bad, you should have never tried cigarettes. Or, maybe you should have stayed out of the sun. When they relapse, and cancer comes back, we don’t turn them away and say too bad that didn’t work for you. We treat them, as we should, with empathy and compassion. We have fundraisers to try and help with their medical and daily living expenses.

Addicts are looked down upon, treated worse than criminals many times unless you have a lot of money. At a time when they need sympathy, compassion, and understanding we tend to attack them and put them down. When they get clean and are finally on a good path, they are many times sent out with no good tools to stay that way. Many of them, if they can get work, can only do so in jobs that are infested with drug usurers and addicts, making their struggle to remain clean and sober almost unbearable.

The system is broken and until it gets fixed and some changes are made, this problem is only going to grow. No one yet has been able to convince me that the pharmaceutical industry has a hand in this. It’s not like diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer, where they can rape the patients with the outrageous cost of prescription drugs. The only money that is made on addicts is treatment, so let’s fix them just enough so that they fall off and come back in another 6 months.

CBS did an article last year; drug overdose is now the leading cause of death in those under 50. It’s not getting better, it’s getting worse. It is below if you would like to read it….

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/overdoses-are-leading-cause-of-death-americans-under-50/

I know there are some good programs out there but there have to be more. The system needs to change, or this disease is about to wipe out a whole generation. I buy lottery tickets, not because I want a big house, fancy car or crazy jewelry and clothes, I buy lottery tickets because I want to BE that change! Will you BE the change with me?

- Celeste (@motherhealing 💖🙏🏻💗) 

So when I decided to launch this online business, I decided it was a reasonable idea because I could do all of the website, design, and marketing on my own. I mean that is a huge expense normally for a startup like this. We would get that for free! That being said I am doing all the website, design and marketing on my own! What I wasn’t planning on are all the details that take so much time while trying to juggle two other businesses and children's schedules. I mean I have to be a super mom, there is no room for error when it comes to that! (lol, the lies we tell ourselves.)

From flyer designs, product photos, planning out the marketing and the complete website design, I have missed A LOT. I have not gotten all of the products and information listed that I wanted to. We still have not listed so many great products and resources that we have. I have not gotten the marketing perfect during the busiest time of year for online shopping sales. I have had to come to terms with the fact that is impossible to run three businesses on my own and have everything be perfect.

I do know that I have a responsibility to my clients to make sure their work is done correctly and in a proper time frame. I also have a responsibility to myself to not kill myself. This is the first weekend in months that I have not set my alarm for 5 am to wake up and do work before the kids wake up. I slept in, my only alarm being the kids. I feel amazing today as I write this.

Did I have work I could have gotten up and done? YES. But it will get done when it gets done. Today is my self-care day. Just doing what I can and not stressing that everything isn’t perfect. I truly believe in this business and the amazing doors we are opening that will eventually help so many people. The support we have gotten so far in our first month has been unbelievable.

Crystalline Tribe will grow dynamically and exactly the way it is supposed to. The future has never looked so bright.  I hope everyone stops and acknowledges themselves today. Realize that you are exactly where you need to be. If life feels chaotic, stop and take two deep breaths. Your plan will work out exactly the way it is meant to. Don't force it. Just believe in it.

Empowering a tribe. Changing perspectives. Creating Magic. 

- Amanda (@missdjlux)

So I decided to do this thing about a month ago and get “CALM” tattooed on my knuckles. I originally was going to do “STAY CALM” on both hands but I don’t know if I am that badass to have all my knuckles tattooed.

I did like the multiple meanings of Stay and the idea of having that on my body. Fuck there have been a few periods of my life where I had to convince myself it was worth it to stay. Life felt so hard at times that escaping with drugs was all I could do to handle the pain. I don’t know where I would be today if I hadn’t met my ex-husband at the age of 20. I tell people all the time he saved my life. And I know he did. (That story will have to wait for another blog post.)

But calm. Calm resonates so much with me in my adult life. How can I stop the spinning of anxiety and just “STAY CALM.” We have this fight or flight system that is built into our genetics. A fire inside us that if fed can grow out of control. Then as we grow we are taught to fight. As a young girl, growing up in a single mother household, I felt like I had to fight for everything. It is exhausting to always be on guard. I appreciate the struggle because I am a strong, independent woman today but I know the same result can be accomplished in a healthier way.

We fight with our words, our fists, our emotions. Calm tattooed on my punching fist. Can we teach our children to not fight with their fists and words but to just “Stay Calm”? I want to teach my children meditation and slowing down. I want them to be aware when someone around them is hurting so they can be sensitive to how their actions affect them.  I don’t want them to learn to have to fight and scream to be heard. There is incredible self-empowerment in being able to control your emotions and calm yourself down. Teach them that the fire inside them is a beautiful thing. Teach them to use it as positive energy and not let it get out of control.

