I had a dream this morning about Mother Mary.

I was entranced and in awe. She arose from the earth in the form of a statue and I touched the top of her head with my arrow-head. Many people witnessed this but didn't seem to grasp its miraculousness. It was a moment of sheer mystery, power and divine enchantment. Folks couldn't see the beauty right in front of their eyes because, I felt, they lacked a frame of reference for truly understanding it.

Are people only able to understand divine beauty when it carries a high price tag? Does a high price tag serve to validate their experience? But how to price the invaluable essence of spirit? I feel that those of us who work in spirit and soul-based businesses must work very hard to justify some of the more abstract transformational processes that our clients go through. It is up to us, as spirit-preneurs, to find clients that will resonate and be transformed by our work and value us equally, in return.

I started discussing this weighty subject in the microblogging arena of Twitter this morning. The Twitter community allows you to post 140 characters at a time so it keeps chatter short and succinct. Angie of ArtAngel.etsy.com and I managed to wax philosophical in short sentences and she sent me this poem by a great American poet. It made my day so I thought I would share it here:

In Search of Success
by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Success
To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Dear readers, please send along your thoughts and comments about success and what it means to you - let's keep this discussion going!

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