Latest / The FEEL Podcast: Women’s Empowerment, Emotional Wellness and Self-Leadership with Melissa Crook / Breaking Free from Good Girl Expectations: Barbara Howlin’s Journey to Self-Trust and Inner Safety
Transcript
- 0:00The first type thing I talk about with people that I thought
- 0:02for myself was releasing the good girl syndrome, and then
- 0:06that led into good anything. Again, who's defining the good
- 0:09versus bad? You said who?
- 0:11And to me, the word that came up was, and it's a root 1.
- 0:14I actually think now doing so many human design names for
- 0:17people, am I trying to prove myself or am I being my most
- 0:21sovereign self? And I was just constantly trying
- 0:24to prove, you know, and also get that validation as an artist, as
- 0:28an actor, just as a quote, good human in some way.
- 0:32And I really feel now the adage that I found that I come back to
- 0:35over and over is am I living from the outside in or from the
- 0:39inside out? And I try to just return to that
- 0:42all of the time and see so many other adages around that come
- 0:45up. You know, am I coming from love
- 0:48or for love? Well, only when I'm listening to
- 0:50my own intuition and doing my morning routine and filling up
- 0:54my well first can I truly show up and want to be an energy
- 0:58worker for people in this and know that I'm coming from love
- 1:00and not for some external ego or validation.
- 1:04Hello Field podcast audience. Welcome back today.
- 1:07I've got a new friend here with me today, but she was brought to
- 1:10me by one of my old friends and that is our good friend Aaron
- 1:13Copland. Aaron has been on the platforms
- 1:16consistently with me over the last couple of years, The
- 1:19podcast, the radio show in 2024, our panels in 2025.
- 1:25She was just on a sub stack live with me a while back talking not
- 1:29only about her current work that's out there, but the new
- 1:32addition to. Her books.
- 1:35That she's putting out into the world.
- 1:36And so she when she brought this woman to me, I was like Oh yeah,
- 1:42if Erin's recommending her absolutely 1000% have to meet
- 1:45her. And so she's like, I got this
- 1:47friend Barbara Hallen, you got to meet her.
- 1:49I think she'd be a great guest. She'd be so fabulous on panels
- 1:52and I'm like, OK, sign me up. So we had a meeting and 1000%
- 1:56like we hit it off right away. She only lives like 3 1/2 hours
- 2:00away from me. So it's like, Oh my gosh, I
- 2:02might end up meeting Barbara and in person first before I meet
- 2:05Aaron in person first. Wouldn't that be a while?
- 2:08But but I'm so happy to have Barbara today.
- 2:13She and Aaron collaborate on some things that you're going to
- 2:16get to learn about as we get to know Barbara today through the
- 2:19talking points. And she's going to have some
- 2:22great resources for you that we will share at the end.
- 2:26And that will be on our website that are so timely for this time
- 2:31that we're in right now in the world.
- 2:33And that's going to make make more sense as we go through it.
- 2:35She's going to talk about a topic that we've talked about
- 2:37before. We've had a couple of other
- 2:39guests talking about this. And I think that's for a reason
- 2:42last year. I think this isn't meant to be.
- 2:45I believe in the stars aligning in the universe aligning and
- 2:49higher power in God and whatever you believe in bringing these
- 2:51things to us when we most need them.
- 2:53And that's what Barbara is going to be able to share today.
- 2:55But we're going to get to know her first and how she got on
- 2:58this path. She describes herself as
- 3:01creative, loving, passionate and an expansive human.
- 3:06Barbara Howland. Welcome to the Field podcast.
- 3:10Hi, thanks so much for having me.
- 3:12I'm so happy to have you here. All right, let's get right into
- 3:16it. We're going to start with
- 3:17prioritizing self-care in your life and what your journey's
- 3:21been like with that. And you're a busy person.
- 3:24You've got a lot going on. You're you are a creative.
- 3:27You do, you are an actress. You have and you work in human
- 3:32design. You have family.
- 3:33I mean, you've got a lot of things happening here.
- 3:36So talk to me about the importance of this and how this
- 3:39is how you have figured this out in a way for you.
- 3:45Yeah, you know, that running a small business, being an active
- 3:49creative, like I just finished directing a play which I also
- 3:52acted in, and I have a three-year old which is really
- 3:55in the height of it all. It feels like it.
- 3:58It's interesting. You know, the first thing that
- 4:00comes to mind through all of his healing work was realizing.
- 4:04It can feel like a juggling act and realizing I always think
- 4:08back on this quote from the great Nora Ephron when they were
- 4:11like, how do you juggle all those balls?
- 4:13And she says I remember which ones are glass and which ones
- 4:16will bounce back. And the only ones that are glass
- 4:18are myself and my family. So that is first I think the
- 4:22awareness of I have to treat, as I say in my artist grade groups,
- 4:25myself like a precious object to feel strong and the simplest
- 4:30things are actually the most powerful.
- 4:32You know, I've realized I do need a morning routine.
- 4:35Maybe not first thing because 3 year old, but I still prioritize
- 4:40getting to hit before I jump into any other work.
- 4:43Like genuinely only putting the self-care first thing at a
- 4:47Canada Day for me that's daily morning pages, it's journaling,
- 4:51it's doing Reiki and energy work, which is, you know,
- 4:54another thing I guide people through and just movement in
- 4:58nature. If I get those three things in
- 5:00at the top of the day, I am just a different human.
- 5:03I really can engage in this dance of reciprocity in the
- 5:07creative way of trying to get people to do as well.
- 5:11And it really doesn't take that long.
- 5:12Honestly, if I could do that for 30 minutes in a, that's.
- 5:15Great. Yeah, Well, and you have create,
- 5:19you know, this goes nicely into confidently setting healthy
- 5:22boundaries. This is a boundary for you.
- 5:25This is a non negotiable for you that is set aside, that is
- 5:29already been determined. And when you've already
- 5:31determined it, you can't Kick It Out.
- 5:33I mean, you can, but you're less likely to because it's
- 5:36incorporated into the schedule. You know its value, it's a part
- 5:40of the day. When did you realize this was in
- 5:44important for you to do that? Like a lot of us and talking
- 5:49about your story, Not until I was in burnout.
- 5:52So it's good. Oh, it was full like adrenal
- 5:56fatigue. It was a lot of recovery that
- 5:58was needed there, which is the truth is I was engaging in the
- 6:02juggling and it was white knuckling.
- 6:05I called it back then and it was actually only just before the
- 6:08pandemic that I started to have the realization.
- 6:11And then of course, the universe did it for me, like for a lot of
- 6:14us with the world shutting down. And I, I quickly went, I can't
- 6:18go back. There's no going back.
- 6:20So I turned all of that energy I've been putting out as a
- 6:23teacher and an actor and all these things on myself and let
- 6:27everything else go. And it really was a full year
- 6:30there of a lot of energy work on myself taking all of these
- 6:34lessons to heart in a deeper way and finding what that balance
- 6:38was going to be as of course the world was going to get moving
- 6:41them and we wanted it to. But so that I can take aligned
- 6:44action in a different way right now.
- 6:46The truth is I was so disembodied.
- 6:48I always say I was just cut off from the neck down.
- 6:51And the main work I'm doing with people now is that I did not
- 6:54even have an awareness of my own intuition anymore.
- 6:57So it was a really a time of reclaiming connection to my
- 7:00intuition. Yeah, I'm so glad you brought
- 7:04that up because you and I talked about this when we met.
- 7:06We connected on a lot of things right away.
