Rachelle Mee-Chapman's Blog

 

Blog Disclaimer:  I’m a white, middle class, cis-het woman writing out of my own experience. I try, in the moments and unfinished places where I am Woke, to use language that acknowledges this, and to honor the skills and experience of folks/folx who are not within my own familiar cohort. Because your voices matter. They are needed. More than mine. Louder than mine.

To all my inter-sectional siblings, I see you. I’m doing my best here to awaken myself, and anyone my voice can influence. I’m sorry we’re so far behind.

Friends, what I want to tell you is this.

Our country is being saved by theater kids.

I don’t know what to do about the state of our nation right now. I’m not the first to say it, but I heartily concur, that after Sandy Hook our leaders decided they care more about money and so-called “power” than about the lives of our children. Or rather, they’d already decided. But it was then that we realized the depth of their commitment to preserving their own cash, their own titles.

I hope those of us who get to camp-out in the privileged places of our country realized something about ourselves too. I hope we realized, like the slap of cold water, that we have not learned how to lead. Our muscles for dissent have atrophied. We’ve acquiesced. (And largely, we continue to do so.)

So I’m ashamed, in the most converting kind of way, of the apathy of so many in the adult generations. Of my own incapacity to know what to do.

Just after the P45 election, my college roommate who is a long time ex-pat in Thailand came back to the states for a visit. We spoke of the disintegration of our nation. Of healthcare, and housing, and guns. And she said, “You know, in Thailand, people would be setting themselves on fire.”

We have not been setting ourselves on fire.
We’ve just been watching our children’s future burn.

I don’t know what else to say about the complacency of people and generations — including me. Especially me. But I do know that I’m in awe of our children.

At Stoneman Douglas and across the nation, our young adults are stepping into the line of fire. With clarity and deep knowledge, they are speaking truth to power. I recently heard Malcom Gladwell say the story of David and Goliath is a story about blindness on the part of the Giant. Our Giant, our politicians, have elected to be blind. And our children are standing in front of Giants with a microphone for a slingshot, and winning the day.

Many of these kids are theater kids, are school newspaper editors, are student council and debate team members — are part of the Humanities. Which confirms what I’ve always conjectured. That you have to use art to preach. That poets are our prophets. (Don’t believe me? Just look at Dr. Martin Luther King.)

It’s amazing to me that this generation can still find art — without funding, without cultural support.

But it does not surprise me that art helps them lead.

Because theater kids sit in a circle on the regular and figure out how to put on a show in the old barn. Theater kids know how to find way — to build sets and costume characters with nothing but thrift stores finds and street-corner furniture. Theater kids know how to start something and not be that good at it — but to receive instruction and grow. Kids in theater — and all who write, and paint, and photograph, and craft debates, and make art of any kind — they know how to access their voice. They understand resilience. They understand what can be done if you tap into passion.

Next week my theater kid, my young newspaper editor, will march with her peers across an overpass. Lukas, and Aiden, and Ally, and Cecilia, and Cate — the full cast of Rosencratz, and Hairspray, and Fiddler, and  How to Succeed — they will all be there. In the face of fear they will stand in the open. In the absence of adults they will step up.

Faced with the sheer stunning reality that 17 year old’s are doing what ALL THE ADULTS IN THE NATION could not, I am indescribably proud. I am grateful. I am humbled. And above all, I am ready to follow.

Set the world on fire, young folx. We’re with you.

With Warmth and Fire,

Rachelle

*your magpie girl

Students nation-wide are staging school walk-outs on March 14th. Some, especially some of the student leaders in Florida, will not return to school until legislation is passed to reform gun laws. Some colleges have vowed to honor the admissions of high school seniors who abdicate the rest of their senior year in order to advocate for gun and mental health care reform. A larger, parent/adult-inclusive march is scheduled for March 24th. Find your local march here. 

The World’s on Fire.

This much is obvious.

What seems much less obvious to those of us with Privileged is it is on fire because we set it on fire.

With Systemic Racism.

With Capitalism as our guiding values.

With Consumption.

We did not honor all expressions of humanity.

We did not honor values that matter.

