by Charles McAlpine | Sep 1, 2017 | Blog
I just read this article (https://greatist.com/live/healing-crystals-are-probably-wack) titled “Crystal are Probably Bullsh*t, but I Love Them” by Derek Flanzraich. There is a lot I like about this piece. Especially the awareness of being intentional or the power of setting intentions. However what it really got me thinking about why I’m so drawn to Crystals. What I believe about them.., and what I don’t. In the article above, the author writes “In practice, there’s no evidence crystals have special powers. In fact, science has evidence against it.” Yet we live in a time of technologies that at their core, under the plastic casings, behind the glass screens, and connected by touch sensitive keypads, are based on Crystals! Cellphones, computers, radio, television, tools, lasers, home appliances and even our cars are made possible, more effective, and useful by the natural properties of Crystals. So the way I see it, Science and technology don’t believe Crystals have any natural properties that you or I can access or use on our own. But they use them in chips, capacitors, batteries, and so much more. The majority of their research tools, equipment, and products are only possible because of the natural properties of Crystals and metals…. All from the Mineral Kingdom. And I haven’t even mentioned the foundation of modern medicine and pharmaceuticals. Or the absolute requirement of daily minerals from food and water that our bodies crave and need! So once they are modified, produced and for sale, then these crystals which have been sliced, pulverized, encased or otherwise unrecognizable to their native form… are now powerful products and everyday items that they want...
by Charles McAlpine | Jul 5, 2015 | Blog
Intuition plays an important part in my day-to-day life. Actually, I believe it plays a big part in EVERYONE’S life.., some of us just have the volume turned down so low, it is harder to hear! But.., that’s another story! What I am noticing this week is that sometimes, when we need it the most, our intuition has a tendency to hide! Okay, the truth is when I get excited and start exploring possibilities, my intuition takes a lunch break! That is what is going on right now. I am considering a new project that has lots of possibilities, some unknown, some risk, some rewards. Basically there are several possible ways I could see this project going. When I talk to some of my closest allies, they all ask the same thing: “What is your intuition telling you?” Aaahhgh… I don’t know! Instead, my mind wants to make-up what my intuition is telling me! My mind barters, makes deals and contrives multiple ‘what if’ scenarios. My mind knows nothing about intuition! If it did, it would know that ‘intuitive hits’ are definitive! They are yes or no. ‘Maybe’ is not an intuitive hit! That is until I remember that there are always multiple ways for us to grow, learn and evolve. And isn’t that where our intuition really supports us? It points out open doors when there are new opportunities; or tells us when it is time to close one. It tells us when the path we are on is leading us in a circle. Our intuition points us towards (or away from) those people and experiences that are...
by Charles McAlpine | Apr 12, 2015 | Blog
It’s hard to believe we are only a couple of weeks away from celebrating our sixth anniversary! It is sneaking up on me! I am not sure where time has gone! Like any milestone, this one has me feeling reflective, with a dose of wonder! One of the amazing things about working at a place like Storm Wisdom, is that it stretches you. It helps you to look deeper within. It allows you to confront limitations, fears and out-dated beliefs. At the same time, access to inner guidance, intuitive knowing and updated preferences are enhanced. You can’t spend time here and not know yourself better. This is true for many of the people who frequent this place on a regular basis too. They are changed by the experience of having a place to lean in. Lean in when they are searching for clarity. Lean in when they have something new to share. Perhaps a new awareness, skill or technique to live more from the heart. A place where who they are and what they are creating can be imagined and explored. It is also a place to build community, friendships, support networks and allies. This are some of the attributes of Storm Wisdom that I am grateful for today. When I think about how and where we started, I think of how clueless I was about what I was getting myself into… AND, how I had idealized this idea of creating a Spiritual Oasis or Center for Intentional Living, even when I had no idea what I was doing! I think they call that ‘ego’! I would imagine that...
