Hello dear friend,

Happy New Year to you and yours... I hope you are finding
some time today to honor the past year (the good, the bad, and
the ugly), and to gently reflect on your intentions for next
year.

I love to hold a word of intention for each coming year, and
rather than choose it myself, I allow it to choose me. I look for
the themes that seem to be arising all around me, and I trust in
the messages that life is sending me both obviously and just
underneath the surface (if I'm willing to look).

But before I share my word of intention with you for 2018, I want
to take a moment to honor 2017 first...

2017 has been a year of both incredible joys and challenges. To
start the year off with a bang, I actually conceived my son last
year on New Year's Eve (that's what happens when you stay home for a "quiet night in" on New Years... just to warn you!).

What followed has been incredible this year, and tested me on all fronts.

I was the sickest I've ever been at the beginning of my
pregnancy, and had both morning sickness and a terrible sinus
infection in January/February last year. My daughter Luna was
also hospitalized for febrile seizures in January 2017, which was
by far the scariest experience of my life thus far.

Also in early 2017, I launched my first Feminine Mastermind group and had the most successful program I have ever run. I got to witness the power of strong women coming together to make each other stronger, and saw an incredible bond form between a group of women who to this day are holding each other to their highest potential. It was the most fulfilling group I have ever led... and I can't wait to lead the next one!

I was pregnant for much of 2017 growing and nurturing new life
which was both magical and challenging. Towards the end of my
pregnancy, I got a wild idea to write and publish a book before
my son was born. And that I did. I conceived, wrote, and
published my first full book, Reclaim Your Power, in about a
three-four month timeframe, and was determined to get it done
before he was born. That was quite an undertaking let me tell
you!! And my book was printed and done within two days of my son being born. I had a dual birth announcement!!

My son, Maui, was born on September 5, 2017 in our home
naturally, and his birth was by far the most magical and
empowering experience of my life thus far.

I find it pretty amazing that I had both the scariest experience
of my life (my daughter's seizure) and the most empowering
experience (my son's birth) in the same year, and they were both
connected to me being a mother. Being a mother is the full
spectrum of joy and terror, that's for damn sure!

For the past few months, with my son as a new being in our
lives, I have been looking at what life is asking me to embrace
for this next year. And the word that keeps coming up over and over is... Surrender.

At some level, I thought I would be able to glide right back into
my work with my son here, and that it would be seamless and easy. Why I thought that... I have no idea... but let's just say it was
wishful thinking. It has been very difficult trying to do it all
with a new baby and mother of two. I now know I have my limitations and have to be reasonable this year with myself and what to expect in these early months.

My son wakes still several times a night, and I am exclusively
breastfeeding around the clock. Since he was born in September,
we have moved homes, had numerous sicknesses passed back and forth between my children, and I had a emergency wisdom tooth surgery. My son had colic symptoms for the first two months and screamed for hours each day, and that was heartbreaking and maddening all at once.

None of these things were planned, but they happened. I could choose to see it as wrong and an interference with my plans... or surrender to what is, and embrace the wisdom that can come from the times of challenge and darkness.

I am being asked by the Universe to be stronger, more resilient,
and more centered than ever before in my life right now. I could
easily fall prey to feelings of helplessness and depression in this time... so many women do. Postpartum depression is rampant in our world because women in general are not very supported in the postpartum time to just heal and bond with their children. It is absolutely beautiful, AND... t is just so damn hard in these early years with young children! It's Warrior Training at it's finest, and I am choosing to surrender and embrace it fully. I wish to move through it empowered and not as a victim. With my heart open and my voice expressed. 

I have a "new normal" now that involves caring for two children,
and truly wanting to be the most present and loving mother
possible. This is by far my greatest value. And I also care
deeply about my work and service to the world as well. I happen to think the two are intimately intertwined and connected. 

And what I also know is that it's not up to me how my service to the world looks right now. Some days it's serving clients and speaking at events or writing books, and some days it's cleaning up throw up off my clothes for the umpteenth time that day because I'm loving and caring for my babies.

I am ready to fully surrender my own ideas about the
way things are "supposed" to be this year. I am ready to be open,
willing, and of service to the way things are meant to be for me,
for my family, and for life itself to most effectively move
through me. I want my children to know mommy is there for them, no matter what, and that they are the most important thing in the world to me. 

Of course I have some beautiful plans and intentions this year
with my business... like another Feminine Mastermind, a gorgeous women's empowerment retreat in Hawaii... I am still seeing clients and keeping a decent schedule, and I am working already on my next book (once I opened the floodgates... I can't stop it from coming!!). Yes all these things will come to be in Divine Right Timing, in the timing that meant to be, not by me pushing it. And not by me compromising my time and energy as a mother and devoted family member in this precious early time with my children.

I believe with all my heart that we as women can have it all. We
can be of service, have a career, have a family and relationship,
and fulfill our creative desires...I am discovering how to
navigate all of this as a multifaceted woman myself every day.

And what I realize is that it just may not all be able to happen
at EXACTLY THE SAME MOMENT in TIME. And I wouldn't want it to. I want to fully take in each part of my life and each role that I
play, and experience it with presence and gratitude. It takes
balancing and dancing between the roles, and knowing when to let go of trying to DO TOO MUCH. Knowing when it's time for focus and simplicity, and when it's time to amp it up and make s*** happen.

I am trusting and surrendering even more to God's will for my
life in 2018. I am letting go of pressure and anxiety for it to
look any certain way, and opening to the gentleness, ease, and
grace that comes with surrendering to how it's meant to be. I am
more grateful and grounded than ever before in my life as a new
mother of two with my family all around me at last. And I'm going to savor every moment as best I can while staying true to my creative heart's desires and my outer service to the world.

I hope you will join me in looking deeper for what intention is
choosing YOU this year... and please feel to reach out and REPLY
to this email and share with me what you discover!!

I wish you a year of depth, truth, love, and grace,

With all my love,

Laura

xoxo

____________________________________________________________

P.S. Did you get my new book yet???

I have a special Holiday Gift Bundle that is running through the
new year, grab yours today!! We are almost sold out of our gift
packages and now is the time for you to get the best deal I will
ever offer on a copy of my book, my creativity journal, and a
beautiful Feminine Power Activation bracelet for FREE. Plus FREE
shipping to anywhere in the US.

Grab your copy here!! OR send one as a gift!!