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Seal Whisperings

This spring and early summer I had some profound experiences concerning three elephant seals that on different occasions came to a local beach to undertake a process known as catastrophic molting. Elephant seals at different times in the spring and summer (generally juveniles first, followed by adult females, and then adult males) will come up onto sandy beaches to start the molting process that lasts about a month. It’s called catastrophic molting because elephant seals lose all their fur and first layer of skin in a very short period of time compared to other seals and sea lions that lose their fur gradually over a longer period of time. Elephant seals will lose weight, as they are generally not eating while they are molting, and can get lesions and subsequent infections. As a result they can look quite sickly drawing concern by those unaware of the natural process that is taking place. Each seal during its time spent on the local beach this spring and summer shared insightful messages from the sea.

Message One – Community and Connection: Myself and other local residents randomly came together to form an informal volunteer group to maintain a caution-tape perimeter with educational signage around the elephant seals to afford them protection while they were on the beach. This became an exercise of dedication and patience, as we came to the beach each day to monitor the seal and move the perimeter according to the seal’s movements, sometimes visiting four or more times a day and staying long hours to provide education and public outreach. At times when the public took offence to and undermined our efforts because their beach access and beach use was temporarily restricted in a small area, we silently wished for the seal to move on and find another less public beach.

This is when resilience was needed the most. But had those elephant seals never touched the sands of our local beach, I may never have met and connected with these wonderful people living in my community who were instant friends. We were brought together for a common purpose – to protect the seals during their vulnerable, annual life process, and we bonded from our common love, care and concern for the precious marine wildlife we were blessed to interact with in this way.

Message Two – Compassion and Understanding: Upon learning about the presence of an elephant seal on a local beach, naturally people were interested and flocked to the area as if it were a zoo. There were some good intentioned but misinformed actions by concerned members of the public that included throwing water on the seal, placing a blanket on it and trying to feed it watermelon. For others it was all about trying to get as close to the seal as possible, including staging toddlers in front of the seal for the perfect social media post – a dangerous proposition. Unfortunately there was worse, as drunken and sober individuals walked through the flagged perimeter, let their dogs come nose to nose with the seal, threw things and kicked sand at it, or poked it with a stick. Many times these were the actions of parents modeling this behaviour in front of their young children.

At the core of my response to learning or sometimes witnessing these events, my heart hurt and cried, but at the surface in the moment there was disbelief, frustration, and disappointment. It was so quick and easy to polarize the events in haste ‘them’ and us and to have thoughts along the lines of ‘How ignorant, careless, disrespectful and cruel of them’. But polarizing matters and having thoughts like these do not make things better and do not resolve things.

I began to question when our attitudes and behaviours differ from those of others and when trying to appeal to others through gentle reasoning is unsuccessful, how do we accept what is and that differences may remain as they are? Having a sense of compassion and a willingness to try to understand where others may have been to be showing up the way they are now is a first step. But it’s a hard first step when the welfare of an animal, basically defenseless and vulnerable, is at risk. I’m still processing all of this and extend my deepest gratitude to the members of the public that contributed to the protection of the elephant seals and showed such deep respect for these amazing animals.

Message Three – Vulnerability and Self-Nurture: In witnessing and learning more about what elephant seals go through during their catastrophic molt, I was acutely aware of how vulnerable they are during this time – not eating while their energy levels decline, restricted on land for a month if they don’t venture into the water during this time (they normally spend 8-10 months at sea and 90% of that time is underwater), and likely very physically uncomfortable.

I also witnessed their behaviours that seemed to be based in self-nurturing – giving themselves what they needed during this intense, transitional time. They haul out on sandy beaches where they can flip sand onto their bodies to cool down or move down to the waterline to put a flipper or two in the water to achieve the same. They may nestle against logs for warmth or small rocks to rub and scratch their head and body. And they rest, a lot!

How often are we ourselves going through some intense event in life but instead of nurturing ourselves we push through it, harder and faster to get to the other side? Why don’t we give ourselves what we need? Conserve energy, rest, provide warmth, do things that provide calm and relief. I vow to honor real nature and nurture myself when my body needs it whether it is because of sickness or a stressful event in my life. Will you?

With deep gratitude to the three elephant seals that offered these messages and enhanced my sense of purpose, as each day I sprang out of bed to walk down to the beach and check the perimeter tape and the location and condition of each seal while it graced our local beach. In love and protection of nature’s beauty and wisdom!