by Charles McAlpine | Feb 1, 2015 | Blog
There is an interesting phenomenon that happens every year at this time. For anyone who loves crystals, stones and minerals, this is an amazing time to be in Arizona! The Rock Shows in Quartzite start the beginning of the year and run though most of January. Mesa Community College has a weekend rock show mid-month that is always fun. And finally, the Tucson Gem and Mineral show runs through the first two weeks in February. This final show is the largest in the world and boasts over 18,000 vendors all over the city! There is no way you could see the whole thing, even if you went every day! For Rock Hounds it is the ultimate adventure! I love going to the Gem Show. In fact, if you are reading this on Monday morning, picture me wandering around among the tents, hotel rooms and tables filled with specimens from around the world! If you have the slightest interest in crystals… GO! It is an amazing and fun experience. Don’t worry about having a plan or where to start… Driving down I-10, when you hit Tucson, you will see plenty of signs or banners on both sides of the freeway. Stop anywhere, enjoy what you find and then pick up one of the many guides. You’ll never see it all anyway… so just enjoy what you find! You will be able to get AMAZING deals! Which brings me to the second part of this newsletter. EVERY year since we opened, folks come in to the store to share with me their stories of great deals, ridiculously low prices and one-of-a-kind...
by Charles McAlpine | Feb 1, 2015 | Blog
There is an interesting phenomenon that happens every year at this time. For anyone who loves crystals, stones and minerals, this is an amazing time to be in Arizona! The Rock Shows in Quartzite start the beginning of the year and run though most of January. Mesa Community College has a weekend rock show mid-month that is always fun. And finally, the Tucson Gem and Mineral show runs through the first two weeks in February. This final show is the largest in the world and boasts over 18,000 vendors all over the city! There is no way you could see the whole thing, even if you went every day! For Rock Hounds it is the ultimate adventure! I love going to the Gem Show. In fact, if you are reading this on Monday morning, picture me wandering around among the tents, hotel rooms and tables filled with specimens from around the world! If you have the slightest interest in crystals… GO! It is an amazing and fun experience. Don’t worry about having a plan or where to start… Driving down I-10, when you hit Tucson, you will see plenty of signs or banners on both sides of the freeway. Stop anywhere, enjoy what you find and then pick up one of the many guides. You’ll never see it all anyway… so just enjoy what you find! You will be able to get AMAZING deals! Which brings me to the second part of this newsletter. EVERY year since we opened, folks come in to the store to share with me their stories of great deals, ridiculously low prices and one-of-a-kind...
by Charles McAlpine | Sep 13, 2014 | Blog
Who stole my summer? I can’t believe we are in the month of September already! I don’t remember feeling like this year was flying by.., until I realize fall is almost here! Darn, it sure sneaks up on you! You can feel the change in the air! A few more weeks of these hot days, and suddenly it gives way to cooler evenings, morning coffee on the patio and the pool becomes a water feature in the backyard that you get to enjoy looking at, but swimming becomes a distant memory. I am actually ready for some change. You see, I have been in an odd state for most of the summer. Everything in my external world is fine, but man, internally it seems like constant change; awareness, absorbing, morphing, readjusting, releasing and then starting over. I think I am close to figuring out what is going on inside my head, then boom… Back to square one. I was talking with someone who offers intuitive insights and guidance, and they indicated that I would probably be feeling this way for another 6 – 8 weeks. Then perhaps I could begin to see what is beyond the horizon for me. Even as they were saying this to me, I was thinking… “The way things are going.., I could be a completely different person in 6 weeks!” Sometimes when we have engrained behaviors or established coping mechanisms… It takes time to make adjustments or to integrate whatever is new. I am the type of man that in the past has needed to have something I was working towards. I thrive with...
by Charles McAlpine | Sep 13, 2014 | Blog
Who stole my summer? I can’t believe we are in the month of September already! I don’t remember feeling like this year was flying by.., until I realize fall is almost here! Darn, it sure sneaks up on you! You can feel the change in the air! A few more weeks of these hot days, and suddenly it gives way to cooler evenings, morning coffee on the patio and the pool becomes a water feature in the backyard that you get to enjoy looking at, but swimming becomes a distant memory. I am actually ready for some change. You see, I have been in an odd state for most of the summer. Everything in my external world is fine, but man, internally it seems like constant change; awareness, absorbing, morphing, readjusting, releasing and then starting over. I think I am close to figuring out what is going on inside my head, then boom… Back to square one. I was talking with someone who offers intuitive insights and guidance, and they indicated that I would probably be feeling this way for another 6 – 8 weeks. Then perhaps I could begin to see what is beyond the horizon for me. Even as they were saying this to me, I was thinking… “The way things are going.., I could be a completely different person in 6 weeks!” Sometimes when we have engrained behaviors or established coping mechanisms… It takes time to make adjustments or to integrate whatever is new. I am the type of man that in the past has needed to have something I was working towards. I thrive with...
