This is a story of a journey~~a journey that took me to inward & outward places I had always wanted to go. Both of those places that I was so happy to have reached were enriched by both a spiritual teacher and a group of women who shared loving energies, took healing energy classes together and supported each other in all ways~~spiritually, mentally, physically & emotionally. It sounds ideal, doesn’t it? But what if, suddenly, all that was gone?

This particular journey started for me 15 years ago when I began seeing a healing energy practitioner & instructor. Every particle of my Being loved my experiences with the healing energy sessions. So much so that I began taking classes so that I could become qualified to do healing energy work. I took Reiki classes as well as classes in other healing modalities, including Gemstone Healing. I fell in love with the beauty & power of gemstones and learning just how their properties & characteristics can promote healing, protect our energies provide clarity help us to go within & connect and so much more. Over the years of taking these classes I saw myself grow & evolve in so many ways.

As these classes continued over the years, a close bond was formed with my teacher & with those taking the classes because we did healing energy on each other as we learned the techniques. And this bond we formed then led to meditation gatherings of 30 or more people once a month. Over those 15 years, we spent a lot of time together and grew very close. In addition, I often wrote to the entire group, sharing my thoughts, inspirations & experiences with regards to our healing energy work. I loved being able to express my deepest thoughts with the group through my writing.

However, 15 years after that journey started, it came to a sudden end. In December 2017, I was in the midst of trying to process many personal issues and felt it was time for me to do some self-healing. I wrote my instructor an email & told her that I was so very grateful for all the tools she had given me over the years. I told her I loved her not only as my teacher, but also as my friend. I knew that as healers it is imperative that we strive to stay in our own true alignment, centered & grounded in order to maintain our balance. So, I explained that I felt out of balance & in order to grow as a person and as a healer that I needed to step away for a while in order to create space for me to do healing work on myself. I also wrote the same thing to the group that I had plans with to take another class. I wanted to be sure that they understood why I would not be in the class.

After receiving my emails, my instructor & the entire group ended their ties with me~~no texts, phone calls, emails, and I was blocked by each of them (except for 2 people) on Facebook. I grieved over the loss of the friendships I had held dear for so many years. It was very painful.

But then with time, something wonderful began to happen. After spending several months processing what had happened, I began to ask what if…What if being cut off from all forms of communication with them was a gift? Certainly, it gave me the peace, quiet & solitude for me to remember who I am and to work on self-healing.

But, what if this was also a gift of space to clear the way for something new and wonderful to come into my life? As I settled into this thought, I knew I needed to give myself time to just sit in this space & breathe. And eventually, almost a year later that something new & wonderful did come along when I was invited to join The We Community. I love everything that that this group is about.

In essence, it feels as if our group has been formed to hold the space for one another. Often when people hear the phrase “holding the space for someone,” they think that only refers to when someone is grieving. And certainly it does refer to that. But I feel it is even broader than that.

For example, in our group, certainly we will hold the space for anyone who might be struggling, hurting and/or grieving. But I believe we will also hold the space for one another with the support we give each other without judgment, and in a compassionate, caring way. And we will hold the space for one another to try new things, and discover what fuels their soul’s passion, supporting their growth & transformation. I believe that the space we hold for each other is a gift we give to each other.

So many gifts and all having to do with “space!”  The gift of space I gave myself to do self-healing, the gift of space I was given that made room for the We Community, and then the gift of holding space for each other that the We Community gives.

During the many months of processing this whole idea of creating and/or holding space, I came across a poem by one of my favorite poets, Judy Sorum Brown, entitled “Fire.” Amazingly it speaks of space and I believe it ties in so beautifully with my thoughts on the gifts I was given.

What makes a fire burn
 Is space between the logs,
 A breathing space.
 Too much of a good thing,
 Too many logs
 Packed in too tight
 Can douse the flames
 Almost as surely as a pail of water would.
 
 So building fires
 Requires attention
 To the spaces in between,
 As much as to the wood.
 
 When we are able to build
 Open spaces 
 In the same way
 We have learned 
 To pile on the logs
 Then we can come to see how
 It is fuel, and absence of the fuel
 Together that make fire possible
 
 A fire grows because the space is there,
 With openings 
 In which the flame 
 That knows just how it wants to burn, 
 Can find its way. 

I am very grateful that each of us in The We Community have created space in our lives so that together we can build a fire that fuels the flame in each of us. And along the way we will be holding space for each other as we learn & grow together.