Synchronicity in Santa Fe: Channeling Transformation

Let us know what you enjoy about the show!

Santa Fe, New Mexico, is not merely a geographical location; it's a canvas where the spiritual and artistic realms weave a vibrant tapestry, capable of touching souls and igniting change. Lisa Hopkins' latest podcast episode invites listeners on a profound journey through this enchanting town, sharing experiences that resonate deeply with the heart's yearning for transformation.

The story begins with Lisa's arrival in Santa Fe, a moment that marks the onset of liberation and self-discovery. She recounts the initial days spent roaming the historic streets, allowing the town's essence to envelop her senses. This was not just sightseeing; it was a pilgrimage, a quest for personal truth among the adobe buildings and azure skies. Lisa's narrative explores the profound impact of place on personal growth, highlighting how Santa Fe's blend of history, spirituality, art, and nature serves as a backdrop to her own unfolding story.

The podcast not only recounts Lisa's experiences but also offers listeners a chance to reflect on their own paths. It's an invitation to embrace the transformative power of art, to find solace in the introspective beauty of change, and to carry the spirit of Santa Fe forward. As listeners journey through the podcast, they are encouraged to consider how their own lives are works of art, subject to revision and reimagining, and how every step taken is part of a grander design.

A philosophical exploration, a guide to living with intention and wonder. It teaches us to appreciate the mosaic of life while being open to its transformation into something more fluid, interconnected, and surprising. Lisa Hopkins' journey through Santa Fe's creative landscape becomes a mirror for our own, reflecting the profound and beautiful process of becoming who we are meant to be.

If you are enjoying the show please subscribe, share and review! Word of mouth is incredibly impactful and your support is much appreciated!

Support the Show.

TAKE YOUR MINDFULNESS & INSIGHTS ONE STEP FURTHER WITH PREMIUM MEDITATIONS

Subscribe to premium content today and have access to bonus episodes worksheets and meditations. Whether you are looking to relax, recenter, reduce stress, increase motivation, fall asleep peacefully or wakeup ready to take on the day, these meditations and visualizations are for you.

You will also have the opportunity to connect directly with me via email to let me know what kind of meditations you are looking for, share your episode insights and suggest guests that you might be interested in hearing from so that I can create content for you!

Subscriptions begin at $3/month and subscribers who choose $10 a month subscription also receive a monthly coaching exercise from my client workbook.

Interested in finding out more about working with Lisa Hopkins?
Visit www.wideopenstages.com
Follow Lisa https://www.instagram.com/wideopenstages/

Episode Transcript

Lisa Hopkins (00:00):
Hey there.
So you haven't heard from me ina little over a week because I
was unplugged and spending sometime in Santa Fe with one of my
mentors.
I've never been to Santa Fe,new Mexico, but it was truly a

(00:23):
sublime experience and there'ssomething I discovered there,
among other things, that I'dlove to share with you.
I arrived at the event onMonday evening and had two days
to myself before the actualevent began.

(00:44):
Had two days to myself beforethe actual event began, but for
me the event truly began themoment I got on the plane.
I arrived at night and it hadbeen a long day of travel, so it
wasn't until Tuesday morningthat I woke up and got a sense

(01:06):
of where I was.
It felt liberating to be allalone in a new place which was
mine to discover, and that I hadplenty of time to think about
what lay ahead for me with mymentor.
So I got ready that morning andout I went.

(01:28):
I was quite hungry because Ihadn't eaten all day the day
before due to great connectionswhich didn't allow me eating.
So, double-edged sword.
Like most of us, in anticipationof coming to this new place, I
did have some preconceivednotions, and I think the

(01:52):
distinction between preconceivednotions and expectations is an
important one.
Although I didn't actuallyexpect anything of the place.
Although I didn't actuallyexpect anything of the place, I
did kind of again, due to myresearch, have these
preconceived notions about whatit would look like, what it

(02:14):
would feel like, and so Iobserved myself as I walked out
the hotel room and into thehotel lobby and then out the
lobby of the hotel.
I observed myself lookingaround, trying to find something
to grab onto that matched thatpreconceived notion I had of

(02:35):
what Santa Fe was supposed tolook like.
Isn't it funny.
I wasn't disappointed, butbecause it was a new place and
because I only had my research,I think it's perfectly natural
to want to grab onto somethingthat matches what you know or

(02:59):
believed.
I took a deep breath and letany of those thoughts or notions
go and I made my way into townand the closer I came to the
center of town, where the squareand the vendors and the

(03:24):
architecture and the colors andthe sun and the blue sky, it all
enveloped me and it didn'tmatter anymore what I thought it
would be, because it just wasin this moment.
And what it was, let me tellyou, was sublime, was sublime.

