August 23, 2024 • 23 mins
Have you ever wondered how the road less traveled might completely transform your life? Join me, Shannon, on Starseed Evolution, as I recount my unconventional journey from traditional education to a deeply fulfilling career in massage therapy, Reiki, Craniosacral therapy and Spiritual Direction. Sparked by Robert Frost's iconic poem, "The Road Not Taken," I delve into the significant choices that shaped my path, starting from my early days at the University of Arizona, transitioning from teaching high school to an unexpected stint at a grocery store, and exploring the medical field through physical therapy and massage therapy. Each twist and turn brought its own set of challenges and pearls of wisdom, guiding me toward a career that aligns with my passions and sensitivity.
In this episode, I also share a pivotal, eye-opening experience with a grieving client that ignited my journey into energy work, eventually leading me to become a Reiki master teacher. My exploration didn't stop there; it extended into Craniosacral therapy, animal communication, and spiritual direction, unlocking intuitive abilities I never knew I had. A serendipitous encounter with an application for a spiritual direction program marked another transformative turning point. Through these experiences, I emphasize the power of trusting our instincts and embracing the unknown. May my story inspire you to take those uncertain steps in your own life, ultimately guiding you back to your true self.
Thank you for music by: Chris Collins of Indie Music Box and Blue Dot Sessions
Artful Touch Therapies – my professional website
https://www.artfultouchbyshannon.com/
Shannon Sullivan, International Meditation Teacher on Insight Timer
(Download Insight Timer app. Then click link to my teacher page)
Link Tree Information:
https://www.linktr.ee/silverlunastarseed
Blue Heron Creates
This is my music artist name where I share mantras and original songs from many different faith traditions.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4I0l8GxlFZ0dD5acKgsabs?si=hVSjJSt7Quudh0-yGBQEBg
Silver Luna Starseed Instagram Feed:
https://instagram.com/silverlunastarseed
Indie Music Box – Chris Collins
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, thank you so much for joining me today.
I'm Shannon and this isStarseed Evolution, bringing the
wisdom and insight of thecosmos to you.
I'm grateful that you'relistening In our episode today.
I'd like to piggyback off ofour second episode, where I
(00:26):
shared the poem that I hadwritten about starting a new
path.
This got me to thinking about aquestion that some of my
clients have been asking merecently, which is how did I get
into the work that I do withmassage, reiki, cranial sacral
(00:47):
therapy and spiritual direction,along with leading classes?
When I think about that question, the poem by Robert Frost, the
Road Less Taken, pops into mymind.
Part of it goes like this Popsinto my mind.
Part of it goes like this Tworoads diverged in a yellow wood
(01:10):
and, sorry, I could not travelboth and be one traveler long.
I stood and looked down one asfar as I could To where it bent
in the undergrowth, and at theend of the poem Robert Frost
says this to where it bent inthe undergrowth.
And at the end of the poemRobert Frost says this Two roads
diverged in a wood and I I tookthe one less traveled by and
(01:42):
that has made all the difference.
Hindsight is often 20-20.
When we're on a new path,stepping forward into the
unknown, sometimes we wantguarantees about how it's going
to turn out, so maybe we takethe safe path or the more
traditional road because wemight understand it better.
(02:03):
But that doesn't always allowus to grow spiritually and it
can be more challenging to takethat other path, the one less
traveled by, because it'sunexpected twists and turns.
But what I'd most like to talkabout is that question that many
(02:25):
kids have been asked in thepast what do you want to be when
you grow up?
I often took that question toheart, and if the adult that is
me now told the child that I wasin the past, what I was going
(02:45):
to be doing as far as my careerand life, there's no way in my
childhood I could havecomprehended what that meant,
because it wasn't even in myvision.
Often, on the spiritual path,that's how it can unfold in an
unknown direction that revealsitself as we step deeper and
(03:10):
deeper into the woods of thatuntraveled path.
So what I'd like to do withthis episode is share the path
that I took, all the twists andturns, and the hope is this is
that when you're listening tohow I've made my way on this
(03:31):
path.
Maybe it'll give you someinspiration or encouragement or
hope about stepping onto theunknown paths in your life.