We did not honor the needs of the Whole.

If this is rubbing you the wrong way. I’m sorry. I truly am. It rubs me the wrong way too. It’s uncomfortable. It hurts to know that I played a part. That I am playing a part — even while I try — imperfectly — to dismantle my own role in the matter.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable…and that is Correct. 

As Jen Lemen so aptly put it on her Facebook page, our nation has a virus. Everyone has been infected, but so far “only” some of our siblings have experienced the  most symptoms.

“Only” people of color.

“Only” the very poor.

“Only” the immigrant.

I and my cohorts — basically the nice white ladies –we’ve not had to feel the symptoms acutely up until now. Now we’ve passed the tipping point of the viral spread. Now we are willing to call it what is is — an epidemic.

So what is the cure?

I can’t pretend to know the answers. I can only do the work put right in front of me. And today that is to write. About Reality Checks. About Resiliency. About old fashioned Tithing.

But first….because there was another massacre in our country this week — NOT the largest, just the largest of mostly white folks —  a few words about Grief.

Grief, A Primer

One of the things white American protestant culture really sucks at is Grief. I am no longer religious, but if I was I’d probably convert to Judiasm. Or maybe ask humbly to be be taught by a Indigenous Shaman. Because they have grief down. But my culture of origin — and given the demographics of this blog, possibly yours — we’ve got nothing.

I don’t know if we are actually grieving the brokeness of our system, or actual lives lost, or the fact that our own futures are no longer what we thought they would be. But whether it’s some, all, or none of the above, the fact is, Grief Happens.

Women tend to be better at grieving that men. We have more experience. Society treats us badly. For many us, Beings we grew in our own bodies have died. Or we never got to bear them at all. Or we don’t want to bear them and we had to. Or we don’t want to bear them and people treat us poorly because of that choice. We get paid less. We lose societal value after 30. Our bodies are treated like sex toys.  Etc., etc., etc.  Every intersectional part of womanhood gets the short stick in the society lotto — some sections more than others. We touch grief a lot.

So here is the best of what I know from Women who Grieve.  If you want, you can take it now, like a fistful of vitamins.

I hope you will.

I hope you will honor your grief.

Because it deserves to be honored.

And perhaps, more importantly, because we have Other Things to Do. And grief takes up more time if you ignore it.

So here’s my primer. The best and basic that I know. (So far.)

Look Your Grief in the Eye. If you stuff grief if grows. Many of us stuff grief because we are afraid if we look at it, it will consume us. So we think if we ignore it, or only peer at it from between our fingers for a brief glance, it will go away.

Grief needs to be seen.

Grief needs to be felt.

Grief needs to be honored.

So stop and cry. The tears won’t drown you. Write it out. Rage. Curl up in a ball. Shake your fist at the sky. Whatever your impulse is, that’s your medicine. Take it. You might be surprised how quickly some kinds of  grief pass, if you just give it the attention it’s asking for. It will probably come back. Grief comes in waves. Sometimes in sneaker waves. Give it the same respect. And it will again ebb.

Treat Your Trauma. Grief is often caused by trauma, and trauma has cellar and muscle memory.  Again, as women most of us have experienced abuse, traumatic births, physical threat. So when we witness abuse, trauma, or physical threat our cells react. Physically this usually manifest as a release in adrenaline and the corresponding “flight or fight” responses — even if we are not in immediate actual danger.

You are not a captive of this. You can burn it off. Walk fast. Run. Jump. Dance. Shake. This will burn off your adrenaline and calm your system.

It’s also helpful  to ground yourself in your immediate surroundings. Feeling disconnected from yourself in a  panic? To bring your mental state back to your current place of safety and away from remembered danger, notice your surroundings. List out loud: “I’m in my office. The walls are yellow. My feet are cold. The dog is barking. I am breathing through my nose.” This calms the trauma, and let’s you respond with right action.

Those are my to favorite techniques for personal trauma management. If this is resonating as familiar, ask a therapist about Trauma Response. I promise, it will help.

