You Are The Change (Even When You Don't Know It)

Gandhi had it right: be the change you wish to see in the world. But, how do I/you do that? Another Gandhi quote sums up the path of transformation nicely: “my life is my message.” When each of us truly shares our message, lives with soul purpose, then we are the catalyst for powerful change. 

Sometimes I want this change to happen overnight. Maybe you are just as impatient as me. Although radical, quick change is possible, that seldom happens. Change begins with a seed of awareness that is nurtured with each resolute drop of determination. Transformation is built upon the little things — the seeds of hope and acts of determination. 

This time of year mimics the nurturing seeds of change. We are at the beginning of a growing season. Now is the time to plant seeds and then care for the fragility of life. The stance toward the first sprouts of change must be the same. Like those first fragile plants of spring, we don’t look at change poking through the soil of our soul and say, “phew, that was hard work, but I did it.” No, we know that the initial evidence of our movement into change is only the beginning. 

We recognize that in order for change to “take,” it needs a firm foundation. We lay a foundation with our determination and joy. We celebrate those fragile sprouts of change. In this rejoicing, the roots of change grow deep into the soil of our being.

Not everything we sow brings about transformation of our true self. I have found that sometimes I sow seeds of change that don’t quite sync with who I am. That change just doesn’t reflect my soul purpose. Change begins with seeds of awareness. Course corrections happen when we recognize what is growing change and weeds of stagnation are sprouting in our garden.

This awareness is cultivated through reflection, introspection, and integration — what I call RI². This three stop process helps us deepen our understanding of our message and how it is an agent for change in our self and the world. 

We reflect upon what is happening. Introspect what we gleaned from our thoughts, words, and deeds. We come up with a plan to pull weeds from our garden and grow our change. That final step is integration. RI² is about saying to those weeds, “This isn’t me. This isn’t the way that I want to live. I am willing to uproot what isn’t me so that who I am can fully grow.” 

So, how do you do this? Let’s dig into RI²:

• Reflection: this heart based activity empowers you to do a personal assessment. I like to call it fact finding gleaned from your thoughts and emotions. It is noticing without judgment or drawing conclusions. 
• Introspection: this activity connects what you have gathered in your heart with your head. During this time, you objectively assess the information that you gathered. You identify patterns. Name how what is happening that is in line with your soul purpose and identity what doesn’t sync with you. During this time, you ask yourself, what can I do differently? You make a plan to get back on the track of transformation.
• Integration: this activity is the doing phase. You take what you’ve learned and integrate it into your life. It gets you back on track.

Note that RI² is an ongoing practice. (Learn more about it in Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action.) You may find that you need to tweak what you discovered and integrate what is more in sync with your. Maybe you plant a new seed or remove a stem that you thought would bring change. 

RI² gives you the information, the knowledge, the wisdom to choose what change you want to grow into your soul and share it with the world.

How will your message give birth to the change you wish to see in the world?

  

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a change agent who encourages others to be the message they wish to share with the world. As a contemplative coach, an intuitive-coach-catalyst, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. 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 / @fyrserpent / ©2021/

There Is Just Try

Lyrics have been written. Songs have been sung. Quotes have been made for this tiny, one syllable, three-letter word. Does the word try get a bad rap? I think it does. Remember the Yoda quote? “Do or do not. There is no try.” Was it a little shortsighted? I think so.

So before you read any farther, I have a confession to make. I am an unapologetic Try-er, a risk taker who has gone out on a limb or two that have cracked. But, I have also leap from limbs into the great unknown and discovered myself on the thermals. 

Mirriam-Webster defines try as an attempt. I don’t know about you, but it seems that I have spent my entire life attempting one thing or another. The goal of each try? To be who I am. I’d like to think that each try got me a little closer to me.

Does not quite reaching that goal make me a failure? Does trying and allegedly not succeeding make you a failure? Of course not! Trying is all about figuring out where you are in this life journey. Trying is a way of negotiating this event we call life. Trying is part of discovering what works for us …and what doesn’t.

Let’s use a down-to-earth example. One of the things that I am aware of during this Time of Covid is the inability to try on clothes. So, yesterday I bought this really cool tie-dyed sweatshirt. I brought it home. Put it on. Guess what? If you guessed it didn’t fit, you would be right. So, now I get to do one of my least favorite things — return it. 

If you think about it, when you try and don’t quite get what you were expecting there are consequences. You, and me, get to decide what to do about them. Does that mean that this try  was a failure? Of course not. It was an attempt at adding a cool sweatshirt to my wardrobe. No loss, no fail. 

Maybe you and I need to look at tries in other arenas in our life the same way. In this wild, uncertain journey you and I can never know for sure how something is going to work out. Until we scooch out on that limb, we don’t know. if the limb will hold us, if we will go crashing to the ground, or it we will leap into the unknown.