(03:44):
There was just this energy,this feeling of deep-rooted
history and connectivity andspirituality, and art and color
and stories.
About every single thing youlooked at.
It was phenomenal.
So you remember I said I washungry.

(04:07):
Well, I did have my coffee, butthe hunger subsided because the
hunger for exploration wasstronger than my hunger in my
stomach.
And so I went forth and Iexplored and I wandered, I

(04:27):
roamed in and out of gardens andgalleries, through churches and
sculpture gardens to thisparticular adobe building which
happened to be the New MexicoMuseum of Art.
It was such a beautifulstructure and I took a picture

(04:52):
of it from across the street.
I noticed that there was a signup on the wall, but I couldn't
read it, so I moved closer.
I think it's important to notethat I've really been thinking
about how I've talked about mylife as a mosaic, a combination

(05:13):
of all the beautiful pieces ofmy life that have come together
to make this beautiful whole,and I've always identified with
that.
But lately I've been havingthis kind of inner knowing, this
sense that maybe it's time tomelt, to change the form of the

(05:37):
mosaic, to make it more fluidand less separated by grout,
like mosaics are the grout inour life, if you will Less
siloed, more all-in-one and lessdistinguishable except when

(05:57):
really all mixed in together.
So I'd been kind of thinking alot about this.
So I'd been kind of thinking alot about this, and as I neared
the sign on the side of themuseum maybe it's no surprise,
but the artist that wasexhibiting the title of the
exhibit was To Make, unmake andMake Again I was profoundly

(06:24):
drawn in.
When synchronicities like thishappen in my life, I suddenly
become very laser focused, andso I knew that I was going into
the museum, and into the museumI went and I spoke to the docent
at the door, who pointed me inthe direction of this particular

(06:50):
exhibit, which was my numberone thing to see.
She pointed me to the left andsaid go that way.
And so I did.
And I walked into an area wherethere was a well, to me it
looked like a theater, but I'mguessing it was a chapel of some

(07:11):
kind and there was a stage andit was quite lovely.
And I breathed that in, justrecognizing how comfortable I
felt.
Nothing was going on there.
In fact some of the technicianswere working on something.
Well, the exhibit clearlywasn't there.
So I wandered upstairs, whichwas the only way you could go
beyond going outside again.

(07:32):
So up the stairs I went and Iwas on the balcony of the
theater and again I looked downand smiled, grateful for all the
many, many years I've hadbehind the scenes in my
theatrical life.
But the exhibit was not there.
It was nowhere to be found.
So I looked to my right andthere was a door that was ajar.

(07:59):
So I passed through.
I found myself on the roof.
The sky was vast and blue andthe sun bright.
There was a kind of rooftopplaza, not meant for people, but

(08:23):
there I was, in an area whereperhaps I was not supposed to be
.
I took a photograph, of course,and it occurred to me that this
is a pattern in my life passingthrough doors that are ajar.
In any case, it was gettingwarm and I really did want to

(08:46):
see the exhibit.
So there was a door on theother side of the roof and I
thought well, I'll go throughthere.
Maybe that's where it is.
Keep in mind that that door wasnot ajar.
So as I made my way over there,being careful not to fall
through the roof, which was alittle softened by the sun, fall

(09:07):
through the roof, which was alittle softened by the sun, and
when I reached the door, thedoor was locked.
The door on the other side waslocked.
I worried for a split secondthat I might get caught or,
worse yet, locked up there inburning bright light of the
Santa Fe sun, and so I went backthe way that I came Back

(09:35):
through the theater and downinto the museum, eventually
finding the exhibit which I'lltell you about in a moment.
Finding the exhibit which I'lltell you about in a moment.
I noticed later that in thephoto that I took that there is

(09:55):
a ladder lying down on theground on the roof, where I
stood and on my journey tointegrate all of me into my work
.
The metaphor intrigues me.
The ladder was lying downbetween an open door and a
closed door.
Interesting, I'll continue toexplore that.