Know the Difference. Last week I was on the Olympic Peninsula, touching trees. (As one does. I’m a little bit witchy.) A family member of mine is going through deep trauma, and I was all bound-up in my body with emotional pain for them. I was hoping Mama would guide.me. As I laid my hands on the moss-covered girth, the pine said, “Grieve, don’t spiral. Turn to a new direction. Walk that way out of the past pain and into the future.”

There is a difference between Grief and what I call a Worry Spiral. Grief is about what has just happened or what is happening right now. Worry spirals are about what might happen in the future. We need to honor grief. We do not need to give worry any extra time or attention. It takes up enough all on it’s own, before we can catch it.

Are you grieving or are you worrying? If you are worrying, stand up, and face a different direction. Turn your back on the spiral. Then take steps. What steps? Making helps. (Soup, sweaters, phone calls.) As does clearing and cleansing. (Clean closets, delete contacts, smudge, floss.) Movement never hurts. (Walk, dance, shake — the same as for Trauma response management.)

There are lots of others things I can say about grief. But  we don’t have time for in–depth lessons. We need triage. This is the best triage I know.

Don’t baby grief. And don’t deny it. Give it the correct amount of attention.

Then get on your boots.

With Warmth and Fire,

 

 

 

 

Rachelle

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Got your own go-to medicine for dealing with grief and the worry spiral? Share them out on your social media. We need all the good wisdom medicine we can get! Tag it #priestessrising #religishresistance so we can find each other. Because it’s like I’ve always said, “There’s no where to go, but together.” 

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A Caveat: This is written from the perspective of a white, financially stable, cis woman. I.E. a person of economic and social privilege. I, and my ilk, did not discover the following pieces of observation and advice. In fact, if I had been listening to Voices of Color, I would have known all of this long, long ago. But I didn’t. We didn’t.

Because of this we made the lives of our Sibilings of Color harder. Because of this we are only now processing the shock that they have endured for hundreds of years. 

I only write these words now because they came to me in a download. Because I am famous among dozens of (mostly) white, economically stable(ish) women.  I have some small number of ears at my disposal. And we need to have ears to hear.

Normally when I write, I measure my words. I feel each of them out in my body. I try to assess if my fragile health will allow me to take the blows that may come. But now, I write fast. I write hot. If I mis-speak, perhaps I can clarify later. I may not. There are so many other fish to fry. Because now is the time to speak truth to each other — even to myself.  Especially to myself. And this is my medium. So, I write. 

(Most) Sisters of Color don’t want to have to teach White Sisters what they, as Women of Color, have had to known FOREVER about Surviving Trauma. It’s our job as Woke — (well, *awakening*)– White Sisters to teach our white peers Resiliency + Action. And, just as importantly, to acknowledge that  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DIDN’T F-ING DISCOVER ANYTHING AND NEITHER DID WE. We didn’t discover these survive-and-thrive techniques. In fact, our Privilege is very the reason they had to be created. 

If you you wish to converse,  please know I will be asking you to be responsible for your own thoughts and reactions. To speak, and comment, and respond out of places that honor learning, and confession, and collaboration. Any place but but defensiveness, really. I won’t respond to defensiveness. Our energy and time is needed elsewhere.

We made this harm. Let’s heal it together. 

With Warmth and Fire,

Rachelle

Hello Dear Ones,

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the state of our world.

Or maybe it’s more that I’ve been *feeling* a lot lately … about the pain in our global world, our national world, our local world, our families, our bodies.

I’m with a friend in hospital right now, touching foot and hand and forehead as the pain from a recent surgery overwhelms her body so much that her brain finally shuts down and lets her sleep. Not because the pain in gone, or numbed, or managed. But just because there is no other choice but to power down consciousness in order to find healing.

And I’m thinking that this is how many of us are these days — with the president, and Syria, and the way our sibilings of color (perhaps you!) are being treated. At some point, the pain numbs us out. Shuts us down.

And in that we often have to rest, to sleep, to recharge for the fight.

And…and sometimes we need to stay on, and push just a little bit further, learn just a little bit more. So we don’t buy into the idea that we are fragile. So we find the growing edges of our FIERCE capacity.