 If I’ve discovered on thing on this journey of trying, this life isn’t about the complacent. It is about taking risks — the underpinning of trying. So, try to me isn’t a bad thing. In fact, when we try, we engage three important life skills:  

• Be curious. Have a questioning stance. Be open to what you find. Ask the questions not to expect a definitive answer but to get a bit closer to the answer. Be flexible in reframing what you find into a deeper question.
• Be daring. Try new things just for the experience. You may discover, like that sweatshirt, the fit isn’t great. Or, you may discover a new direction, a new skill, or something that just says, “this is me.” 
• Be courageous. Trying can be scary. Even paralyzing. Look your fear in the eye. Gather the strength to meet your fear, address your concerns, breathe into your courage. Then just do it — TRY. Courage says, “Who knows what will happen, but I am going out on that limb! Join me?”

Try, because really, what do you have to lose? Own your inner Try-er. And, maybe, just maybe you will gain a part of you that was never really lost just hidden under the weight of your fears. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an unapologetic Try-er who encourages others to embrace their inner Try-er. As an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. 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 / Facebook / @fyrserpent / ©2021

From Chaos to Celtic Knot

Do you ever feel the chaos in your world closing in on you? Maybe you feel a great big knot getting tighter and tighter. Your mind jumbles. You just can’t focus. Does this sound familiar? It does to me. 

Lately I have been thinking that maybe it isn’t chaos I am feeling. What if my reaction to a particularly difficult leg of my journey manifests as jumble? What if I just breathed through the feelings? What would I discover? 

So what led to my pondering? Earlier this week a client told me that her life was a chaotic mess. Using my intuition, I took a bird’s eye view of her life. What did I discover? Well, it wasn’t chaos. Instead of a tangled mess, I saw an intricate Celtic knot. This infinite loop didn’t have an ending or beginning. Instead, the path dipped and twirled as it wove through her life. Although it was amazingly beautiful, I could see how it felt, at times, chaotic to her.

What if we reframed the chaos into an uncertain loop of a Celtic knot? What if we viewed our lives as Celtic knots? Imagine an intricately woven, beautiful journey of twists and turns and loops and bends that is uniquely yours. Instead of being scared about what is just around the turn, you become curious about what lies ahead. After all, don’t you want to experience the weave of the knot? 

Life is mystery. We are never quite sure what the next moment holds. I don’t know about you, but I am curious and a bit daring. I am finding ways to courageously move more deeply into my Celtic knot. When fear threatens to tangle me, I remind myself that this is my journey so wherever, whenever, however I find ourself, I am home. And, that is big relief!

Can you accept this reframe from chaos to Celtic knot? If so, that means that whatever you name as chaos is just a part of your life waiting to be untangled. The narrow turns and stomach dropping dips aren’t leading you to a spooky place. The only destination in this Celtic knot is home to yourself. The great part? You learn who you are on this crazy ride on your life weave.

Those dips, bends, turns? Let’s call them challenges that show you what is stopping you from being who you truly are. You know, the authentic self…true self…just you! When you focus on the uncertainty, the messiness with the intent to learn, the chaos untangles. In that moment you understand the challenge and can choose how you move forward. 

Are you overwhelmed by this idea of a Celtic knot? This reframe may take some getting used to. To see life as an infinite twining is to be curious about what is in those tight, shadowy, unsettling spaces. It offers opportunity and potential. Opportunity to use the skills you have learned over a life time. Opportunity to compassionately meet your fears with courage. Opportunity to really become the person that you envision. And, I would bet, opportunity to discover that you aren’t so far away from that person you want to be. 

How do you travel the Celtic knot? Think about a challenging situation. Then answer the questions. 

• How did the situation hook you? 
• What have you learned about yourself in what hooks you? This can be a mishmash of both true and shadow. For example: you may discover that you have a compassionate spirit while being impatient. 
• How can you integrate what you learned into your life? 
• How does this knowing change you? 

Use these knowings to light those bends and dips of your Celtic knot on the way to transformation. 

Are you ready to ride the ribbon of your Celtic knot? I hope so because I am riding mine. 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. 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 / @fyrserpent / © 2021

Why run when you can walk?

Why run when you can walk? 

Yeah, you read that right. Sometimes we are in such a hurry to get where we are going, that we miss the treasures within each moment. So, why run when you can walk?

Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Rush. Rush. Rush. Inevitably we miss. miss. miss. Sometimes I get in such a big hurry to get there, that I miss what is happening in the moment. And, maybe you do, too.

I know that there are some great arguments for running — the wind, the freedom, the endorphins. There are also some great benefits to walking — time to be, time to see, time to mindfully engage in the moment. 

