Haunted by the Need to Change?

In the U.S., Halloween is all about costumes, trick-or-treating, candy and, occasionally, mischief. Few people realize the date also marks a sacred day on the Celtic calendar, Samhain, ushering in the dark half of the year. October 31st precedes Day of the Dead/All Soul's Day, which takes place November 1-2, honoring those who have crossed over.

This year, in the USA, November 1st also coincides with the return to standard time from daylight savings. Clearly, the dark side — what remains hidden from view — is calling. LEARN WHY HALLOWEEN IS JUST A SPECTER OF SAMHAIN

How to put a giraffe in the refrigerator

Speaking of fun ... this is hilarious. See how well you do, and enjoy!

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down.



The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put the giraffe in, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.


2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?



Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?

Wrong Answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.


3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend .... except one. Which animal does not attend?



Correct Answer : The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?



Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Conference. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.


According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

Send this out to frustrate all of your smart friends.

Is Fun the Key to Positive Change?

Would you take the stairs versus an escalator if the former were somehow enticing? How about if the staircase turned you into an instant pianist?

This brilliant concept originated in Stockholm, where a normal staircase was transformed into a giant piano keyboard. Each stair played a corresponding note on the musical scale, so you could literally step to the beat! The idea fired people's imaginations — so much so that two-thirds more people used the stairs than on a typical day. READ MORE

Oneness in Wholeness Ray: A Cosmic Reconnect

The intense 09-09-09 energies that reconfigured our DNA are still reverberating through our beings, and this beautiful rendering of the Oneness in Wholeness Ray by Saleena Ki helps activate the crown chakra to facilitate cosmic reconnection:


I've known Saleena for many years as a dear virtual friend and very talented artist, whose ability to bring through the energies we need in the form of VibraKeys is a gift. I used a number of Keys in rotation for months, and still keep WaterAlive near my kitchen faucet. Everything is energy, and we are 80% water ~ yes, it makes a difference!

Blessings on your journey, as Mercury is now direct and we are through another difficult doorway ...

Scared to Sacred: A Subtle Shift

I'm a great fan of subtle shifts: scared to sacred, nowhere to now here, density to destiny, accumulate to appreciate (OK, maybe that last one's not that subtle!) The point is, when we take a second, objective look at what we may have unconsciously pushed away out of fear, the results can be quite surprising.

Take the number 13. Conventional wisdom says, "Bad luck! Steer clear!" Yet if we explore 13 in depth, we access the sacred.

I've posted 50 articles to my Practical Spiritual Examiner page in the last month. There's a lot to explore. Please visit often (I'm posting new content daily, or nearly so) and leave your comments directly on the articles themselves. I look forward to your feedback, and promise to respond.

∞ Blessings ∞

Menopause or Memorex?

I've written about menopause symptoms before, but with the combination of Saturn vs. Uranus energy (structure and form/old ways directly opposing the quirky, rebellious, bolt-from-the-blue-into-the-new), huge energetic downloads amping our circuits, and the latest Mercury Rx ~ well, it seems an auspicious moment to post some healing tips that, while created for menopausal women, can assist any of us in moving with more grace and ease through this passage:

How toxicity in the body can mimic menopause:
Hot Flash: Hormone Mimics Wreak Havoc on Women's Health (my personal journey)

How to detoxify your body and home (series of 4 articles):
Allergic ~ Or Toxic?

The challenges and joys of turning 50:
Life in the Middle Ages

Simple steps you can take today to help ground and release:

(1) Go to the woods or ocean, depending on where you live, and get the rage and frustration out by shouting, running, doing ritual, etc.
(2) Write down all of what's bothering you, then delete the message! Or print it out and burn it.
(3) Get an herbal or homeopathic formula from your local health food store.
(4) invest/indulge in acupuncture, massage, or another form of bodywork to help your body balance some of the symptoms and reduce stress.
(5) Remember to breathe! When you feel angry or imbalanced, just taking some really slow, deep breaths outside can make a huge difference.