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

Still Point

In this fresh, New Year ahead, may we find our still point where we connect with our truth and move forward with that as our guide. Let the rumblings of our mind take rest. Let our actions be bold, courageous and meaningful. Take risks and try something new, start that project that’s yearning to be birthed, live with purpose, connect with your heart, and foster self-care. Wishing you a year that is all that you imagined and more.

“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is
.”
– T.S Eliot

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

The Stone Unturned

Can you relate to making a variety of changes to improve things in your life, but there’s a bigger change waiting for you to take action on? Perhaps you have tried to ignore it or the timing is never ‘right’, yet it’s always in the back of your mind whispering to you. I’ve had two of those big changes that I finally acted on within a year of each other.

First it was the career change, which took me close to a decade to act on. The second most recent one was moving out of my home after close to two decades. The need to move had been in the back of my mind for a very long time but something always held me back. Perhaps all the history and life’s lessons while living under the same tiny roof kept me tethered to it. Perhaps it was a false ‘security blanket’ of independence. But deep down I knew that I needed to let go of it to move forward in my life. It felt like the ‘last’ stone unturned. A feeling that was revealed in life in an unique way one day…

…the rock surfaces were all bare at the water’s edge, but in gently lifting them up a myriad of creatures revealed themselves as a whole new world: shore crabs, periwinkles, barnacles, sea anemones, sea stars and more. One may think a beach is devoid of life unless one takes the time to explore all the surfaces, edges and overhangs that are often rich with life.

In turning this ‘last’ stone of my mine, a whole new world has been revealed to me. An expansion of sorts, a rekindled curiosity to explore these new surfaces and edges with fresh inquisitiveness and an open heart.

What unturned stone, big or small, is whispering to you? What new surfaces and edges are waiting for you to discover?

“Leave no stone unturned” – Euripides

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

Transformational Change

Throughout our lives we experience change ranging from the gentler, subtler kind to the more ‘rattling of your bones’, transformational kind. It’s the transformational change I am deeply curious about because it can be so raw, yet extremely liberating.

I recently dove into a fresh wave of transformational change in the company of seventy-five other women in the Joshua Tree desert; all of us with a deep desire to throw into the fire that which no longer served, a death and rebirth, a stepping into our full power and truth of what we are here to do in this lifetime. The journey afterward has been profound and I found myself drawn to the crab to see what insights from nature it had to offer about this transformational “shedding of skin”.

Crabs go through multiple molting stages in their lifespan. They must shed their exoskeleton (“shell”) to grow. After crabs molt they are highly vulnerable with their new soft exoskeleton. As a result, crabs will often hide until their new “shell” has hardened. In addition, they must grow into their new larger “shell”.

All of this resonates deeply with my own experience of transformational change. In order to grow, there must be the letting go of the layers – thoughts, patterns, behaviours – that no longer serve; it’s the “shedding of one’s skin”.

It often is a vulnerable time afterward as everything feels raw, new, soft, and unfamiliar. Honoring and nurturing one’s vulnerable state is key to embodying this ‘new skin’.

There is this sense of our ‘new skin’ being larger than what we are accustomed to. To me that’s the liberation. There’s room to move in and around it as we familiarize ourselves with our new re-combobulated, re-vitalized self. With time and patience we grow into and embody it.

If we want to grow, change is unavoidable. If we offer ourselves patience and tenderness during the process it can be quite remarkable and liberating, often setting us in a new healthy and meaningful direction in our lives.

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature,
to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly
”
~ Henri Bergson

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

Charting A New Course

At some point eventually, inevitably, this ‘vessel’ that I am starts to splinter apart into fragments. Like a ship, I feel as though I am sinking into the abyss from the overload of work related stress, over-commitment, overwhelm, resentment, disenchantment, illness and out of balance state. It’s too much for too long. The cracks run deep now. I am no longer a stable, sustainable vessel. Trying to bail out what burdens me seems futile. This time the S.O.S message is REAL. “Save Our Soul” whispers the soft, reverberating voice in my mind.

“Ships don’t sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don’t let what’s happening around you get inside you and weigh you down.” – Unknown

Standing at the proverbial fork in the road, a distinct and crucial choice is before me. More of the same – surely at the demise of my eroding personal well-being. Or charting a new course – navigating with my inner compass into something unknown requiring courage, trust and curiosity that will lead me to a better quality life. One that feels purposeful. One that inspires and energizes me to be in greater service for humanity and the planet. One that nourishes my soul and my connections in life.

This is my story. I was in a job that became soulless for me over time and I eventually made the necessary choice to leave a 16.5-year career to embark on a transformational journey to create the life I desire to live. Through this blog series, it is my intention to share my experience and what I have learned throughout this journey so far to provide a place of support and inspiration for others during their journey of job and lifestyle change – from getting to a state of readiness to taking creative action. My hope is that you too will share your personal stories for engaging, meaningful conversation. May we support each other in creating health-full, purposeful lives with grace and confidence.