Last Saturday I went for a walk. I felt my feet rolling heel to toe. As the sun shone down upon me, I shed my jacket. As I negotiated the cracks in the uneven pavement, I noticed spring smiling up at me. Which I guess was appropriate because last Saturday was the first day of Spring!

For me, one of the first signs of spring is the lush purple ground cover of heal all. These flowers explode in purple color in wasteland areas. I heard their voices floating on the breeze, “You made it through another winter. Spring is here. Let the new beginnings bring healing grace.”

I smiled as I looked at the not-so-small patch of flowers growing over the unevenness of the land. Rooted deeply in the soil, it provided healing after the rains, sleet, and snow of the winter. The heal all provides a place for the water to be absorbed and distributed to where it is much needed. 

The healing power of compassion is like heal all. It shows up after a long, hard winter of suffering like those bright purple flowers that bring smiles of joy and guide us back to our self. Compassion doesn’t gloss over what has happened but invites us into the beauty of the moment. It helps us breathe into our unevenness, the cracks of our being. Compassion invites us to heal all — or those things in our life that have been worn and cracked by the suffering. 

But, back to walking instead of running. That heal all is a great example of what I like about walking. I notice the little things that invite me into the moment. My intuitive awareness is flipped on, and I absorb the many messages that come to me in each and every moment. 

When I walk, I choose the speed — slow meditative, a meandering, a jog, speed walking, or somewhere in between. Whatever I choose, I walk at a speed knowing that this journey is a glorious step-by-step movement to a myriad of destinations made more relevant through listening to the intuitive messages in the moment. 

 Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. 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.

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Facebook / @fyrserpent / ©2021

Intuition: Grand, Mysterious Navigation

A friend asked me how I do-what-I-do meaning how do I get my intuitive hits. Now, that was a question!

I never really thought about the how of intuition until I wrote the book: As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive. What I realized upon reflection was that intuition just bubbles up inside of me. In order to write the book, I needed to understand the how of this bubbling so that I could explain it to others. 

Being Intuitive 

But, we’ll let the how of intuition go for now. Let’s go back to being intuitive. Over the years, how I access my intuition has changed. Sure, I still use divination tools to gain grater clarity. And, at times, I see future events unfolding. But, that isn’t how my intuition usually manifests now.

I access my intuition in the day-to-day listening to both my internal and external worlds. Whatever happens to trigger my intuition, I get quiet. I listen to this voice inside of me that helps decipher what I am noticing.

When I listen to my intuition, I am guided to

• contact someone
• take a particular route somewhere
• visit a certain place
• pay particular attention to a piece of information
• say the right words at the right time
• listen to how my life is unfolding
• take better care of myself

The noticing and the listening moves me from the mundane everyday world into responding to the extraordinary. In this place, I can be the best person I can be. Owning my intuition, I live extraordinarily in this mundane world.

Getting to an Intuitive Place of More

But, connecting to intuition can be really disconcerting. It jogs us out of the present moment when we are presented with something more. That more is the guidance that navigates our challenges and empowers us to be our best self.

How do you get to this place of more? Messages come in many forms. Have you ever heard a message in the words of another, noticed a message in a nature symbol (animals, plants, etc.), or recognized a message deep within a surface happening? Then you have accessed your intuition. 

Intuition Opens Up to Connection

I admit that I used to get scared that I wouldn’t be able to decipher the message when I received an intuitive nudge. Then I realized that I am not a closed circuit. Neither are you. When I allow the intuition to flow through me, when I listen to its voice, the message is revealed. And, I am given the navigation ability to go to the next phase of my life. 

Lately I’ve accepted that my intuition is going to speak however, whenever, wherever, and through whatever to get my attention. Call that my spark’s connection to the AllSpark. What a relief it is to know that I am not going to miss any intuitive cues because intuition is going to get my attention one way or another! 

So, what should you do when intuition speaks? 

• begin with what not to do: don’t clench on emotions like fear or awe
• be an objector observer: notice without attachment
• unfurl your being: be open to the message
• relax into the message: don’t try to interpret it immediately, let the knowing come
• let intuition seep into the cracks of your soul and spark knowing.

A Grand Mysterious Thing

While intuition may be this grand, mysterious thing, it is also our navigator through life. Intuition is the part of us that says I am here. You are not alone. Let me unravel your confusion. I am here to guide you home to yourself. 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. 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.

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Twitter & Instagram: @fyrserpent / ©2021

I am garden

Within me is what I need to grow and thrive. Somedays I don’t feel that way. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone outside of me hoe the garden? Pull the weeds? Even choose which seeds to plant and which to let go for another day? But, I am the seed, the rain, the soil — even the compost of my garden. And, you are yours.

Now, I am not saying that there are no outside influence. We are people, not terrariums! Although we can make choices, there are a lot of outside influences that pull at us in many directions. This means that we need to be open to what is happening and be willing to grow within our circumstances. 

