The Pickleball Conundrum and How to Deploy a Jedi Practice

 

For those who may not know: in pickleball, you can only score a point when you’re the server. But here’s the catch—if your serve doesn’t land cross-court inside the correct boundary, it’s a fault. 

Translation: no point, no chance, game moves on. You sabotage your own ability to score before the rally even begins.

So you can imagine the importance of a “good” serve.

I LOVE playing this game! But lately, my conundrum has been just this...getting my serves in. Sounds small, but in doubles, when most of your serves drift out of bounds? Not great.

Enter the Jedi practice of visualization.

This isn’t new, and I can’t take credit for it—I first came across the power of mental imagery in a college sports psychology class. But here’s the magic:

If, right before serving, I pause and see the ball going exactly where I want it to go—in detail, in my mind’s eye—and then I serve? My success rate skyrockets! All of this takes less than five seconds.

The takeaway: when we’re doing something familiar, our brains love to go on autopilot. We think about other things, we drift. And when we’re not fully present, mistakes happen. (Lost keys, flubbed serves—you know the drill.) Visualization snaps me back into the moment. It’s a way of saying: I’m here. I’m focused. Let’s do this!

This is one reason I love pickleball—the way it challenges both body and mind toward a clear intention.

Have any of you struggled with focusing on the task at hand...and come up with ways to bring your mind back into focus? 

I’d love to hear about your “Jedi practice.”

Do tell!

Photo Credit: from pickleballunion dot com

 

 

Relections on the Mirror of the Soul: Full Corn Moon Gathering 🌕

 

This past Sunday (Sept 7th), we gathered for the very first Mirror of the Soul in-person resonance circle. Fourteen of us sat together at Elk Haven Wellness Center in Brevard under the energy of the Full Corn Moon—a moon of harvest, gratitude, and release.

And what unfolded was nothing short of magical.

Sound, Color, and Soul

The afternoon began with anticipation—a gentle nervousness as each person entered the space, curious about what might unfold. Very quickly, that energy softened as the vibration of Elise Burrows’ playing the crystal bowls carried us into resonance. Those who were present will remember the solfeggio tones weaving through the air—those “wah-wah-wah” waves that seemed to vibrate through bone and breath alike.

Alongside the sound, each participant chose a Colour Mirror bottle—a companion of light, shape, and vibration. These bottles are more than decoration. Each is a mirror, reflecting your strengths, your growth, and the next step your soul is asking for.

To watch the faces light up as the written meanings were read, as messages aligned so precisely with what each heart needed—it was extraordinary. The bottles spoke, and you listened.

Guided Messages

During our guided meditation, each person found themselves seated on a symbolic bench, visited by just the right presence: a guide, an ancestor, a future self, or another messenger entirely. Some wondered if they should have met themselves—yet the truth of meditation is that whoever arrives in that sacred inner space is exactly who you need at that time.

If you return to that inner bench again, you may find someone new waiting for you. The messages change as we do. Meditation is like a galactic telephone booth—you step in, tune your ear, and the wisdom you most need comes through.

Liminal Moon Magic

We gathered in a powerful threshold—the moment when the moon shifted from waxing to full to waning. These liminal phases are where transformation ripens:

🌒 Waxing: growth, expansion, abundance
🌕 Full: gratitude, clarity, harvest
🌘 Waning: release, surrender, rest

The Corn Moon has long been associated with harvest, not only of crops but of our inner lives. It invites us to:

• Celebrate what we’ve achieved and learned

• Give thanks, even for difficult experiences

• Let go of what no longer serves

That invitation was alive in the room, woven into sound, color, and community.

Continuing the Journey

If the energy of Sunday is still moving in you, here are ways to carry it forward:

🌈 Colour Mirrors bottles
To go deeper with the message of your bottle, connect with Jaci Daley on Facebook

🎧 Guided Meditations
I’m releasing new guided meditations each week. You can purchase and download them here:
👉 racheldickson.com/meditations.htm

🔔 Crystal Bowl Recordings
I’ve published several recordings from Elise Burrows’ public gatherings on my YouTube channel (rdicksonoutdoors). Listen anytime for meditation or rest:

• Recording 1

• Recording 2

• Recording 3

Gratitude

To everyone who joined us: thank you! You made this gathering divine.
This first event has confirmed for me that Mirror of the Soul is only just beginning.
Much more to come! Stay tuned.

With love and resonance,
Rachel Dickson

Photo Credit: Image by Florian Kurz from Pixabay

Raise Your Mug, Raise Your Energy: Let It Go

 

September 1st is here—a natural pause, a chance for clarity, bold choices, and stepping fully into your power. It’s a day to release what no longer serves you, and to welcome what you truly want to cultivate.

So I decided to put it on a mug. ☕✨

“Let that sh*t go.”

Because some mornings require more than caffeine. Some mornings require courage, intention, and a little bit of magic. Holding this mug is a small ritual: a moment to pause, breathe, and declare to yourself—and to the world—that you are stepping into your energy fully.

Raise it high. Let it remind you to release, reset, and step boldly into today.

These mugs are for anyone ready to drink deeply from the cup of clarity and audacity. A simple tool, a small practice, a bold reminder.

