I have been thinking about the processes that underpin change. Specifically, change as the leaving one way-of-being and arriving at another way-of-being. It is a lived alchemy! So what are the processes that support such radical or even small shifts in us?

I remember being taught when I was young that what will survive is being consistent and knowing what is right. I would describe this kind of “consistency” as stoic. One learned to be “tough” and that meant hardening the heart. You and I both know these things do not facilitate change and growth, much less true alchemy. We have to be brave and allow ourselves to feel the ongoing grief, sadness, as well as the remembered joy. Emotions provide a journey that grows and refines us into the next ways-of-being. These feelings and the vulnerability they require are our alchemy. Please don’t be too quick to move on from the shifts we are now experiencing. We have sat and loved well on those stepping away and experiencing their own alchemy. We have recognized the genuine pricelessness of their presence. But we will still feel the loss as we step into new ways-of-being.

Embrace the alchemical processes in your whole being…there’s a loveliness to it. Much love, grace, and peace!

-Dianne