Stay tuned for the next entry How Did I End Up Here?

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Filed Under: The Soulless Job - Getting Unstuck

The Call of the Mysterious Veil

Greetings! It has been some time since my last Messages from the Tide Pool and I hope this finds you all well. Big change was afoot for me leading into the summer that called for a pause, but beautifully provided the inspiration for this Message from the Tide Pool.

The fog blankets the shoreline on an early September morning, common this time of year along the coast. Do we venture out on our paddleboards as planned, or abandon the idea? Of course there are increased risks or hazards to be aware of. With safety and navigation tools in hand, we set out into an area we are very familiar with.

But the fog has obscured this familiarity; the landmarks have all but disappeared and have morphed into unrecognizable forms as though magically created by Khaos, the ancient Goddess of mist and fog. We paddle on, our eyes constantly adjusting to the appearance and disappearance of shapes before us as the fog thickens and dissipates, thickens and dissipates. There is a shift from our practical navigation skills, to calling upon our other senses.

Hearing is elevated, listening for foghorns, grunts of harbour seals, and shrill calls of oyster catchers, to name a few of the sounds that help us grasp our bearings relative to lighthouses, boats and small islets. Then there is the sense of trust; trusting one’s inner knowing of where they are in this world, in the ‘right’ place.

Then it happens. Like passing through to the other side of a veil, we find ourselves in a magnificent opening, clear of all fog and the morning sun ablaze. It is stunning. Looking back toward the shore, completely enveloped in fog, the contrast is stark. The journey offered us amazing marine wildlife encounters including a small pod of harbour porpoises otherwise never to be experienced had we stayed tethered to the shore.

The metaphor of this experience is profound for me. Staying tethered to the familiar on one side of the veil, while the unfamiliar and unknown wait on the other side. Recently in my own life I finally took the courageous step to untether myself from the side of the veil that was keeping me from living a better life I knew was possible, and walked to the other side taking with me tools already acquired from life experiences, but most importantly trust that when I emerged on the other side I would know what next step to take. From there another step to take would be realized, then another, and another, until I could see that a beautiful new life path was forming, created by my courage to step into the unknown.

Can we change our perspective from fear of and resistance to the unknown to curiosity of life’s mysterious veil offering us something beautiful in exchange for trusting and moving into the unfamiliar?

What mysterious veil is beckoning you to walk through for a brighter, better quality life?

 

(A side note… I am currently conducting a survey related to the big change I mentioned that concerns women leaving their conventional job in order to create a better quality life. If this speaks to you, please take a look and consider forwarding to anyone you know who might be suited to complete the survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LZC8BF2)

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

By the Wind

Spring is here again, bringing thousands upon thousands of jellyfish-like creatures to the west coast shoreline. Known commonly as the by-the-wind sailor (or Velella velella for the biologists), this translucent and purplish-blue animal spends most of its life afloat on the surface of the ‘high seas’ such as the Pacific Ocean.

BytheWind3

What is amazing is that instead of being completely at the mercy of the ocean currents and winds, the by-the-wind sailor actually has a sail set diagonally along its surface that essentially dictates the direction it is going and ultimately the shore it may end up on (those that wash up on the Pacific west coast shores have their sails directed in a northwest to southeast direction).

BytheWind1

What ‘ocean of life’ are you traveling through right now? What ‘sail’ can you set that will take advantage of life’s winds and take you where you need to go? Is it taking a specific action? Making a long overdue connection?

BytheWind2BytheWind4

Unlike the by-the-wind sailor, we have the ability, if we are willing, to reposition our ‘sail’ if the water or shore is not right for us. What adjustments can you make to your ‘sail’? Is it a thought? A belief? A pattern? A story you are telling yourself? It does not need to be big, just a one-degree shift can set you towards an entirely new destination.

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

Clearing the Way for the New

Happy New Year! Yes, a new year has begun with the excitement and hope of fresh possibilities and opportunities.

The winter brought many wild, windstorms to our coast, tossing a tangle of seaweed onto the beaches, an offering of food and shelter for the shoreline creatures and nutrients for the creation of new life. Where the seaweed once took hold, is now clear space; ready for new life and new growth reaching toward the sunlight.

