Alright, so if you’re on my newsletter or if you've caught my first post of the new year (where I announce I'm going to shaman school), or wellness trends to try this year posts you know that I’ve been dabbling in the woo-woo realm again. And a lot of you have been responding to the newsletters asking for more! Plus, a lot of you have been asking for more personal posts via my reader survey – so in order to give you more personal stuff, you’re going to have to get on board with some of this magic ?.
WTF is this woo woo stuff?
Woo-woo (adjective or a noun) \ ˈwü-ˌwü \
- dubiously or outlandishly mystical or supernatural
- descriptive of an event or person espousing New Age theories such as energy work, crystal magic, Reiki, or supernatural/paranormal/psychic occurrences; often has studied in an authentic religious tradition such as Hinduism or Zen Buddhism
I definitely identify more with the latter. But even more than those definitions, to me, woo-woo encompasses all of the things that are lesser known rooted in energy, spirituality, celestiality, aligned in love, and sending out the highest vibrations to the world.
So anytime you hear me referencing woo-woo know that I say it as an all encompassing term of all things energy, spiritual, celestial. I say woo-woo with great respect for it's traditional roots and it's New Age theories. I say it to encompass mystical and supernatural things that we often aren't taught about or don't quite understand yet. But again, I say it with great respect, love, and appreciation as a more all encompassing term for things like Reiki, astrology, shamanism, crystals, and so much more! I don't say it as a phrase to poke fun or cause harm. I mostly use it as an easy to understand, relatable phrase to quickly communicate all of these beautiful new things I'm learning about.
Okay, sounds good, I can get down with that. But, how the F is this personal to you?
Well… honestly it goes back as far as I can remember. As a kid, I was kind of weird. // And I used the word weird as a positive BTW – I actually had a therapist tell me once I called him weird and it took him eight months to realize I always say that as a compliment and with affection. // I completely believed in the spirit world. For instance, you know how as kids you played light as a feather stiff as a board? Or tried to call spirits into the room and asked them to kiss the TV so you could prove they were there? *no, just me?!* Well yeah that was me as a kid.
I walked around with a binder of paranormal activity and sightings. Was convinced I was a witch (I’m looking at you Matilda) and in elementary school you could find me sitting at a table with my tarot deck reading people’s cards.
It also means that throughout my life, I’ve always been extremely intuitive, I feel things deeply – like entirely too deep for a normal kid/adult – and often had (and still have) very vivid dreams that come true ??♀️.
So if you had all this going on as a kid, why’d you stop dabbling in it?
Well, like I said, I was weird. For all the reasons above and countless others I just felt like an outcast my entire life. And then I got to high school, and in the first few months had my first boyfriend and a group of friends. I decided I liked “fitting in” and tried really hard to make my high school experience just like a show on the WB CW.
I also had locked my creative side away. I stopped writing, I stopped drawing, I stopped making films (I told you I was odd, you know the kid with the camcorder recording trash on the side of the road? Yeah those were my cinematic master pieces). I threw myself into sports and extra curricula's in the sciences. Building a resume for college and having the ultimate high school experience was all I could see…and I lost myself. I started to get crazier and crazier with my disordered eating habits, addictive workouts, and abusing substances. Everything had to be perfect. Until it all came crashing down like a ton of bricks…. By the end of my senior year in high school, I was so broken I could barely talk most days. I was completely isolated from everyone who had once been in my life. I wanted to die.
[RELATED READING] Advice To My 18 Year Old Self
A Bumpy Road
By the time everything broke down for me in high school, I had already been accepted early admission into college. “Get Out” was my mantra. I just needed to go through the motions and not let anything fall apart too much.
I know I talk a lot about the strained relationship with my mom today on the blog, but she saved me back then. After things fell apart she took me to a therapist and psychologist. And then, the summer between senior year and college, she made me work two jobs while taking non-matriculating college courses at the local university. She knew the worst place for me to be was sitting at home and she made sure that by the time I got home every day I was too tired to even think.