I'm posting daily additions to my Practical Spirituality Examiner page and welcome your comments and questions ~ will respond to all!

And finally, this may be an ideal time to hire a personal coach to help you Get Unstuck!

∞ Blessings and Light ∞

Remembering 9-1-1

When the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center, I was galvanized to action. The following poured through me that morning:

This IS a Test!

Several days later, I sent out the next message:

Radical Evolution

Intriguingly, this poem/chant came through me 5 weeks prior to the event ~ a clarion call for these times:

Spiraling Home

Wishing you all much peace, love and breathing room in our over-full lives as the energy continues to amp up ∞

The Shift in Human Consciousness

Unless you've been inhabiting one of Jupiter's moons lately, it won't likely be news that humanity is in the midst of a massive evolutionary upgrade. In a brilliant 2-part article that is also available as a radio interview, Sol Luckman discusses the manifold aspects of this shift, from the implications of the Mayan Calendar 2012 end date to the significance of spirals to the Law of One. I highly recommend reading both articles (or listening to the show), slowly, allowing the information to seep into your cellular awareness.

Here's an excerpt:

"The spiral is the sign of the eternal, creative, unifying and organizing force or principle at work in the universe, and especially of the ongoing creation of consciousness. It is a divine mark on nature, what may be termed God's personal signature on the cosmos, the Great Architect's own autograph—from the cradles of stars and planets in the awesome spiral arms of galaxies to the beautiful double helix structure of the DNA molecule [...] As the spiral seems to be integral to physical growth, so it is also the symbolic pattern of human spiritual growth ... [T]he spiral is as much part of our 'cultural' DNA as it is part of our biological DNA [...] Indeed, I have come to realize that 'spirality'—the condition of being spiral—and 'reality' are almost interchangeable terms.

"Recalling the aether theories of Kozyrev, fellow Russian scientist Sergey Smelyakov's research demonstrates that the harmonic vibrations of Phi, also referred to as the Golden Mean and Fibonacci sequence, inform the very fabric of space-time. Mathematically, the Photon Band appears to be structured on Phi, producing set cosmic intervals the Maya apparently were aware of when constructing their uncannily accurate calendar. Smelyakov's The Auric Time Scale and the Mayan Factor compellingly suggests that Earth connects to Galactic Center via our solar system in a harmonic, fractal fashion he calls 'Solar-planetary Synchronism,' a vibratory relationship based on the Golden Mean.

"In an article entitled The Ultimate Secret of the Mayan Calendar, Wilcock analyzes Smelyakov's research, writing that it helps explain the end of the Mayan calendar in geometric terms as an 'infinitely-converging end point' in which time appears to 'collapse.' This is because time as we experience it follows the imploding spirals of Phi much like a finger tracing the cyclical involutions of a conch shell to its centerpoint.

"A salient point in the evolutionary model I am elaborating here is that evolution of species ultimately is driven not by material, but by metaphysical energy, or consciousness, of a spiraling, 'meta-genetic' nature.

"Swedish Biologist Carl Johan Calleman reaches precisely the same conclusion in The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness, cautioning 'against a narrow interpretation of the term cyclical. The Mayan calendar describes evolutionary rather than strictly cyclical processes, so history is more like a spiral of evolution, in which similar types of events are favored at certain points in the cycle.'"

Our Need for A Scapegoat

Michael Jackson was an icon, and his "untimely" death (because, really, how can we know another's soul contract, and when they've completed their Earth assignment ~ no matter how terrible a departure may appear from a 3D perspective?) has led to a feeding frenzy in every respect ~ most notably, in our apparently consuming need to find someone to blame.

His personal physician, with him at the end, has been a likely target from the first. No matter that Dr. Conrad Murray has cooperated fully with the authorities from the beginning of the investigation. No matter that MJ had numerous health issues and was under duress at the time of his death on a number of fronts. The media wants a scapegoat. The public wants a scapegoat. So Dr. Murray is about to be officially charged with manslaughter.