The first part of my journeyafter high school was going to
the University of Arizona.
This was a traditional paththat I had stepped into, which
(03:55):
just followed the direction Iwas going as I took more classes
and learned what I could orcouldn't do, or what I felt
called to, or just what Iunderstood from my point of view
at that time, was I ended upgoing into English education
(04:17):
with a minor in Spanish.
Ultimately, it shifted me intothe career path of teaching high
school which, if you knew me,made sense, since my dad was in
the education field for over 40years at the high school level.
Once I graduated from collegeand started teaching high school
(04:40):
, it was a rude awakening for mebecause emotionally, being a
sensitive or highly sensitiveperson, which we'll go more into
that in another episode I wasnot able to hold space in a
traditional classroom like thatfor so many students and I
(05:02):
discovered that I did not wantto be a teacher.
This led me then into well,what do I do now, putting me on
an unknown path which I hadnever navigated up until that
point.
Now, another clue for you aboutmy age, without giving it away,
(05:25):
is that this was occurring inthe 1990s, so the advent of the
World Wide Web wasn't quitethere yet.
So what I did was startedworking at a local grocery store
so I could earn some money,feed myself, have a roof over my
(05:46):
head and start moving into life.
As I began working, I realizedthat my brain needed more
stimulation because I enjoyedstudying and doing research and
understanding the human body.
I had been a gymnastcompetitively for 13 years, and
(06:10):
so while I worked at the grocerystore I also began exploring
physical therapy as a volunteer,helping at different clinics,
both inpatient and outpatient,and while I was doing that I was
also exploring the questions ofwhat was internally motivating
(06:32):
for me.
That would be important on mypath.
As I explored the physicaltherapy field, I realized that
if I wanted to move more in thatdirection as a professional,
then I should probably find ajob that was medically related.
That's when I came across aposting for a CAT scan MRI tech
(06:55):
assistant with on-the-jobtraining.
I applied for that job and gotaccepted, which led me into the
path for a couple of years ofjust working with patients,
radiologists, cat scan and MRItechs and really learning the
nuances of both the medical sideprofessionally, as well as
(07:19):
interviewing patients.
Through that self-discovery,what it led me to understand was
that I enjoyed the contact withpatients more than I did just
the medical side of things anddecided, because of my volunteer
work with physical therapy, I'dgo back to school and become a
(07:43):
physical therapy assistant.
I applied for school, got in,then in the evenings I was going
to school.
Now I can tell you that eachstep I took when I relate it to
you now in a direct manner, ohyes, it makes lots of sense.
(08:04):
However, as I experienced eachstep on this unknown path where
is it leading me?
I had a lot of anxiety becauseof the uncertainty.
I also saw that each step Itook, I was supported by the
universe, by my family, as Itook that path.
(08:28):
Working with patients reallydid feed my spirit.
Now, once I graduated, I landeda job as a physical therapy
assistant at a local clinic, andfor two years I worked there
and gained skills of reallybeginning to relate to people,
(08:50):
to what they were going throughin their healing journey.
I always have this drive orthis need, though, to go farther
or really put my brain into useso that it doesn't get stagnant
.
And what I discovered duringthat time was, as much as I
(09:12):
enjoyed the field of physicaltherapy as an assistant, I knew
the repetition of it would notfeed me in my mind or my soul.
I began asking then thisquestion what direction should I
go?
And that is when I met amassage therapist who was also
(09:36):
working at the clinic where Iwas working as well.
We became friends and sheexplained to me about the field
of massage therapy and I beganto explore that direction some
more.
As I sat in contemplation,often for many months, it was
(09:57):
always this question.
For many months, it was alwaysthis question do I go the route
of physical therapy to go backto school and get my master's At
that time it was a master'sdegree.
Now I know in this current dayand age it's a doctorate or do I
move in the direction ofmassage therapy?
(10:19):
Both paths would allow me to 1.
Work with people, 2.
Help in people's healingprocesses and 3.
Further my education.
(10:43):
Ultimately, I decided to go thepath less traveled by anyone
that I had known before and soapplied for massage therapy
school, got in, got accepted,and it was a year-long training
program.
