The launch of a dream.. a journey of hard knocks

Do you ever have a nagging feeling that you’re meant to do something that is larger than life? That thought or idea that comes up when things in your life continue to fall apart despite your best intentions? Well, Antonia Rapheal Productions is that seed that refused to die.

I’ll be honest I never pursued it as it was never a ‘means goal’. Let’s get real how do you make a living off a production house that makes free inspiring content? It can be a side project, a hobby, and even a happy indulgence but not a livelihood. I had other responsibilities.

Then Fate stepped in and took away all my excuses. My marriage of 10 years fell apart, crashed actually. My kids chose to be with their dad as they wanted a change of scene, he lived in a far more exciting world than our sleepy town.

I still tried to cling to my old identity, I left my sleepy town adn relocated to that bustling city to be close to my kids. Tried getting a job that would help with expenses that came from living in an expensive city.

Corona was the final nail in the coffin so to speak. The startup I worked for went belly up, lockdowns meant I couldn’t see my kids and they began to drift away from me. Everything that I had used as an excuse to ignore my calling was literally stripped from me.

So here I stand with nothing more to lose and no excuses to hold me back.

I launched Antonia Rapheal Productions, a media company designed for one thing. To inspire people to think bigger and bolder. To aspire to be more, do more, and serve more. To remind people of the phoenix that lives in them and to support them to resurrect it.

Ever since my launch people have asked me, you’re putting out really great content but how exactly do you expect to pay your bills? To be honest I don’t know. That’s the very question that has stopped me from doing this for so long but it looks like life is not taking no for an answer.

So I’m going to just keep doing what I am inspired to do and believe that things will work out. I’ve come this far in faith so I’ll hold onto that and continue forward. Every day I keep getting small signs that encourage me.

For example, I was scrolling on my FB feed and I came across a poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.. it was a long poem but the person had specifically chosen this paragraph to post..

It doesn’t interest me

how old you are.

I want to know

if you will risk

looking like a fool

for love

for your dream

for the adventure of being alive.

Funny as I was just speaking to someone and telling them I am 45 and have a wealth of information and an amazing track record that I can leverage to get a nice corporate job but I can’t make myself do it anymore. I feel compelled to pursue this crazy dream.

I find feathers floating around me and it is no wonder that my first story was about the Phoenix, my favorite creature. So as I step forward in faith I call upon friends and strangers to help me in this journey. Each one of us has a part to play, that random stranger who posted that poem will never know what it meant to me. So I call upon you whoever is reading this, if you’ve gotten this far then you are special to me. Do let me know your feedback and suggestions. What topics do you feel I should cover and what did you not like and would want fixing.

My videos:
The Phoenix

We all have the spark of the Phoenix within us. From our deepest desires and hopes we can forge a champion who will achieve all that we set our hearts and minds to. We must remember that in the beginning, the hero looks nothing like a victor. The first steps are clumsy and failures abound. With practice, the muscles are sculpted, through trials wisdom is learned, and through failures, victories are earned.

The Phoenix in You
~Antonia Rapheal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3OTrCAlk94