I am so blessed in the life that I live. I am blessed with good health, work that I love, family and friends around the world that are dear to my heart, a beautiful home, and so many opportunities for travel and meeting wonderful people. In the last three months I have worked in the U.S., The Netherlands, Romania, Scotland, Denmark, and Sweden, as well as globally through coaching and teleclasses. It was on a tiny island off the northwest coast of Sweden, almost to Norway, that I celebrated this year's summer solstice.
The island is Resö; the event was a four-day Soul Mission * Life Vision intensive retreat. It seemed that the stars were aligned for this particular group of us to be in that place doing that work at that time.
First, the place. Resö is a tiny island, perhaps a mile from one end to the other, with only about 200 year-round residents. This was my second visit there. Mostly forest and small meadows with one tiny village, it is a quiet and peaceful place. Resö is surrounded by several other small islands, so even though you might have glimpses of water from parts of the island, the main impression is of forest and rock. It is easy to forget that you are so close to the open sea. I will never forget the first time that I followed the path through the forest to the highest point on the island. I had no idea what I was about to discover. As I stepped out of the forest and up onto a huge expanse of rock and scattered scrubby evergreens, I was greeted by boundless open sky and a view that took my breath away. One moment I was in the coziness of the forest and the next I was standing above the many small rock islands and looking out to the North Sea. Just before the path opens from the forest onto this magnificent viewpoint, you must pass through a very old circle of stones – a portal, I soon realized, into a timeless world of expansiveness, power, perseverance, and strength. These rocks and scrubby trees have stood the test of countless North Sea winters. And at this summer solstice season, they stood proudly in the ever-present light and called me forth to recognize my own place in the world.
Such a perfect place and time for discovering soul mission and creating vision. Though this isn’t quite far enough north to be the land of the midnight sun, during the summer solstice season it still never really gets dark on Resö. The sun drops behind the horizon about 11:00 PM and rises again about three hours later, yet even if the sun has dropped out of sight, there is still plenty of light to find your way at midnight. The forests and water held us in an embrace of great support, love, and healing, while the rock, wind, and long vistas over the islands and out to sea challenged us to stand firmly in our truth, get in touch with a long-range view of our lives, and claim the gifts we were given birth to share. And then there was the light. When the darkness of night never comes, there is no place to hide from who you are, from who you are called to be, from feelings and emotions, or from one another. The elements of earth, wind, fire, and water conspired with the ever-present light of the sun to call each of us to our magnificence. And each of us stepped up to claim and bask in the light of our presence in our own ways with honor, humility, and grace.
Photo - Jan Norden
The “stars align” for all of us at different times and in different ways in our lives. We experience those moments when, if we are paying attention, we recognize that all of the pieces have come together for something important to happen, a significant shift to occur, or a new discovery to be made. While several of the participants in this Soul Mission workshop arrived with clear intention and understanding of why they had come, there were also several who introduced themselves at the opening of our time together by saying that they didn’t really know why they were there. They just were very clear that they needed to be there. They didn’t know what was going to happen, yet intuitively they knew that this was where they needed to be for whatever was to happen next.
Life brings us opportunities for transformation, growth, learning, and healing. It is our job to pay attention and respond when those opportunities arise. We learn to recognize these auspicious times in our lives when new doors start opening, synchronicities occur, and when our hearts seem to be beating a bit faster or our souls are filled with anticipation. Something inside seems to be “on alert” that we are entering an important time or something is about to happen. Each time we are willing to step into the emerging potential, listen to it, respond to it, and follow that potential to its unfolding, we step more fully into the fullness of who we are called to be. We live into our potential and become a more dynamic and effective co-creator in the world.
