Becoming the Next Top Spiritual Author – Lessons from the video experience

3 weeks ago I entered a competition to find the Next Top Spiritual Author.  It was one of these “coincidences” where I had signed up for an e-mail newsletter the week before, and notification of this competition came soon after.  I IMMEDIATELY logged on and entered.

That was the easy part. Then came the journey.  The competition works in a sort of reality show format, where you get to the next round by votes.  Voting started on March 29, and will continue until May 3.

Now, here’s the thing – to activate my author profile, I needed to upload a video or audio.  I decided I definitely wanted a video.  PANIC!  How do I get a video made in Toronto in short order and at minimum (i.e. no) cost?  If I were in Jamaica, I thought, I would know exactly who to call.

OK.  So, then I thought – I will use my trusty Macbook and do it myself.  So off I went to the Apple store to do a 1-hour i-Movie training.  I left more confused than ever!

By this time, the voting had started, and I was not yet off the mark.

So, then I sent out an e-mail to my friends here who are in the Public relations business.  They put me on to 2 wonderful people who offer to help – but not now – they are travelling or busy.

I am now looking at the second week of voting, and I am not up and running yet.   I start to berate myself, and question how committed I am to winning this competition, how committed I am to stepping out of my comfort zone and playing BIG on the world stage.

Then one morning, it hit me ….. I already HAVE a video made!  Some months ago I had done a reading, got it filmed and had 4 short videos made.  So I decide – may not be perfect, but time is passing and I MUST get my voting started.  I e-mail it to two members of my village, expressing concern, and they send back an e-hit in the head – “It’s fine Marguerite”.  OK.  So I WILL use the video

Now comes another 24 hours of agonizing – how can I customize the video for the competition?  I decide to use i-Movie (the Macbook again).  I ask my teens to find out if any of their friends can help – no, they are busy.   But Shane, my son, points out that he has done some editing in his tech course at school, so he can help.  Breathe a sigh of relief and open up i-movie.  After a few hours of puzzling and wondering how in the world Steve Jobs ever thought that using a Mac is easy, a light bulb goes off – maybe I can add something on YouTube.  So I head over to YouTube where the video has been sitting for the past 18 months, and what do I find?  I can add a simple annotation at the end that says exactly what I want it to say.  Off to bed I went on Friday night.

And on Saturday morning, my video was uploaded, voting activated and I am off and running!

Oh but the lessons!  I have been shaking my head in wonderment all day musing on the lessons:

1. It is the nature of the Universe to provide whatever we need with ease and grace the moment we need it.  Indeed, my video was already provided – 18 months ago!
2. When we are NOT feeling ease and grace, then it means that we are not present, we are resisting.  In my case, I was blinded by my thoughts of lack – I don’t know anyone who can do the video, I am technologically challenged, the video needs to be done from scratch, etc.
3. When things are not flowing as we desire, then it is time to stop and consider that we are on the wrong path.  I was stuck on the i-movie editing,  and so did not open to other options like YouTube
4. The Universe responds to the strength and conviction of our intentions with the same intensity.  When I said on Thursday that I HAVE to activate the voting on Saturday, then all sorts of light bulbs went off, and everything started to fall into place

I am in awe of this experience.  And reminded that had I just practiced my own Free and Laughing principles, I would have saved myself over 2 weeks of agonizing.  But I also know that there are no mistakes in the Universe, and that I needed these lessons.  So, I release guilt and blame, and just trust and love the lessons and the entire experience!  For this is exactly why I am the Next Top Spiritual Author!

So make SURE to vote for me today, and to ask all your friends to do so too – here’s the link:

http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=943