Do you know what I mean? That place, when your child is ill, or your body is in pain, our your heart is really bloody broken — but you find in that horror this strange, unexpected strength. And you stretch out one more time, a few more inches, a handful of additional seconds — to sooth a forehead, to fight with a doctor, to be transparent and true once more?

It’s up to each of us to feel out to the edges of our Selves and determine what we need in this hour, this day — and especially, to notice how quickly some rest, some breath, can bring us back to a stronger place.

I was feeling at the numb end of the spectrum last week — depleted and stymied by politics and the many and sudden tragedies being experienced by family and friends — when my husband surprised me with tickets to Cirque de Soleil’s traveling show, Luiza. Right before the intermission, they brought out a cavalcade of art so rich, it overwhelmed me. As the fountains poured down, and the great wings flapped, and the figurines processed, I began to sob. Not just get teary. Sob.

I learned later, that during the show, we had bombed Syria.

Now my point here is not that the bombing was correct or incorrect. Only that it happened. That suffering and it’s responses were (and are) happening to my far-flung human siblings in TREMENDOUS scale.

And so was this beauty. TREMENDOUS beauty.

Both so large I can hardly comprehend.

This much sorrow. This much glory.

This is the world we live in friends. Now. Then. Always. It is the human state. It is our undesired reality. Magic, Mayhem. Joy, Suffering. Beauty, Terror. All in the selfsame minute. All in the selfsame breath.

I think, in these times of brutal, heart wrenching awareness, our call is to be achingly present. To know that being present to truth will never kill us. To know that we are able to live in both beauty and terror. To acknowledge both. To bear witness.

Without witness, without acknowledgement — how can we act? The first act is to accept the truths before us.

Terror. Beauty. Both.

My blessing for you today, dear friends, is this…

May you live on the edge of your capacity.

Yes, right on the sharp, cutting blade.

May you know your steel-forged strength.

May you know the bruised-earth places,

the disrupted and turned over soil

where seeds might grow.

May you stretch, and reach and extend

just a bit more with each new learning.

And may you find the ever shifting Place,

in your very body,

where terror and beauty may witness each other

and live

in the the strange truce

of truth

and peace.

Amen? (Amen.)

With Fire and Warmth,

Rachelle Mee-Chapman,

Religish Rebel

***

Sharing this link? Please tag with #getonyourboots #religishresistance #religishrebel
***
You Might Also Like:

Post Election Care I :: Trauma Response and How to Take Care of Yourself Physically

Post Election Care II :: How to Take Care of Yourself Energetically

Post Election Care III :: How To Show Up For Each Other

Religish Resistance :: Soulcare and Worldcare in an Age of Defiance

Religish Resistance :: Resist, Reform, Repeat

 

Friends, what I want to tell you is this.

The resistance is going to be messy.

You are more ready than you know. 

You will make mistakes.

You will need to learn.

You will try things that do not work.

You may find out you have privileges you didn’t even know about.

Guilt will raise it’s head.

Someone, maybe family, will get mad at you.

You might make your mother cry.

And all this will be correct.

These are the kinds of life experiences that happen when we decided to finally resist a broken system. When we chose to aim for healing. When we shed skins that don’t fit. When we finally stand up to our full height.

It’s not always going to feel good. We aren’t always going to be victorious. But when we bump up against these uncomfortable reactions, we will know we are on the right track. 

And here’s the good news….

If you are religish, you already know how to handle it.

You, my friend, have skills. 

In the introduction to Religish, I point out that a lot of religious folks think of religish people as spiritually lazy. The tell us we are picking up traditions off a buffet table. We have no real commitment. We are theologically undisciplined.

But I say, that right-fit spirituality isn’t lazy or misguided.

“You are not a lazy person abandoning your faith. You are a clever person, making a mindful and appropriate response in an expanding world.” 

Now apply that, to the Resistance.

People may be telling you you are abandoning “your” president. That you are misguided and misinformed. That you’ve left the “values” behind that “make America great.”

But I say..

“You are not a lazy person, abandoning your country. You are a clever person, making a mindful and appropriate response in a world that is out of alignment with the values of justice, mercy, compassion, and community.” 

