Getting my ducks in a row

For most of my life I have been trying to line things up, straighten out crooked edges, hide the ugly things, get everything running smoothly and positioned in the right way, so I can feel satisfied. I like things neat. Along the way, I have discovered that life is not neat. Often the struggle to keep everything stress-free causes more stress. Relationships can fail, opportunities sometimes don’t materialise, friends and family members fall ill or die, often things don’t line up or work in the way we want them to. It is how we deal with these losses, failures and changes that can transform us and enable us to grow.

Purpose

I began my quest for purpose by travelling to London in my twenties. I’d completed a Communications degree, worked for a few years and still didn’t know what I wanted. Being from European stock, I travelled to places that beckoned me, or which held meaning for my family. I worked, I played, I gallivanted around the UK, Europe, Central America and Africa. I studied languages and maps. I saw amazing places, tasted incredible foods, met wonderful people, had some wild experiences, but I didn’t find myself. That came many years later and funnily enough, at home.

Direction

I was able to craft a story, I loved colour and design. For many years I put these skills into creating brochures and marketing material for companies large and small. Later, I fashioned web sites, style guides, creative campaigns, newsletters and blog sites. I worked within marketing teams in education, medicine, law, finance and not for profit. As I continued to work for others, my interests moved closer to self, I was drawn towards health and healing, yoga and meditation as I still searched for my own purpose and direction.

Healing

My interest in the body evolved into studying anatomy and physiology, a Diploma in clinical and remedial massage, taking courses in shiatsu, reiki and infant massage. After having children of my own, and struggling with the lack of sleep, mood swings and stress, I investigated how to be a better parent. I took parenting classes, commenced regular meditation, attended weekly yoga and finally, while still working for other people, commenced my journey along the path towards purpose by studying holistic counselling.

The Mind

Counselling was when the last piece of the puzzle finally dropped into place. After learning about the body, I focused on the mind, and the essence of what makes us human. I learned about beliefs, how they shape us, how we can change them, families, the impact they have on us and how we can alter and enhance this. I learned more about our stories and how they conspire to limit us, the effects of stress and how to manage this and how to accept and embrace the changes life brings. After going through my own transition in the workplace and the range of emotions that came with this, I realised that not all change is exciting; sometimes it can be terrifying, lonely and bring with it deep grief and loss. I realised how much we identify ourselves by the roles we take. It took some time, and supportive therapists until I realised I was a human being and not a human doing.

The Spirit

Spirit entered not through any singular religious belief, but my feelings towards the universe, what may be considered the divine, my wish for unity and inclusion and my desire for tolerance and acceptance for all beings on the planet. This was further enhanced with reiki, yoga, exercise, meditation as well as studies in psychometry and intuitive guidance.

You could say, after almost half a lifetime of seeking, searching and studying, I finally got my ducks in a row.

I offer you myself in service for whatever life is throwing at you, from your past, your present, or anxiety about the future. We can begin, working together, to bring you a more peaceful now.