Now, when we step onto a path,we often step onto it from a
singular perspective in our mindabout what we think that
direction is going to be for us.
(11:04):
However, we don't always seewhat is going to bubble up.
That we weren't expecting.
When I entered the massagetherapy program, it was from the
direction of helping peoplewith physical injuries that they
might have sustained and usingmassage therapy techniques to
(11:25):
help them heal and become wellagain.
Now I would say that, yes, thatis one of the things that I
accomplished, going in thatdirection.
However, as I moved deeper intothe program, I also bumped into
different things that I didn'tknow anything about.
For example, when the teacherswould talk about grounding
(11:48):
ourselves or connecting with theenergy of earth, my mind
thought what are they talkingabout?
So it was something that I waswholly unfamiliar with in that
type of language, although I hadprobably been doing it since I
was a young kid.
I just didn't realize it.
(12:09):
Towards the end of my massagetherapy school program, I met a
teacher who I really connectedwith and she was one of my
instructors who taught botharomatherapy so connecting with
the medicine of flowers toassist in healing and she was
also a Reiki practitioner.
(12:31):
At this time I didn't know whatReiki was energy work
connecting with the energy fieldso, as I trusted my connection
with this particular teacher, itopened up something inside of
me that wanted to explore thatmore, even if I wasn't quite
sure what it all meant.
(12:54):
Once I graduated from themassage therapy program
successfully and began workingwith clients individually, there
was an aha moment that reallyhelped me know that energy, the
aura field, the energy thatsurrounds us, was real.
The event was that I wasworking at a clinic down in
(13:20):
Green Valley in Arizona.
A client came in to get amassage treatment and she was
having a bad day because she wasgrieving for the loss of her
mother.
As she came in and we weretalking before the session we
just talked about what wascoming up for her I stepped out
(13:41):
of the room and let her getready for the massage session.
When I came back in, she wasface down underneath that top
sheet.
I came over, had her do acouple of deep breaths and then,
as I began to move my handsover her back, to place them on
(14:02):
her back, just to make thatfirst contact as my hands were
coming down to touch her backabout six inches away from her
physical body.
My hands hit what felt like asolid wall.
I couldn't push my hands downpast this wall of energy that
(14:23):
was six inches above her actualbody.
That's when I was like, oh mygosh, the energy is real.
Like I can literally feel thisinvisible wall.
There was a part of me thatunderstood that this was the
grief around her mother and thispart of her that was shut off,
(14:45):
that opened a whole new paththat I was not expecting when I
first stepped onto the path ofmassage therapy.
From there I began exploringReiki.
I began my certification inlevel one, two, three and
becoming a master teacher inReiki.
(15:06):
That led then to the path ofdiscovering more through cranial
sacral therapy, which then ledme into learning about animals
as wellgetically and gettingcertified in animal
communication and animal massagetherapy.
Through those years on thisunknown path, the less traveled
(15:32):
by that Robert Frost spoke of, Iunderstood in retrospect how,
if I'd stayed on the traditionalpath, I wouldn't have been
happy, because it wouldn't haveallowed me to unlock these
knowings that are connected tomy soul, that I didn't realize
(15:52):
that I had when I was younger.
So if you asked the young mewhat do you want to be when you
grow up?
There is no way that I couldhave told anyone that I would
become what I call now anintuitive healer.
And on that path of intuition,healing, exploring, stepping
(16:17):
into the unknown, exploring,stepping into the unknown more
and more, the universe will workwith you to reveal the next
steps, even if it feels likesometimes you're stumbling in
the dark.
I'll tell one last story aboutmy introduction into the field
of spiritual direction and how Ibecame a certified spiritual
(16:41):
director In 2009,.
I was taking a creative writingcourse, a writer's workshop, in
person in Tucson, arizona,through the writer's studio.
We would meet every week.
There was a group of about 15of us in the class, including
(17:04):
the instructor.
Each week we'd be given adifferent writing exercise.
We'd take home, write and thenbring 15 copies to class so that
everybody could read everybodyelse's work that they had been
working on for that week.
Into the third or fourth weekof the class, my printer at home
(17:30):
had stopped working.