Grab your fresh start: click here

only $7.92 

Believing in Beautiful Things

“You will miss out on beautiful things if you continue to stay rooted in the ways you were wronged… Instead, open yourself to the world, and allow it to fill you with the kinds of people, moments, and experiences that make you love your life more each day.”
— Bianca Sparacino, A Gentle Reminder

This quote stops me in my tracks every time I read it. Because isn’t that what life is asking of us, over and over again? To loosen our grip on old hurts, to stop letting the past pull us away from what the present is offering, and to open ourselves—fully—to what is right here, waiting for us.

This is the heartbeat of Mirror of the Soul: A Corn Moon Experience.

On Sunday, September 7th, from 2–4 PM, we’ll gather together at the very moment the Full Corn Moon peaks (2:09 PM EST).

In that sacred window, we will:
✨ Release what no longer serves
✨ Attune to the resonant tones of live crystal bowls (played by Elise Burrows)
✨ Explore the language of color through Colour Mirrors (guided by Jaci Daley)
✨ Journey inward through a guided meditation (led by me, Rachel Dickson)

This will be a space of resonance—where sound, color, and spirit align to awaken gratitude, clarity, and renewal under the Corn Moon. Together, we’ll pause long enough to hear our own wisdom rise.

If this gathering calls to you, I would be honored for you to join us.

 

 

Photo Credit: Image by u_vra2ox6otu from Pixabay

 

What are colored bottles that we'll be using on Sept 7th at the Mirror of the Soul event?

 

I need to clarify something.
Our Sept 7th gathering—Mirror of the Soul: Full Corn Moon Experience—isn’t just another sound bath. (See post below)

Yes, you’ll hear the crystal bowls under the peak of Full Corn Moon.
But this gathering is about much more than sound.
It’s about meeting yourself in color, vibration, and truth.

Here’s how the color portion of the event works:
✨ Choose a Colour Mirrors bottle (from rows and rows of vibrant colors) that calls to you.
✨ That bottle becomes your companion during the sound bath—amplifying the vibration of the bowls and aligning you with its unique energy.
✨ Hold it close during the guided meditation, receive a written description of its meaning, and even ask it questions during the meditation.
✨ Together, everyone will place their bottles in a central area—forming a symbol that Jaci Daley will interpret as the group’s collective message.

🚫 This is not decoration.
Colour Mirrors is a global system of colored oil-and-water bottles, created in South Africa in 2001 and used around the world for self-awareness and transformation. Each color carries a vibration that reflects back your strengths, your growth, and the next step your soul is asking for.

This is part personal journey, part collective tapestry.
And it will be unforgettable under the Full Corn Moon. 🌕

 

✨ Please join us for this two-hour experience of sound, meditation, and intention—aligned with the moon’s peak energy.
💫 Choose your Colour Mirrors bottle, tune into the crystal bowls, and discover the messages waiting for your soul.
💞 Connect, align, and share in the energy of community.

Photo credit: Colour Mirrors FB page

Mirror of the Soul: A Full Corn Moon Experience 🌕 (Sept 7, 2-4p)

 

Announcing Our First Ever in-person Resonance Circle!

Step into a two-hour gathering designed to awaken inner wisdom, attune your energy, and connect with kindred spirits under the Full Corn Moon.

You’ll experience:
✨ Color Mirror Bottle Work with Jaci Dayley — intentions + a living mandala of resonance
✨ Crystal Bowl Sound Bath with Elise Burrows — healing solfeggio frequencies
✨ Guided Meditation with Rachel Dickson — receiving messages from your higher self

After registering, you’ll receive a confirmation email with full details (address, what to bring, and contact info).

Come with an open heart. Leave aligned, inspired, and connected.

Can't wait to see you there! 

 

Photo Credit: Image by Susana Cipriano from Pixabay

 

Growing Up in the Shadow of Focus on the Family

When I heard today’s headline, “James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, has died,” I felt relief. For me, it marked the end of an era that caused deep harm in my life and in the lives of so many others.

Why relief?

Because it is finished.

Dobson’s voice was one of the loudest in shaping my parents’ worldview and, by extension, my upbringing. His books, his radio program, his version of “family values”...all of it wove its way into our household. If you’ve watched my TEDxBrevard talk, you’ll recognize echoes of this influence in my story.

One memory in particular rose to the surface today. It was 1999. I had just come out to my parents, and we were locked in a painful back-and-forth of emails where scripture was wielded like a weapon. In those days, my parents often turned to Christian organizations like Focus on the Family for “biblical guidance” about how to handle their daughter being gay.

That week, I tuned into a Focus on the Family broadcast that was devoted entirely to “the problem of homosexuality.” It was gut-wrenching to hear, but I felt I had to keep listening…because I knew my parents were listening, too. I needed to be ready for the next barrage of questions and accusations, many of which I knew would come straight from Dobson’s script.

That’s the kind of impact James Dobson had...not just ideas, but real ripple effects in families like mine, shaping conversations that cut deeply into already fragile relationships.

And yet, I will give credit where it’s due. A sad and horrifying truth buried in the history of many church families is the very real devastation that pornography inflicted—especially when husbands and fathers chose to hide it and refused to take the steps that could have brought healing to themselves and their families. I witnessed firsthand the indignity and damage it caused. Dobson named that reality and attempted to do something about it. For that, I tip my hat. He got this one right—a battle still being waged in many evangelical circles today.

But alongside that, Dobson’s legacy is heavy with words that were hateful, divisive, and dehumanizing...about women, about marriage, about LGBTQ people, about reproductive rights, and more. Those words caused real harm.

So yes, today I feel relief. An era has ended.

It is finished.

 

Photo Credit: Image by riyan hidayat from Pixabay