Of Rain and Veils

It’s raining big fat splats waking me from my slumber. Even Einstein, who never ventures into my darkened room, stalks in. He loudly purrs before laying with me quietly for less than a minute. Then with a loud squawk-bark he jumps off my bed. Perhaps those moments with me provides reassurance that the storm is happening out there and that he is not alone.

It’s raining. In those predawn moments I listen to the splattering, hear the rumble of thunder edging ever closer, wait for the lightning that never comes. I am soothed not into a slumber but into the day. 

The rain is invitation — welcome noise that heralds a new day and ushers in a new week of opportunity. It’s raining potential. In each splat I am encouraged to try yet again to be myself in an uncertain world.

Being our self, no matter where we find our self, is all each of us can do. We wake each morning to a newness, a welcoming, an anticipation. I am reminded of the words of Black Elk: behold this day, it is yours to make. Perhaps that is what the gentle rumble of thunder, the pattering of rain tells me. 

In this moment I feel the slide from the cusp of what might be into the space of what really is. I am reminded that we are days away from Samhain. The veil is thin. I feel the more of everything. The veil thins and I recognize two storms: the one that rages outside my window and the one that rages within.  

I recognize that like the rain, the veil is just not external.  While it serves as a barrier between me and the external unseen, the veil is a permeable membrane between my conscious being and the part of me that is connected to the sacred. I feel the sacred breath, ruah, blowing gently on the veil igniting the spark within. The spark illuminates my strand in the woven braid of life. 

Perhaps this time of year invites us to sync our breath with the sacred; to twine with the sacred, to ignite the spark within. We connect during the thinning veil to understand our self. We also connect so that when the veil begins to thicken, our braid is durable enough, strong enough, aware enough to withstand the thickening barrier. With a durable connection we see through the veil to hear the call to dance upon the braid of life.

As the veil thickens, we continue to connect strand by strand by staying conscious, being intentional, mindfully attending to our divine spark. To flourish in uncertainty is to be connected to the sacred no matter what storm we find in our life.

It’s raining. On this day, I have no idea what will be revealed in the outer and inner worlds. I have no idea what the storm is telling me or what the thinning veil will reveal. I just know that each raindrop that splatters upon my soul wakes me. Each raindrop uncovers the potential of what I might be.

It’s raining a fall rain reminding me that the veil within is thinning, too. It urges me to breathe deeply of ruah…that which connects me to all through the sacred strands.. What is it telling you? 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating those places may scare us or bring us joy. The result of time with Van? Creating a blueprint for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2021

Missteps Are Risk Steps

It’s not the letting go 

but the free fall 

that is important 

drop into your soul 

feel the rush 

of finally taking 

the risk of being 

who you are

So, I did a thing. Invited the wisdom of others into my life. A big, humbling wow to those people who shared! Throughout this year, I will share the wisdom gifted to me. So far, within the wisdom I have discovered a powerful reframe — all my missteps are risks that drew me closer to who I am.

The questions that I ask myself…and invite you to answer:

Who am I? 

What parts of me make me uncomfortable? 

How have I made peace with the edgier parts of me?

Those three questions are tough to answer. Since we are in constant evolution, they cannot be definitively answered. Just as we discover the answer, as we let go of who are not and become more comfortable with our self, deeper uneases break free and rise to the surface. Each time we answer these questions deeper uneases rise to our consciousness.

Answering and asking those questions again is a lifelong endeavor. We return to them over and over again. In the answers we discover deeper parts of ourself. Maybe we discover a few more queries that invite us to risk more — to unapologetically show the world who we are. And, in our sharing are found real acts of bravery.

Although I didn’t specifically ask for how people saw me — many people shared how they saw me. I was humbled and honored that some took the ultimate risk of wise honesty. I challenge you to ask others how they see you.

Some wise words: 

From J, two comments: “you treat everyone the same. It doesn’t matter if the person is an authority figure, a peer, or someone who needs help. You treat everyone with compassionate respect.” Which led to her second comment: “You are unapologetically you.” 

Although the words at first made me uncomfortable, what she identified are integral to who I strive to be. 

From B: “That you for the gifts and challenges you offer. You are SEEN!” 

The Big Risk

B identified the edgier part of me: the one who isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers, to encourage change, to bring peace to an uncertain world. She also uncovered a fear — that I am invisible. Yes, she told me, “You are SEEN!”

For me, this celebration was a big risk. Who would participate? What would they share? With those questions answered, I discovered unconditional love and compassion.

Most of the comments were wise morsels that resonated with me. Some encouraged me to risk. Each wisdom spark invited me to dig deeply into who I am and root out the stuff that isn’t who I truly am. Those shards are birthed by my woundedness. I vow to heal them so I may be a stronger, more compassionate presence in the world. 

Maybe growing into the wisdom while letting go of the shards of who-i-am-in-the-moment but who-i-do-not-want-to-be is where I am called to be as I walk more deeply into my 60s…into the revelations of and living forward in wisdom.