- 7:08My you know, you did it younger than me.
- 7:10Good for you cuz you got it out of the way sooner.
- 7:14But but I mean, I, I hit that same kind of wall in my own life
- 7:18where it was like that my body was just screaming no more that
- 7:22you have to pay attention to me now.
- 7:24I'm not giving you another choice in the matter.
- 7:27And it's that that disassociation that we walk
- 7:31around in. We are so disconnected from
- 7:34what's happening in our bodies that when our nervous when we
- 7:37finally settle into connecting with it.
- 7:40I don't know about you, but for me it was really noisy for a
- 7:44while. Like I felt things everywhere in
- 7:48my body, numbness tight, every tingling, every single thing and
- 7:53had to really like one thing at a time.
- 7:55Isaiah and packed the different parts that need to be tended to
- 7:59it and healed a little at a time.
- 8:01These things starting and I still like I recognize them now
- 8:07when they come up, I'm like oh, that's coming up.
- 8:09That means XYZ. Was it like that for you?
- 8:14100% And I will say becoming a Reiki master and doing this
- 8:19energy work on myself. There was also this wild sound,
- 8:24this rewilding that felt like it wanted to come out of me that I
- 8:28would be doing energy work alone in the bedroom.
- 8:29I'd be done and my husband would be like what was happening.
- 8:32And it was it was like a full body Yelp probably that had been
- 8:38so conditioned out of me and held back and there was grief.
- 8:42And then on the other side of that, there was like profound
- 8:45freedom and joy and laughter. When I got to my belly that
- 8:48wanted to come, it was two sides of the same coin.
- 8:51But I've been shutting down all of it, numbing it in some way.
- 8:57Yeah, I think that's so interesting because I would have
- 9:00these. It's so interesting when we
- 9:01finally give our our nervous systems finally feel safe enough
- 9:06to evacuate in and expose and bring to light all of these
- 9:10feelings and all of these things that have been residing inside
- 9:13us that we've stopped down, that we didn't even know we're there.
- 9:16And I would have these moments of just sobbing like for I
- 9:20didn't even know why I, I, it would happen a lot when I was
- 9:23working out, like if I worked out and done some yoga and
- 9:26really settled my mind and my therapist was like, that's
- 9:29actually very normal. And I would come out of a yoga
- 9:33and I would just sob. And my husband would just hold
- 9:35me and, and, and just wrap his arms around me because that felt
- 9:38safe. And I would just let it.
- 9:42Then there would be this just laughter to the point we were
- 9:47crying. And he's like, what's something
- 9:49that was, what's mildly funny would just explode out of me.
- 9:53So I think that is a very common response when we finally allow
- 9:59all of this to be and we quit trying to mold and fit into
- 10:05spaces and places that we were never intended to inhabit and
- 10:09quit shutting down the things we were never supposed to to be
- 10:12shutting down. 100% that is a main thing that I talk about in
- 10:17groups too and through the artist way process because my
- 10:20belief too is we're all meant to be creative just because it's
- 10:24our life force energy. Like you moving that body or
- 10:27just dancing alone in the bedroom and all of it.
- 10:29But the main tenant we start with in artist way is recovering
- 10:32a sense of safety like you just said.
- 10:34Like that inner kiddo somehow doesn't feel safe to like take
- 10:38up space or laugh joyfully or come out to play.
- 10:42So this is getting back in that reciprocity and being both the
- 10:45parents re parenting and that inner kiddo to get back to the
- 10:48freedom and the play that wants to come out.
- 10:51Yeah. And this really all this parts,
- 10:53all this that we've been talking about is, is emotional, mental,
- 10:57physical, spiritual, health embodied.
- 10:59And this is all the connections we identified, all these places
- 11:05and ways it was manifesting in US physically, mentally and
- 11:08emotionally that we finally had to allow to come out and deal
- 11:11with and because our bodies were just like not allowing us to
- 11:15ignore it anymore. So we've both had very clear
- 11:18experiences with those connections and what happens
- 11:21when they're not being tended to.
- 11:24How did you learn about these practices that you're in now?
- 11:27You've mentioned the Reiki human design is part of it.
- 11:30You've got the artist way that and that creative piece, and I'm
- 11:33so glad you brought up that creative piece because I, I
- 11:36think we should talk about too, what creative is such a more
- 11:41expensive word and meaning than we give credit to.
- 11:44It's not only in the traditional senses and ways that we talk
- 11:49about through singing and instrument playing and painting
- 11:53and drawing and acting. Those are all the, those are the
- 11:57things we recognize and we know, but there's other ways and I had
- 12:00to learn this for years. I'm like, not really much of A
- 12:03creative. I mean, I can carry a tune, but
- 12:05blah, blah. I've learned through the process
- 12:08of this work I'm doing now that this is where my creativity
- 12:12shows up. This is how I'm creative.
- 12:15And it was like, oh, creativity is not this little box.
- 12:20It is. It is, however, we are able to
- 12:22express ourselves and find ourselves and use our voice in a
- 12:27way that feels in alignment with us.
- 12:31Yes, I was just hard nodding my head off for those who fancy on
- 12:35a podcast, this is the energy too of you know I one of my
- 12:40favorite quotes that I return to remind people of and the point
- 12:43of this work I'm doing with people is a Henry Miller quote
- 12:46to make a living itself an art that is the goal we associate
- 12:51how much of the idea of creativity to end result
- 12:54product. It becomes militaristic
- 12:56discipline and really it's just how do you want to savor the
- 13:00journey of living and engage in this, this dance, Which is why I
- 13:03picked that last word expansive as opposed to the contraction
- 13:06that I was doing inside of my body before that was so fearful,
- 13:10that wasn't curious like creativity is.
- 13:13So what is it to be expansive and just engage in savoring the
- 13:18process over the end product a little bit more and realizing
- 13:22that's just living creatively? Yeah, yeah.
- 13:26So how did you learn about these practices?
- 13:28What what you did, you got curious, I would imagine.
- 13:31But tell me about this this this understand this coming to this
- 13:34space of like what I've been looking for.
- 13:41Yes, as an actor, as any artist, I think many people have heard
- 13:44about the book artist way. It's been around forever.
- 13:47This so well known. I was an actor and yet I was
- 13:51very much in tunnel vision. Like I said, it was sort of that
- 13:55militaristic discipline of I'm an actor.
- 13:57So you're all in. This is the self definition.
- 13:59This is the faux control I had to cling to.
- 14:02And even though other things were pinging me like maybe you
- 14:05want to write, maybe you want this.
- 14:07I was very much in that linear either or thinking that was so
- 14:11stifling. So I've really lost any joy in
- 14:14the dream of it. And a group of friends suggested
- 14:17we all do the artist way. That book is a reclamation as
- 14:22some people. I've had a bunch of therapists
- 14:24now do it with me. They're like, this is like 3
- 14:26years of therapy in three months.
- 14:28This is the point of why it's so great.
- 14:30It's also really, it's big, but it's also really fun.
- 14:33It really gets you back to like that play and rest across you
- 14:36were talking about. And this was the first thing
- 14:38that expanded the past for me. And I, I went, oh, if the limits
- 14:42are really shot, the jig is up. What am I going to do with a
- 14:46sense of self empowerment? And I did start writing.
- 14:49And then I went, I actually want to teach actors.
- 14:51I want this, I want this. I found like specificity and
- 14:53clarity. But of course, then I hadn't
- 14:56dealt with the other root tanks. So I was still on the hamster
- 14:59wheel of the militaristic discipline.
