A penny from heaven story in the dryer

Posted: March 22, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: pennies from heaven, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

I enjoyed hearing your “pennies from heaven” story. Here’s mine:

I am an artist. A friend and fellow artist collected 1000 secrets sealed in pure white envelopes in 1996 for an art quilt now in one of the Smithsonian museums. At the time, I was debating whether to go back to school and get an MFA. My friend suggested I put my secret in one of her envelopes. I was one of the anonymous 1000. Last summer, she surprised me with a box of 200 of the sealed envelopes.

I decided to make an art project of my own. I shredded several of the envelopes and made pulp and then paper out of them. The remaining envelopes sat in the bottom of the box till a couple of weeks ago. After machine shredding the second batch of envelopes, I began looking at the strips. Some had a word, some a sentence, some were blank. I decided to weave the bits of words. As I sorted, up came my secret that I wrote in 1996! My secret did not make its way into my friend’s art piece in 1996, or to my first batch of shredding and pulp, but found its way back to me. I lined up the shredded strip recognizing my penmanship and easily remembering the words of my secret.

At the beginning of this year, I requested Spirit to “Please show me that you hear me and reveal yourself.” Well, the morning I read your article about pennies from heaven in your newsletter, I opened the dryer and found — a penny! Receiving my 1996 secret was a sign and the penny is a confirmation. Someone is definitely hearing me.

Enee, St Petersburg FL

Another Penny Message

Posted: March 4, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: pennies from heaven | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

After I posted my own “pennies from heaven” story about my first husband sending me pennies, Writing Down Your Soul newsletter readers starting sending theirs. Here’s a delicious one.
Janet, I really enjoy your e-mail newsletters. I especially enjoyed your story about the pennies from heaven. I, too, have a collection of them. The first one I got was on the day of my Mom’s funeral. When we left the church we went back out to the limo and there sitting in the middle of the 2nd seat was a shiny penny. It jumped out on the black upholstery. Now, 3 of us slid across that seat to exit the limo so I can’t believe it was there when we left. Plus our son had gone back out to the car to get something and he said he was sure he would have noticed that bright copper penny on the black seat. Since then my sister and I have both found pennies in odd places at times when we most needed the comfort of our Mother. She once found one on the edge of her sink after she’d fixed lunch and washed lettuce in the sink. The most recent one I found was the day we had to put our beloved beagle, Riley, to sleep. She was very sweet and my Mom loved her, too. My husband and I needed to get out of the house for a bit and when we returned, I opened the dryer. I pulled out the lint filter and there was a bright shiny penny. I knew my Mom was looking after Riley in heaven.

Thanks for sharing your stores. God Bless, Leneta, Atlanta GA

If you have a penny story or any other message from heaven, send them to me and I’ll post. My email is janet@writingdownyoursoul.com

The message on the floor in the airport

Posted: February 24, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Animal messengers, Creating a magical year, Intention Mandala, janet conner | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

Do you get messages? Weird, interesting, unusual messages? Messages that you know in your heart can only come from Spirit? I do.

Mine often come in the form of ospreys flying overhead as I walk in to speak or when I need a reminder that all is well. It seems that whenever I’m fretting about money, an osprey will fly directly over my car carrying a fish. Not just any fish. The size of the fish seems to mirror the size of my fears. Last December, the fish were enormous. To me that’s Spirit reminding me that everyone is fed, including me. I always laugh and feel blessed and sure enough, shortly after my osprey “shows me the money,” the human money arrives.

There’s another message that comes regularly. Pennies. You’ve heard the song, “Pennies from Heaven?” Well, I think, they are literally from heaven. The pennies started coming after my ex-husband died. They came in such abundance and at such odd times that I couldn’t miss the connection.

