You get bitter or better

My mom has crystal clear common sense. She's highly observant of human nature and how/why people react and respond the way they do.

One observation that she shared with me as I approached 30 was:

"As people age, some lose their sense of humor. They forget how to laugh, and laugh at their self."

How I put it:

You get bitter or you get better.

Now that I am in my 30s and I reflect on how we age, how we are taught to deal with/handle our emotions, it's so easy to see why some lose this sense of light-heartedness. The world can be tough, and it strengthens the ego's grip of temporary satiation:

Consumption of anything but digesting your emotions.

Especially if you're dealing with mental illness like depression (as I have), anxiety, or PTSD or anything in between, there's a line between healing and dealing.

Dealing with your emotions may lead you to feeling defeated, disconnected, or the ultimate dead end: apathy or pessimism that "its never going to change."

Healing your emotions and aging gracefully requires participation, a choice in every decision and moment to try and choose more wisely. This means making choices that help you cope and move you forward, like therapy, medicine (anti-depressants are a good thing in the right prescriptive settings), and/or coaching.

Most importantly, the world is filled with gravitas, a weighted, anchor, that can feel like moving forward can't be done. Maybe that's what the powers at be want: to keep us imprisoned from feeling like there's possibility. So, what can you do?

Be brave. Be courageous in your choices and resolve to move forward, identify how your feeling and why, and to stay bright. Be careful not to placate your despair with unchecked positivity -- I am all about being rational as I am about emotional intelligence.

Choosing to look for joy in the impossible is a great act of liberation. It leads to action to inspire and heal yourself and others.

Polarity Consciousness & Crystals

Everything in this dimension is a polarity.

Bouncing between each side, sometimes hugging the post with a ferocious magnetic grip.

In order to understand how to balance, or flow somewhere between the opposites, you’ve got to learn both sides.

For the amount of light you know, you know an equal amount of darkness. They can’t exist harmoniously without the energetic pull of its counterpart.

I’d argue the amount of tough you are, you are soft, kind, or tender hearted.

You may not always be aware or conscious of this degree or relationship, but it exists in literally everything. The same energetic spectrum is between “capital M” Masculine and “capital F” Feminine .

The poles are partners, which weave complexity and wisdom from the lessons it’s learned from and healed.

Autonomously or collectively, we all have our own polarities comprised of the life we’ve lived or have been given. When you starting looking at the sides, you can start to understand how you relate to the other or what the journey ought to be.

Is it in balance?
Is it a lesson that needs more healing?
Is it fluid, dynamic? Stagnant?
Is it the result of privilege (not necessarily your fault)?

Crystals are an instrument which can reveal what these polarities are for yourself. You’ll be drawn to just the right thing. It happens 99% of the time!

Some of the crystal polarities I’ve learned:

Aragonite: anger<>sadness
Moldavite: Starseed<>Earthly Origins
Lemurian: Old<>New
Lapis: beholden<>sovereign
Citrine: joy<>apathy
Ocean Jasper: wonderment<>reclusivity
Chrysocolla: mute<>communication
Rainbow Moonstone: emotional intelligence<>intellectualism

This is such a small list, and I could go on and on and on about other crystals and what they weave, these were just a few that kickstarted in my mind.

How YOU learn to be in this world is yours sovereign dance with the Mystery. I’m here to witness your transformation.

“I’ve got to use my roar,” I wrote recently.

The kind of roar which gives you chills.
The bigness that propels me forward.

A voice I seldom exhale.

I remember a self defense class in high school. The exercise was to use “No” powerfully as your classmates stalked you into a wall.

I laughed uncomfortable, jesting a “no” until my back was pressed against the wall

—from deep within:

“NO!”

Everyone immediately stopped. Shocked. The instructor. Everyone.

It was a command.

That voice meant business and snapped to attention.

THAT voice, I see needed now.

A voice who speaks Truth. Who shares. Who makes connection.

Feminine Leadership needs a voice. One who speaks for the pack.

A roar.
For change. For love. For justice.

{the healing power of storytelling}

I've been watching in tasteful morsels the latest season of Queer Eye. I loved the original (Kyan, my fave) and I love this incarnation as it goes deeper in revelation. I want to indulge in every story and every emotion. I want to linger in these lives.

What I see in the power of this show is what I see when I see people sharing their own stories. It's refreshing. It can feel a bit "personal". It invites people a little closer. It seeks connection.

In an increasingly divisive climate that we've been thrown into on social media, storytelling interrupts the discord. As humans we are social creatures and that means we wish to be seen (and accepted) -- as we are.

A large part of what I do is listen to people tell their stories. While details are not identical, the similar themes bleed through the same human veins.

We all have our baggage -- or as I would like to invite you to view it as your story.

When we heal these stories you release the emotions that tie you into the experience of that story, when you no longer feel beholden to the hurt and anger. This is when sharing is the most potent medicine in connection. It doesn't have to be super public, it can be to a friend or loved one.

By sharing, you become a catalyst for potential healing. This form of connection is most needed now: authentic expressions and perspectives.

Because...literally we all have "it", some shameful secret in our lives or families. What's most damaging is when these stories become burrowed they can harm us.

It's why I speak openly of the mental illness and addiction that runs in my family. Decades ago, no one could speak out about this. Now, I have to or it will continue to kill us. Sharing my "woo" stories is other way I wish to make connection and share the exploration of something magical!

It's no surprise to me, sadly, that suicide rates amongst teens, young adults, and particularly effecting men, are rising. Demonstrating vulnerability and openness may be "soft", and it is a strength. Social media isolation is just as real, so if you're called to share, do so. If you don't want to or don't feel you have a story to share, interact with the stories you do see told.

Storytelling helps heal (on allllll levels). 
Storytelling helps save lives.