I needed to make sure I printedthe copies of what I had been
working on before class.
I decided that I would go tothe local copy shop before class
, after work, make the copiesand then head over.
As I stepped into the copieroffice center that had self came
(17:55):
to, I thought that's quiteexpensive and realized that it
(18:17):
was a color copier.
I moved to the next machine andrealized it was out of order.
I went to the third machine Ah,this is just right, black and
white copier, and it's inworking order.
I went to lift the lid up toplace my work onto the face or
(18:41):
the bed of the copier and when Ilifted the lid up I saw that
there was another piece of paperalready on the face of the
copier.
I lifted it up and read it andit was an application to
Tacheria Interfaith School ofSpiritual Direction.
I started laughing because, hmm, spirit likes to joke with me
(19:06):
that way, and I remember sayingout loud okay, okay, I'll apply.
And I didn't know anythingabout the school, I just knew
that was my next direction tostep into.
After going to class that day,when I got home in the evening,
(19:26):
I took that application, filledit out, sent it in and started
the program in the fall of 2009.
So, again, the path lesstraveled by.
And yet here the universe opensand I step onto that path,
saying yes, it allowed me tostep deeper into my own
(19:51):
interfaith practices, as well asbringing it into my massage
therapy and Reiki sessions, bothin person, my teaching online,
and also with the differentcommunities that I sit with.
Over the last 24 years.
It's been quite a journey.
(20:13):
There have been many timeswhere my heart has felt such joy
and yet many times that I'vehad heartbreak and very
challenging times.
And yet this is the journeythat I have taken that allows me
to enrich myself, my mind, myheart, my soul, so that I can be
(20:37):
present for others as well.
So when I share with you myjourney, it's with the hopes
that sometimes you might notalways know the direction you're
going to go, but if you step intrust on that unknown path and
allow it to be revealed to you,yes, you might stumble and fall,
(21:00):
but you can get back up againand try once more.
It won't always go smoothly,but there'll definitely be
beautiful and amazing moments ofpeople, places that you'll meet
on the journey, as well asmeeting more of yourself as you
(21:21):
expand and grow.
Two roads diverged in a yellowwood and sorry, I could not
travel both and be one traveller.
Long I stood and looked down oneas far as I could To where it
bent in the undergrowth, thentook the other as just as fair
(21:45):
and having perhaps the betterclaim, because it was grassy and
wanted wear, though as for thepassing there had worn them
really about the same, and boththat morning equally lay in
leaves.
No step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first foranother day.
(22:06):
Oh, I kept the first foranother day.
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way, I doubted if I should
ever come back.
I shall be telling this with asigh.
Somewhere, ages and ages hence,two roads diverged in a wood
and I I took the one lesstraveled by, and that has made
(22:30):
all the difference.
Thank you so much for joiningme for this episode of Starseed
Evolution.
I'm, shannon, and grateful thatyou've been on this journey
with me.
May your own journey ofself-discovery on your path
(22:51):
always lead you back home toyourself.
I wish you a beautiful andamazing day, namaste.
Hi, thank you so much for joining me today.
I'm Shannon and this isStarseed Evolution, bringing the
wisdom and insight of thecosmos to you.
I'm grateful that you'relistening In our episode today.
I'd like to piggyback off ofour second episode, where I
(00:26):
shared the poem that I hadwritten about starting a new
path.
This got me to thinking about aquestion that some of my
clients have been asking merecently, which is how did I get
into the work that I do withmassage, reiki, cranial sacral
(00:47):
therapy and spiritual direction,along with leading classes?
When I think about that question, the poem by Robert Frost, the
Road Less Taken, pops into mymind.
Part of it goes like this Popsinto my mind.
Part of it goes like this Tworoads diverged in a yellow wood
(01:10):
and, sorry, I could not travelboth and be one traveler long.
I stood and looked down one asfar as I could To where it bent
in the undergrowth, and at theend of the poem Robert Frost
says this to where it bent inthe undergrowth.
And at the end of the poemRobert Frost says this Two roads
diverged in a wood and I I tookthe one less traveled by and
(01:42):
that has made all the difference.
Hindsight is often 20-20.