I don't know whether the doctor did in fact in some way contribute to Michael's death. But whether he is culpable or not, what's clear to me is our frothing desire to participate in a stoning ~ maybe not in the literal sense, but certainly virtually. Once we flocked to public hangings. We all possess a primal instinct for savagery ~ it's what helped our ancestors survive in the wild. This is powerful energy ~ and we're no longer battling woolly mammoths.

How can we use this energy for the highest good, now?

In the two posts I penned following 9-1-1 in the US, I posited some ideas. I'll happily email them to you: please put "9-1-1 posts" in the subject line: amara@liveyourlight.com. For now, I leave you with this excerpt:

"Reclaiming is a key word for now. We can choose to compost our violence into the rich soil of compassion (literally, 'to suffer with') as a new way of reclaiming our Earth body, and our relationships with one another. Soul/sole/soil are related in meaning, as are whole/holy/heal. Touching the Earth, our collective and only home, with compassion, we live into our soul's purpose more deeply. As we get the 'whole' picture, we become more whole, holy, healed; more One with the All. From this soil teeming with understanding, forgiveness and love, we may cultivate a culture in which we are all welcomed home. Atonement is at-one-ment.

This is radical evolution."

We Are the Sleeper Cells ...

The ones we've been waiting for are NOW HERE: Us! You can't help but feel Divine, drinking in these declarations from The Star Elders through Aluna Joy:

∞ You are the living bridges between all the cultures of the Earth.

∞ You are the unification of all the religions.

∞ You are the harmony between all social, economic, and spiritual classes.

∞ You are the ones that shift the negative projections of the collective consciousness into a positive reality.

∞ You are the ones that have held firm to the dreams and visions of a different future.

∞ You are the ones that choose to counterbalance the fear-based prophecies running amok throughout the unconsciousness of so many people.

∞ You are the ones that write our future based on love, unity and oneness, and most of all planetary brother & sisterhood.

∞ You have held strong to the vision that Earth will be a beautiful garden and shining star of our galaxy.

∞ That future is beginning to manifest right before our eyes.

∞ You are the ones that we have been waiting for.

∞ You are your own ancestors returned.


It's a Spiritual Conspiracy (which literally means, "to breathe together")! Let your Light shine!

"You who have the light, what are you doing with it?" ~ Paul Claudel

God's Pharmacy

You are what you eat ... so check out these foods that mirror our body organs ~ way to eat for maximum health and well-being!

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye ... and science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopene and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neocortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other citrus fruits look just like female mammary glands and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears, which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

The Weather of Our Hearts

With all the love energy streaming onto the planet now ~ and all the concomitant chaos we're experiencing as we release everything unlike Love from our beings ~ I wanted to share a poem that emerged about 7 years ago.

While it references the standard male-female relationship, I invite you to apply the poem's message to the larger arena in which we're cavorting:

The Weather of Our Hearts

Now you know how to predict the weather!

Love,
Amara

Is the Medium the Message?

How can bandwidth make or break your success? Ubermarketer Seth Godin (founder of Squidoo and author of 11 books, and counting) developed a brilliant map for syncing message and medium:

He clarifies, "Movies take a long time to make, but they’re high impact. Twitter takes a second to do, but there’s not a lot of info there. One on one coaching is high enough bandwidth that it can change your life and make you cry, in real time, and the Mona Lisa, while less bits per second than a TV show, has enough emotional bandwidth to matter, even if it’s 400 years old.

"If you had seen this chart three years ago, you obviously would have invented Twitter. Now that you see it today, what will you create?"

Pennies From Heaven

The day after my Twitter post about finding a dime and 3 pennies on the sidewalk, Tweetheart and What Shines subscriber Jacqui Hoag sent me this anecdote:

"You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live ... The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely...

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.


Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

'Look at it.' He said. 'Read what it says.' She read the words, 'United States of America'.

'No, not that; read further.'

'One cent?' 'No, keep reading.'

'In God We Trust?' 'Yes!' 'And?'

'And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!'

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, 'In God We Trust,' and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message.

It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient..."

~∞~∞~∞~∞~∞

Thought for the Day:

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.