Lately, I have been seeing life as a garden. I can choose what to plant within my life, but I am never quite sure what will take root. And, sometimes, I find that a bird has dropped the gift of another seed when I was not looking! That different growth requires creative flexibility!

Those little gifts grow the excitement of living toward a dream. They remind us not to give up in the moment. To be open to where we are being guided. To not only grow our dreams but to grow the pockets of silence as well. Within those pockets we listen to our internal guidance.

Now, what is internal guidance? I call it intuition. Some call it the Voice of the Sacred. Others refer to it as spirit guides. I have found that the source doesn’t matter as much as the intentional relationship you have with that quiet voice of guidance. Through this guidance we receive the sustenance — the hope, the daring, the courage — to make our dreams a reality. 

So, how do we do this? By focusing our intent and riding on the winds of our actions: 

I am a seed. 

The seed is a kernel of your dream. What you want to grow in your life. What is your dream? Name the dream. Create a tiny pocket in your heart space. Whisper-drop the seed into your heart space. 

I am rain.

Water is the stuff of emotions. What do you rain upon the seed? Perhaps it is hope, joy, anticipation. Drip these emotions, and others, into your heart space. See the seed take root.

I am compost.

Compost is the hard stuff that you’ve been through or are going through. You know, the stuff that allegedly makes you stronger. Work in these learnings into your heart space. Ask how they help you realize your dreams. Act upon those learnings.

I am soil

Of course, your heart space is the soil. The place where you grow your dreams, turn your sorrows and sufferings into compost. This is where you grow into your best self one seed at a time. Look around. Name the seeds that have grown into fruit bearing plants. Celebrate what you have nurtured into being.

I am garden

We are in this life for a season. Not the typical yearly cycle of growth. This season is the entirety of our life. In each moment, we — you and I — have opportunities to choose seeds, feed them compost, and water them. We nurture them in the garden of our heart space one breath at a time. 

You can do this, I can do this, one seed, one dream, at a time.

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relationship transformation. 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 / @fyrserpent / ©2021

I Want To Be Water. How About You?

Water. We just had a deluge of rain (3.5 inches) this weekend. As I navigated rain filled roads in the predawn hours, al I could think was thanks be that it was raining and not snowing. Later that day, I got an email about being like water…so here’s to being the flow.

Water flows at a drip-drip trickle, a raging crashing. But, mostly water flows somewhere in-between. Water goes wherever, whenever, however it wants. It wears down barriers, slips through cracks, changes the landscape. 

Water cannot be contained. During the safe flow times, it meanders along in a stream, a river, the ocean as it subtly erodes banks and shores. I can almost hear the water inviting bits and pieces of flotsam to join it in this meandering, mindful adventure. Life comes and goes in the gentle slowness of this flow.

But, a rain storm triggers big change. The deluge brings faster currents and higher water. Water no longer issues an invitation; it takes the flotsam of our life. In this celebratory joining of earth and sky water, this community of droplets gleefully splashes from its banks shouting, “You cannot, you will not contain me. For I am Water, the ultimate change agent.” 

And, I take a ginger step back and then another and another until I am far from the bank that threatens to erode me into the water. 

If I am honest, sometimes I want to be like that water — not its destructive force, but the mindful meandering that knows no true obstacles. Obstacles don’t exist for water; they are just illusions. For water finds a way, no matter how, to flow past the obstacle. It will saturate the land, flow through cracks, become ice that pushes it way through or become a misty haze to obscure the obstacle. Water is smart like that.

I, too, want to be smart like that. I want to be the ultimate shapeshifter not to run from obstacles but to find a way through them; to perceive the obstacle as a course correction.  I want to be a mindful meanderer who takes life as it is not complacently but full of zest for what lies just beyond the next bend in my life. Yeah, I want to be water.

Water is the power of hope that never gives up. It is courageous movement into uncharted territory. It is welcoming of what others would call flotsam — I would call that treasure. So, I want to be the water that flows never knowing if I will be called to refresh dry land, be turned to ice, or just continue my journey unabated. I want to become an epiphany of water who see the world anew again and again and again. 

Do you want to be like water? How can you flow through your life? 

• Be open to whatever happens in your life. 
• Don’t label anything as obstacle or dead ends. 
• See life a series of course corrections. 
• Slow down, seep into the cracks in what appears to stop you. 
• Ask yourself what water would do 
• Listen for the answer. 

You may find an easy-around or you may wear the obstacle that seems to stop you down. For to be water is to flow into any situation knowing that you will come out the other side with greater clarity and wisdom. 

I want to be water. How about you? 

 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an Intuitive-Coach-Catalyst, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for personal and relational transformation. 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 / @fyrserpent / ©2021