on shaping change
[Shared via newsletter July 24, 2025]
On this New Moon, I invite you to reflect on your ability to shape change.
Just as this bee is pollinating this blanket flower, you pollinate your life. What are you currently pollinating? How would what you pollinate shift if you believed in your ability and right to thrive?
“Unless you change direction, you are bound to end up where you are headed”
This was a quote I had up in my School Counselor’s office both in Boston and in Minneapolis. It was a helpful teaching to refer to when guiding students who had a block in their ability to see the connection between their actions and behavior and the consequences for their actions and behavior.
Where are you headed?
At the urging of my friend Nicole, I just finished Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower. It was a slow read for me. I found the graphic violence almost too much for my system. But I stayed with it - reading only a few pages at a time - taking four months to finish. Knowing that Octavia is viewed as a kind of prophet among some people I resonate with, I persisted. Even if you haven’t read this dystopian masterpiece, you have likely come across her quote
All that you touch
You Change
All that you Change
Changes you
The only lasting truth
Is Change
Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower
How does this quote resonate with you?
This quote re-quoted by teachers and guides I follow over the years has been a light house - particularly this notion of the only lasting truth is change. Accepting this truth of change as a universal constant of our world was relatively easy for me. The mystery has been how to?
In my quest for shaping change I dug to the root of a question from the depths of my being: How can I sustainably shape change aligned with my gifts and offerings for the wellbeing of the world?
My quest this past year of deep introspection and listening inward has allowed me to tune into my inner teacher - my highest Self. I can hear her now. And she provides me with guidance and courage to persist and be equipped to both handle the highs and lows of life and to shape change.
Would you like to experience and uncover practices to build the Relaxation Response so that you can uncover your inner teacher?
How are you shaping change? What are you intentionally calling in? What are you letting go of?
Two days ago, I assisted dear friends John and Linnea clear out their garage. They are selling their house in MPLS and moving to Duluth full time. As they each marveled at obvious and not so obvious treasures and useful and items with hidden use, I shared this mantra
I bless and release all that does not give me peace
As a person who has experienced a lot of unhelpful thoughts, I have learned the power of using non-violent and intentional thoughts to shape the change I seek. In seeking to let go of material possessions it’s a very tangible way of seeing how the unseen (our thoughts, emotions and beliefs) interact with the material and weigh us down and limit us from living full, conscious lives.
It’s in this spirit of shaping change on this new moon that I offer tested practices for you to shape change.
Come join!
photo taken by Amy Webster