the quiet voice still inside you 🎵🎶
Over the past several weeks, you've heard from me about grief, noticing and honoring your most intense emotions in the face of change, the power of words, and listening closely to what you most need.
I can't help notice the parallels between my personal experience of loss and the societal struggles which so many of us are navigating. I am walking the same path and process I encourage and support in others.
💫 Acknowledge the feelings.
💫 Notice the messages - spoken and unspoken. Internal and external. Harmful and helpful.
💫 Listen closely.
💫 Honor the needs.
What makes these so important? They are essential building blocks of ongoing and effective action.
Recently, I rewatched the movie Moana. Through listening to her inner guidance (and grandmother's history, encouragement, and support), Moana reconnected to parts of her heritage, culture, and identity that strengthened her as a leader and saved her community.
Moana felt the feelings, heard the range of messages, listened closely, and honored what she needed.
When she grieved, it renewed her purpose and perspective and lit her path forward toward necessary change.
When she was angry, it fueled her courage, problem-solving, and determination.
When she was scared, lonely, discouraged, and full of self-doubt, her stillness accessed what she needed to remember who she was and what she set out to do.
As one song 🎵, I am Moana (Song of the Ancestors), states:
The people you love will change you
The things you have learned will guide you
And nothing on Earth can silence
The quiet voice still inside you
As I write to you each week, I reflect on all you are experiencing, holding, and carrying as the world keeps spinning nonchalantly and injustice, on so many levels, bears down on and around you.
When you are drowning in words, in thoughts, and in their impact, it's too easy to lose perspective on the power you have and your value as uniquely and wonderfully you.
How imperative it is that you take care of you - that you make space for your deepest wisdom to come forward and your needs to be heard and met!
You matter. You can make a difference. I'm so thankful you're here.
