Owning Pink Bloggers
A Group Hug For Those In Transition
Hello, my love.
If you’ve been following my blog lately, you’ve probably felt the seismic shifts that are rumbling around in my life in the aftermath of coming home from my book tour, closing my medical practice, and figuring out what I want to be when I grow up. Understandably, some of my personal rumblings have reverberated through the Owning Pink community, and those of you who are really sensitive to energy shifts have even written to me to comment on the bumpy feeling you might have noticed at Owning Pink.
The World Is In Transition
I know I’m not alone in my transition. I’m just one teensy little microcosm in a big, big world. Tsunamis are uprooting whole countries. Civil unrest in the Middle East is quaking throughout the world. The economic crisis in the US continues to pummel us as unemployment skyrockets, 13% of the houses in the US are empty, and we start to wonder when we’ll see the light.
The transitions aren’t just negative. I’m also noticing a great uprising in the power of women in the world. The tides are shifting. Empowered women are uniting and collaborating and making big waves. The Dalai Lama says, “The world will be saved by the Western woman” -- and it’s starting to happen. No biggie. All the puddles of the rising of women are growing bigger and bigger, and all it’s going to take is one big rain to make all the puddles coalesce.
It’s enough to make your head spin.
Periods of transition can be disorienting. They can rock your world and lead to painful discomfort. They can feel tempestuous and unsettling and scary, and if you don’t manage your energy appropriately, these transitional feelings can spread to infect everyone around you.
Transitions Are a Time Of Rebirth
Remember, transitions are always opportunities for rebirth. When we are squeezing through that narrow place from one life phase to another, we may wind up feeling constricted, fearful, and hopeless, because we don’t have crystal balls to show us how open, jubilant, and expansive our lives will be when we are reborn into the next life phase.
But trust me, my darling. If you navigate these transitions in a healthy way, embracing the transition, surrendering to the flow, breathing through the discomfort, having patience with the process of what I call “waiting and becoming,” dissociating from the fear, listening to the Signs from the Universe, and letting your Inner Pilot Light guide you, I promise that you will ease through this transition into a better life, where you will dance, cartwheel, and feel your heart bubbling over with joy.
If, on the other hand, you let fear rule your show, you close off your heart, and you run screaming back towards the womb, you may spend the rest of your life stuck in this transition, constricted into that narrow place, unable to see how close you are to the bright light on the other side.
Go Towards The Light
Please, honey -- go towards the light. Resist the tendency to get stuck. Keep flowing (not pushing) forward. Be less sperm, more egg. Breathe. Pray. Meditate. Practice radical self-care. Ask for hugs. Affirm yourself often.
And most importantly, have faith. This will all be over soon, whenever your necessary gestation is complete. Until then, be present in the moment. Enjoy today. Live in gratitude. Let go. Live in love. And trust that this tight spot is just a part of your spiritual journey, moving you forward into what you’re meant to be.
As Yusuf Islam says, “To be what you must, you must give up what you are.”
Stop holding on so tight. Get out of your own way. Release what no longer serves you. Get ready for what’s next.
Trust Me On This One
I speak from experience on all this. I’ve been through a series of mini-deaths and rebirths since I first gave birth to a daughter and left my medical practice five years ago. My first period of gestation was the longest -- a full two years, and then Owning Pink (which is the best thing I’ve ever created in my life) was born from that gestation. During the next few gestations, I birthed three books, an integrative medicine practice I’ve since closed, and a series of other manifestations.
The gestation I’m going through right now feels even more profound in its richness and also in its pain. I know something big is coming, and it’s coming very soon. I can tell. The dark patch of my newborn hair is crowning through the legs of the Divine Mother right now. I’m in the tightest spot, and yet, I can just begin to feel a little more wiggle room around my legs as they tap dance around the womb.
I do feel a bit disoriented, as if I’m tumbling around in a tempest, but I’ve been clinging to an image that came to me in meditation -- a redwood standing tall in the midst of a tsunami.
It’s not about being stuck. It’s about being grounded and rooted, even in the midst of chaos. I visualize this redwood and lift my arms to the sky, eyes closed, in full surrender.
