No time to sleep. This time is for you.

Darkness is encroaching into the day. The nights are growing for just a bit longer. Soon it will be the Winter Solstice, but the darkness won’t go poof! and suddenly be gone. The vibrancy, the light, of life is bookended by the lengthening shadows of dawn and dusk. 

Within the darkness from dusk to dawn is a chill that doesn’t quite leave even when the sun is high in the sky. Within that dark, I hear the chill whisper, “Listen. Pay attention. The time of harvest is through. No time to sleep. This time is for you.”

The trees are bare. I can hear without summer buffers or the crinkling of fall. Suddenly I see beyond the narrowness of a bountiful nature vision. Maybe you can, too. As the chill whispers through the skeleton trees, the sandman whispers, “Sleep.” We cannot give into this lullaby. We cannot sleep. Within the shortened days and the dark nights, the real work begins!

The coming winter is not a time of easy slumber. It is a time to blow upon the ember of our bravery. To light the dark and chase the chill. Time to dive deeply into the very center of our being. The chill and darkness are not something to escape. They are to be embraced as we waken our courage and resolve. 

It’s time to peer into the cracks and crevices of our soul to see what growth sprouts through. To gently take that growth into the palms of our soul. To speak to the growth and listen to what it shares. In the sharing we receive guidance of how to prune and tweak and shape the bonsai tree at our core. 

Like that tree, we grow slowly. We grow with a purpose. We are the master garden that looks beyond the now and envisions the dream of what we will be. This is not a time of only dreaming. We must act in ways that bring our dream closer and closer to being. 

The days are shorter, the dark is longer. Within the mystery of the coming winter, connect to the bonsai tree at your core and shape it into your dreams realized! 

Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating the mundane and extraordinary.The result of time with Van? Being the change you want to see in the world by creating a blueprint for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature. 

Van 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 / ©2022

Of Dust Bunnies & What Ifs

The winds are blowing through cracks in my soul. I can feel the chill of uncertainty seeping into the dark corners of my being. Long-hidden dust bunnies of fear twirl lazily on a cold gust. I shiver in the wafting fear as the dreaded questions of “what if” and “is this all there is?” rise into my consciousness.

In that paralyzing instance of fear, I rest in the space between heartbeats. In this place of nothingness, the silence calms me pulling me deeper into myself. The winds don’t stop; they continue to gust. Calmed, I catch a thermal, slip past dust bunnies all the while knowing I am protected by the peace whispering within the silence. 

The peace soothing my spirit reminds me that I need not be stuck in uncertainty. I need not give into fear and impotence. Peace urges me to breathe through the moment. As my peace-filled breath permeates me, I relax into a peculiar way of being. I hear peace chant within me, “let go, let go, let go — be who you are.”

So, I let go. This is not a free fall into the uncertain. No, I catch a thermal and ride it into the sky of my soul. As I soar, my perspective shifts. Those dust bunnies of fear are no longer raging monsters that threaten to overwhelm my being. They are inconsequential bits of fluff that invite me to explore what is stopping me from climbing the mountain of transformation. 

In this exploration, I hear the question echoing in my mountaintops, “what if?” And, I wonder: What if I stop letting fear guide me down my path? What if I stop hiding from those dust bunnies? What if I reach for the heights of those mountains in my soul? Because, if I stop getting caught by fear, I recognize where I truly am — I am perched someone in a crag on that mountain top. And, maybe, step by step, flight by flight, I will discover a home within myself.

Answering this question brings a response to the second question: “Is this all there is?” Of course not. Life is to be lived in the depths of fear, the heights of joy, and in the between. When I truly realize that, I move from a cognitive place to a space where emotional and mental merge. In this place of possibility, I soar into my soul mountains. I gain the energy to explore the mountains of my dreams. 

Awake to the pure joy of being, I recognize that this isn’t this all there is. The world is a wild, wide open space. I just needed to open my eyes and see. I wish you to live with eyes open, too.

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 life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

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

Friction Burns On Your Soul

The more you hold on to what was, the slippery it becomes. In a surprising moment it will slide free of your clinging grasp. Detached, you plunge into change.

How many times have you held on to something long past the time it brought you peace and balance? This could be a job that no longer suited, a relationship grinding to a slow halt, or a situation that just doesn’t fit anymore. Instead of letting whatever go, you gripped more and more tightly. 

You might have found that the situation, the relationship, the job, whatever you clinged to got slipperier and slipperier until it eventually slid from your grip. As it slipped out of your life, perhaps you got a friction burn on your soul. I bet that it hurt more than you ever thought letting go would. 

Letting go is one of the toughest things that I have ever done. Perhaps you can say the same. I remember a relationship that I continued to contort myself to fit. Intuitively I knew that no matter how much of a pretzel I made myself into, my contortions would never be enough. My clinging behavior wasn’t healthy, but I couldn’t stop holding so tight. 

Eventually the relationship slipped from my grasp. And, yeah, I had friction burns along my soul. Those took a long time to heal. This experience is not one I’d like to have again any time soon.

In retrospect there were many signs that I had convinced myself that the frayed rope of that relationship was repairable. I was wrong. Only later did I realize that it wasn’t the relationship that I couldn’t let go of — it was the fantasy, the illusion that I had created about this “perfect” man I was lucky to spend the rest of my life with. 

I wonder how many things, people, or situations we cling to not because of what they are authentically but because of the fantasy or illusion we create about them. How many friction burns on our soul could we avoid if we were just honest with our self? Probably a lot.

So, what do you do? 

• Ask the tough question — “What am I clinging to?” 
• Listen to the answer. Name it. The naming can be a general statement or provide greater clarity about the situation. 
• Dig deeper into your clinging with the question “Why am I holding on?” Answering that why gets you closer to identifying the underlying fantasy, the illusion that wraps so tightly around you that your reasons for holding on are obscured. 
• Then ask, “What will my life look like when I let go and free fall into peace and balance?” Paint a picture with images, words — put your thoughts and emotions into it! 

This practice helps you gain perspective. Maybe you find a way to let go of what is fed by the fantasy, the illusion, while still being in the situation. With new perspective your grip loosens. Instead of being attached or detached, you become nonattached. Within the non-attachment, you find balance and peace.

Or, you realize it is time, without drama, without angst, to let go. You free fall into a new way of being. With the decision to be nonattached you create the path to a soft landing in a place of peace and balance. 

I’ve discovered that when I don’t let go, the plunge into change can be a slippery ride down the slope of illusion and fantasy. When I let go my free fall becomes a controlled glide into the new, a place of balance and peace. 

Life is about letting go of the fantasy, the illusion. It is about trusting that your free fall into change will be peaceful.  It is about your letting go, your choice.

 

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 scary places. The result? Creating a blue print for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition. 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 /