The wackiest time was the day I was in a furniture store. I’d fallen madly in love with a lime green sofa. I had just received the miracle check from my ex (the miracle story is in Writing Down Your Soul) and thought it would be lovely to have new furniture. But the sofa was shockingly expensive. So, much as I coveted it, I decided I should just buy a lamp. One lamp sitting on a desk looked interesting. I turned it on but nothing happened. So I crawled under the desk to plug it in. There in the middle of the floor under the desk was a shiny penny. I clutched it to my heart. Burst into tears. Whispered “Thank you.” And bought the sofa.

I know I can count on pennies as messages from heaven. They constantly appear on the sidewalk. They show up in my home–which is odd because I’m the only one here. The most amazing ones are the ones that show up in the car. The car that I drive all by myself. Hmmm.

Last August, BodyMindSpirit Expo invited me to speak in Raleigh. Now, the deal I have with God is I say yes. Spirit is in charge of the invitations. My job is to show up and share the joys of deep soul writing. So I say yes to an invitation and additional events always congregate around it and I’m able to make some money or at least break even on the trip. But this trip was different. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get any other invitations. This was a problem. Because BodyMindSpirit didn’t pay an honorarium. Nor did they pay travel expenses. So on my own penny (pun intended) I flew to Raleigh, stayed in a hotel and paid for the cab to the event. Oh boy!

As I got off the plane racked with doubt about my decision to come to Raleigh, I said to Spirit, “You have to give me a sign that I am OK.” The hotel van pulled up. It was immaculate. It must have just been washed and vacuumed. I was the only passenger. I sat down and put my bag on the floor. There at my foot, touching my shoe was a shiny penny. I burst into tears. The driver turned around. “I’m OK,” I said. “I’m very OK.” He had his doubts, but he drove me to the hotel.

Well, Cherry Lea, the owner of Dancing Moon Bookstore in Raleigh came to my talk, fell in love with Writing Down Your Soul and invited me back on Valentine’s weekend for not one but three events. We had a full house for each, including my first workshop on how to create your Intention Mandala.

The Intention Mandala was the last workshop I taught on Sunday afternoon. To convey the power of an Intention Mandala I waved my actual 2006 Mandala in front of the audience over and over again, telling all the magical things that happened that year. In 2006, anything and everything I wanted came to me effortlessly. In 2006 I attracted a national comun for UPI, Conari Press, a contract for Writing Down Your Soul, and even a love relationship. My 2006 Mandala was magical and I loved teaching the process so everyone can have a divinely supported year.

I headed to the airport filled with gratitude for such a luscious weekend and such a loving relationship with such a wonderful store.

I got to the airport early so I decided to treat myself to dinner–something I rarely do. As I paid the bill, I noticed a bright shiny penny on the floor in front of the only empty table. I almost didn’t pick it up. But pennies are always messages, so I pushed aside my embarassment, bent down and picked it up. A woman’s voice said, “Oh, I do that too.” I turned around and said, “Pennies are messages from my husband who passed.”

I smiled, put the penny in my pocket, and went to the ladies room. There, I took it out and really looked at it. And burst into tears. It was dated 2006. The year of the magical mandala I’d been talking about just two hours before. To me this penny was a little pat on the back from heaven saying, “Keep on teaching this. You’re on to something. We’re with you.”
As I dried my hands, I heard sniffling. I turned and the woman who had spoken to me in the restaurant was standing there sobbing. “I’m crying for you,” she said. “It’s so sad. Your husband died and it’s Valentine’s Day.” I gave her a big hug and said, please don’t cry for me. I’m completely happy and all is well. This is just a little message from him. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Yes,” I smiled. I’m sure. I’m absolutely sure.”

It didn’t hit me till I got on the plane that that evening was the first time I’d called my ex-husband my husband. I have long felt that he doesn’t like me calling him my “ex.” I’ve struggled with what to call him because legally of course he is my “ex” but the truth is our divorce was an invitation from Spirit. To go deep. To enter into divine dialogue. To open my soul to the messages stored there. It was an invitation that gave birth to Writing Down Your Soul. I am forever grateful for that invitation. So that means, I am forever grateful for my “ex-husband,” who from now on, I will call my husband. Because he was. And I know that my 2006 penny was a little thank you for acknowledging that.