What’s Coming Out Of Me
Last week, I started writing a manifesto. Like I’ve been burning the midnight oil all week passionately tapping away at my Mac until 1:00am because my passion for healing health care is on fire right now. Think Jerry Maguire.
I have no clue what will become of this manifesto that is rapidly turning book-sized. It’s all about mending the broken heart of medicine, healing ourselves as healers, expanding what it means to be healthy and whole, and integrating this new model into the current system.
I have no idea what it will become. But I think it has something to do with my rebirth. So I’m following the flow, releasing any concern about the how or what, and taking uber-good care of myself.
I see the light, not just for me, but for you.
Go With The Flow
Take my hand, sweetheart. Join hands with the others in the Owning Pink community. Take a deep breath.
You can do this. I believe in you. You’re almost there. Don’t give up hope. And remember, you are never, ever alone, no matter how dark things become in your personal transition.
Let us be here with you. Tell us what’s up for you. What transition are you navigating? What is being reborn in you? Let us help you heal.
Crowning,
Lissa
Recent Blog Posts
- Mind Over Medicine ... Gabrielle Bernstein
- What Needs To Die? ... Danielle Dowling M.A.
- The True Power Of No ... Midge Greentree
- Help Your Child Become An Inspired Leader ... Ashley Ryan
- Ask And It Is Given ... Leslee Horner
- A Word About Your Beautiful Anger ... Jennifer Boykin
- Stop Romanticizing Motherhood ... Monica Wilcox
- The Role Of Vows ... Maggie Lyon
- Taurus Solar Eclipse: Hard Work, Fresh Flowers ... Ophira and Tali Edut
- Self Improvement VS. Self Acceptance ... Mike Robbins
When you comment on an Owning Pink blog post, we invite you to be authentic and loving, to say what you feel, to hold sacred space so others feel heard, and to refrain from using hurtful or offensive language. Differing opinions are welcomed, but if you cannot express yourself in a respectful, caring manner, your comments will be deleted by the Owning Pink staff.
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Comments
Alright, crying now!!!! Thank
By Michelle Medina (not verified) on Sunday, 04/03/2011 at 9:56 AMAlright, crying now!!!!
Thank you Lissa!!!!! *huge hugs to you and everyone going through transition right now*!!!!
Thank you Heidi
By Lissa Rankin on Thursday, 03/31/2011 at 9:23 AMI love it when other women in the community lift up those who are commenting! Thank you for doing that!
And yes- we can change our towns and bring Owning Pink everywhere. What if we treated everyone in our own towns the way we treated each other here? What if we used our Magical Eyes to SEE the Inner Pilot Light in everyone?
Oh yeah, baby. Now we're talking....
Thank you all for the sweet and encouraging words
By Lissa Rankin on Thursday, 03/31/2011 at 6:31 AMI love hearing your stories, and I hope it helps all of you realize we are SO not alone. We are in this together, and the more we join hands and lift each other up, the higher we all fly!
It's nice to have company...
By Tamara (not verified) on Thursday, 03/31/2011 at 6:28 AMI think the thing that helps the most in this time of transition for me is knowing that I have company along the way! I am amazed by so many voices sharing the same thoughts and fears, all of us working through our transitions separately, yet together.
Since January I've managed to finally launch a new business, one that I have been gestating on for too long. I was only able to recognize and confront my fear of moving forward with help from your posts and this community, Lissa, along with the writings of Dr Christiane Northrup. When I realized that my health problems were directly related to my bottling up of my creative energies, it was so easy to let go and engage the transition process fully. In three months I have accomplished more on my new business than I did in three years of dreaming about it!
All that said, I still find myself suffering from a little bit of angst and worry, because the transition is not yet complete and I do not know what will happen if it doesn't work out the way I envision! However I now have the tools to overcome the fears and just keep working at my goals. If they fail...well, I don't think it will happen that way, it may turn out to be something different than what I planned, but I've learned that is not the same as failure. I know I have what it takes now to keep heading forwards, rather than backwards, no matter what. Head towards the light, indeed.