The fight or flight is inside us. It is primal. We can all use it in a positive way. This is my message. Stay Calm. Spread love. Live life.

- Amanda (@missdjlux)

With the Holiday Season upon us, I just thought I would take a moment to share another perspective with you.  Especially with everything going on in society right now. There are so many things I wish I could go back and do differently with my children.  I can’t go back in time, but if I continue to share what I have learned along the way then maybe I can influence the next generation in a positive way.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good hug and being an empath, a hug from the right person can give me such a recharge of energy, but before I learned that I had a choice, that I didn’t have to hug everyone, it was also a fast way to deplete my energy. When our children are young, 3-6 years old, they are discovering that they are their own person. With this discovery comes a time of learning to listen to their instincts, learning that they have a voice, learning that they’re emotions and feelings are theirs and not their parents. We as adults have a responsibility to help them navigate all of these feelings, not to push ours onto them.

Think about this for a moment, it’s Thanksgiving and Uncle Johnny shows up who hasn’t been around for years. You say to your daughter or son, “go give Uncle Johnny a big hug, you need to thank him for the present he sent you on your Birthday”.  Do we want our children to learn that if someone gives them a “present” they have to “hug” them or allow them to “touch” them when it feels uncomfortable to them? Now I know some of you are thinking, “but this is my family, I trust them, my children should trust me”.  Uncle Johnny is a stranger to your child, they need the opportunity to get to know them, to feel comfortable around them before they get that close to them. We need to teach our children to learn what their feelings are and what they’re boundaries are. They need to learn that when something doesn’t feel right, it’s ok to say no. Now I’m not saying to give your children permission to be rude, give them options, a handshake or high-five, and teach them to do what feels comfortable for them.

Personally, I know that as a child, I was always expected to give everyone a hug when they came to visit or left. What a confusing thing to do to our children.  I always BEG people when I am around their children to not force them to hug me. They need to learn that they have a voice both inside and out and we need to respect that. How can they learn what their boundaries are if we as adults constantly force them to do something that feels unnatural or uncomfortable? It doesn't mean they don't like us or have anything against us, it just means that we're not welcome into their most intimate circle and that's ok!  What a beautiful thing it is when they do feel comfortable enough to let us in.

PLEASE, if you have ever agreed with anything I've posted, PLEASE take this one to heart because I believe it with every fiber of my being. Allow your children to OWN their boundaries! Allow every hug they give and receive to reenergize them because all they feel is LOVE.

Happy Holidays! May we all be blessed with a Safe and Loving Holiday Season filled with Gratitude...

- Celeste (@motherhealing 💖🙏🏻💗)

I spend most of my days giving people advice through my work and personal relationships.  So often I hear, “it must feel so good to be you! You always know what to say”  Well I’m here to tell you I DON’T!  I am so grateful and humbled when I am able to guide someone to stand in their own power and make positive changes in their life, but I don’t always have the answer,  Especially when it comes to my own life.  We all are here to learn lessons and to continue to grow.  I have found over the years that the most difficult lessons and times in my life, the ones that “hurt” the most, are the ones that I have learned the biggest lessons from.  

Well, today I find myself facing a lesson that has reoccurred over and over again throughout my life.  It is a belief of not being good enough, deserving of success, happiness, love.  I have been so close, so many times in my life to having everything I’ve dreamed of only to sabotage the situation and run away from it.  Not today!  TODAY, I stand and fight! TODAY, I stand in my POWER!  Today I choose to believe, to know that everything I am seeking is seeking me. To sit in the moment, in the feeling and know that if I grow thru it, it will all come. Today, instead of feeding the fear and running, I chose to sit in silence and embrace the feelings and be grateful for the lesson. In this silence I realized that the problem wasn’t the feelings I was having, the problem was the control I gave to them and what I chose to do with them.  

Never reject your feelings, whether happy, sad, scared, depressed, angry…. they are all valid and you are feeling them for a reason.  Embrace them, accept them, be grateful for them.  If you like the feeling, stay in it!  But if you don’t, then grow thru it and LET IT GO! 

 🙏🏻💕🙏🏻Celeste (@motheringhealing)

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Wow! What a crazy intense journey I have been on the last few years. I went from feeling like a complete victim to standing in my power and starting this business! I was talking to a friend last night and we were discussing how most women take care of everything around them and everyone else around them and not themselves. I stated that when I started to take care of myself is when my world changed. THIS STATEMENT HAS SO MUCH TRUTH.  It seems so simple to take care of ourselves but yet we don’t. Putting yourself first is not an option but a priority. If something feels off, change it. Mentally, emotionally, physically...they can all be changed by starting with baby steps.

I am not quite sure where my path is leading me but I do know I want to share my story. Mia from @thesoberglow said it best. “ I don’t write to prove I have perfected life. I write to show you we all have our own imperfect journey.”

- Amanda (@missdjlux)

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