Ok, so I want to talk about suffering and all those difficult moments in life when you think everything is against you and all you can see is the dark.
In my life and work, I meet many people who have suffered loss or abuse, who may be facing serious challenges or have been heart-broken, rejected or betrayed.
I've experienced most of those scenarios myself. And have been to hell and back on numerous occasions. So I know those places of despair, victimhood, devastation... and even death-wish.
What I'd like to share from my current being-state, which is one of love, flow and expansive equanimity, and especially to those who may look at me (or those like me) and think "well, it's easy for her", is that, actually it hasn't been.
I've spent well over a decade mining my shadow and seeking peace, love and enlightenment.
And all of the other teachers/facilitators/healers I meet along the way, well, so very many of them started out on their journey because something so painful happened that they felt compelled to work it through or make a big-time change.
So you may see me or them glowing and radiant now. But, for the most part, we have worked at that.
We have prayed, meditated, danced, breathed, shaken and screamed.
We have courageously and truthfully faced our darkest fears, our shame and our shadow.
We have forgiven and let go.
We have owned our shit.
We have become the creators of our reality.
And, we also know, that this process of healing and growth is never-ending.
Sure, there are those you will find who are so awakened, that this is no longer or never was a part of them. But that, in my experience, is very rare.
My ultimate point though, is that it is precisely those dark moments that provide the catalyst for our blossoming.
I could not be who I am today, doing what I do, had I not also had my heart shattered open, my trust betrayed, my boundaries crossed, my self-worth squashed and been brought to my knees in utter resignation.
What I see so clearly now, though, is that each such crisis came packaged with the seeds of growth, self-awareness and healing.
Each "disaster" contained a golden nugget of soul-food - just for me!
And all those particular experiences of pain and separation that shaped me from my earliest years, were also the very same experiences that birthed my gifts.
As I review and post the Taste of Love interview series conducted for my new show - Heart to Heart - what strikes me is that almost every presenter, and each of them SO illumined, makes reference to the shadow.
As the framework for defining where we can grow and change; as the doorway to greater truth, wholeness and ecstasy.
These are not empty words. They are spoken from experience. By warriors of light.
So, dear heart, if it is you just now who is in the dark moment, or another you know and love, this is my reminder that there is a gift of gold right there with you and it's probably so close, all it would take is the merest hint of candle-light for you to see it.
With love, Shakti