The College Years
By the time I started at the University of Florida I think I was just running on steam. I got connected with a counselor through the counseling center and began my journey into talk therapy and biofeedback (read more about how I learned to cope with anxiety and that journey here). While earning my bachelor’s degree in psychology I also worked as a research assistant under two amazing world renowned applied behavior analysts.
Before I knew it, I was graduating college in just three years, with a solid internship that led to a job offer in the substance abuse field. When I started my master’s degree, I knew I wanted to be in substance abuse. Both because of my personal connection, but also because it had all the occurring mental health disorders that often come with substance abuse and I still could apply my ABA training.
As many of you know from my story of how I got fired twice in a month, you know that I was burnt- the F- out by the time I hit 24. Within a month of turning 25 I was fired and had to make a choice, to keep going down this road of therapy and counseling, even though I was completely depleted or to let go of this vision I had built in order to find myself. I chose the latter.
Reconnecting To My Roots
The time leading up to launching my business in 2014, I meditated every day for 90 days and things fell into place. My first year in business, I did yoga every day for a year and felt more at peace than I ever had… And then this past year, I found my skin crawling. I was more anxious, unfulfilled, and negative than I'd been in years. Which if you’re a regular reader of TCM you could probably guess by my monthly updates of feeling so burnt out all the time.
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Well in taking this last month (sort of) off the blog, I had time to experience life again. To learn and grow. It started with Reiki, then a Reiki circle, then meditating, then tarot cards, and now Shaman school…. But more on all of that to come. In the shortest, simplest sense, I started to do all the things I did back when I first started my business, and built upon that foundation, and in turn, began feeling light years better. I've felt more creative, more inspired, and more aligned with my purpose.
How does all of this woo-woo stuff fit in?
Ahh I’m glad you asked! Before you hit the X window, I want explain how this side of me can hopefully help you!
I know a lot of you have been requesting more wellness content, especially after sharing my wellness trends to try in 2018 post, more mental health stuff, and more personal stuff – so as I go deeper into this side of things, it’s my goal to create relatable content based off my experiences that you can understand and apply to your everyday lives to help you live your best life.
At the end of the day, a lot of this woo-woo stuff comes right back to self care. It has to do with heightening our self awareness and using that insight to create a life that we don’t need to “escape.” A lot of you know from this post, that I don’t believe self care is all about bubble baths, candles, and chocolates – nope! I believe self care is about doing the deep inner work to make sure you’re living your best life and not just people pleasing. So it’s my goal that by diving into this woo-woo stuff I can teach you how to practice self care in a new way, or an even deeper way.
Okay, this sounds amazing, but how does religion fit in?
Well, as a Jew who loves to put her Christmas tree up with a Buddha ornament on Halloween because her Muslim BFF in college said it’s what we should do to make her feel better (I’m the Jew in that scenario) – let’s just say formal religion has never been my thing. This woo-woo stuff is NOT religious at all. In fact, a lot of the beliefs, practices, and angels have roots or traces in every single religion – the interpretations just vary. I’m not playing with witchcraft and I’m not pulling any particular religion into any of this. So if you are religious, these posts won’t (or at least shouldn’t – I don't know that much about religion TBH) go against your religion – and if you aren’t religious, welcome! I use phrases like the Universe to explain things larger than myself, so don’t worry, I’m not trying to convert you to become a believer in anything.
I'm simply looking to help you step into your greatest innate power, find self love, practice self care in a totally amazing and beautiful way, and become an active participant of your life. I hope to give you actionable tools and tips to live your best life.
So with all of that said, I hope you guys are excited to continue learning more about all of this woo-woo stuff and take a giant step in your wellness journey. I know a lot of you had already requested more posts on crystals, smudging, and reiki! Let me know if there are any others you'd like to see covered in the comments!!
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