I know it’s hard to take the comments of conservative family and friends. I know it’s maddening to be faced with inane and uniformed arguments. I know, no matter how old you are, it hurts to disappoint your parents.

But you’ve done it before. You can do it again. 

Building a religish life is about creating a set of right-fit spiritual practices that are rooted in your history, authentic to who you are today, and creative enough to grow with you.

Building a religish resistance is about creating a set of life-practices that are rooted in our (true) history — which means acknowledging within our national narrative injustice, dominance, and oppression.

Building a religish resistance is about being authentic to who you are today — someone committed to divesting from privilege and moving, however imperfectly, towards equity.

Building a religish resistance is about being creative enough — not to be set in our our “American heritage” —  but to be responsive to the needs of a growing country.

You’ve done this before. You can do it again. 

I’ll be back next week with some basics on figuring out where to fight.

Until we meet again I hope you’ll get curious.

Trust Your Gut.

And live from a place of love.

But most of all, I hope you’ll #getonyourboots.

With Warmth and Fire,

Rachelle Mee-Chapman,

Religish Rebel

***

Sharing this link? Please tag with #getonyourboots #religishresistance #religishrebel
***
You Might Also Like:

Post Election Care I :: Trauma Response and How to Take Care of Yourself Physically

Post Election Care II :: How to Take Care of Yourself Energetically

Post Election Care III :: How To Show Up For Each Other

Religish Resistance :: Soulcare and Worldcare in an Age of Defiance

 

Prior to the last presidential election I had a career path in mind. It involved helping people recover from trauma — specifically from the trauma of overly-restrictive religious practices. I’d written a book. I was getting ready to go tour. I was focused.

Then On November 8th, I sat with my husband and thousands of strangers in a ballroom at the Westin and watched as something terrible gained power.

In the weeks that followed I’ve tried to get back on to what would seem to be the “practical” path.

Promote the book you worked so hard to birth. Get back on the career bandwagon. Pick up where you left off.

But I have to do it differently now. I have to take a new tact.

It makes no sense, career-wise, for me to start writing something new. To step into something so charged and so difficult.

But we go where we’re called. We heed the Voice. We step into our strength.

So friends, what I want to tell you is this:

Becoming Religish and Becoming the Resistance requires the same set of skills.

Discern if your call is to reform from within, or support the rebels without.

Leave debate behind and engage in dialogue so hearts and minds can be changed.

Accept mystery as part of the process.

Divest from institutions that are not in alignment with your core values.

Reconstruct a life in alignment with Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness and Self-Control.

These were the actions of our Religish life.

Now they are the actions of our Religish Resistance.

We need to do them step by step. We need to build the capacity and the resilience to keep going. We need to learn how to resist, rest, repeat until it is a deeply known muscle memory.

So I’m writing something new —  Religish Resistance ::  Soulcare and worldcare in an age of defiance. 

It will start here, on this email list and on the blog. It will go and grow from there.

I hope you’ll join me.

I’ll hope you share.

But most of all, I hope you’ll #getonyourboots.

I’ll see you tomorrow with the first installment.

With Warmth and Fire,

Rachelle Mee-Chapman,

Religish Rebel 

 

***

Sharing this link? Please tag with #getonyourboots #religishresistance
***
You Might Also Like:

Post Election Care I :: Trauma Response and How to Take Care of Yourself Physically

Post Election Care II :: How to Take Care of Yourself Energetically

Post Election Care III :: How To Show Up For Each Other

Are you carrying around old religious messages that no longer serve you well?

Got some toxic thoughts that get in the way of your healing progress?

In today’s episode of Becoming Religish, I tell you why they are so hard to shake. And I give you 4 tips and techniques  to help you jettison unhealthy religious messages and replace them with your own right-fit religish mantras.

I also introduce a powerful year-long practice — here’s the link: Bespoke Blessing Ritual.

Which messages are the hardest for you to shake? Drop me a line or a comment and let me know where the tricky spots are! Because it’s like I always say, friend, there’s no place to go but together.

Much Warmth,



Rachelle

Need more Religish support? I’ve got you covered!

For about ten years I thought of myself as an epic failure.