- 15:02And that that brought things to the surface.
- 15:04I'd like to say Artist Way opens the door to a wide open field of
- 15:07possibility. But it was then I think the
- 15:10waterfall effect of mind, body spirit, my body still was not
- 15:14OK. Then Reiki energy came calling.
- 15:17I had received it from people and then an offering came up,
- 15:20you know, to train in it myself. And I had a full body, yes, for
- 15:25maybe the first time in a long time, and only I'm following
- 15:28that did I bring all of those things to the surface.
- 15:31And still then the next thing that came calling mind, body,
- 15:34spirit was human design because I was still comparing my past to
- 15:38other people. The comparison, the brain drain
- 15:42train, it was like I didn't know how to let go of it.
- 15:45And this information system just felt so affirming was the word I
- 15:50used with you too, Melissa. And when we did it like so seen
- 15:55for the first time in my life, like, oh, there's nothing wrong
- 15:58with me or how I've been flowing.
- 16:00I was just trying to keep up with the tigers on the hamster
- 16:02wheel. And I'm a human design projector
- 16:05and I need more rest and I need breaks.
- 16:07And I'm here to sort of be a bird in the sky and hover above
- 16:10it all. So that affirmed sort of what
- 16:12you said. A lot of my innate superpowers
- 16:14and gifts were shut down because I was comparing and I was
- 16:18walking somebody else's power. So it really was a waterfall
- 16:21effect, which I think happens if you open to mind, body or spirit
- 16:24in a different way. You're not going to be able to
- 16:27ignore the other ones. Yeah, for sure.
- 16:30I mean, I think once you find that alignment, you find that
- 16:33like, oh, this makes so much more sense now.
- 16:36No matter. I felt so out of sorts in this
- 16:39space. This space was never meant for
- 16:41me. And I think this happens a lot
- 16:43in a capitalist society where we're giving these marching
- 16:46orders of how we're supposed to show up in the world.
- 16:49And there's not the freedom to recognize that there's more than
- 16:53one way to do things. And we each have our own unique
- 16:57way. And if we're allowed and
- 16:58supported and affirmed and showing up in it, we can shine.
- 17:03But it but I mean, we and it starts for our young.
- 17:05It starts with the narratives we hear as kids.
- 17:07It starts with our school systems on how they operate and
- 17:10what we're told is the right and wrong way to show up in the
- 17:13world. And so we take this creativity
- 17:17and this freedom out of kids before they even had a chance to
- 17:21start. If they don't learn in the way
- 17:23that is presented in these systems, we put and they're well
- 17:26intended systems, but there's not flexibility within them.
- 17:29They're they're designed for convenience to meet mass numbers
- 17:33instead of meeting each individual where they are.
- 17:36And so it creates this whole narrative that by the time we
- 17:39have gotten out of high school, if we make it that far and on to
- 17:43whatever we decide is next many times accordingly into the
- 17:46narrative, you know, it can take a while for us to really get
- 17:50tap, get a handle on, oh, wait a minute, These these systems,
- 17:57these ways of existing, really. Don't work for me.
- 18:01I, I've got to get back in touch with me and what, what getting
- 18:06in touch with me looks like. And you were able to do that.
- 18:10And I think it's so important that we, that we talked about
- 18:13that because I feel like we're seeing this.
- 18:16I have 3 granddaughters, 2 Gen. Z and one very young millennial.
- 18:22She just made the millennial jump.
- 18:23I think she's more of a, I don't know.
- 18:26I don't know if that's a thing or not, but but their intention
- 18:30is very different than ours. They're like we're not getting
- 18:34on that hamster whale. We are going to show up in ways
- 18:38that are authentic to us. We are going to reside in
- 18:41systems that are aligned with us.
- 18:43We are not going to buy the narrative that there's only 180
- 18:47hour week, drive yourself into the ground to get the house and
- 18:52the car and all the things to live.
- 18:54We're not going to do that. We're just not going to do that.
- 18:56And so they're starting to tap into this.
- 18:59I think just because they've seen the generations that have
- 19:02like this, there's some pieces of this that just are not
- 19:05serving our parents, our grandparents and our aunts and
- 19:08uncles. And so I think we're starting to
- 19:11see more of a move in this direction.
- 19:14These conversations are starting to happen more, but with all
- 19:17this that you've learned, you've decided not only how this rule
- 19:21not. Only works well for me.
- 19:23I'm going to show up unapologetically in it and I'm
- 19:26going to support others in in going on this journey with me
- 19:30unapologetically, which is which is the next point of how we
- 19:33support ourselves and other women and living
- 19:35unapologetically. This is what you do.
- 19:38This is how you and Aaron met. Talk to me about that under
- 19:42realization of not only can I help myself, I think I can help
- 19:47other people with this. Too, I love that so much and I
- 19:52love the word. I just want to hear it over and
- 19:54over unapologetically because I could just share.
- 19:57One of the main first things that happens in groups is there
- 20:00will come a week when the person you see their energy is
- 20:04different and then when it's their turn to share, they go.
- 20:06I almost didn't come today. Those are the exact times when I
- 20:10tell everyone from the beginning, please come on those
- 20:13dates and here's what comes. They have feelings, they have
- 20:16what we call a crea, an artist's way, a spiritual tantrum.
- 20:19They get witnessed and all of those feelings in an
- 20:22unapologetic way and something gets free there.
- 20:25But what they share is they almost didn't come because they
- 20:28didn't feel like they had anything to offer.
- 20:30Today we are so put in this capitalist Society of like, what
- 20:34are you going to go do? What are you going to make?
- 20:36What are you going to? It is so different, the
- 20:38reciprocity I feel now wanting to offer and be of service
- 20:42people in an unapologetic way that is not from this
- 20:44capitalist. Here's how you have to go show
- 20:46up and prove yourself and be perfect showing up on camera and
- 20:50all these things that come up in US.
- 20:52And I think that happens in groups because people show up on
- 20:55those days and push through. And I always affirm what we're
- 20:58releasing. There are those old conditioning
- 21:00paradigms of guilt, shame, but not enoughness.
- 21:04But I do think it's most important to be seen and heard
- 21:06in community and not not doing any sort of solo work.
- 21:10And we see it happen and people are different after that day
- 21:14when they almost show. Up I love that.
- 21:18And it just shows the power of connection because we're
- 21:21designed as humans to connect with each other, but we're also
- 21:25we are human beings, not human doings.
- 21:28And I know that we hear that language a lot, but but we, I
- 21:32think we need to sit with that because I was trapped for years
- 21:37in this idea of value and production are my value is equal
- 21:43to how much I produce and how well I produce, produce it.
- 21:45It's not just producing it. I got to produce it well because
- 21:48that is how I received affirmation.
- 21:50That was where everything that's, you know, that people
- 21:54showed in the spaces that I grew up and lived in.
- 21:57I was given approval and love and affirmation when I produced
- 22:01and I produced well and I showed up and I showed up well.
- 22:04And the idea of sitting and being still was considered lazy
- 22:09and and unproductive and it wasn't celebrated as the rest
- 22:14that you need to still. It wasn't celebrated as a time
- 22:17to let your creativity come to life.
- 22:20It it just wasn't celebrated. And so you have to like kind of
- 22:24find that within yourself and realize it is in, I think we can
- 22:30just keep going at this pace and not hit a wall.
- 22:33There has got to be common sense.