Photo - Jan Norden
Life moves through each of us in rhythms and cycles. When it is time for a cycle to come to an end or for the rhythm within the cycle to shift, the “stars align” and portals open. Pay attention to where you are in your rhythms and cycles. Pay attention to what is showing up. Notice when things are remaining stable or when things are getting stirred up – when you feel secure in how things are unfolding or when you have no idea what the next day might bring. Step into the power of the moment and follow the energy. Trust that you will be guided, and you will. You may not know what the next step will be until the instant that you take it, yet in that moment you will know. Keep refining your atunement to the rhythms and cycles for you and the opportunities and challenges that unexpectedly arise. Listen to your soul, and respond.
Soul Mission Profile: Marie Klint—Courage and Core
by Johnathon Pape
Sometimes the journey to self is like peeling an onion – gently removing each layer to reveal the next deeper understanding of our truth. This requires both courage and patience, which are qualities that Marie Klint has in abundance. Marie started her career in healthcare – first as an assistant in a mental health clinic, then as a nurse specializing in elderly and home care, and finally as the head nurse and health care administrator for a large section of Malmö, Sweden where she lives. “The year and a half I spent working at the psychiatric clinic was my biggest learning in the shortest time,” she explains. “I saw what we are capable of as human beings – our complexity, the dimensions of our brains, and how that influences and affects us. And I learned that my presence could make a difference. I saw the effect it has when a person is really seen and allowed to be, even in their most bizarre and challenging way of being.”
After several years in the healthcare industry, Marie suffered an extreme case of burnout, becoming very sick and exhausted. She knew there were changes that had to be made in her life. She left her job and started the path to healing. “I spent a lot of time walking by the sea, went deeper into yoga and meditation, and kept asking what I wanted in my life. I got an awareness that my illness was actually a gift and I had the opportunity to reorder my life. I felt there was another profession for me. I was a good nurse, but had always been more interested in the interaction and work with the patients than with the science of their diagnosis. My new profession needed to involve teaching, mentoring, and supervision.” She studied pedagogy for a year, but quickly realized that although she loved teaching, she wasn’t passionate about teaching within the healthcare system, even though she was being offered positions in that field. Her real passion was for development and learning. That was a connecting thread throughout all of the different jobs she had held. Then, while searching for something completely unrelated on the internet, she came across an ad for a coaching school. She was intrigued and investigated further, eventually applying to the school. She had found her new calling. “Coaching became my tool. I knew I had the presence, confidence, and ability to help people feel safe and seen, and coaching was the vehicle. It was a big relief and I fell in love with it.”
Marie did her coach training in 2007 and a couple of years later took the Intuitive Soul Consultant Training and The Manifestation Wheel workshop that Alan presented in Sweden. She also started coaching with Alan and through this work discovered her soul mission – I infuse courage and uncover core. This language was so powerful for Marie. Uncovering core was exactly what she had done during her illness, one step at a time, and it is part of what she loves about coaching. Infusing courage is also important language because it is about a complete but gentle saturation, which had been Marie’s strength as a nurse, an essential part of her own healing, and what she can bring to those she works with as a coach.
Johnathon Pape: Thank you for sharing your story with us. Your soul mission is so potent. How has claiming and living it changed your life?
Marie Klint: My life is much more focused, and that includes my energy. It´s like having a very clear string or path to hold onto, and to get back to whenever there is a new situation to deal with. I know where I´m going and why. With the help from my soul mission I can solve the situation much easier and clear my thoughts and feelings and not get caught up in the drama. It also helps me know when to say yes or no to different projects. The people around me also seem to see me and my intentions more clearly. All together it gives me calmness, trust, and energy to live my life in love with all my potential.
JP: And how has your life vision evolved since your first wrote it?
MK: I’ve started a company, Boost Coaching (www.boostcoaching.se), together with a colleague. We planned the company with the help of the Manifestation Wheel, and my Soul Mission has guided me in that work. We have set up plans for different workshops that all involve my mission. I live the process in some way all the time. I’ve made time every day for meditation, and in our company we try to tap into the energy of our projects every morning. Just last week we had the premier lecture on a new tool we’ve created called the Timeprofile.
