On Vacation Until July

Well, the construction/restoration work here is getting closer to completion but is still ongoing, which means still very little quiet time for work, emails and website maintenance. Rather than getting completely burned out trying unsuccessfully to keep up, I'll be taking time off until July. I'm even going on an actual vacation with a trip to Tofino. (My first travel holiday in over a decade.)

Through June I will only be working at corporate events that have already been booked. I'll do my best to catch up and keep up with the email questions, but most website maintenance, link requests and directory updates will have to wait until early July for a reply. Holistic Cheirology students will continue to have student support available throughout June, but new enrollments will have to wait a bit longer.

See you in July!

Months More of Work Delays Ahead

The ongoing construction/restoration work here has become far too disruptive to continue attempting to keep up with writing and blog posts. Monday through Friday is pretty constant noise and dust now, which makes it impossible to think clearly for long or get any regular work done.

I've already had to stop teaching private students here because of all the construction work, and will not be doing any hand readings at my home until this is all done. No new students will be able to start the Holistic Cheirology course until then either. Working at other locations is no problem, so I am still available for corporate events and private parties. My tai chi classes for seniors are also happening Tuesday mornings at the Guildford Recreation Center in Surrey.

All the construction work is scheduled for completion sometime this Spring, so expect very few new blog posts or website updates until late March or April.

Intuitive Life Coach

It was suggested to me yesterday that I should not call myself a hand analyst or palm reader because that doesn't completely describe what I do, nor is it accurate enough. I was told that a much better description might be "Life Coach", or "Intuitive Life Coach".

When I do a private session with a client, or even the short readings at corporate events, my focus is not the typical palmistry hand readings. I examine both hands carefully to assess the person's natural talents and traits, and to see what areas are currently identified as difficulties, problems or limitations. (The "negative" or "bad" markings.) These problem areas can show as almost anything - Cuts and scrapes, faded fingerprints, fingernail problems, palm lines, etc. It's different for every set of hands, and the problems indicated change over time.

Next comes evaluating and comparing all the different problem areas to narrow it down to 1 or 2 "root causes". Most of the other issues and difficulties can be seen stemming from this root cause. It's like a knocking over a row of dominoes - You can either push them over one at a time (treating symptoms instead of the cause), or you can tip over just the first and let them all go down one after the other (dealing with the cause and let the symptoms disappear on their own).

Finally, I make suggestions or recommendations on how to directly deal with the root cause in the most efficient way possible - Their maximum gain from minimum effort. Sometimes it's a major issue that needs to be tackled head-on, other times it can be something as simple as reducing the intensity of exercise or doing a bit of basic meditation.

This can all be done in just a few minutes per person, which is how most corporate events go. A private session last much longer, of course, and usually includes palmar massage with directed energy work to make handling the root cause(s) much quicker and easier.

It goes way beyond just hand analysis as well. With each reading I also draw on my experience in meditation, martial arts, shamanism, hand gestures, and other metaphysical fields.

So it's probably correct that a better description of what I do is "Intuitive Life Coach". Time to think about getting some new business cards...

Price Increase

I will soon be increasing my rates for private hand readings and corporate events, and also eliminating the 2 hour minimum for outcall. This means that individuals can finally get a full session from me at their own homes and hotel rooms, without needing to have another person booked as well.

Busier and Busier

I take great satisfaction in doing all my website and email work myself. Lately, however, the workload has been getting way too big to manage. Even with long work days I still currently have a backlog of roughly 60 emails in my inbox that need to be answered (with more coming in each day), not to mention the website updates that have to be taken care of, course students, private readings and corporate events.

Looks like pretty soon I'll have to give in and hire an assistant.

Working at Larger Events

Tonight's corporate event is the AFABC's "Jazz at the Station". A six hour function with about 800 guests.

Larger events have their own unique challenges. With so many people, each hand analysis gets kept to about 3-4 minutes. At a glance you've got to be able to zero in on the most significant issues or problems shown on each set of hands, and keep the analysis as direct and specific as possible. Further, each reading needs to be unique - Not just telling each person nearly the same thing.

The clientelle at larger events is usually different as well, with higher expectations. For example, the hosts for tonight are Senator Larry Campbell, Catherine Pope from Global TV, and Fred Lee from CBC.

One of My Favorite Events

Some corporate events are more fun to read hands at than others. One of my favorites is coming up again next Saturday - The AFABC's annual jazz music evening. This year it's Jazz at the Station.

AFABC: The very cool evening of dancing and partying with Vancouver's top jazz musicians is back! Join us this year at the funky Rocky Mountaineer Train Station for an even bigger and better "Red Hot Jazz" night. The evening will be hosted by Catherine Pope, Global TV, Fred Lee, CBC's Man About Town, and Senator Larry Campbell.

If you're near Vancouver and enjoy great jazz music, this is one party you don't want to miss. See you there!

Location, Location, Location

When planning a corporate event, location can be everything. Today for example, I'll be reading hands at an event being held at another golf and country club. Sounds like a great idea to give VIPs a free day of golf followed by a dinner party, especially with the beautiful weather we've been having here the last weeks. Unfortunately Mother Nature seems to have decided that we need a day of rain, and today's the day. The sun is just starting to disappear behind the incoming clouds, and the weatherman is calling for wet weather the rest of the day (and clearing up again tomorrow, of course).

Times like this I'm sure glad I'm not the one organizing these events. At least I'll be indoors where weather is not such a factor.