- 22:36We'll tell you if you're, if you sit with it for a minute and get
- 22:39yourself off the hamster wheel, that of course I have to rest
- 22:42and refill. And of course, when I look at
- 22:44other people's lives and see them going hard, I see that they
- 22:48need to rest and refill. So how do I not see this for
- 22:52myself? But I think we have to go back
- 22:53to those narratives of those stories and then that.
- 22:57I'm curious, how has this impacted your creativity?
- 23:02Because you're not only acting now, you're writing, you're
- 23:04directing. Talk about that a little bit
- 23:07about how that and how it's impacted that part of your life.
- 23:12Oh, everything you just described.
- 23:13I think the main thing is I feel more of a sense of peace with
- 23:18what what is also one of my main gifts in human design, which is
- 23:22some people feel like they have a cup of ideas.
- 23:24I have an overflowing batch of ideas.
- 23:27So in the past that actually could stop me in my tracks and
- 23:30I'd go, I'm not going to be able to do all this in one lifetime.
- 23:32Again, output. I can't make all of this.
- 23:35Where do I begin? And it's really made me find a
- 23:38piece with being a more of a seeker than even a Finder in
- 23:41this lifetime. And I always ask people, you
- 23:43know, is the antenna up is the question with your own
- 23:47intuition. If the antenna is up and you're
- 23:49receiving and all you're getting connections like connecting to
- 23:52you, Melissa, and signs and synchronicities and all of it.
- 23:55Isn't that the point? And I will receive whatever next
- 23:58inspiration comes I will feel from my intuition when it's
- 24:01aligned action or not, and just have peace with that and also
- 24:05peace with like, I just want to enjoy the process of life and
- 24:08being wonder and inspiration and curiosity and not Here's how I
- 24:11have to go commodify all of these ideas in my brain.
- 24:17Yeah, yeah, exactly. And when you honor that,
- 24:20everything kind of settles in within you.
- 24:21I noticed when I started working from home and working doing my
- 24:25own schedule for the first time, and instead of being on another
- 24:29schedule, I was, Oh my gosh. I mean, I always resisted.
- 24:33Like, I never, even in my days coming out of college, I always
- 24:37wanted to find a different, more convenient way to do things.
- 24:41I never thought that the 8 to 5 was really like, why do we have
- 24:45to do it that way? Or why, why do I have to be
- 24:47here? Why can't I do it from here?
- 24:49I can get us. I, you know, And so when I was
- 24:52finally able to do that, I'm like, this is what I have been
- 24:55yearning for my whole life and ever, you know, in the world,
- 24:59the culture has told me that that way is the wrong way or not
- 25:04the, the, the most productive way.
- 25:06It's like, no, actually for me, this is the most productive and
- 25:09aligned way. And I, I will be so much more
- 25:12effective in how I show up by honoring that.
- 25:16And so I think that is such a yeah, when you finally tap into
- 25:20how it is you allow yourself to be how you were designed to be
- 25:24and respond to that, you see, all of a sudden you're like, oh.
- 25:29Wow, wow, I can actually get more done as a human design
- 25:35projector when I work a couple hours and I take a nap.
- 25:39Oh amazing. Look what I always wanted to do.
- 25:41But when I released the guilt and the laziness that I was
- 25:44brought up with too and all that.
- 25:46I also feel this. Reconnecting people to their
- 25:49intuition and their embodiment and their design.
- 25:52Things want to feel easier. That doesn't mean there isn't
- 25:55work and struggle, but it is all growth mindset and curiosity
- 25:58then and doing it my way. It's not the hamster wheel,
- 26:01Struggle told us. A big comparison that I was on.
- 26:06Yes, yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
- 26:08And and it also frees you up because the next talking point
- 26:11is, you know, the importance of setting and coming back to our
- 26:15why and our values. We first have to live in a way
- 26:17that's honored to ourselves before we can even tap into our
- 26:21why and our values. Because so many times we think
- 26:25we are living out of our own, but we're actually living out of
- 26:27the ones. That we were told we were
- 26:28supposed. To have and, and, and so we've
- 26:31lived according to those and it's not until we do this work,
- 26:35they're like, oh, hold on a minute, like for me, I will.
- 26:38I will never forget when I realized a couple years ago I
- 26:41was re I was redoing the values thing again.
- 26:43It was some kind of activity. I can't remember.
- 26:46I was doing it with a Brene Abraham book or something and it
- 26:49and I travel kept coming up as one of my values and it at first
- 26:53I'm still not compared to my son.
- 26:55That felt so frivolous to me. And it was finally, I think it
- 26:59was my middle daughter said Mom, travel is totally a value of
- 27:03yours. And and because and you, it
- 27:06fills you up. It it bright, it brings to life
- 27:09your curiosity. You come home more informed.
- 27:12She start pointing out all the things that she observed in me
- 27:15as I traveled. And I was like, you're right.
- 27:18That is a value. It's not frivolous.
- 27:22It it does light up all these other things in me and it's OK
- 27:27for me to claim that. And so I finally, instead of
- 27:30fighting it like, Oh my gosh, what kind of a value is that?
- 27:33What kind of what will that produce?
- 27:35I finally just embraced it as, yeah, absolutely.
- 27:39And it's a husband and I travel is a huge value of ours.
- 27:44And we start feeling stifled if we go too long without doing
- 27:48some kind of travel. I love that.
- 27:53And you know this, I love what you said too, because for me,
- 27:56getting really clear on them with all of these modalities,
- 27:59there's going to be a lot of shadow over them for a lot of
- 28:01people. And there was for me that
- 28:03actually a lot of those root things, again, we were told
- 28:06we're not OK somehow. And mine actually my funniest, I
- 28:09would, is that really a core tenant of my life in business.
- 28:12I call it Trickster vibes. Trickster vibes.
- 28:16The Trickster. Yeah, the Trickster, what I call
- 28:19gait of human design is one of my main things that just a
- 28:23little more technical for people that want to look at where
- 28:25Neptune is in their human design chart.
- 28:27It's usually this inherent gift or superpower that we have the
- 28:30most shadow, like a veil over and minus Trickster vibes.
- 28:34And I realized it absolutely is what I was doing.
- 28:37I was so scared to like name it that tricky thing or claim it in
- 28:41some way when really I am being a pattern disruptor with people.
- 28:46That is what I want to be doing. Like let's disrupt those
- 28:48patterns and conditioning inside of ourselves.
- 28:51Let's disrupt out in the world with your big light and not
- 28:54shutting it down anymore. And so I want to empower people
- 28:57to be a little more Trixie and get off the linear path and
- 29:01like, find their back door, right?
- 29:04Yeah. Yeah.
- 29:07Was that your favorite value that you have identified?
- 29:10I love that. Oh, yeah.
- 29:11Oh, I love it so much. And I also almost couldn't even
- 29:14speak it out loud at first. I went, well, you know, and how
- 29:17I was raised and I think the constriction and the judgment, I
- 29:21was even like, is that wrong? Is that like evil imagining this
- 29:24trickster leaving the path from everyone else?
- 29:27And I went, well, obviously you have a shadow Rama.
- 29:29And I did. And yet it is how I feel like
- 29:32befriend. There's no Angel and devil on my
- 29:34shoulders. There's this other part of you
- 29:36that is again the rewilding part that wants to go their own way,
- 29:40and I think that's trickster in me.
- 29:44I love that so much. I love that because we society,
- 29:48the collective, we, we have moralized these things and, you
- 29:53know, called them good or bad. I mean, I, I, one of my biggest
- 29:56pet peeves and you and I talked about this.