While being mama to two children born less than two years apart, I developed a severe chronic illness that caused daily migraines. I was (uknowingly) grieving the loss of tribe as I left church. And having lost my role as pastor, I was struggling to build a new career in the emerging world of online soulcare. I felt like a constant failure as health and family demands caused me to work at a maddening slow, halting pace, full of unexpected roadblocks. Then I had the brilliant idea to move us all overseas — adding the challenge of a cultural and language barrier. Plus, we’d moved to Copenhagen — at the same parallel as Anchorage  – in the middle of winter. It was a long time before we saw the sun.

Through all of this I had one overaching thought:

Why can’t I get more DONE?

My Type A mental state just did not want to cooperate with what my body was throwing at me. I felt I should be able to — with shear strength of will — overcome. 

One of the great gifts of living abroad was being amongst the intriguing ex-pats who worked alongside my husband. Smart and driven, these peers brought good humor and great conversation to our midst. Two of the women were especially accomplished. One had graduated from Harvard at 18. The other held an advanced engineering degree from MIT. Both of them thought nothing of flying to Croatia for a weekend, picking up a third instrument, or learning yet another language. They were, in a word, impressive.

Then one evening after dinner, we were talking about how the extremely short daylight was impacting us all. We walked the kids to school in the dark, they came home in the dark. In the depth of midwinter — if we didn’t have cloud cover — daylight arrived after 9am and was gone by 3pm. Then, one of these women confessed breeezily, “Yeah, at this time of year I just get in bed at 8pm. Why fight it?” And the other said, “Me too. I say I’m going to read, but I’m asleep within 15 minutes. I mean, we’re basically bears.”

These accomplished, driven, Type A women were totally down with their animal selves. It was winter. Time to hibernate. End of story.

This was one of the first times anyone had ever modeled seasonal pacing to me. The idea that we might be more productive one season, and slow down in another, had never broached my consciousness. As the product of “student leadership” programs, the only message I’d ever received was “produce.” Sure, there was lip service given to downtime and retreats — or in the parlance of my religious community “sabbath keeping.” But no one really did these things. After all, who had the time?

It’s little wonder I was as sick and worn down as I was.

But these women were modeling a different way. A way of pacing their life based on the seasons — more active and productive in the Spring and Summer, slower and more deliberate in the Fall and Winter. It was calendar of creative activity in tune with the creation.

I was gobsmacked.

(And so, So, SO relieved.)

Now that we too are here, at mid winter, awaiting the Long Night Moon, maybe we too should think about our animal selves. M aybe we should listen to our inner-bear.

Hibernate more.

Rest up.

Let things lie.

The tarot card I most associate with the Long Night Moon is the steady, steadfast Hermit. Withdrawing to his cave, Hermit calls us to our most nourishing meditative practices, so we can rest up and shine our light darkness without depletion. What would it look like for you to hibernate like Hermit this month?

What meditative practice might let you rest and renew during this hibernation period?

Let’s tarot together and find out.

Come find your mid-winter pace. Join me on the Long Night Moon as we tap into nature’s rhythm, our own intuition, and that mysterious something else that comes when we consult the cards.

Book a deep dive reading now, and I’ll read for you on December 13th. You’ll receive an audio recording of your reading + images on the 14th.

Ten spaces available. Click here to claim your spot.

May you find your pace and honor it well this winter.

Much Warmth,

 

 

 

 

 

Rachelle

 

 

Hello friend, what I want to tell you is this…

We are being called into action.

Louder than ever.

More clearly than ever.

These trials that we bear witness to have been going on for so, so long. Too long. Yet many of us are awakening to them for the first time. Or awakening even more.

This is not surprising. This is to be expected.

We have been taught to keep ourselves small and tight. To tow the line. To be nice. To keep the status quo. And this, in turn, keeps us quiet, numb, and disconnected.

Is it any wonder that we are, only now in the face of such blatant hatred,  fully awakening?

Standing up even taller.

Becoming more fierce.

Shaking things all the way up.

And now that we can see the breadth and depth of our unhealthy world, we must continue to say, loudly and with more authority:

No more.

No longer.

Not. On. My. Watch.