When we're on a new path,stepping forward into the
unknown, sometimes we wantguarantees about how it's going
to turn out, so maybe we takethe safe path or the more
traditional road because wemight understand it better.
(02:03):
But that doesn't always allowus to grow spiritually and it
can be more challenging to takethat other path, the one less
traveled by, because it'sunexpected twists and turns.
But what I'd most like to talkabout is that question that many
(02:25):
kids have been asked in thepast what do you want to be when
you grow up?
I often took that question toheart, and if the adult that is
me now told the child that I wasin the past, what I was going
(02:45):
to be doing as far as my careerand life, there's no way in my
childhood I could havecomprehended what that meant,
because it wasn't even in myvision.
Often, on the spiritual path,that's how it can unfold in an
unknown direction that revealsitself as we step deeper and
(03:10):
deeper into the woods of thatuntraveled path.
So what I'd like to do withthis episode is share the path
that I took, all the twists andturns, and the hope is this is
that when you're listening tohow I've made my way on this
(03:31):
path.
Maybe it'll give you someinspiration or encouragement or
hope about stepping onto theunknown paths in your life.
The first part of my journeyafter high school was going to
the University of Arizona.
This was a traditional paththat I had stepped into, which
(03:55):
just followed the direction Iwas going as I took more classes
and learned what I could orcouldn't do, or what I felt
called to, or just what Iunderstood from my point of view
at that time, was I ended upgoing into English education
(04:17):
with a minor in Spanish.
Ultimately, it shifted me intothe career path of teaching high
school which, if you knew me,made sense, since my dad was in
the education field for over 40years at the high school level.
Once I graduated from collegeand started teaching high school
(04:40):
, it was a rude awakening for mebecause emotionally, being a
sensitive or highly sensitiveperson, which we'll go more into
that in another episode I wasnot able to hold space in a
traditional classroom like thatfor so many students and I
(05:02):
discovered that I did not wantto be a teacher.
This led me then into well,what do I do now, putting me on
an unknown path which I hadnever navigated up until that
point.
Now, another clue for you aboutmy age, without giving it away,
(05:25):
is that this was occurring inthe 1990s, so the advent of the
World Wide Web wasn't quitethere yet.
So what I did was startedworking at a local grocery store
so I could earn some money,feed myself, have a roof over my
(05:46):
head and start moving into life.
As I began working, I realizedthat my brain needed more
stimulation because I enjoyedstudying and doing research and
understanding the human body.
I had been a gymnastcompetitively for 13 years, and
(06:10):
so while I worked at the grocerystore I also began exploring
physical therapy as a volunteer,helping at different clinics,
both inpatient and outpatient,and while I was doing that I was
also exploring the questions ofwhat was internally motivating
(06:32):
for me.
That would be important on mypath.
As I explored the physicaltherapy field, I realized that
if I wanted to move more in thatdirection as a professional,
then I should probably find ajob that was medically related.
That's when I came across aposting for a CAT scan MRI tech
(06:55):
assistant with on-the-jobtraining.
I applied for that job and gotaccepted, which led me into the
path for a couple of years ofjust working with patients,
radiologists, cat scan and MRItechs and really learning the
nuances of both the medical sideprofessionally, as well as
(07:19):
interviewing patients.
Through that self-discovery,what it led me to understand was
that I enjoyed the contact withpatients more than I did just
the medical side of things anddecided, because of my volunteer
work with physical therapy, I'dgo back to school and become a
(07:43):
physical therapy assistant.
I applied for school, got in,then in the evenings I was going
to school.
Now I can tell you that eachstep I took when I relate it to
you now in a direct manner, ohyes, it makes lots of sense.
(08:04):
However, as I experienced eachstep on this unknown path where
is it leading me?
I had a lot of anxiety becauseof the uncertainty.
I also saw that each step Itook, I was supported by the
universe, by my family, as Itook that path.
(08:28):
Working with patients reallydid feed my spirit.
Now, once I graduated, I landeda job as a physical therapy
assistant at a local clinic, andfor two years I worked there
and gained skills of reallybeginning to relate to people,
(08:50):
to what they were going throughin their healing journey.