That 2006 penny is precious to me. It now graces my altar. What’s on your altar? What messages have you received? How does heaven encourage you? Bless you? Comfort you?
I know your messengers are there. I know it. They are always there. We just have to open our eyes to see them, our minds to acknowledge them, our hands to receive them, and our hearts to be forever grateful.

December Plan Day 10: When did Spirit wink at you this year?

Posted: December 11, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Creating a magical year, December Plan, miracles, Practical spirituality | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

This week in our December Plan we’re looking BACKward. Back all the way to January 1, 2009. Look at your calendar. The clues to your year are right there in front of you. Who knew that such a simple office supply could carry so much information, including several messages from heaven.

Before the year began, I pinned a four foot tall dry-erase 2009 calendar on the wall above my desk. For the first few months, it looked rather pathetic. As in: blank, empty, WHITE. But slowly, as people discovered Writing Down Your Soul, the squares filled with classes, speaking invitations, workshops, book signings, and radio interviews.

I didn’t consciously plan a color scheme. I just reached into my drawer the day I booked my first event –and grabbed a black marker. Joyfully, I posted my first book signing in the square for January 11. Once I posted that one in black, I wrote all speaking events and workshops in black. Newsletter due dates are green. Social events are red. Florida sales tax due dates are red, too. But blue is reserved for something special. Blue is the color of surprises. Heavenly surprises. Miracles in other words.

Some of my miracles are big. What happened at the book signing on January 11th is big — very very big. If you’ve heard me tell the story of the mystery man and his message, you know what I’m talking about.


But most of my heavenly surprises are small. So small that you might not consider them miracles. But I do. On August 23, for example, I picked up a penny from the immaculate driveway of the brand new home where I had stayed in Vero Beach while teaching. You are not impressed? Not even if I tell you the penny wasn’t there fifteen minutes before? How about the penny in the bottom of the gas station in the middle of the state as I drove home? Still not impressed? How about the penny at my feet in the hotel shuttle at the airport in Raleigh? Maybe you’ll be more impressed if I tell you that as I waited for the shuttle I had a vehement conversation with Spirit saying, “OK, I’m here. I did what you asked. Now you have to show me that I’m OK, that this is all OK. That you are with me and all is well.”

A penny for me is more than a penny. It is the way my first (and thus far, only) husband says hello from heaven. It is the way Spirit winks and pats me on the pack. I see pennies all the time. One morning, after a fitful night worrying about money, I went to the gas station. As I stood there pumping gas, I demanded to know that heaven was with me. The receipt wouldn’t come out, so I stomped into the station to pay. There on the post outside the door was a dime and 2 pennies. I took it, said thank you, and, “You know 2 more cents would make 14. Fourteen cents would be really nice.” As I got in my car, I noticed 2 pennies on the ground. “Thank you,” I cried.

When I got home I put those coins with all the others in a little bowl under my creative altar. I think there’s a couple dollars in it. I’ll count the whole amount on December 31. After I put the coins in the bowl, I mark my wall calendar with a blue dot.

Today, December 10, I sit under my 2009 calendar and smile at all the black squares. I see in my mind all the people I taught. All the book stores I entered. All the books I signed. It’s all there on my 2009 calendar in bold black marker.

But the real wonders of 2009 are the blue marks. Those are the moments heaven winked and said, “We’re right here, with you, darling one. All is well.” Those are the moments that carried me then — and carry me still.

When and how did heaven show up for you this past year? Do you have a private little language between you and your divine guides? Does Spirit send you pep talks through birds? Answered prayers? Unexpected phone calls? Music? Smells?

If you didn’t pay attention this past year, that’s OK. Just resolve to pay attention from now on. Ask your divine guides to show up and make it clear they’re with you. Then, mark your calendar. In color. A year from now, you too will sit and smile and laugh and cry looking at all the beautiful blue (or gold or red…) days when heaven said, “Hello, beloved. we’re right here. We’ve got your back.”

How do you keep track of your heavenly “winks?”