- 29:58I think when we met is when people define emotions as good
- 30:02emotions and bad emotions. I'm like, no, I will bite you on
- 30:06that. It's called the day is done.
- 30:08Their emotions are clues. We there are there are clues to
- 30:12let us know how we're feeling, what needs to be processed, what
- 30:16needs to be allowed, what needs to be moved through their clues,
- 30:19their indicators, and we need to pay attention and allow all of
- 30:22them and and get curious about all of them and give them all
- 30:25the acknowledgement and attention they needed.
- 30:27That's the same with, you know, how we were made and why are
- 30:30this is values within us and that's how we were designed to
- 30:34show up in the world. And so let's honor that.
- 30:37I think there's so many more of us women that have that
- 30:41disruptor in US. Then then we have been feel safe
- 30:46or OK to allow out because I tell you what, it's those
- 30:51disruptors that that are going to help shift these narratives
- 30:56and create the safe spaces that we want in this world for all of
- 31:02us to be able to show up without fear, knowing we're going to be
- 31:07treated well with with respect, with equity, with kindness.
- 31:13I mean all those things. But it's but it's going to take
- 31:15some disruptor in in a lot of us to to go out and make this
- 31:20happen. But yeah, it's but it's like we
- 31:22you hear from the time you're a kid, like if you go to your
- 31:27school teacher conference and it might say on your thing
- 31:32disruptive in the classroom. OK, what does that mean?
- 31:36I mean, it is so you, it delivered as a negative from the
- 31:40time you're a little kid when you know, it's like, is it, I
- 31:45mean, or is it just the fact that you are holding those
- 31:49people back in a way that's not honoring to them?
- 31:51And so this is how it comes out. But what happened?
- 31:54What happens if you channel that disruptor and allow them to be
- 31:58who they are? What kind of difference can they
- 32:00make in the world when they're allowed to show up as their
- 32:03fully embodied selves? Oh.
- 32:07Listen, there we go. Great, we solved everything,
- 32:09everyone go be a trickster and everything, everything will be
- 32:12all right. But I does feel like that to me
- 32:14now. I love that what you said as
- 32:16opposed to oh, really look at this kid in this classroom who
- 32:19wants to be seen and heard. Maybe they really want to be a
- 32:22leader and we can see that and we can affirm that and like let
- 32:25our ego go as a teacher in some way to get collaborative with
- 32:28this dude. I mean, what a different way to
- 32:30look at it. And and I love what you said
- 32:32around the feelings. Oh, same.
- 32:35And and that was the first, I think big aha for me, the the
- 32:38first reclamation from the artist's way.
- 32:41I love that Julia Cameron talks about all of it.
- 32:43She's like anger and jealousy. We do all these exercise with it
- 32:47are a map. They are the next actions
- 32:49invitation. They are the part of you that's
- 32:51been shut down. So if only we can journal, we
- 32:53can metabolize, we can do the energy work to get to the root
- 32:56of it and affirm it. You know, for me that that
- 33:00didn't feel allowed. It didn't feel safe in my
- 33:02household. And so it all was like a monster
- 33:05hiding in the closet to me. I, I really would not get angry
- 33:09and let that out until doing artist's way.
- 33:11And then I saw there's no monster in the closet.
- 33:13That was again, just a little inner kiddo part of me that was
- 33:16so scared and just wanted to be like lay on the floor like I did
- 33:20and Yelp it out and don't care what anyone else thinks.
- 33:23And it was so affirming. There's nothing wrong with any
- 33:26of it. Yeah, yeah, so good.
- 33:30Well, it was really nice. Intervene out of your own
- 33:34expectations versus others expectations.
- 33:37You do that and you really help others to do that too.
- 33:41So talk to me about that expectations journey.
- 33:45You know, it was all expectations.
- 33:48I think the first thing I talk about with people that I thought
- 33:52for myself was releasing the good girl syndrome and then that
- 33:55led into good anything. Again, who's defining the good
- 33:59versus bad? You said who and to me, the word
- 34:01that came up was and it's a root 1.
- 34:04I actually think now doing so many human designing through
- 34:06people, Am I trying to prove myself or am I being my most
- 34:10sovereign self? And I was just constantly trying
- 34:13to prove, you know, and also get that validation as an artist, as
- 34:17an actor, just as a quote, good human in some way.
- 34:21And I really feel now the adage that I found that I come back to
- 34:25over and over is am I living from the outside in or from the
- 34:28inside out? And I try to just return to that
- 34:31all of the time and see so many other adages around that come
- 34:35up. You know, am I coming from love
- 34:37or for love? Well, only when I'm listening to
- 34:39my own intuition and doing my morning routine and filling up
- 34:43my well first can I truly show up and want to be an energy
- 34:47worker for people in this and know that I'm coming from love
- 34:49and not for some external ego or validation.
- 34:55Oh, I love that. Coming from love or for love,
- 34:59that is key. What an important question to
- 35:04ask yourself. When's the first time did you?
- 35:07Do you remember the first time you were able to connect with
- 35:10that question? Because that is powerful.
- 35:15You know, I don't think it was conscious, but you know, I, I
- 35:18actually think because there was so much that was repressed and
- 35:21everything I was just sharing. I actually think that acting new
- 35:24called to me because it was the key to opening all of that.
- 35:27I still sure was held in life, but you're free and acting to
- 35:32yell and let out all of these things.
- 35:34And when I realized I really felt so free pretty early on,
- 35:39from an early age in acting, I felt like I realized now, but I
- 35:43didn't see then that freedom that I gave myself so fully when
- 35:47maybe a lot of people still felt held in acting, I felt so free.
- 35:51That was an act of self love that I didn't even realize at
- 35:54the time. It was me going up, knowing I
- 35:56need this release. I need this.
- 35:58I don't even know why. And I felt so free there, even
- 36:01though it didn't make sense that at the beginning, clearly things
- 36:04changed often because of capitalism and all that, like we
- 36:08said. But that wasn't coming like for
- 36:10love at the beginning. I just somehow knew this was in
- 36:13me and I needed it. And I realize now like that was
- 36:16this first act of freeing self love for myself.
- 36:20Wow, wow, so powerful. So when people come to you to,
- 36:25to work with you, I, I would imagine if, if they're very
- 36:32loaded with this whole expectations piece of living out
- 36:36of others versus their own, what, what have, where do you
- 36:39start with them? If you can just give us a peek
- 36:43into that to help them start processing the difference
- 36:48between living out of their their others, which we all have
- 36:52that space where we got to do that.
- 36:54Versus their own. MM hmm.
- 36:57Usually the most powerful tool they start with people is the
- 37:00one that they will go kicking and screaming too because of
- 37:04that. And it is, it is what in in the
- 37:07artist way she calls going on an artist date each week.
- 37:10An artist date is a time alone. You cannot go with anyone else.
- 37:15It is not meant to be productive.
- 37:17It is you dating yourself out in the world and doing something
- 37:20that will be pure play, joy, exploration, all that.
- 37:24That sounds lovely, but it's very triggering to people who
- 37:29have all of these expectations that they are living within or
- 37:32they put on themselves. They're like, I can't possibly
- 37:35take two hours to go do that for myself.
- 37:38I can't possibly take the time. Usually it's time I can't.
- 37:41And yet it's the key, the freedom of there's nothing to
- 37:45prove. You're alone by yourself out in
- 37:47the world. No one can see you and you're
- 37:50dating yourself. And also there's no militaristic
- 37:53discipline and end result. You know, that is why I actually
- 37:57think it's really triggering the people.