I always have this drive orthis need, though, to go farther
or really put my brain into useso that it doesn't get stagnant
.
And what I discovered duringthat time was, as much as I
(09:12):
enjoyed the field of physicaltherapy as an assistant, I knew
the repetition of it would notfeed me in my mind or my soul.
I began asking then thisquestion what direction should I
go?
And that is when I met amassage therapist who was also
(09:36):
working at the clinic where Iwas working as well.
We became friends and sheexplained to me about the field
of massage therapy and I beganto explore that direction some
more.
As I sat in contemplation,often for many months, it was
(09:57):
always this question.
For many months, it was alwaysthis question do I go the route
of physical therapy to go backto school and get my master's At
that time it was a master'sdegree.
Now I know in this current dayand age it's a doctorate or do I
move in the direction ofmassage therapy?
(10:19):
Both paths would allow me to 1.
Work with people, 2.
Help in people's healingprocesses and 3.
Further my education.
(10:43):
Ultimately, I decided to go thepath less traveled by anyone
that I had known before and soapplied for massage therapy
school, got in, got accepted,and it was a year-long training
program.
Now, when we step onto a path,we often step onto it from a
singular perspective in our mindabout what we think that
direction is going to be for us.
(11:04):
However, we don't always seewhat is going to bubble up.
That we weren't expecting.
When I entered the massagetherapy program, it was from the
direction of helping peoplewith physical injuries that they
might have sustained and usingmassage therapy techniques to
(11:25):
help them heal and become wellagain.
Now I would say that, yes, thatis one of the things that I
accomplished, going in thatdirection.
However, as I moved deeper intothe program, I also bumped into
different things that I didn'tknow anything about.
For example, when the teacherswould talk about grounding
(11:48):
ourselves or connecting with theenergy of earth, my mind
thought what are they talkingabout?
So it was something that I waswholly unfamiliar with in that
type of language, although I hadprobably been doing it since I
was a young kid.
I just didn't realize it.
(12:09):
Towards the end of my massagetherapy school program, I met a
teacher who I really connectedwith and she was one of my
instructors who taught botharomatherapy so connecting with
the medicine of flowers toassist in healing and she was
also a Reiki practitioner.
(12:31):
At this time I didn't know whatReiki was energy work
connecting with the energy fieldso, as I trusted my connection
with this particular teacher, itopened up something inside of
me that wanted to explore thatmore, even if I wasn't quite
sure what it all meant.
(12:54):
Once I graduated from themassage therapy program
successfully and began workingwith clients individually, there
was an aha moment that reallyhelped me know that energy, the
aura field, the energy thatsurrounds us, was real.
The event was that I wasworking at a clinic down in
(13:20):
Green Valley in Arizona.
A client came in to get amassage treatment and she was
having a bad day because she wasgrieving for the loss of her
mother.
As she came in and we weretalking before the session we
just talked about what wascoming up for her I stepped out
(13:41):
of the room and let her getready for the massage session.
When I came back in, she wasface down underneath that top
sheet.
I came over, had her do acouple of deep breaths and then,
as I began to move my handsover her back, to place them on
(14:02):
her back, just to make thatfirst contact as my hands were
coming down to touch her backabout six inches away from her
physical body.
My hands hit what felt like asolid wall.
I couldn't push my hands downpast this wall of energy that
(14:23):
was six inches above her actualbody.
That's when I was like, oh mygosh, the energy is real.
Like I can literally feel thisinvisible wall.
There was a part of me thatunderstood that this was the
grief around her mother and thispart of her that was shut off,
(14:45):
that opened a whole new paththat I was not expecting when I
first stepped onto the path ofmassage therapy.
From there I began exploringReiki.
I began my certification inlevel one, two, three and
becoming a master teacher inReiki.
(15:06):
That led then to the path ofdiscovering more through cranial
sacral therapy, which then ledme into learning about animals
as wellgetically and gettingcertified in animal
communication and animal massagetherapy.
Through those years on thisunknown path, the less traveled
(15:32):
by that Robert Frost spoke of, Iunderstood in retrospect how,
if I'd stayed on the traditionalpath, I wouldn't have been
happy, because it wouldn't haveallowed me to unlock these
knowings that are connected tomy soul, that I didn't realize
(15:52):
that I had when I was younger.
