Don't Force It - EP 008

Hello and welcome to Pleasure & Profits, I’m your host Rachel Anzalone and today is NOT the day I planned to put out this episode.

As I’m recording this, it is Friday, December 22nd. The day after the winter solstice.

When I was planning this episode, I intended that it would be an episode ABOUT the solstice, released BEFORE the solstice.

But, here’s what happened instead…

For an entire week, whenever my thoughts would turn to this episode and what I might want to share about this year’s solstice, I kept drawing a blank.

And, the thing is, I LOVE talking about the solstice. I love CELEBRATING the solstice. In the past I have done rituals, ceremonies, and 108 sun salutations honoring the day. Last year I held a workshop called Deepen, where I gathered with brilliant, soulful women to honor the transition of the season together, with breath, with movement, with intention setting.

But for some reason, this year, no matter how hard I tried or how many times I let it go and came back with a fresh mind and heart, nothing was coming to me.

I even started outlining some basic solstice notes hoping they would get the juices flowing…

It’s the longest night and shortest day of the year.

It’s a time to go inward for self reflection and contemplation.

It’s the marking of the coming of the light, the return of the sun as the days begin to grow longer and longer, even if only by minutes per day.

After the darkness comes the rebirth.

It’s the solar new year - a time to set intentions and call in what we desire for the coming year.

I wrote all of this down… and yet still… nothing was coming to me.

I thought…maybe it will come as the solstice grows closer. 

And then the day before I thought… maybe it will come ON the solstice. 

And then, on the solstice, I reminded myself that the inspiration would come when it was ready.

And so I wrote this sentence in my journal…

“Why am I at such a standstill with this solstice episode…and with my work this week in general?”

Because… it wasn’t just the episode that wasn’t flowing. Really nothing had been flowing for about a week. Everything was feeling heavy, and slow, and… hazy.

At one last week point I messaged someone on one of my teams and said… I need you to be my brain today because I can’t make this make sense. Luckily I work with some brilliant and badass people and she came through for me in that moment.

So, yesterday, on the solstice, I wrote that sentence in my journal, followed by…

“What’s the message that I need to hear? That my listeners need to hear?”

And immediately I heard the words…

Don’t force it.

Well, I thought…there you have it.

Then I pulled a card from The Divine Feminine Oracle deck by Meggan Watterson, and this is the message I received:

Love is divine, and I am nothing except love.

In the description I read:

“We can let go of what we think we need to prove or who we think we need to be in order to receive love because we remember that we ARE love. Then we can stand in that truth, even through flames.” 

And so, I walked away from the effort of trying to bring something into being before its time. I went to a yoga class. I went to dinner with my husband. I went to bed. And I woke up feeling lighter. Lighter energetically because I’d removed the weight of trying to force something that wasn’t ready to be born, and lighter in the sense that today is in fact, lighter than yesterday. And tomorrow will be lighter still.

And so now, here I am, the day after the solstice, and I can see that I couldn’t write about the solstice, about going into the darkness, the quiet, the internal, the solitude, and the reflection, because I was busy being IN it.

And probably, so were you.

So… welcome to the other side. To the coming of the light. To the season where there is so much growth happening underground, even if we can’t see it yet. We just have to trust that the magic is happening. And every day as it get lighter and lighter, we get closer and closer to the harvest

I have a feeling, this next season is going to be a really incredible one. But for now, let’s just be where we are, and not force it.

Until next time, I’m wishing you even more pleasure and a reminder that the profits can wait until next week.

Take care,
Rachel  

If you’re ready to have a deeper conversation about how to maximize impact, profit and pleasure in your business and life, you can schedule a time to connect with me right here >>> 

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