- 37:59But then it's the key to the first freedom of, like you said,
- 38:02being overdoing and letting go of those expectations.
- 38:06Yeah, oh, I think that's so good.
- 38:08And boy, you, you don't when we are asked to do something just
- 38:13for ourselves, for the enjoyment effort without an actual
- 38:18attached response or expectation and, and just be quiet with
- 38:23ourselves. We're so uncomfortable with
- 38:25that. We are a bit that is just not
- 38:27how we've been trained. And I mean, and that getting
- 38:31quite makes people really, and being by themselves makes people
- 38:35really uneasy. I think, you know, because it
- 38:40allows a lot of the noise to come to the surface.
- 38:43You can't push back or ignore anymore as well.
- 38:46So not only are you not, you know, you're not checking an
- 38:49item off a list or, you know, like me when I went into therapy
- 38:53when I was in the fall of 2019, I'm like, I'm going to come here
- 38:56for six months. I'm going to get some tools and
- 38:58resources and I'll be out of here and on my way.
- 38:59Ha, ha, ha, ha. No, no, that is not what
- 39:04happened. And thank God it did.
- 39:08But that was such, you know, that was just such a
- 39:11conditioning. So yeah, just so I think you're,
- 39:13you know, I can imagine I, that was something that I would
- 39:16embrace now. But if you would have told me
- 39:17that, you know, 5-6 years ago, I've been like, excuse me?
- 39:22What am I? What am I?
- 39:26Yeah, What am I supposed to get out of that hand?
- 39:30What you just said, like people are rushing through everything.
- 39:36It's not great. I'm going to do this one thing
- 39:38and I'm perfectly healed and I'll go.
- 39:40It's just not the truth of it. So again, I also think these
- 39:43artist States and taking that time by yourself, I always am
- 39:46telling people like slow down. If people don't even know what
- 39:49to do, I'm like go for a walk unplugged and look up and not
- 39:53down because I feel that was the first root thing for me.
- 39:56As I started this work, I realized I was rushing through
- 39:59everything. I just wasn't even paying
- 40:02attention. So even if the next right
- 40:04connection intuitive step was right in front of me, I wouldn't
- 40:07have seen it. Yeah, I think that's such a
- 40:10great. You know, you think of what you
- 40:13think of these drives, these that you take when you go to
- 40:16work and you hear people talk about all the time that they're
- 40:19so conditioned and doing it that they don't even remember they'll
- 40:21get to a they'll be almost to work.
- 40:23You're like, Oh my God, I don't remember the last 15 minutes
- 40:25because as John's just so conditioned it, we stop being
- 40:28present. We were just going to autopilot,
- 40:31but we miss. And so I remember an activity
- 40:33that I was given to do early on was intentionally go for a walk
- 40:38through a familiar place that look, take look at each side.
- 40:43No music, no podcast, just yourself.
- 40:47Look around, see what you noticed, see what you see.
- 40:50Do this several times and you, I promise you, if you stay
- 40:53intentional and folk, you'll see.
- 40:56And it was like practice to help me stay present.
- 40:58And you'll see different things and notice different things each
- 41:02time you go for many, many times.
- 41:05So it's like, yeah, yeah, whatever.
- 41:07Oh my gosh. And but it's also such a
- 41:10realization to how again, going back to that disconnected we
- 41:15are, how just we just go into this tunnel vision, get to the
- 41:19end location. And my husband has been much,
- 41:23much more willing to, to, to go on this trail for years.
- 41:29And I have, but he's always said ever since we've known each
- 41:31other, you know, enjoy the journey.
- 41:33I'm like journey shirney. Where is the finish line?
- 41:37I, I mean, I ran track. I was a sprinter.
- 41:40You take off and you finish and you win.
- 41:43What do I win? And, and so, you know, having to
- 41:48like, learn to like smell the roses and what am I learning
- 41:51along the way? And you know, one of the things
- 41:53that I started doing a few months ago that my favorite
- 41:56recommended is writing down my wings each day.
- 41:59And my wings don't have to be Oh my gosh, I had this many
- 42:03downloads today or whatever. Or I had this workout.
- 42:08It's like I took time off at 2:30 today to take a 20 minute
- 42:14nap because I felt drowsy and I needed it.
- 42:18You know, it's those kinds of things.
- 42:20I, you know, stopped working at 2:30 today because there really
- 42:26wasn't anything else I had to get done that and I was tired
- 42:31and I needed I needed some, I needed a break.
- 42:34My brain and my body were sending me signals.
- 42:36So it's those kinds of you know, and and so it for me, it was a
- 42:41re redefining what's winning, what's winning and and what is
- 42:46and what it what is this way of winning costing me versus this
- 42:50other more Enjoy the journey winning.
- 42:54Yes, and we bring it back to creativity for me because like
- 42:58winning to who? Because in something else's,
- 43:01someone else's perspective, we're not winning someone
- 43:04else's. We are art and creativity in
- 43:06life is all subjective. So that also is so freeing to
- 43:10realize. I could.
- 43:11I just felt so lit up by the play I just made and directed
- 43:15and guaranteed we still got a bad review.
- 43:17Bad to who you know. I like it's.
- 43:20All subjective in that. And also what you just described
- 43:24I think is so powerful. What I have now found and I see
- 43:28in groups in and out is what I call grief and celebration being
- 43:33two sides of the same coin. It's actually very much the
- 43:36teachings of our team Prectel, this amazing mind practitioner.
- 43:40But he talks about if we don't befriend both sides of that
- 43:43coin, you're not going to feel either of them.
- 43:46So I love what you just described.
- 43:47Why was it so hard? Why can't we celebrate
- 43:49ourselves? Because maybe we still haven't
- 43:51grieved this other thing or these control that we actually
- 43:55don't have from the self definition.
- 43:57So I can't celebrate myself because I'm also so scared of
- 44:00like the other shoes going to drop for the grief.
- 44:03Yeah, yeah, so true. That was so, that's so
- 44:07important, such a big part of it.
- 44:08And that and which really this goes beautifully into accepting
- 44:12the layered aspects of ourselves.
- 44:14All the pieces and parts of who we are that make up who we are,
- 44:20The parts we love, the parts we've denied, the parts we've
- 44:23stuffed, the parts we have grief and shame around.
- 44:27There's so many pieces and parts of us that we don't allow
- 44:31ourselves to live out of because of all these different, you
- 44:35know, you said shadows earlier that we have the impact when
- 44:41what I've learned and when I'm working with women in groups and
- 44:44one-on-one, we start here, We start with the layers piece.
- 44:48I'm like, we're going to start with layers because it's in
- 44:52embracing these and learning how to get curious rather than
- 44:55judgmental with these that we can welcome all the parts of us
- 44:58in, acknowledge them, know our value is made-up of who we are,
- 45:04not what we do. When we can understand that
- 45:08value, we are going to be more willing to prioritize us, to get
- 45:14to know us, to honor us, to identify what my values are, my
- 45:20why, what are my expectations, what are my healthy boundaries
- 45:25because I know my value and it's not based out of all these other
- 45:28things that the world has told me accomplishment wise make me
- 45:33important or valuable. And so we starting with that
- 45:38layers. And that's what you've just
- 45:39described. And I think it's so interesting
- 45:41because, I mean, you're in you're in in the acting world,
- 45:45in Hollywood, It is packed full of all of these narratives about
- 45:50good, bad acceptance, ratings, reviews.
- 45:54And so. And it's so such an interesting
- 45:57conundrum to me because you, it drives some of the most creative
- 46:00and and and expansive thinking people in the world.
