Have you been curious?

Before I started my journey, I would have never, ever have signed up for an event. The idea of sitting in a room full of strangers sharing pieces of me seemed like torture and I had no desire to attend, even if I were interested in the offering. Today, I feel much differently and love going to events, meeting new people and being as vulnerable as I want to be… But I always remembered that old version of me who was scared of being seen and judged and I thought of her when I started hosting events. I designed them so that she could feel safe to show up as she was and participate as much or little as she wanted to without feeling devalued.

If you’ve been to any of my events, you know that I start them all with this container and guideline for engagement.

1. Everything shared here will remain confidential.
2. We will practice fertile listening so that whomever is speaking feels seen and heard (I got this one from WomanSpeak).
3. No apologizing for our feelings.
4. We will keep our advice to ourselves. We’re not here to fix anyone but to share space and do the work so we can learn and grow at our own pace.
5. You get your value here from being not doing. You have value for just showing up, no matter how little or how much you participate.

Something I often hear from event participants is that they feel free to be themselves and that is so important because we spend so much of our lives performing in an effort to please others or keep the peace. One such person was kind enough to share with me,

“There are many times I’ve participated in events similar to yours but never fully participated or did so guardedly because I thought I’d do it wrong. That’s not the case with your events. Guests are allowed to be themselves and engage in whatever way that means to them.“

So if you’ve been curious to come to an event, please do so with the assurance that it will feel like a safe space and that you will be valued just for being you. I’ll be hosting a workshop on Anger tomorrow and if this is an area in which you’d like some growth, I would encourage you to join us. The last workshop I hosted was called “Dear Dad” which was designed to help us connect to and heal our relationships with our dads. Stephanie, who participated, shared,

“This workshop was a great way for me to sit with my feelings about my relationship with my dad. With the support and safe space, I felt empowered to understand things from his perspective, and had the ability to see him as his own person. I now have some new tools and awareness around how to move forward.”

I hope you consider joining, if not for the Anger Workshop, then for whatever event you feel a pull towards.