Thanks for being there, even when you don't know it, you are making a difference for so many people, and I can feel we are all of us a part of that wave of womanly power, heading who knows where, but definitely in the right direction!
:-)
Don't worry
By Heidi M. (not verified) on Thursday, 03/31/2011 at 9:06 AMAnd you know Tamara, I've found that sometimes when our goals don't end up in the place we planned them to, it is necessarily failure. Sometimes it's even better. Keep on keeping on girl!
Whoops
By Heidi M. (not verified) on Thursday, 03/31/2011 at 9:07 AMI meant it isn't necessarily failure. My fingers and brain are not always connected. And sometimes that's a good thing too.
Your Energy
By Amie (not verified) on Thursday, 03/31/2011 at 6:25 AMLisaa, your energy is such a driving force! It's nearly impossible not to get caught up in the whirlwind. Thank you so much for all you encouragement and for sharing the ups and down you face during life's transitions. Your honesty is much appreciated.
The shift to become who I really am started in 2000 when I got divorced. It neared a peak last year when I was introduced to energy medicine, EFT and Reiki. I've since become a Reiki Master, started a practice offering Reiki, reflexology and EFT treatments. Soon I will expand my offering to include hypnotism and Tarot readings. I'm like a sponge and the world just keeps pouring on the healing water. I've created a blog, am using Twitter and Facebook to reach people with my daily "Quickies", quick exercises and ideas to spread positive energy, and am in the planning stages of creating a woman's group for support, encouragement and empowerment for women in my area and online for those further away. The best part of all of this came when I recently was forced out of the toxic soul-sucking 8-5 office job that I absolutely hated. Thanks Tower card! Now I am free to pursue my bliss full-time.
Thanks again for the example you're setting for all of us out there that just know there has to be a better way to make a living whilde making a difference.
Amie
I know why I'm here
By Heidi M. (not verified) on Thursday, 03/31/2011 at 9:13 AMI've been following all these stories with great interest, laughing smiling, saying You Go Girl outloud to my monitor. Did we all have soul-sucking jobs/relationships that brought us here? I'm willing to bet yes! What I love about this site is that the women here truly do lift each other up. I've found that elsewhere, especially in business women tend to push each other out of the way instead of lifting each other up. We'll never claim our freedom and power that way. Owning Pink is definitely the "town" I want to live in.
Fellow Birther
By Dona (not verified) on Thursday, 03/31/2011 at 4:04 AMWow, I'm glad I found you, Lissa. You are speaking to where I am in my life right now. I am 50 and I feel like I need to be the real me, whoever that may be, feeling my power, pushing through the canal. I am excited and wondering what I will look like. Really, I have been feeling like this for some time (gestating?). Thanks for your encouragement. I know I can do it! We women need to heal this world, and the sooner, the better! GO PINK!!!
What will you look like?
By Heidi M. (not verified) on Thursday, 03/31/2011 at 9:15 AMWhen you are reborn, you will be beautiful just as you are! And you will see yourself that way too. I guarantee.
Lissa, I'm thinking of you
By Rachel Kudrich (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 6:11 PMLissa, I'm thinking of you burning that midnight oil and sending you so much love and gratitude! You are such a brave, true, beautiful spirit! Thank you for everything you do! I love that you take time to nurture yourself and tell about it. Self nurturing is something that seems to get SO murky as a concept these days, but SO in need of being found by lots of people! Keep on rocking Lissssaaa!!!!
Thank you! Thank you!
"I have no clue what will become of this manifesto that is rapidly turning book-sized. It’s all about mending the broken heart of medicine, healing ourselves as healers, expanding what it means to be healthy and whole, and integrating this new model into the current system." ---- Fantastic! You really do speak right to the broken heart of medicine. You speak right to it.