- 46:05Yet there's this, these systems in place that like that try to
- 46:09squash it out of you by all of these narratives that they put
- 46:14around what success is and isn't.
- 46:16So the fact that you've been able to navigate that in this
- 46:20world to me, and really embrace all of your layers the way you
- 46:24have, I think is remarkable. Whoosh.
- 46:27When you put it like that, Melissa, Oh my God, I will
- 46:30celebrate that I receive because I do think that, you know, I
- 46:35came out here when I was 21 and it's everything you said, like
- 46:40wanted to be expensive, wanted to do all these things.
- 46:42And you know, I won't even regurgitate them here.
- 46:46All of the things that I was told had to change about my
- 46:49physical form, all of the things I was told that.
- 46:51And there obviously was still even back then, even though I
- 46:54was so scared, was still that trickster in me who just kept
- 46:57being like, no, no. And it I think it said it
- 47:01requires a lot of no to pull back those layers, I guess to
- 47:06find my hell yes. As I say to people in human
- 47:09design, get to the root of your hell yes inside all of those
- 47:12layers, which is really just whispering like you're enough,
- 47:15you're enough. Just stay in the truth of who
- 47:18you are. Yeah, wow.
- 47:22Yeah. So important, so much value in
- 47:24that because that's when you can really show up authentically
- 47:28when you can, when you can embrace your layers and know
- 47:32your value, it opens the door when you can.
- 47:35I mean, the biggest, the most important shift in my thinking
- 47:40that's ever happened and it's still the work in progress.
- 47:43I still want to be judgmental at times.
- 47:46I still bring, especially when something's really enraging me.
- 47:49And I just want to, I am, I am, you know, I really have to pull
- 47:53myself back and consider narratives and also, you know,
- 47:56and really stop myself in my tracks.
- 47:58So this is not something I've accomplished by any means.
- 48:01It is a process. But with me, getting curious
- 48:04rather than judgmental was a key because with curiosity, judgment
- 48:09cannot reside and stay there. With curiosity, comfort and not
- 48:15being pushed out of your because comfort is a tricky one that a
- 48:20lot of people fall into the trap of too.
- 48:22It's just, it's comfortable so they don't shift.
- 48:26But it's like and, and it's and sometimes you're living in
- 48:29comfort. You don't even realize it.
- 48:30It's like if you're feeling an angst within you, you know that
- 48:35comfort might not be what you think it is.
- 48:38It might be really holding you back from being all that you
- 48:43were designed and created to be. And I think that's, you know,
- 48:48would you say when you came out to to California when you were
- 48:5221, was it was that curiosity what really drove you?
- 48:57Because it would have been. That's a big move to make.
- 49:00Yeah, I I was passionate, which is one of my words at the top,
- 49:06maybe more. It was like a passion that leads
- 49:09to even an energy work our gut. I always talk about our safe
- 49:13role like that's what keeps us going.
- 49:14And I just had such a jump start of passion in that I really did
- 49:19leave and I'm sure it's that you're going to my mother and
- 49:22people were like really, are you just going to get in the car and
- 49:24drive across the country? But I really was lit up with
- 49:26passion. I would say would be the thing
- 49:28back then, the thing I love what you're bringing up that that has
- 49:31kept it sustainable is curiosity.
- 49:34You know, like the passion can come and go with things.
- 49:37I've taken a break from acting. I've started writing.
- 49:40I've done this. I finally went, oh, I do want to
- 49:42direct, like passions change around things.
- 49:45But that curiosity I love. I think that's what kept it
- 49:49sustainable. And also the judgment.
- 49:51I mean, Melissa, come on, of course.
- 49:53And I always see I love to me also the envy part of it.
- 49:58We talk in the artist way we call it the jealousy map is
- 50:02actually such a powerful thing. Often when I'm having that
- 50:05judgement of people, there's some envy there or they're a
- 50:07mirror to that part of me that is calling for some actions
- 50:10invitation. So I love the word now actually
- 50:13seeing those people as expanders for me and being like, OK, what
- 50:17part of me needs to expand around this?
- 50:20I love that. That's so good.
- 50:22Oh my gosh, I take that with me. That's because that's that's the
- 50:26right question. You know when you know that's
- 50:29the right question. Like what is this bringing up in
- 50:32me? What needs to be tapped into
- 50:36that this is this is causing this disruption within me.
- 50:39Oh yeah, that's so good. All right.
- 50:42In living out feel, which you are doing, in finding
- 50:46empowerment, embracing layers. Talk to me about the impact that
- 50:50has had on your relationship with yourself as well as your
- 50:53relationship with other people. My relationship with myself, you
- 50:58know, I this becomes a little full circle.
- 51:00I think it's what you asked before.
- 51:02Another thing I wanted to say is I think the empowerment comes
- 51:06from releasing expectations that I put on myself and actually not
- 51:12even having. I would dare say I mean I still
- 51:15do it comes up, but expectations on myself with anything truly
- 51:19being in intuition and tricks survives being the real
- 51:23empowerment. I think what I've found there
- 51:27for myself then is befriending the surrender part of the
- 51:31creative life process, which is still of course the hardest
- 51:35part. But really befriending that
- 51:37surrender part of the process for me with myself has led to
- 51:41that empowerment. But the empowerment is like a
- 51:45different dance with the universe, the different dance
- 51:47with reciprocity, which of course then led to be able to
- 51:51engage in that dance with other people in a different way.
- 51:53Realize like I held so much in because of the fear of
- 51:56vulnerability and the vulnerability hangovers as
- 51:58opposed to realizing when I found that within myself, people
- 52:01just want to see your authenticity and all sides of
- 52:05you. And like, yes, there's going to
- 52:06be vulnerability. And what I always say to others
- 52:10and I befriended to myself now. Like if it doesn't feel like
- 52:13that, I'm actually probably off track in some way.
- 52:16Like as I'm on a creative life path that involves risk and
- 52:20vulnerability, it probably should feel like that sometimes.
- 52:23And being around the right people who support your office
- 52:26authenticity, I think it inherently happens when I follow
- 52:30that empowerment and intuition for myself now.
- 52:33Yeah, yeah. That surround that people you
- 52:35surround yourself with, that is so key it because those the
- 52:40people you surround yourself with goes back to the energy
- 52:42piece will either deplete from or add to your energy.
- 52:46And so being mindful that and when you're living authentic to
- 52:50yourself, when you're in touch with who you are, you're
- 52:52recognizing that you're allowing that to be that impacts the kind
- 52:57of people you attract. It also impacts the kind kind of
- 53:01people that you're like, you know, this is just like, I might
- 53:06have to love you from afar because this is not it, you
- 53:10know, and, and we can be kind and direct with those things,
- 53:13but we become so much more aware of that.
- 53:16And I love what you said about did the releasing expectations.
- 53:21And I started this whole thing 4 plus years ago now going into
- 53:28our fifth year, which is hard. When I reached this, it's the
- 53:32first thing I ever did in my life where I went into it with
- 53:37no expectation. I just knew it was the right
- 53:40next thing to do. And it was such a foreign but
- 53:44also really like giving feeling. And I never, I'm like, I know
- 53:49I'm absolutely supposed to do this.
- 53:51This might be the most aligned thing with myself that I've ever
- 53:55launched because I'm just following my tuition that it's
- 53:59the right thing to do. And I honestly have not put any
- 54:03expectations out there for other than that.
- 54:05I know this is what I'm supposed to do.
