what’s in a name?

So. I changed my name.

I used to be Rebecca Igeka Williams. ‘Igeka’ was very dear to me. It was a middle name that my parents made up and I loved it. Weird, yes. One thing that was slightly annoying was that people always pronounced it “eye” “geek” “uh”, or “e” “geck” “uh”. My mother told me it was spelled wrong on my birth certificate. She said she wanted to wait to ask her grandmother how to spell it phonetically, but they wouldn’t let my mom wait. The hospital staff made her decide right when I was born, and so, in a rush, she was unable to spell it phonetically as she would have liked. According to my father the first two syllables are French and the last is Hebrew. This comes as recent news to me.

If you can say the alphabet in french, then when you get to I, J, K, you have said my name.

For the first 11 years of my life I went by a different last name (long story involving my mother, pseudo-step-father, passports, and living in other countries). At 11 years old, I began to call myself Rebecca Williams, according to my birth name. It never quite fit or felt like my name. My father is William Williams, and hence, Williams has always felt very much like it belonged to my father.

Later, I married, and in doing so became Rebecca Hess. After my divorce, I did not have the energy to do all the follow up required to change a name. As I approached the end of massage school, it was finally time to change my name. I wanted a name of my own on my graduation certificate from massage school and on my massage license. And so, I took my middle name and made it my new last name. The pronunciation remains the same. In the process I figured I might as well replace the “G” with a “J” and add an “H” at the end. And so … Igeka has become Ijekah.

Today, Ijekah gets her certificate of completion from the Ralston School of Massage in Reno, Nevada.

momentum

I think I need some momentum. Things feel very slow and sluggish.

I guess I need to take some of the advice that I would give someone else and use it for myself. Many things are changed from a year ago. I live in a wonderful new home. I no longer have any debt or major financial worries, which I did in the past. I have cleaned up some financial troubles, and transformed my financial life.

Physically, there have been changes for the better and for the worse over the last year. I’ve had periods of time where I felt healthier, was more active and felt more energetic. Then again, it is winter now, and I often feel like a bear who hibernates in winter.

Repeat to self: less is more.

It’s that simple. Every day, I need to get rid of a few more things than I accumulate. If 5 pieces of mail come in, I need to find a way to throw away 6 pieces paper or mail, some from today, some from before.

Although I feel a bit under the weather, tired and have a touch of abdominal pain tonight, rather than lay here in bed, I’m going to go find 10 things to throw away. That’s where I’ll start.

feng shui class starting today in Reno, Nevada

Today’s the day! This evening from 6:00 PM until 8:30 PM we will begin a group exploration of how we can use Feng Shui to alter our financial lives! The impact of what we learn for our finances will overflow into many other areas of our life as well. We will start with a brief discussion of what Feng Shui is, what the bagua map is, how to use it, and an overview of all the bagua sectors. We will begin in the center with Tai Chi, and go over Kan (Career/Goals), Chien (Travel/Mentors), Dui (Children/Creativity), Kun (Love) , Li (Fame), Hsun (Wealth) , Chen (Family/Health), Ken (Knowledge). In each area we will see what shapes our ideas about money, gratitude, thanks and the ebb and flow of energy in life … because at the end of the day … money is simply a physical representation of energy and power, right?

Come join us today at 6:00 PM at

why do we resist commitment and prosperity?

great way to start a day. it’s gorgeous weather in Reno! the sky is blue, it’s warm, not hot or cold, and there’s a beautiful view of the sierra mountains along the west side of the city. you can see the snow covered runs at mount rose ski resort and the air is fresh.

the feng shui and money workshop starts next week and i’m super excited. interesting how when it comes right down to it, many people aren’t really committed enough or serious enough to want to change their financial situation. when they realize that the course is more than a couple weeks, they say they just can’t commit that amount of time to a class. sad, but true. if you’re serious about making real life changes … 13 monday nights for two and a half hours seems like a small thing compared to the benefits you’ll recieve.

it’s very common for people to say they want to change their financial situation, and yet when given a great opportunity to do so, there is always one reason or another not to.

based on some of the feedback i’ve gotten i’m also going to be putting together a few shorter introductory classes so that people who want an introduction can choose to take a shorter course.

i’ve also started reading another book related to feng shui and prosperity, Fast Feng Shui for Prosperity by Stephanie Roberts. At first glance it looks extremely similar to Eric Shaffert’s Feng Shui and Money book, with just slightly different interpretations.