CleartheWay2KelpForest3

GiftsfromSeaKelpForest1b

What space can we clear as we embark on a new year? What can we let go of? What can we welcome in? What can we do less of? More of? What changes and shifts can we make that supports us in being the best expressions of who we are meant to be; authentic, loving, compassionate and joyful beings? I’m letting go of perfection and welcoming in more adventure and time in nature, giving back to the environment and community in my own unique way. I would love to hear what changes are inspiring you for the New Year. May the New Year bring you all that you wish for.

CleartheWay1

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

The Surf and Swash Zone

On a recent trip to Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island, I found myself overcome by a large set of breaking waves in the surf zone. One wave after another pummeling me, pushing me underwater and towards fear as fatigue began to set in and I began to think that I could not survive one more wave. When will it stop? How can I get out of this?

SurfandSwash5

‘Ironically’, I was asking the same questions in my life. Feeling trapped in an all too familiar situation I thought I had already moved beyond. But here it was again dominating my life, and here I was again trying to stop it, trying to escape it. The more I focused on that, the more the situation built in intensity, along with a torrent of feelings and emotions I was also trying to push aside. How did this old way of reacting again ensnare me?

The trip to Tofino was an important shift in being. In honoring my need to step away from the situation long enough, I was able to express and honor my feelings and emotions, acquire a new perspective, and receive the messages that are always waiting to be heard when one is open. I received:

• “Focus on what you want, not on what you do not want”;

• “Always feel the feelings, and sit in gratitude until it surpasses the reactivity” (thank you Bev); and

• Pema Chodron’s relaying of her spiritual mentor’s advice “So the waves keep coming, and you keep cultivating your courage and bravery and sense of humour to relate to this situation of the waves, and you keep getting up and going forward. After awhile, it will begin to seem to you that the waves are getting smaller and smaller.” “It isn’t that the waves stop coming, it’s that because you train in holding the rawness of vulnerability in your heart, the waves just appear to be getting smaller and smaller, and they don’t knock you over anymore.”1

The morning before leaving Tofino I smiled at the sight on the beach. Algae scattered all about in the swash zone as you see in the photo below. Somehow it was symbolic of all my previous disorganized, highly charged thoughts, feelings, and emotions that would have been strewn about like a yard sale much like the algae had I let it build to the breaking point.

SurfandSwash3 SurfandSwash2

Sometimes there is a deeper level of awareness and learning we must journey through. I left Tofino with a deeper gratitude for my life, for my life experiences, and felt stronger, more empowered and ready to experience what I want. It has begun and I am gratefully in this.

1Chodron, Pema. 2015. Fail Fail Again Fail Better. Sounds True, USA.

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

The ‘Perfect’ Moment

I’ve come across many views and philosophies on ‘perfect‘ and ‘perfection‘: from “strive for perfection” to “you are perfectly imperfect” to “there is no such thing as perfect or perfection” and everything in between and more.

During many walks along the shoreline or while paddling I’ve observed Great blue herons standing so still and quiet in the water or on a raft of kelp in their stealth hunting mode, seemingly waiting for that ‘perfect’ moment to launch its attack. A year ago I thought that would be a good message for Messages from the Tide Pool, titled something like, well, “Waiting for the Perfect Moment”. But I was not moved to write about it until now. Hmmm.

PerfectMoment4

On Sunday I enjoyed walking with my dear friend who I had not seen for way too long. We spoke about choices, choosing to go for a walk in the sunshine with each other instead of staying home to work on our businesses, and which choice would impart a beautiful long term memory; I spoke of feeling ‘behind‘ in all the e-mails and my coaching and leadership audios, and feeling stalled in my business because it was still small and had not progressed since I launched my business.

Twenty-four hours later, I found myself finally writing on this topic of ‘the perfect moment‘. Why? Because of my time with my friend and what we talked about, and I had just listened to the leadership audio I was ‘behind in’, and heard the message I needed to hear and to share with my friend, and perhaps you. “Make friends with playing a small game first. Love where you are at today. Find five reasons why where you are at right now is ‘perfect’ for your life and find five reasons why where you want to be will be ‘perfect’ when you get there”.

Had I written this a year ago, it would have been different. Had I listened to the audio a month ago, it would have landed differently. All the beautiful and essential ingredients seemed to line up for me over those two days, exactly when I needed them to write this piece. Let go of the labels ‘perfect’ and ‘perfection’; don’t let them overshadow the inner whisper that lets us know “now” is the time, “this” is the choice.

If we are still and quiet like the Great blue heron, we will hear that inner whisper, and there will be no question if we are acting too soon or delaying for too long, if we are making the ‘right’ or ‘perfect’ choice. Connect with that inner whisper, trust the timing of things, and welcome things to happen when they are truly meant to happen for us.

PerfectMoment1

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

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