- 54:07And that was so out of sorts for me because I am, I was such a
- 54:14for years, lived in such a codependent and I'm naturally
- 54:18competitive, do more, do better, all the things.
- 54:23And so for me to be able to acknowledge that and say that my
- 54:25husband's like, whoa, who are you?
- 54:30I don't. Nice to meet you.
- 54:36But you know, and, and that's, it's interesting because that's
- 54:38the one thing as I continue to build it and add these different
- 54:42pieces to it, I've really tried to stay true to there are
- 54:45different parts and pieces and the order that identity in that
- 54:49people have been like, oh, Are you sure you should do that or
- 54:52this or that? And I'm just like, you know,
- 54:54this may not make sense to you, but I'm, I'm really trying to
- 54:58stay true to me and what feels a line to me and trusting that
- 55:02process. And I have and, and I'm so, you
- 55:05know, there's a few things I did along the way where I didn't do
- 55:07that. And I knew and I felt it and I
- 55:10was just like, I felt once you know, and you go back and I was
- 55:14like, I knew I shouldn't have done that thing, but I'm going
- 55:18to you know, I'm going to honor it now, but I'm going to release
- 55:21it when the time when my commitment to that has come up
- 55:24because I allowed the outer expectations and pushes even,
- 55:31you know, and I, you know, I knew, I you know, it was I made
- 55:34a year commitment to this thing and I knew, I knew three months
- 55:38into it maybe got less that I was like, Oh, what have I done?
- 55:43I knew I should have listened to myself.
- 55:44And ever since then I'm like, Nope, I will not do that.
- 55:48I will listen to myself. I will not let outside voices
- 55:51detract me from that. Not that mean.
- 55:53That doesn't mean I don't take in advice and insights and
- 55:57consider things that when that that gut thing in me is telling
- 56:00me something's right, I'm going to listen to that.
- 56:04Yes, and you, I love how you just put it because this is one
- 56:08of the main things that I feel is different in the work that
- 56:11I'm doing that a lot of people and practitioners is we can be
- 56:15trusting our intuition, doing this healing work, bringing
- 56:17things to consciousness and taking aligned action.
- 56:20Now I always say start creating now in the messy middle.
- 56:24I always bring up the roommate quote as you start to walk on
- 56:27the way, the way appears. We're not going to like have a
- 56:30manual be like, I've perfectly figured myself out.
- 56:33Now I can start creating or walking.
- 56:35Like you have to just start walking as you're doing this
- 56:38work or bringing things to consciousness.
- 56:40And that's the balance there. So I love that.
- 56:42And same with my business. And there been plenty of times,
- 56:44well, I went, well, you didn't trust your intuition.
- 56:48And I'm like, OK, and we just circle back.
- 56:50But those are the most ripe moments where I've actually put
- 56:54the embodiment and intuition thing into practice, and I
- 56:57learned so much more. Yeah, yeah.
- 57:01It just kind of reinforces if all those.
- 57:05Oh yeah, Yep. OK, now I know you don't miss
- 57:09them anymore. Like, it's very, you know, right
- 57:11away. Oh.
- 57:13Oh yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for that.
- 57:15So good. As we wind down here, tell me 5
- 57:20activities that nourish you. Walking, being in nature, daily
- 57:28journaling, Reiki and energy work and playing with my kids.
- 57:3503 is such a fun age too. They're just getting such
- 57:37personal. Isn't that age?
- 57:38Such imagination and so good. Yeah.
- 57:42Yeah. And that's, you know, can you
- 57:44hear people all the time talking about go back to your three to
- 57:48five year old self? What was she like?
- 57:51Because that is when I feel like we are the most uninhibited,
- 57:56like we are really, like showing up as our most authentic selves
- 57:59and being able to tap, you know, into that.
- 58:02Oh, yeah, So good. He's like, well, may she never
- 58:04lose that. May she never lose that.
- 58:06All right. And 5 words on how you want to
- 58:09feel the next six months. Peaceful, creative, aligned,
- 58:22surprised and traveling. Traveling.
- 58:27Melissa, Stephanie. The last one, yes.
- 58:30I need some nomadic travel again.
- 58:32Yeah. I love it.
- 58:34I love it. I'm with you.
- 58:35I understand that completely. All right, can find you and
- 58:41follow you. This will also all be on our
- 58:43website at embracinglayers.com on the resources page, but let
- 58:47people know right now how they can find you, follow you, work
- 58:50with you, all those things. On all the socials, we're at the
- 58:55Howling Hive and it's the howlinghive.org for our website
- 59:00has all of that also. We have a link, we have a
- 59:03private app because, well, social media is something right
- 59:06now. And so I made an app for our
- 59:08community, anyone. I was like, if we're sick of the
- 59:11ads and the algorithm, this is a very like sacred private space
- 59:15where everyone can come and it has free courses and our free
- 59:18ebook about human design and all those things on it.
- 59:21OK, great. And that is it.
- 59:23What's is the app? A Howling hive as well.
- 59:26It's the link is on our website. It's actually through the Mighty
- 59:29Networks, so you can search on Mighty Networks.
- 59:34OK, the link website. Perfect.
- 59:37All right. Any last thoughts you'd like to
- 59:39leave with our listeners today? Gratitude is what I'm feeling
- 59:47right now, Melissa, for you and this and everything you're
- 59:50doing. And I I think real gratitude has
- 59:53been a shift in my life instead of guilty gratitude, I used to
- 59:57call it when I was in real gratitude feels like presence
- 1:00:02and play and embracing the day with this creative spirit that I
- 1:00:06just want everyone to go safer this journey.
- 1:00:10So I hope we can all go do that. Just be present and grateful
- 1:00:13right now. Yeah, yeah.
- 1:00:17Barbara, thank you so much for being with me today.
- 1:00:19Such a joy to have you. I look forward to having you on
- 1:00:21panels and different things in the future.
- 1:00:24I just, you know, it's doing these kinds of practices and
- 1:00:27sharing them with with women there.
- 1:00:30Is this going to allow us to show up as our most authentic
- 1:00:33selves to be the disruptors that we need to be in the spaces we
- 1:00:37need to be an honor. That honor, however it is that
- 1:00:40we are designed to be feeling safe and free to live in that
- 1:00:44space and embody that. And if we can support each other
- 1:00:48in doing that, that's how we shift these narratives.
- 1:00:50So thank you so much for how you show up in the world and the
- 1:00:54important work you do. It's it's matters.
- 1:00:56And I'm so thankful that Aaron connected us listeners, so much
- 1:01:02to gather from this today. Take good care of yourself.
- 1:01:05Tap into these resources. We we're here to support you.
- 1:01:09We want you to feel like you can live your most authentic,
- 1:01:13healthiest life. Celebrate that without apology.
- 1:01:18Take good care of yourself. Thanks so much for being with us
- 1:01:20here today on the field podcast, and we'll see you again soon.
- 1:01:24Take care hello and thank you so much for being with us today on
- 1:01:29this episode of the Feel podcast.
- 1:01:32If you would like more information on how you can apply
- 1:01:36these talking points that I share with our guests in each
- 1:01:39episode to your own life, really utilize this Feel framework, go
- 1:01:45to embracinglayers.com, fill out our contact form and let's set
- 1:01:50up a free 30 minute consultation to talk about how you you can
- 1:01:55start living your most authentic, organic, healthy,
- 1:01:59feel fueled life. Thanks again for being with us
- 1:02:03today. We'll be back to you soon with
- 1:02:05another episode here on the Feel Podcast.