It is my firm belief that our spiritual practices empower us so that we can put on our boots.

Our practices are not a frivolity, an indulgence, an extra.

Rather they are what expands our capacity.

So we can have more hard conversations.

So we can try and fall and keep getting up.

So we can meet fear, acknowledge it, and move forward anyway.

This is they year we activate. Too late, yes. But may it not be too little.

I want bless you in that effort.

I want to anoint your skin with oil every day to remind you that you are called. Speak over you words of empowerment. Train you through word, and movement, and scent that you are the healing warriors this world needs. (And that you, also deserved to be healed.)

That is what what these Bespoke Blessing Rituals are for. To shore you up. To help you heal. To send you out.

I’ve designed them around the key words that are most needed in these times.

I’ve attached them to chakras that need the most healing and care.

And I’ve patterned the actions and objects in the ritual to embed core truths in your mind, body, and spirit.

 

Which word is calling to you today?

ROAR…. because I want to ACTIVATE my VOICE and speak truth in the face of confusion and deception.

STAND… Because I want to stay STRONG in my INTERNAL AUTHORITY and not be swayed.

GRIEF + HOPE …. because I want to HONOR  both sides of the work that is at hand, so I can heal and offer healing to others.

Bespoke Blessing Ritual Kits include:

-1oml anointing oil, blended in my own studio from thoughtfully sourced essential oils.

-a wall-worthy print with a key phrase from your blessing, designed by hand lettering artist, Jen Montzingo.

-a soulcare letter with ritual instructions, and the full text of your blessing.

– a link to a downloadable audio recording of me, speaking the blessing over you.

-a discount code for an mentoring session, should you wish to go further with your word.

Are you ready to heal up and head out with me this year?

If so, choose your word below, or read on to learn more…

Bespoke Blessing Rituals


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Choose A Kit - (Available in the U.S. Only)StandRoarGrief + Hope (combo kit)Discount CodeBespoke Blessings Kit

Price: $75.00


Bespoke Blessings Kit - Discount

Price: $69.00


Total
$0.00

NOTE: All Bespoke Blessing Kits will ship after December 15th and arrive before January 1st, 2017. Sorry, I am unable to offer international shipping on this product.

More about the anointing oils:

STAND: Rosemary, thyme, and juniper work with your senses to activate and strengthen your power chakra. This scent and the Bespoke Blessing that accompanies it will remind you each day to stand in your own power, moving out of your inner authority. Take back your power and STAND.

ROAR: Basil, ginger, and lime nourish your throat chakra so you can speak your truth — even in places of anxiety, fear, or enforced silence. Wear this on your neck as your read the Bespoke Blessing as part of your morning ritual to awaken your voice anew. The world needs your message. ROAR.

HOPE + GRIEF: Hope lies in the heart chakra, as does it’s shadow, grief. Each arrives with the other. Each needs a place of honor. This double kit offers the appropriate blessing and scent for either state of being — cedarwood and cypress for grief, bergamot, geranium, and lavender for hope. As a gift to those moving through periods of grief, this two pack is priced the same as the single blessings.

Due to limited start-up funds, there will only be 12 bottles of each anointing oil available. So do please call dibs on yours using the form above.

NOTE: All Bespoke Blessing Kits will ship after December 15th and arrive before January 1st, 2017. Sorry, I am unable to offer international shipping on this product.

The fear and anxiety in post-election America is almost unbearable to this self-acknowledged “nice white lady.” My body can hardly withstand it. It takes all of my most solid, go-to soulcare and selfcare just to stay in the game.

And then I remember. 

My siblings of color (or with disabilities, who are LGBTQ, or, or, or …..) feel like this constantly.

This is not a new, sad, day in America. This is who we have been for a long, long time.

If you, like me, have been protected by priviledge, you may be overwhelmed right now.

You may be grieving. (It comes in waves.)

You may be trying to figure out how to lace up your boots.

You may be drowning in a million possible causes.

And you may know that you have to activate anyway.

For those of us who are mentors and thought-shapers, it is in our wheelhouse to help you with this. It’s what we’ve been trained to do. Curate information. Break it down into steps. Activate. Support along the way.