So who are you? It doesn’t matter what your age. You are a living, breathing wisdom seeker, a risk taker. What risks do you take in each moment to share you with the world? 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating those places may scare us or bring us joy. The result of time with Van? Creating a blue print for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2021

It's Your Turn — Choose

We are in the midst of the most beautiful time of the  year — autumn. Okay, I might be biased. This has always been my favorite season. Maybe it’s because I am filled with relief after the heat of summer. Maybe it’s the brilliant splashes of earth tone colors. Maybe it’s the fact that my birthday happens just days after the autumnal equinox. Maybe I love the season for reasons I am not even conscious of.

I do not know the reason, but autumn has always pulled me back into the moment. As the leaves turn colors, crinkle up, and drop from the trees, I catch glimpses of tree skeletons. In those bare-boned trees, I recognize that although change is inevitable, I do have a choice. I can be stuck in the moment or realize that the letting go is happening with or without me.

So choose — to let go of the inevitable or cling to what no longer fits. I can hear you saying, “But, is that really a choice?  What kind of choice is the lesser?” To which I reply, “Yes, it is choice. Sometimes the lesser is greater than we ever realized.” 

In the choosing we acknowledge that when we cling to what no longer fits, we suffer. Because life is difficult until it is not. With each choice, we choose the degree of suffering we experience. Clinging to something that is ill fitting to our soul deepens suffering. The more we choose to ignore the inevitable, the more deeply roots of suffering twine into our soul until we can no longer separate the suffering from who we truly are. We become the suffering.

We make a choice but don’t have to be stuck in that choice. We can always decide to try something else. And, in that decision, we practice self compassion. We choose to love our self, to forgive our self, to heal those wounded parts of our self. 

Maybe we only choose a different path when we realize that we can stay in the ugly of suffering or we can choose a different way. Choice is always painted with the brush of beauty. For choice is fresh air, ruffling of leaves, a revelation of what is buried beneath our suffering.

The best thing about choice? No matter what we choose, if we don’t like the choice, we can always choose again. Regardless of what happens, we can combat any choice induced suffering with self-compassion. When we practice self-compassion we love our self, forgive our self, heal those parts of us wounded by our experiences and misinformed choices.

I am not saying any choice is easy. Seldom does one single choice spin our life 180 degrees. I am not saying that we will never experience radical change with one choice. In reality a change begins with that first choice of a series. Through rolling decisions, we clear suffering, heal wounds, and ultimately come home to ourself.

Life is a series of choices — rolling moments that invite us to mimic the autumn trees. To rejoice in life as it changes, to let go of what is shriveled and no longer fits, to willingly prepare for that period of dormancy, to know that rebirth is ongoing, continuous. 

So, no matter what I choose, I commit to let go and practice self-compassion to alleviate my suffering. How about you? 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating life choices. The result of time with Van? Creating a blue print for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2021 

To travel you must yield

The phrase, to travel, you must yield, jumped out at me as I read a recent Charter for Compassion email. It spoke of the way one must travel a one lane road that was open to two-way traffic. I was intrigued by this saying. Of course, a few days later, I put it into practice as I walked the labyrinth. 

Five of us walked a labyrinth on Sunday morning. The labyrinth was a bit smaller than I was expecting. The path was narrow. The border between lanes was ever narrower. As I walked, I understood that saying: to travel you must yield.

Let me say that I have always been bit non-bending when I walk a labyrinth. I never deviate from the path. To step anywhere other than the walkway…well, it just wasn’t going to happen for me. But, my strict adherence to staying on the path just wasn’t possible on that early morning. I had to be flexible and communal in my walk.

I found myself stepping onto the borders and sometimes on the part of the path going in the opposite direction. Yet, I never lost site of the path that led me to the center of the labyrinth. Instead of being frustrated, I chuckled. I recognized that my walk mimicked the way I journey through life. Maybe I find myself in the weeds or get turned around, but I always return to the path better for the experience.

Have I mentioned that there is always a message waiting for me in the heart of the labyrinth? Well, the message arrived earlier on this walk. On that morning, my walking of the labyrinth let me know there was nothing wrong with my life journey. The journey of side steps and stepping back from beginning to end was perfectly okay. To travel I must yield — to myself, to others, to the sacred manifest on the journey. 

While I may believe that at times I step far from my intended path, I really have not. I am just ankle deep in the weeds of challenge. Or, I find myself treading the same part of the path again. But, the weeds, the deviation to my forward moment are necessary to bring me exactly where I need to be in this moment. No matter where I am, I find the potential to breathe into the glory, the grace that life holds. 

To travel you must yield for it is in the yielding that the wonder of life really happens. In the yielding, we find those moments to breathe, to look deeply into the shadows of our self, and to understand that life is lived in those moments when we walk the path that brings us home to our self. 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating those places may scare us or bring us joy. The result of time with Van? Creating a blue print for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2021 /