If S/he had a wallet, your photo would be in it...

S/he sends you flowers every spring.

S/he sends you a sunrise every morning Face it, friend - S/he is crazy about you!

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow,sun without rain, but S/he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

Read this line very slowly and let it sink in ...

"If God brings you to it, S/he will bring you through it."

You will receive a miracle tomorrow.

Wealth Is An Inside Job

I spent this past weekend in a San Francisco hotel room with close to 150 other holistic practitioners of every stripe: life coaches to sound healers, acupuncturists to nutritionists, business organizers to psychotherapists. The event was called, "Rejuvenate Your Practice," and the essence of the weekend was something Jesse and Sharla, the creators of the workshop, call Heartselling.

Based on the Chinese 5 Element model (Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood), they discovered and now teach what we're all awakening to in one form or another now: the Heart is our greatest natural (and renewable) resource.

When you come from the heart, from a place of truly wanting to serve, and place the focus on the other person (in this case, your potential client), asking questions that elicit their needs and desires rather than talking about yourself, and acknowledging their greatness, you'll become irresistible ~ they'll be ready to work with you in a ~ yes, heartbeat.

For me, one of the coolest experiences of the weekend (and we engaged in a lot of experiential exercises) was having 10 participants first say "no" when we asked if they were ready to start working with us ~ followed by 10 who said "Yes!" with wild enthusiasm. The demonstration imbued a visceral sense of expecting "yes's" from the Universe ~ which then, of course, is what happens, since we receive that which we hold in our thoughts.

Ready to get unstuck and move to a new level of creativity, health, wealth and joy in your life? Let's talk: amara@liveyourlight.com.

∞ Blessings and abundance to you! ∞

Manifesting from the Heart

Aluna Joy's latest transmission contains some really uplifting wisdom about how we'll manifest now ~ I'm already seeing this "impulsive" M.O. bear fruit!

"... the way you manifest is also shifting. Elaborate plans for creating something in the future are more difficult to fulfill. Planning is a state of consciousness that lies in the future. The future is not in the NOW; therefore planning will become difficult. Remember, you are entering a state of oneness, and a completely present NOW. You are learning that intentions will manifest easily if they are done with an impulse or with inspired intuition. It will be more difficult to manifest with a mind. It will be easier to manifest with the heart. Bold gestures are going to become the norm! Expect that any plans you have made will morph and change out in front if you.

"The absolute success of your future is being built as we speak. This is very demanding, yet the most exciting part of building a new world. New roots are growing in the background, and you are being planted firmly in the next dimension. Growing a hearty root system is vitally important. Remember roots grow in the dark ... Be patient, and let your roots grow. Soon you will burst forth into the light of a new day, a new world, like a perfect flower reaching for the Sun.

"You are not alone in this process. There are millions of awakened beings in all walks of life, all across the earth, that will help morph this world into the vision of a new world which we all hold close to your hearts. You may not know who these lighted ones are, but we assure you they are in place, and ready to take action."

YES!

Just Drop It!

Today is a day to drop out, literally. Allow the total solar eclipse to "eclipse" past hurts and resentments, anger and worry, so you can emerge into the new as a newborn YOU. In this informative article, intuitive Tosha Silver (who, synchronistically, served as one of my pivotal guides during my awakening in rural NY State in 1994, and now resides in the Bay Area) offers some to-the-point ritual blessings to help pacify past pain and prepare for what's ahead in your life.

Key message:

"Help me release any resentments that I harbor in my body, mind or psyche. Allow me to dissolve any toxic ties to the past so I may receive fully the good that is headed my way."

May you be showered with Grace!

Illness As a Spiritual Journey

Last week, I was honored to duet with master retreat coach Helene van Manen on a teleclass for retreat coaches. The topic I chose is one I've lived into deeply: Illness As A Spiritual Journey. You can listen to the entire call here (begins @ 6 mins in):

Illness As A Spiritual Journey

Several people on the call requested the quotes included in the talk. Here are the salient ones:

1) From The Tao of Healing:

Some prefer knowing to being
Their illness is in their heads.
Some prefer being to knowing.
Their illness is in their hearts.