So, to the best of my ability that’s what I’m going to do.

Author Nicole Carty (see article here) has given us a three step process.

1.SHOW UP and PROTECT one another.

2. MODEL how the country should behave.

3. CALL VIOLENCE OUT so it cannot be ignored.

(repeat, repeat, repeat)

The first thing we need to do is to activate where we touch. Right here on our own bus routes, in our own neighborhoods. Here’s our action step for this week: 

Learn how to intercede in the midst of hate speech, without escalating the situation.

Rehearse what you should do. Like literally, right now, out loud with your partner/coworker/reflection in a mirror. Here’s an actually sample script. 

Wear the safety pin. Don’t wear the safety pin. The more important thing is to be ready.

Want to get even better at doing this? Read this fantastic article. 

Okay, you’ve got your homework assignment. If you’d like on-going support, join us in Flock for free or book a mentoring session with me. I’m happy to help.

And please, if you found this helpful, please share it so we can activate and support others.

Here’s to right fit practices that let us live out our core values in doable, everyday ways. (Amen? Amen.)

Much Warmth,

Rachelle Mee-Chapman

 

In the first post,  I gave you some physical things you could do to support your body as we move through this post-election upheaval. Today we shift from pragmatic physical things to pragmatic energetic things. Here you go:

Go to Your Go To’s. When things get highly charged and dire, we may start making Very Elaborate Plans. Now is the time for go-to tips and techniques. What are your oldest spiritual and energetic practices? Walking the dog? Reading poetry? Sun Salutations? Do them faithfully. Don’t get fancy.

Keep it Simple. Meditate for ten breaths. Say your oldest mantra. Re-read your favorite guide. Your soulcare does not need to be robust, but it does need to be consistent. This is how we grow capacity to stay in the cycle of grieve-heal-work. (Because we don’t just get to grieve and be done, sisters. This goes round and round. Resilience and capacity is key.) Too overwhelmed to even think? I like the Chopra Center’s meditations. (With Deepak and Oprah.) There’s a free series on line right now, and you can download it to your phone. I do them in the tub. Champion meditators wouldn’t find them very robust, but they carry me through and are helping me grow.

Epsom Salts. This is a actually both a physical help — as they help with inflammation (think achy shoulders and upset stomachs) — and epsom salts also energetically grounds you. I use them religiously. Six cups to a tub full of water is a therapeutic dose. No tub? Soak your feet. And a bonus — they are cheap and at any drugstore.

Crystals and Stones. In the past few years I’ve begun to work with these healers. I like black tourmaline for absorbing dark energy and pink quartz for filtering through All the Feels that are floating in and around me. Lay them on your chest, sleep with them under your pillow, or carry them in your pocket. Don’t know what stones to work with? Hover your hand over a row and see which ones feel warmer or “buzz.” You can also go for a walk and pick up a stone or shell that you are drawn to. No fancy items required. In my experience working with earth medicine helps draw out an over-abundance of energy and compost it — saving me from physical and emotional pain, and clearing me out so I can do the work at hand.

Slow Your Roll: This is a marathon not a sprint. Taking time out for spiritual practices communicates that fact to your mind/body/spirit.

Circle Up. Gather up people who can support you in healing and justice. Pantsuit Nation or the Feminist Fight Club might be right-fit for you if you need an activist group to call home. (If so, hit me up on Facebook and I’ll can invite you to the groups.) Or you might want something a bit more intimate, with a calmer vibe and some consistent soulcare, we’d love to have you in Flock. our online soulcare group for female-identified folks. It’s free, and very supportive.  Again, the website is down (hacked), but I can add you on the Facebook group here.

As  I said yesterday, I know I usually have more poetic ways of putting things, and this list is not my normal way of speaking. But it’s what I’ve got today — and I’ve learned through many traumatic experiences that these things really do help. So here it is! If this was helpful to you, please pass it on.

If you’d like some ongoing support, feel free to book a mentoring session with me or join our free, online soulcare community for women, Flock. Because it’s like I always say, “there’s nowhere to go, but together.”

Much Warmth,

Rachelle Mee-Chapman