by Laurie Smith, Soul Coaching Practitioner

What is your thing?

The thing that fills you up

When your soul grows parched and dry?

 

What brings you comfort?

Is it strawberries?

A sunset?

A long sip of an ice cold beverage

Or warm tea with honey and lemon?

 

Or is it a paintbrush

Dipped in acrylics or oils

Brushed across a canvas for only you to see?

Is it a butterfly

Landing softly on a flower

Drinking sweet nectar

Then flying off

As if it never was?

 

What warms you when you are cold?

Perhaps a campfire

As you cuddle with a loved one

Close enough to see one spark

Giving birth to more

Exploding upward

Grey smoke rising

A pop so close and loud

You feel like you’ve escaped gunshot

Dramatically thawed from the inside out

Scorching hot

But not close enough to burn

 

Or is it hot sand?

Perhaps on your cold feet

Or sizzling skin on the entire back of your body

As you flop onto the baking beach

After a springtime swim

In icy ocean water?

 

What quenches your thirst?

Is it a fizzy drink

Bubbling in a clear glass jar

As you watch the bubbles rise

Circular

Curling

Rising to the top

Where they cluster

Then divide

As your straw

Enters their field

Breaking them apart

And you feel those bubbles in you

All the way down to your toes?

 

What fills you up?

After you’ve taken cardboard box after box out to the curb

Or to the dump

Or to the goodwill collection box

Then turned back to hear your own echo

Against empty walls and hard floors,

Ripped off carpets

Emptied of memories as you prepare to begin again

 

What warms your heart?

On those mornings

when a full day lies before you

No plans

No guests

No distractions

From the inner voice that has waited so long to be heard?

 

What clears your mind?

When you think you are alone

and are not sure what you’re feeling, exactly

Is it loneliness?

Sadness?

Emptiness

Or quiet excitement

building at the prospect of nothing left to do?

 

What fuels your inner creator?

Emptiness?

Questions?

Encouragement?

Nature?

Sounds of beating waves against the sand like a shaman’s drum?

 

What is your name?

When there is no one left to remember who you were?

When your own babyhood has gotten washed away

As if by a flood

Tearing down the gutters

Rushing down the street

Picking up speed

Faster and faster

Past houses and driveways

Luring children

To rinse their ankles

Splashing in puddles as it passes

Before rain merges with overflowing

Streams and dreams

Heading to the sewer grates and out to the bay

And then the sun comes out again

So hot and parched and searing

That no one remembers.

 

What soothes your soul?

Is it a cool rag dipped in ice water and rose petals

Resting across eyelids with a gentle touch

A healing whisper

A wish

For all that is in your highest good?

 

Or perhaps an empty page

In a new journal

Or blank sketchbook

Freshly sharpened pencils

Pastels, crayons, charcoal

A soft spot to sit upon in the woods

Thick bark of a redwood friend

To lean up against

So you can rest and sketch

No one noticing you’ve gone missing

Until the sunset

Stretches across the sky

And the sun sinks down, saying

Adieu to another empty, open day?

 

What soothes you, then?

Laurie Smith, Soul Coaching® Practitioner

I love being around people who are on a sort of a quest, pursuing a new hobby, a side hustle or doing something they absolutely love.

When people are actively pursuing living life with purpose, passion and authenticity, I feel happy, hopeful and inspired to do the same.

At different times in my life, I’ve tried to play it safe, to hide my dreams and desires even from myself.

I’ve learned that playing it safe and ignoring my inner callings almost never feels safe in the end.

I started my career in public relations and marketing, pretty much to pay off school loans and make ends meet. But I wasn’t truly happy.

After several years in the corporate world, I launched my own national media relations business. Having my own business gave me more flexibility to explore that question:

How could I create a life doing what I love? How could I share my real gifts? (And what the heck were they?)

Fibd Laurie on our Soul Coaching Practitioner Page in the USA to learn more

Trusting Yourself Starts with Listening

Trusting Yourself Starts with Listening

by Bill Schwingel,  Interior Alignment® Master Teacher, Soul Coaching(R) PractitionerHow you can step into the energy of trust using ceremony or just being open to hearing the inner wisdom.Don't doubt yourself, Don't discount it. Allow yourself to consider what you...

Clearing Clutter with Trust

Clearing Clutter with Trust

by Rev. Felicia Messina-D'Haiti,  Interior Alignment® Master Teacher, Soul Coaching® Trainer, Linn Method Clutter Coaching Master Teacher Have you ever felt the urge to clear a space in your home, only to second guess yourself the moment you begin? Maybe you hold...

Let Something Go

Let Something Go

by Dorena Kohrs,  Interior Alignment® Practitioner, Soul Coaching® Practitioner, Clutter Clearing PractitionerThere’s one thing that can help you feel better right now:Let something go.That feels like a bold statement. One I’m already tempted to delete…or at least...

Turning a “Dumpsite” into Dolphins and Butterflies

Turning a “Dumpsite” into Dolphins and Butterflies

-by Denise Linn, Founder of the Linn Academy It's been said that most unhappiness comes from unfulfilled expectations, but I wasn't thinking about that when I planned a birthday trip for my husband. I wanted it to be perfect. I expected it to be perfect.  For over 30...

The Hidden Reason it’s Hard to Declutter

The Hidden Reason it’s Hard to Declutter

- by Carlyn Rae Wei,   Elemental Space Clearing® Practitioner   When you think about decluttering, you probably think about all the stuff, the stories that are attached to your things, all the decisions you need to make, emotions that might come up, such as...

Feng Shui and The Power of Trust

Feng Shui and The Power of Trust

by LuAnn Cibik,  Interior Alignment® Master Educator, Soul Coaching® Advanced Trainer, Master Oracle Card Reader When people seek out a feng shui consultation, it’s rarely because everything is already perfect in their lives. More often, they find themselves at a...

Manifesting Miracles with Feng Shui

Manifesting Miracles with Feng Shui

by LuAnn Cibik,  Interior Alignment® Master Educator, Soul Coaching® Advanced Trainer, Master Oracle Card ReaderMaster Educator LuAnn Cibik shares how we work with Manifesting Miracles using the power of feng shui! LuAnn Cibik, Interior Alignment® Master Educator,...

Being a Part of Someone Else’s Miracle

Being a Part of Someone Else’s Miracle

by Terry Bowen, Master Teacher of Soul Coaching® Oracle Card Reading, Advanced Soul Coaching® Trainer, Interior Alignment® Teacher, Clutter Clearing PractitionerI give thanks for every little miracle that happens to me, even when it’s not my miracle! I thank and...

Hunting for Miracles

Hunting for Miracles

by Elizabeth Ferrall,  Soul Coaching® Practitioner, Elemental Space Clearing® Practitioner Do you look for miracles? Would you recognize a miracle if you saw one?  A miracle is a highly improbable to completely inexplicable occurrence. I include things that I...

Rainbows After Storms: Releasing What No Longer Serves You

Rainbows After Storms: Releasing What No Longer Serves You

by Dorena Kohrs,  Interior Alignment® Practitioner, Soul Coaching® Practitioner, Clutter Clearing PractitionerStorms pass, but rainbows remain as proof that beauty follows struggle. If you're holding onto physical reminders of difficult times, this message is for you....