(10:21):
The fact that I was invited togo back down through the theater
, back through my history, backthrough that part of me to the
exhibit, was not lost on me andthis idea that it's not always
about going forward and forgingand moving ahead and leaving

(10:44):
things behind or keeping themseparate with the grout.
The first sign that I saw inthe exhibit described the artist
as a potter, scholar, writer,collector, curator, publisher,
dealer, maker.

(11:04):
I smiled as I thought about howboldly it said each of the
things that he was.
Another sign said time to grow.
I snapped a shot of somethingthat the artist, rick Dillingham
, said about his work.

(11:25):
He said I calculate my processbut not my work.
The juxtaposition of basicstripes, zigzags, triangles and
circles on the surface lookstricky, but it is not
consciously set out to be a newimage.
When I put these thingstogether, it's as much a

(11:46):
surprise to me as to the viewerInteresting.
I continued to meander throughthe exhibit and his work was
beautiful.
To meander through the exhibitand his work was beautiful, but

(12:08):
somehow I knew that that wasn'twhat I was seeking.
And then I found it.
Underneath the glass casing wasa typed letter from a fellow
artist and mentor, I believe,and it was dated May 6th 1993.
The author of the letter was ahundred years old when she wrote

(12:31):
it.
I'm going to read it to you nowto see if it resonates with you
as it did with me.
You can replace potting, whichis what this woman did, with
whatever it is, that you striveto be in the world and see what
it means to you.
Again, keep in mind that whenshe wrote it she was 100 years

(12:56):
old.
She writes Dear Rick, when youspeak about a new freedom in
your work, I wonder what youmean, because I have found your
pieces free and complete inthemselves, with a fine sense of
decoration.
When we hear about what millionshave to endure in other places

(13:19):
in the world, I think those ofus working in clay are very
lucky.
I know now that I've reached100.
I will have to leave this worldbefore long.
I am mad because there are somany glaze formulas I want to
try.
I know if I live another 50years I would have the same

(13:40):
comment, for I have aninsatiable curiosity, except
about men.
One of my friends said itdoesn't matter how long we live,
it is how we live.
That remark goes with me.
Even though I'm mad that Icannot live forever.
I don't fear death, for I haveread so much and know of so many

(14:02):
strange experiences.
I think it's just stepping intoanother consciousness.
And then she goes on to talkabout her life and who's in her
life and she signs off by sayingand she signs off by saying but

(14:23):
in spite of everything going onin the world, the real interest
that I have is seeing that mytwo dogs and two cats are petted
and happy with love.
I was moved by this, profoundlymoved by this, and again, if
you listen again, you will hearyourself in her words.

(14:44):
It was really quite remarkableto me.
When I got home, I researchedher and she lived another five
years.
She lived to 105 years old.
Amazing right, amazing right.
So the meeting with my mentorand the event and my peers was

(15:05):
beyond my expectations as well,and I could go on to talk about
that.
But what I'd like to share withyou is, after the event was

(15:29):
over, I took a walk and I took aturn into this little alleyway
where some artists weredisplaying their art, and I was
feeling quite light and open andfull and I was drawn towards
this particular piece of art,which actually at first I
thought was a painting, but itturns out it was a photograph.
So I walked towards it and whenI got there, I met the artist,

(15:55):
who is a fine art photographer,who's based in Santa Fe, and I
learned that she had come fromBali, indonesia, and that she
couldn't speak, and she was themost beautiful being.
We had no problem communicatingIn fact our communication

(16:26):
without her being able to speakjust made it that much more rich
.
Suffice to say, I bought thebeautiful photograph of the blue
door and I'm going to leave youwith this thought.
There's a poem that she wrotethat's on the back and, again, I
think it's no coincidence thatI received this as I was getting

(16:47):
ready to leave Santa Fe.
It says the Blue Door In theheart of Santa Fe is a blue door
with a metal bell on top.
From far away, maybe you canhear this bell ringing.
The bell asks us is this theway the knots of the heart are

(17:12):
untied?
Here in the summer, there aremany roses.
In the winter, by the blue door, the snows will drift.
The artist's name is Sinta,sinta Tornick.
I'm going to leave you withthat.

(17:36):
My friends, I'm Lisa Hopkins.
Stay safe and healthy.
Thanks so much for listeningand remember to live in the
moment.