_Rachel
I agree with Cheryl
By Heidi M. (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 4:48 PMAs some of you know, I too am in transition. A work in progress. I quit my job and went back to school, have to count pennies to buy milk, but that's ok. I am closer to being whole than I have been in my life. But I agree with Cheryl. Life is all about transitions. Change can hurt, but it is a very good thing. This last transition I made was the most precarious, in that I still haven't found a job. It's also the first time I've made such a dramatic change and have been hardly worried about it at all. I've finally gained some focus. But I doubt that this will be my last rebirth. Or your either. Would you really want it to be? Oh, it might be the biggest. It might be the most life-altering so far. But I'll bet there will be more. I think they build on each other.
By the way Lissa, I don't think I told you that I took your mini e-course. And I saved everyone of those e-mails in a folder marked "Birthday". I had set it up to put the online things I'd gotten for my birthday in. But I thought it was a highly appropriate place for your course as well. It's all about re-birth. And when I feel I'm starting to stagnate, I'll pull them out again and read them and start all over. That's what life's about.
Ahhh Lissa-- Exactly
By Amber (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 3:38 PMAhhh Lissa-- Exactly precisely perfectly what I needed to read right now, right this second. Thank You for being My catalyst from the Universe today. <3
my gratitude to you Lissa
By Janet (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 2:19 PMLissa
Thank you for posting your wonderful words. How timely they are. To know that we are not alone in this journey and the transformations that come with it helps with the burdens that we sometimes carry on our paths. To feel that we can reach out and share and others understand and have compassion and empathy for what we are going through is the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes we just need someone to tell us that everything will be as it should and that we will emerge from our transformation more magnificent than ever. I too am going through a transformation and I don't have any idea of where I'll end up, what I'll be when I get there or when I'll get there. I'm keeping the faith. Satnam.
You're welcome Jewels
By Lissa Rankin on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 2:10 PMThank you for your sweet word, honey. Although I ascribe to a strict un-guru policy, I'm happy to be your virtual mentor.
May you find your way with peace and so much joy.
With love
Lissa
not a guru
By Jewels (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 4:23 PMI meant that I am happy to draw inspiration from your ability to walk the talk. I have not met a lot of people that can make mistakes or plain old admit that life is a struggle but still keep hope, faith and love at the ready.
Colleen honey
By Lissa Rankin on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 2:09 PMI can see the nursery now! And yes-you're doing everything right. Hang in there. Have faith. Be patient. Your time is coming soon.
Much love
Lissa
Thank you!
By Jewels (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 1:55 PMMy aunt was the only woman in my family to not have children and do the career thing. She kept telling me I need to find a mentor. I have never found one through the work I have been doing. I realized after reading your group hug (thank you I needed that!) that the reason was because I was not doing the work I should be doing. Thank you for being my first mentor Lissa! Namaste!
Excuse me! Have you been reading my mind and watching me pace ?
By Colleen (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 1:29 PMall week...all month....all year.....pacing pacing.....YES! Everything you wrote is as if you and I just had a deep conversation all about it over a bottle of pinot noir, with a plate of juicy greek olives, buffalo mozzarella and Godiva chocolate! I keep saying the same thing, "I don't know what it is..but it's coming my way!" And then I laugh and laugh and cry (more than usual lately) and then laugh and laugh again.
21 years owning a retail business; looking to sell; planning an exciting new chapter in my life at 55...but I don't know what it is...exactly...yet!!!! But I'm preparing the "nursery" and I'm liking my colors and the feeling I get when I walk into the room and IMAGINE~~~~I hope to meet you one day soon Lissa!!
THANK YOU!!!!
Dear Anonymous Doc
By Lissa Rankin on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 12:42 PMThank you for being here with us. Thank you for speaking your truth. And thank you for these words:
Every superwoman has her own kryptonite moment.
Amen, sister. That's SO true. We are all vulnerable to our personal kyrptonite, and in spite of what it seems, that kryptonite is not a weakness- on the contrary, it makes us so much stronger to be able to get through it and move beyond.
Bless you, my friend.
With love
Lissa
Untethered?
By Anonymous (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 12:34 PMDivorce in process. Financial issues looming. Realizing that I am "too much" of a theoretical troublemaker among my fellow life of the minders and what that means for the last 20 years of self-identity construction (a.k.a becoming that "other kind of doctor"). Seriously thinking that I've got to find something else/more to do or I will die way to early from the misery. And thus, finally coming clean with myself and acknowledging that the good fit with my husband is gone as much as the good fit with my profession was probably never quite right either— I thought both would last a lifetime.