JP: That sounds like a very useful tool for our world! Tell me more…
MK: We’ll be launching a 2-day workshop on the Timeprofile in September. It’s a tool that’s been in my awareness for a long time. During my illness, when I had no energy at all, I had to look at how I could manage in this demanding world. The Timeprofile is a tool for time awareness – not just time management. There are basically 4 different time types – 2 that are for “being” and 2 that are for “doing.” The Timeprofile helps you understand where you live most of the time, where you show up, where you’re at ease. Once you know your present time profile, you can create a future time profile. How would that look? How would it make a difference in your life and in the lives of those around you? The Timeprofile is another door, another way to help us get into the “being,” since so much of the time we live in the “doing.”
JP: I love that it’s about understanding the difference in being and doing – what Alan would call the horizontal and the vertical – and how to make choices about using your time from a centered, soulful place, rather than just making a better “to do” list.
MK: The Ancient Greeks had two different gods of time – Chronos and Kairos. Chronos was all about doing. He created linear time. But Kairos was about being. He was the god of “catching the moment.” He is often depicted with his hair in a pony tail. The person who could catch Kairos’ pony tail was granted an opportune moment.
JP: It sounds like you and Kairos have been manifesting wonderful things in your career. What about in your personal life – what are you manifesting there, and does it relate to your soul mission?
MK: I play the electric bass in a band and my mission comes to some importance in my relationship to the other members of the band, as well as to the music. What I´m especially manifesting is a new way of dealing with performing on stage. This has been a difficult situation with a lot of pressure and anxiety but now I see my mission coming to live even there. As long as we’re in the rehearsal room I really enjoy the band – we have a lot of fun. But going onstage was different – terrifying at first. I thought about quitting, but I stuck with it and faced my demons. I’m really glad I did.
JP: It sounds like the perfect opportunity to infuse courage and uncover core.
MK: Yes. So before we perform now, I have discussions between soul and ego – within myself and within the group – to get focused. We always have a moment before we go onstage so we can tune in to the energy we want to bring onstage.
JP: How did you get started with the band?
MK: A woman I had worked with in nursing was forming a band and she received some kind of a funding grant to put together a band where 50% of the personnel were experienced musicians and the rest were not. She had heard me sing at a holiday birthday party or something, and decided I had some musical talent. She asked if I’d like to learn the drums or the electric bass. I chose the bass. The band is a lot of fun. I’m still nervous when we perform but it’s much better.
Marie rehearsing with her band Foxy Four
JP: Aside from stage fright, what has been the greatest challenge to living your soul mission?
MK: Putting it into a form and action that other people can understand. But the gift in this has been to trust my intuition and find a way around my “achiever” – who I am in the horizontal. I have to listen to the vertical – where my intuition lives – and let that be the captain of the ship instead of my “achiever.” When I got sick and exhausted, my “achiever” was in control. I can’t do that again. I can still achieve, but with a different process and a different result in what you’re achieving.
JP: What tool from Soul Mission * Life Vision and/or Manifestation has been particularly useful to you?
MK: The Point of Stillness exercise. It reconnects me with my core so that I can also reconnect with my intuition. I’ve learned that my intuitive ability is much stronger than I thought. I can rely on my inner wisdom.
JP: What would you say to someone who is considering takingSoul Mission * Life Vision and/or Manifestation?
MK: I’m forever grateful for coming to know Alan.I live with all my learning from Soul Mission and The Manifestation Wheel every day and often talk about it with people I meet. It´s one of the best things I´ve ever done. It changed my way of living. So if you are ready for a life-changing experience…do it!
Video of the Month: Introit and Kyrie from Duruflé's Requiem
In celebration of the life of my father, James M. Seale, who died June 27th, I share with you the first two movements of Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem. This is one of my favorite choral works because of its mystical nature and incredible beauty. I hope you enjoy it.
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