She who knows her illness is in her heart
Is halfway home.

2) My spiritual credo: "If it works for you ~ and harms none ~ it works for me." Similar to the Hippocratic oath: "First, do no harm," and to the Witches' Creed: "Do as thou wilt, and harm none."

3) Goethe: "Whatever you can do/Or dream you can/Begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it./Begin it now!"

4) Poet David Whyte: "The rest of creation is holding its breath, waiting for you to take your place."

5) Author Boris Pasternak: "Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, grovel before what you dislike, and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune."

6) From my CD, What You Need to Know Now: A Road Map for Personal Transformation: "You need less than you think/And you have more than you know."

The following articles also discuss aspects of the healing journey, and provide resources and ideas for expanding your life:

How to See Yourself As An Artist
The Renewable Resource Called Y-O-U
Hot Flash: Hormone Mimics Wreak Havoc on Women's Health

If you're in the midst of a wake-up call disguised as illness or injury, or work with people as a healer/coach, I'm offering a 20% discount through the end of July on all coaching services (Traditional coaching, Discovery Journey, or business coaching) as well as Business Alchemy services (marketing and writing support to launch, change, or expand your business).

Email or call me now to begin the shift: 800-862-0157

∞ Blessings ∞

Are You Chronologically Gifted?

If you're a card-carrying member of the 50 and better set (or just looking forward eagerly!), please enjoy my article, Life In the Middle Ages, just published on Silver Planet (only took me 2.5 years to discover this amazing resource ~ via Twitter!)

Still grappling with youthful issues? Then read 42 Forever: The Ultimate Anti-Aging Tonic, which applies regardless of whether you're long past 42, or years from reaching it chronologically.

Age is just a number, so let's have fun with it! Here's my tribute to my dear friend Ellie, now nearly 96, written when she was a mere 93: The Love You Make.

Blessings!

Don't Quit Before the Miracle

This Prosperity Tip from money coach Joan Sotkin is so powerful I'm reprinting it in its entirety:


Don't Quit Before the Miracle

Last week, I received a desperate email from a Prosperity Tips subscriber who I'll call Sam. At his wit's end, Sam stated, "I am dead emotionally. and physically soon." He went on to say that he had no job and had no way to pay his bills. "Death is best," he said in closing.

I heard Sam's hopeless cries and knew I had to contact him. I googled his name and location, which was the only information I had, and thanks to his LinkedIn profile, discovered where he had last worked. They gave me his phone number and I left a message for Sam to call me.

He did call and we spoke for almost an hour. Sam had been out of work for 18 months, despite sending out dozens of resumes. With no good news, Sam spiraled into depression.

It took a while to help Sam see that he really did have options and opportunities for gratitude, and that what he was learning about himself during this troubled time was important. Finally, he laughed a bit and felt like he could face another day. He promised to call me the next day.

It was two days later when he called. "You won't believe what happened," he said. "I had an urge to send out one more resume and follow up with a phone call. And miracle of miracles I've landed the most perfect job that will start next month. And on top of that, someone else called with work for me in the fall."

Sam was elated. We talked some more and I helped him focus on what he had to do to prepare. Then I said, "I hope you've learned not to quit before the miracle." I heard this phrase when I was active in 12-Step programs and it served me well during times of struggle when it seemed like there was no way out of my difficult situations and ongoing physical challenges.

I believe that our times of struggle are our most precious learning opportunities. Somehow, these tough times force us to reach down inside and find the inner strength and power that allows us to rise above and draw in what we need to continue. Those who are willing to let go and find that strength survive and often prosper.

If you find yourself in a tough situation or seem to be fighting a losing battle against the prevailing forces, stop, breathe, and realize that your miracle could be right around the corner. Often the solution or resolution takes much longer than we think we can bear, and we think about giving up. Don't give up. Don't quit before the miracle!

Copyright © 2009 by Joan Sotkin