So if you asked the young mewhat do you want to be when you
grow up?
There is no way that I couldhave told anyone that I would
become what I call now anintuitive healer.
And on that path of intuition,healing, exploring, stepping
(16:17):
into the unknown, exploring,stepping into the unknown more
and more, the universe will workwith you to reveal the next
steps, even if it feels likesometimes you're stumbling in
the dark.
I'll tell one last story aboutmy introduction into the field
of spiritual direction and how Ibecame a certified spiritual
(16:41):
director In 2009,.
I was taking a creative writingcourse, a writer's workshop, in
person in Tucson, arizona,through the writer's studio.
We would meet every week.
There was a group of about 15of us in the class, including
(17:04):
the instructor.
Each week we'd be given adifferent writing exercise.
We'd take home, write and thenbring 15 copies to class so that
everybody could read everybodyelse's work that they had been
working on for that week.
Into the third or fourth weekof the class, my printer at home
(17:30):
had stopped working.
I needed to make sure I printedthe copies of what I had been
working on before class.
I decided that I would go tothe local copy shop before class
, after work, make the copiesand then head over.
As I stepped into the copieroffice center that had self came
(17:55):
to, I thought that's quiteexpensive and realized that it
(18:17):
was a color copier.
I moved to the next machine andrealized it was out of order.
I went to the third machine Ah,this is just right, black and
white copier, and it's inworking order.
I went to lift the lid up toplace my work onto the face or
(18:41):
the bed of the copier and when Ilifted the lid up I saw that
there was another piece of paperalready on the face of the
copier.
I lifted it up and read it andit was an application to
Tacheria Interfaith School ofSpiritual Direction.
I started laughing because, hmm, spirit likes to joke with me
(19:06):
that way, and I remember sayingout loud okay, okay, I'll apply.
And I didn't know anythingabout the school, I just knew
that was my next direction tostep into.
After going to class that day,when I got home in the evening,
(19:26):
I took that application, filledit out, sent it in and started
the program in the fall of 2009.
So, again, the path lesstraveled by.
And yet here the universe opensand I step onto that path,
saying yes, it allowed me tostep deeper into my own
(19:51):
interfaith practices, as well asbringing it into my massage
therapy and Reiki sessions, bothin person, my teaching online,
and also with the differentcommunities that I sit with.
Over the last 24 years.
It's been quite a journey.
(20:13):
There have been many timeswhere my heart has felt such joy
and yet many times that I'vehad heartbreak and very
challenging times.
And yet this is the journeythat I have taken that allows me
to enrich myself, my mind, myheart, my soul, so that I can be
(20:37):
present for others as well.
So when I share with you myjourney, it's with the hopes
that sometimes you might notalways know the direction you're
going to go, but if you step intrust on that unknown path and
allow it to be revealed to you,yes, you might stumble and fall,
(21:00):
but you can get back up againand try once more.
It won't always go smoothly,but there'll definitely be
beautiful and amazing moments ofpeople, places that you'll meet
on the journey, as well asmeeting more of yourself as you
(21:21):
expand and grow.
Two roads diverged in a yellowwood and sorry, I could not
travel both and be one traveller.
Long I stood and looked down oneas far as I could To where it
bent in the undergrowth, thentook the other as just as fair
(21:45):
and having perhaps the betterclaim, because it was grassy and
wanted wear, though as for thepassing there had worn them
really about the same, and boththat morning equally lay in
leaves.
No step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first foranother day.
(22:06):
Oh, I kept the first foranother day.
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way, I doubted if I should
ever come back.
I shall be telling this with asigh.
Somewhere, ages and ages hence,two roads diverged in a wood
and I I took the one lesstraveled by, and that has made
(22:30):
all the difference.
Thank you so much for joiningme for this episode of Starseed
Evolution.
I'm, shannon, and grateful thatyou've been on this journey
with me.
May your own journey ofself-discovery on your path
(22:51):
always lead you back home toyourself.
I wish you a beautiful andamazing day, namaste.
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