In my understanding of The 4 Pillars of Transformational Positivity, the First Pillar is Whole-Self Love, which is about understanding & healing our connection to the Self. This is tremendously important in its own right, and it is essential to do the work of Whole-Self Love for us to move forward successfully to the Second Pillar: Serving With Joy, which is all about our connection with community. (You can read about The First Pillar here if you missed it) In this third part of the current series, we wrap up our look at the Second Pillar by understanding why serving…
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Hello Loves! I’ve been working on some awesome creative projects for the summer/fall, and over the weekend I came up against a gnarly block that put me on pause and required some extra effort in personal development, self care, and deep healing. If you’re curious, here’s what my steps looked like: 1- Feel something unpleasant 2- Ask for help 3- Receive help 4- Accept help 5- Process unpleasantness 6- Heal a layer of self Thank you, Friends, for sharing your beautiful, kind, funny and cheerful words when I most needed them. Please know how powerful your words and your compassion…
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The biggest difference between Transformational Positivity and toxic positivity is that the latter doesn’t invite or encourage you to fully express the difficult feelings of heartache, anger & pain when you’re suffering from the very real life experiences of disappointment, betrayal, abuse and generally shitty behavior from other hurt, angry, unhappy humans. That’s not Transformation- that’s just bypassing. As a writer and speaker who values telling the truth AND is driven by a desire to ease our suffering, I often find myself in the sticky space of highlighting the transformation while still trying to honor the struggle. The struggle isn’t…
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The thing with Affirmations is that there’s a helpful way to use them & a harmful way. Helpful: recognition of old patterns, Love for & healing of old wounds, and finding the wisdom & strength to recalibrate your life in a way that serves you better and brings you Joy. Harmful: bypassing difficult emotions, triggering trauma without offering healing & perspective, and ignoring the true lived experiences that you have as valid. So please know this: when I share, I am sharing from a place of some level of my own healing. And I have come a hell of a…
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Michelle Lewis, The Blessings Butterfly A Samhain Blessing Samhain is an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival to celebrate the end of the summer, the final harvest before winter sets in. It is traditionally marked by bonfires, and corresponds with a time of honoring the spirits of the dead. Rituals may include a dancing, feasting, nature walks, ancestral altars, and/or a silent supper to remember loved ones who have passed beyond the veil of the living. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, October 31 marks the start of Samhain (which can be tricky to pronounce- “Sow [like cow] In” or “Soh Een”…
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It is thought that each person we encounter is in some way a mirror of ourselves (and vice versa). This is comforting whenever we see aspects that are considered positive or admirable, but when we see the worst in someone? Oof. Well, that’s not exactly fun. Especially when you consider that we are equally capable of unleashing some nasty, unpleasant, and downright awful behavior of our own. Sorry to tell ya, but “Love and Light” isn’t all that we are made of. We also carry hurt, anger, hatred, unhealed trauma, sadness, and a whole lot of darkness throughout our time…
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Blessing #31: I Am Complete In launching The Blessings Butterfly, I initially set out to write a simple book of affirmations, meditations, blessings and encouragements that would express to the people I love the most just how much they mean to me. I chose words and thoughts and themes that would empower the handful of people I had hoped would read it. Beautifully, in the process, I came to discover a new sense of love and acceptance and joy and freedom within myself. The blessings became circular, as they poured out of my heart and flowed over me and came…
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Blessing #30: I am Free “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.” ― Charlotte Brontë I AM FREE! I am Free from anyone’s control over me. I am Free from all unhealthy relationships that once defined me. I am Free from my old addictions, and I am Free from my old unhealthy behaviors. I am Free from the old beliefs that limited me, that made me feel unworthy or incapable. I am Free to think, Free to speak, Free to love, Free to live my life exactly as…
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Blessing #29: I am Honest “It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” ― Noël Coward When did being honest and truthful become such a rare bird? While I don’t consider myself to be one of those “brutally honest” people (mainly because I am not comfy with the “brutal” part) I do value honesty in myself and in the people I allow into my life. I do not want to be lied to, and I do not like to lie to anyone either. If you ask me to tell you the truth…
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Blessing #28: I am Wealthy “Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” ― Ayn Rand Wealth is commonly described as the abundance of valuable resources or valuable material possessions. But what does it really mean to be wealthy? Can you have wealth in some areas but not in others and still be considered wealthy? Are you wealthy enough, and do you- or can you- know it when you are? “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” ― Epictetus In my travels…
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