The Journey of Soul-Work Begins with Saving Yourself
At this moment I’m driving back from my quest and I can’t wait to share insights and new tools with you all. But before we get there, I want to share what I’ve learned about accepting the call to your own soul-work journey - the one of recovering the true self - the one full of empowerment and boldness to live your life in the only way that is authentically yours.
One year ago, I quit higher ed because I was fatigued of the constant deconstruction mode. The tearing apart of mind, body, and soul. I was ready to reimagine a paradigm shift beyond the fear and shame. My journey had placed me back at home within myself. Likely something in this call to journey resonates with you, too. I believe many of us feel the pull towards radical change and shifts.
I was to live reconnected within, out to my community, and in relationship with Earth’s climate crisis - feeling and holding space for our interconnected grief and then helping folks transform that into Embodied Action. To truly be in service to others and the world and also grounded in my soul-filled self so that I could radiate out.
That was where I had been tripped up before - giving out and never giving within. I used to think advocacy and education was outward directed. Much of our formal western educational system misses the inner work that is required for societal change. After decades of mentoring scholarly-practitioners, I see a gap in that approach when working for change so I designed my work now to go deeply inward —mind-body-soul aligned—in order to grow boldly outward.
What does it look like when you wake up one day:
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.
The Journey poem by Mary Oliver has been with me as I prepped intentionally the month before my wilderness quest. I want to share it now as you think about this new academic year for those of you in higher ed - or for this new season cycle we are entering.
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.
by Mary Oliver
Lean into your own reflection:
How long will you go on sleeping?
What does the world need that is only within you?
What is the journey you are embarking upon?
How intentional will you be with this journey?
What choices are you ready to take full ownership of?
What choices are you no longer willing to tolerate making?
Saving ourselves first is the only way we can give out and serve where we are needed most. Even though many of us are used to saving others, it can feel painful to turn inward - like when starting a new workout routine - the first days can be a beast. And then, if you’re like me, you even start looking forward to it. And then, you realize how much you NEED that work. Soul-work is similar. It’s the daily choice to put your health and well-being as the top priority.
