Openhearted and Brave

You, intrepid helper human being, have a light to shine in the world.

To do your work, to give like you do requires muchness. And love. And heart. And sometimes more fortitude than you think you can muster like when your mama has cancer, or your aged parents need you, or your teen tells you he’s gay, or your children are asking what it will be like when grandpa dies, or your spouse leaves, or you’ve had an awakening, or you’ve got a secret to share that in the telling will help you and more people than you’ll ever know.

When these life events happen, the ways in which you do your work, interact with your clients, the ways you move and breathe and dance all change.

You cannot not pay attention. And I promise, you want to pay attention because these are some of the richest opportunities for love and growth and meaningful living you can know. 

I’ve been reclusive since 2005 – after doing death and dying work for 15 years, after the death of my mama. I was spent. Weary. The crispiest one can be without leaping over the cliff of burnout.

I’ve spent the last seven years resting, integrating, releasing the pain of those I carried with me that wasn’t my own. Awakening.

I’ve figured out a few things.

1. Not one ounce of time has been wasted. 

2. I’ve done exactly what I’ve needed to do to take care of my heart and soul.

3. No one has stopped loving me because of my hidden-ness and even if they did that would be ok.

4. I needed to be quiet and still so I could hear/heal.

5. Just like Anne Lamott says, God is real but different then the one I learned about in church. 

If you’re still reading, I’ll surmise you are a healer, a keeper of the light – that person others are drawn towards, the one who can hold onto hope for folks until they can find and hold it themselves. You’re that person.

Me, too.

I forgot how much I like being her, how much I’m filled, how magical and mystical the connections can be. I needed to rest and remember.

We are spiritual beings, you and I.

We are living in the world to learn, grow, and love. In the doing of our great work/calling, in the being of ourselves and only ourselves, we get to help each other.

Get to. I love that. You and I. We get to do that. We get to wake up in the morning and help people. Quite a gift, no?

We can do this work though, only when we care for ourselves. We have to acknowledge when we need to bailout for awhile or ramp up, release or embrace.

We can do this when we pay attention to what we need. When we pay attention to our bodies and souls and minds and thoughts.

If you’re struggling, aching for rest, running your business and caring for sick parents, running your business and grieving, I want you to know the crazy won’t last forever. The weariness in your bones, the tears that leak on your face in the middle of the day – it will all change and move around and you’ll figure it out. You will.

Lean into it all -  even those moments you think are going to kill you. They won’t. Lean in with as much openheartedness as you can. You, the people you love, and the clients you serve in the world will be richer for it.

If you are a wounded healer in need of inspiration, tools, or a little hope, click on over to my new Facebook page, OpenHeartedandBrave and hit the ‘like’ button, will you? Then watch for the bright orange box on your newsfeed.

It’s still a little quiet over there. The community is building and soon there will be a congregation to support. I invite you to join the conversations with all of your openhearted and brave self. 

Until next time, keep on keepin’ on all you shiny people. The world needs you.

PS: I’m facilitating a 4 week Pictures of Grief class starting in February. Class size is limited to 15 women who’ve experienced a death of a loved one in the last year. You can use a fancy camera or your phone. You’ll be capturing photos around different themes we’ll talk about in class, then writing as little or as much as you’d like. We’ll figure out how to put a book together of all the goodness created. Cost is $99. More information next week. If you’re interested, shoot me an email and get on the list! martha@marthaatkins.com

PSS: Photo Credit: Martha J. Atkins, Alaska