Transitioning for sure. Yes, indeedy. This is the hardest part of my life and I have always been a "go girl." Nothing and nobody could ever ever truly stop me. But this moment in life... well, it has shown me that I am NOT superwoman. Or perhaps I am learning that every superwoman has her own kryptonite moment that she must live through.
I pop in and out here. Found the site when I googled "mojo" last year. As a sorta semi/casual reader, I find it funny ( funny ha ha) that I too just hit the blog lotto today. I have been thinking that this is a time when I am untethered from what has grounded me for over 40 years, but also what has kept me in place too. So now I am not quite "free," but I am not tightly bound/tied either.
I will have to think about how transitioning fits (or not) into my own metaphor now.
Thanks.
Thank you Tracey and Angi
By Lissa Rankin on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 12:25 PMBless you for your sweet words.
Hugs to you both
Lissa
you moved me to tears. You
By Angi (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 12:11 PMyou moved me to tears. You expressed what I just couldn't find the words for. Thank you for the encouragement, the honesty, the courage and for being you.
Your So Right!
By Tracey (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 12:05 PMReading this I thought you had read my journal! I have been in this transition for about 3 years, often feeling hopeless and directionless, and feeling like there is something bigger. I've been clearing out the old/past internally and externally and clearing way for the new whatever it may be. I now feel hopeful and am allowing things to flow while learning patience, listening to my intuition and throwing in some fun and most importantly self care. I have been so fortunate to find blogs like this one and a lot of women on the same path and that has been so refreshing and supporting.
Thank you so much for expressing yourself and sharing with the rest of us.
Cheryl, I love that
By Lissa Rankin on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 11:51 AMYes, we did begin our transitions on the day we are born! The only thing certain in life is uncertainty. It's true.
Own it!
Dear SunMachine
By Lissa Rankin on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 11:50 AMDon't be scared honey. Have faith. Find peace in your Inner Pilot Light. Know that it will always be your guiding compass, and if you can tap into that authentic light within you, you will always make it through the narrow place and into the light.
Thanks
By sunmachine (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 12:00 PMThanks, I do have faith. In fact, I wrote a book about it and going forward from here is the thing I'm most terrified of. One of the many ironies of my life. (sorry I posted twice; didn't see the first one come through)
Your Awesomeness
By sunmachine (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 11:35 AMEvery time I read your writing, it lifts me up. I wish you were my sister...or my neighbor...or my pen pan.
Your Awesomeness
By sunmachine (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 11:21 AMEvery time I read something you've written, I feel uplifted. I have never commented on your blog before, but I read it and I need it. I'm in transition and I'm real scared. I have four school aged children and a wonderful husband, but I don't think he dreams as big as I do, and I have a dream. He tries to keep me grounded and realistic, but sometimes that brings me down! I can always count on your words for a counter effect. Thank you.
Life is a Transition
By Cheryl (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 8:34 AMThank you Lissa! A couple of years ago, when I was interviewing for a volunteer position on an advisory board one of the women asked me when I began my transition. My unhesitating response - on the day I was born. I was and am very serious about this. The term ineffable seems appropriate to truly living our lives.
“When you come to the fork in the road, take it” Yogi Berra
you're so welcome, my dear
By Lissa Rankin on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 6:56 AMFunny how The Universe works, eh, when the perfect thing lands in your inbox just when you need it or you stumble across exactly what you didn't even know you craved.
Thank you for being here with us. I'm sending you loads of love in your transition.
Lissa
thanks
By sarah (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 7:36 AMthank you lisa <3
wow
By Anonymous (not verified) on Wednesday, 03/30/2011 at 6:31 AMit is no accident i ended up here and the last few lines brought me to tears...to have someone know what i'm going through and to be going through it as well and to get encouragement from a blog i just somehow ended up on through and email and some surfing is just wonderful, thank you lissa!