by Charles McAlpine | Jun 29, 2014 | Blog
Are you feeling like you are in a constant state of transformation and change, yet can’t quite figure out how, what, why and where it is all leading? If so.., we might be on the same track. There are times when I feel it so intensely, that it am sure my whole world is being turned upside down (and then shaken!). However, when I look around, it is not the circumstances in my physical world that are changing. Same home, same career/business, same friends, same goals, same husband. It just doesn’t feel like the same ‘me’.., interacting with it all. So what is actually changing? Why does it feel like life is in a constant state of chaos and change? Where does this all lead? I realize that I have been looking for what is new. Perhaps the real way for me to measure this is; what is happening to the old!?! You see, much of what I am really aware of is that the old ways of operating don’t work for me anymore. The thoughts I have are very different than they were before. My emotional reactions to well known situations are no longer predictable. There is a shift in my attitude and beliefs. I am changing the raw materials that I work with. As a result, it seems there is a state of flux in everything that surrounds me. The circumstances, situations, people, places and things are not changing. How I relate to them is! When I slow this down, I am aware that this is a good thing! Yet, it is unsettling just the same. Not...
by Charles McAlpine | Jun 29, 2014 | Blog
Are you feeling like you are in a constant state of transformation and change, yet can’t quite figure out how, what, why and where it is all leading? If so.., we might be on the same track. There are times when I feel it so intensely, that it am sure my whole world is being turned upside down (and then shaken!). However, when I look around, it is not the circumstances in my physical world that are changing. Same home, same career/business, same friends, same goals, same husband. It just doesn’t feel like the same ‘me’.., interacting with it all. So what is actually changing? Why does it feel like life is in a constant state of chaos and change? Where does this all lead? I realize that I have been looking for what is new. Perhaps the real way for me to measure this is; what is happening to the old!?! You see, much of what I am really aware of is that the old ways of operating don’t work for me anymore. The thoughts I have are very different than they were before. My emotional reactions to well known situations are no longer predictable. There is a shift in my attitude and beliefs. I am changing the raw materials that I work with. As a result, it seems there is a state of flux in everything that surrounds me. The circumstances, situations, people, places and things are not changing. How I relate to them is! When I slow this down, I am aware that this is a good thing! Yet, it is unsettling just the same. Not...
by Charles McAlpine | Apr 26, 2014 | Blog
One of my favorite things about life these days is the awareness and experience of Magic that is all around us! To give you an idea what I mean, I am talking about coincidences that happen so frequently they can’t be ignored. The synchronicity of people and events that are aligned with whatever you are working on. When something seems to materializing out of thin air just when you need it! Projects and tasks begin to flow and have a sense of ease or effortlessness. This is Magic! One thing that has intrigued me lately is the concept that as we work with and develop our intuition, it increases or expands our awareness of so many other fun things! By paying attention to your intuitive senses, another whole world is revealed that operates just below the surface of our normal awareness. By simply paying attention to our own internal guidance, all of a sudden the world around us conspires with and reacts to our openness. I suppose that could be viewed as a cause and effect… But it feels more mysterious than that. Cause and effect seem to limiting. Instead, and I am just thinking out loud here… It is that we are tuning into a frequency or resonance that is always there, but for the most part we are oblivious to it! We can’t see or notice it (very often), because it doesn’t follow the familiar rules of order that we are use to working/living by. Let’s call the normal world we live in the mundane. There are few surprises, things are predictable, and there is a system...
by Charles McAlpine | Feb 2, 2014 | Blog
Last weekend I spent 4 days in Santa Fe at a workshop intensive called “Transformational Speaking” with Gail Larsen. This intensive was not about techniques, instead it was about helping you connect with your personal message or as Gail calls it (from her Shaman background) “Original Medicine”. To give you a sense of why this is called an intensive or immersion, she limits these workshops to only 6 participants. It was at times intense, often spacious and always Soulful. I went unsure of why I even signed-up. I have been teaching classes regularly for the past five years. I write weekly… as you know from reading these posts… and it is not like I am imagining being on a large stage in front of people. However, something drew me there. A few months back, a dear friend Keri was visiting here in Phoenix. She was telling me about an experience her and a couple of our mutual friends shared. When she said Gail’s name… I knew I would be going and participating in this program. Come to find out, opening to, following and trusting my intuition is actually a big part of MY Original Medicine! Hearing the guidance, and subtle messages that are always there, is one of the most important skills I can and have developed in the last 20 years! And, without knowing it before this past weekend, also a critical component of helping to transition to a new way of Being on and for the planet. Not only is it important to me… I think it is imperative for the map-makers, way-finders and explorers of today....
