We are currently
working through a section of the Golden Path study
program called the Venus Sequence. It is all about how we show up
in our relationships through this lifetime. It is so powerful that
it is hard to describe.
In one of the steps,
we dove deep into the concept of Divine Grace. I suddenly had a
recapitulation of 2017 through a lens of Grace. I jotted down all
of the moments in the last year where I was stopped in my tracks by something
or so deeply moved that I felt a deep shift in my life. I will share these
magical occurrences with you and I hope that you will take some time to
recollect your own moments of Grace from 2017...as each of us can only
experience what Grace means for us as a unique individual soul.
Here we go- in a roughly chronological
order:
Obvious first stop Is
the Gene Keys themselves. They launched me into 2017
from a space of self-awareness that I had never known before.
Song downloads: I have had several songs come to me this
year and I am reminded of my deep lifelong passion for using my voice to
transmit love and magic through song. It’s been a loooong time coming back so I
look forward to sharing. I used to be in the school choir for 11 years and when
my family became church-goers in my high school years, I made the most of it by
joining the church choir. In my early 20’s my former partner and I recorded
awesome upbeat cover albums for his mom each year for her birthday. My love of
singing had gotten lost in the seriousness of life and is slowly returning to
me.
Speaking of Music: Oliver Swain. Something
about this guy and his musical channeling ability is simply magical. I will let
you look his albums up yourself. Folky funky charming melodies. He has a
brilliantly co-created Leonard Cohen tribute album also. Amazing. Sitting in a
few live performances was completely hypnotic for me.
Annnnnd....
Nahko and Medicine for
the People: This group of
guys has a deep and beautiful connection with each other and such a smooth flow
amongst them. We were blessed to be at two of their live performances in July
and October in the USA. Four times in two years and I look forward to the next.
Their album HOKA has been a soundtrack for my life over
the last year and a half. Enjoy.
Sunset Cacao Ceremony in our beautiful palapa |
Cacao ceremonies: Sooooo many moments of Grace have
occurred at these beautiful gatherings of human hearts and souls. One group of
moments that stands out was in April this year. It was our final ceremony in
our home community on Vancouver Island. I was so caught up in the planning of
where we were heading out on road trip of undetermined length...that I was
really touched deeply when our friends shed tears that we would soon be leaving
the tribe and the uncertainty of when we might return left a void that night. I
knew that all I could do was feel it and know that there was nothing I could
say or do to change that deep tethering of human hearts and auras. I still feel
all of those beautiful people with us on this journey. You know who you are!!!
Yoga teacher training
at the Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania: I returned to my roots and my original
yoga home and family after 14 years of being away. It was so powerful to return
to my hometown and dive into the depths of my truth and beliefs about life
itself. I went through such a powerful shift at those 22 days of yogic
metamorphosis. I will be eternally grateful for witnessing the change in myself
and the other 16 students who shared that priceless time with me. Including
Tanner. Wow. What a gift to have shared such a powerful and graceful experience.
A single conversation
with a soul mate: That
day was so pivotal for me. I don’t even think he knows how profound it was. I
didn’t make it about me though. I knew there was a message that he needed to
receive directly from me to unravel our karmic past and free us both up to move
forward on our separate paths. This person and myself have had a powerful soul
connection for 16 years and we will remain connected into infinity. However,
the day this summer when I told him that he was one of the most incredible
humans I have ever known and that he was doing the world a disservice by not
sharing his whole heart by avoiding deep, beautiful relationships, was so profound for
me. We have had a beautiful sharing and clearing over the last few years and
Tanner has been such a big part of allowing this karmic settlement to unfold.
We are soul family from the same tree and it feels as though it is our role to
support and encourage one another to fulfill our individual destinies in this lifetime.
With or without each other. What a blessing the people in my life have been. It
continues to amaze me.
Being offered
management of a retreat center on the beach in Mexico for the winter months: Didn’t see this one coming. I could
write 10 blogs about it so far after four months of planning, and the retreats
still don’t start for two more weeks. It’s been one of the more intense schools
of life so far (probably in my top 5) planning and preparing for holding these
powerful retreats for supporting human transformation. The universe is
making sure that we are fully rooted and prepared for this!
Connecting with my
uncle after 23 years: My
dad asked us to swing by my aunt and uncle’s place in Dallas on our way to
Mexico to deliver some priceless vintage family photos that we had just sorted
and labeled with great care. I was highly reluctant but I knew it was part of
my dharma to make new impressions on a wounded family tree. We only visited for
one evening but it was a super powerful evening. I asked him many questions
about his life and about my dad (they are brothers) and about their childhoods.
He told me how grateful he was to discuss his ex-wife and his children who are
now grown and how these things are not normally discussed by his family. He
just turned 80 years old and he is one of millions in that generation who have
had little or no opportunity to work through and come to terms with the core
wounding that has been passed on through countless generations. He said to me
something like: For someone who never went to university for a degree, you
seem to have an incredible view on life and your experiences are so wonderful
to hear about. Keep doing what you are doing. He has a PhD in
something. I don’t even know what. They wanted us to stay for more time but
Mexico was calling and a short and potent visit is often the most profound.
A 3 month old Mexican
baby with huge blue eyes: His whole family operates a coconut tent on the side of an
extremely hot and sweaty stretch of highway between Puerto Escondido and San
Cristobal de las Casas. We met them twice. Once on each end of a
two week trip to Chiapas in November. I don’t know exactly what it
was about this baby. But his 11-year-old cousin handed him to me while I waited
for a cold fresh coconut water. We stared into each other’s eyes and his smile
was so huge that it lit me up on the inside. I told him he was welcome to visit
us in Canada someday when he was old enough. We paid for the coconuts and I
jokingly asked how much they wanted for the baby. I don’t think they thought it
was funny. Cultural humor gap. Also a moment of slight awkwardness. Mostly
Grace though, mostly Grace.
A magical waterfall
that we visited in rural Oaxaca: The power of falling water and the rhythm of the waves at the
impact point, combined with the constant roar and the misty rainbows at the
pool below created a deeply moving experience for me. Twice. We will
return again before long.
On Christmas Day, we
trekked up into the wild hills to spend our day there.
A beautiful song came
to me and so I wrote it down. When I work up the courage to record it, I will
share it with the world. The title of the song is “This is Life”.
Russet-Crested Motmot (fun name right?!) |
Lastly, on New Year’s Eve morning, I was preparing to hand-wash some
laundry and hang it to dry when I stopped in my tracks. There was an incredible
rainbow bird the size of a crow sitting on the clothesline on top of a purple
towel that was hung out to dry. I watched him intently as I slowly stepped
closer. His head was a reddish and the tip of his long tail was blue. He was
the most magical wild bird I have ever seen. The rainbow gradient of colors
along his body just dazzled me.
I knew this moment of
Grace was a very good omen on the last day of an incredibly powerful and
transformative year. 2018 is sure to be full of Grace beyond measure. I look
forward to telling you all about it...one year from now.
Please share these
blogs with anyone that you feel may be inspired by my stories. 2018 is going to
be amazing. A vast ocean of possibilities lies ahead of all of us and we must
simply clean up our boats and surrender to the waves of life. ANYTHING IS
POSSIBLE. Can you open up to a more magical life?