Spring Within

The past year has been one of evolution for most us.  We have dealt with an awakening of racial awareness and the impact on innocent lives, we have faced a life-altering experience of the pandemic, and been forced out of our comfort zones.  

If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, spring is in the air -a time of regrowth and regeneration, and if we allow it, the start of a new beginning.  Like the external changing season, we can use this time to change our internal season from hibernation of winter to the rebirth that comes with spring.   spring 938596 640

This is a time of possibility.  Through our evolution and growth, the new skills we were forced to learn, and the life lessons that jarred us out of our safe, comfortable world, we have developed in ways we may never otherwise have done.  If you take a look at your life a little over a year ago, would you have ever imagined using skills that have now become your normal, like home-schooling your children, or delving into technology?  Then there are the internal skills we have developed such as the awareness of strength we may not have known we had, the connection to those we care about whom we weren’t able to create time for, and the multitude of hats we wear today that we would never have taken on previously.

Let this time become the change of season within your being.  Along with the change of the external in our lives, we have also had the gift of new perspective.    As we have survived the roller-coaster past year we have learned that we are survivors and have the ability to thrive no matter what.

Why not use the coming Spring to create a rebirth in at least one area of your life?

What would you like to heal or improve in your life? 
  • Write it in your journal. 
  • Next, if you could step into the picture of what you wish this area of your life to look like, what would that be?  Describe it in detail.  
  • Now, what do you need to get you there?  Break this down into a list of small steps. Devote at least 5 minutes each day towards working on one of those steps. 

    Small steps put together lead to great journeys.  Even if you take one tiny action towards your desire, you are still moving forward.  While you may not see the results right now, their cumulative benefit will show up in your life.  The added bonus is that when we are taking even the smallest action towards our dreams, we feel happier and begin to create forward momentum in our lives.

The life changes we had to make were forced upon us.  Let us use this Spring to create change for ourselves by our own design.

What do you want more of in your life right now and what can you do to make that happen?

Many Blessings,

Santa

 

 

 

RUNNING THROUGH DARKNESS
MEMOIR OF A SPIRITUAL WARRIOR

BY SANTA MOLINA-MARSHALL ‧ RELEASE DATE: MAY 3, 2022

This debut memoir chronicles a woman’s spiritual exploration and growth as she overcame a disturbing childhood and helped others heal.

Brought to America from the Dominican Republic as a youngster, Molina-Marshall should have led a happy life. Her father was a diligent worker, and his large family wanted for nothing. But the author recounts that her dad had a drinking problem and was a serial philanderer. Molina-Marshall’s long-suffering mother left him for a woman. Then it was all downhill for the bright, 12-year-old girl, who was shuttled between foster care and relatives. According to the author, she was sexually abused by the husband of one of her siblings. This resulted in Molina-Marshall becoming alienated and moody. By 15, she simply tried to survive. In her favor were grit and a restless intelligence. She quit school, rented a room, and found a factory job. Time went by, and for a while she was happily married. Yet when her husband left her, her life truly began. She turned to religion for answers but decided that blaming God for her woes was a cop-out. 

In this absorbing and moving memoir, Molina-Marshall’s vivid storytelling is fearless. She frankly discusses the truths she discovered and the indignities she suffered. These admissions are disclosed with a touch of resignation and plenty of bite. However painful, everything she experienced was a lesson, and she bravely realized that she was part of the problem: “The fear of being hurt, rejected, or abused often led to me feeling lonely and misunderstood. No one knew the agonizing pain I felt being trapped in my thoughts and anger. I was becoming my biggest threat.” 

The author skillfully recounts her intricate spiritual journey. To deal with her psychic wounds, she searched for an inspirational system. Her open-mindedness led her to the interfaith concept—cherry-picking from various religions and spiritual movements, yoga, and Indigenous beliefs as a way of finding peace. Along with her female partner, she built a therapy practice, making use of every spiritual element that aided her and others. The road was bumpy, and she found that women of color in same-sex relationships were not welcomed everywhere. To do good works—and finally live on her own terms—she effectively overcame bigotry.

An engrossing, cathartic account of empathy and success through determination and confidence.

Pub Date: May 3, 2022   |    ISBN: 978-0-578-38315-6  |   Page Count: 264    | Publisher: From Trauma to Triumph  |   Review Posted Online: June 13, 2022