“What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes? Herein lies the key to your earthly pursuits.”
Carl Jung
I firmly believe that our soul’s purpose is always revealed to us in childhood. Unfortunately, too often, we lose sight of our divine gifts and get lost in the stories that take us away from who we truly are meant to be.
This is the reason why I love working and serving my clients as an Equine Gestalt Coach (“ECGM”). I believe the method is an effective fast track to sorting our unfinished business, the very things that are holding us back from our dreams and aspirations. I also believe in the wisdom of our body, when we are reacquainted to being in the “present moment.” The horses take us to that sacred space of being in the present moment. It is this very place we can explore stories that are no longer serving us and tap into that voice that radiates from our heart. I believe that this is where the seat of our divine purpose resides: in our heart. As we begin our healing (by learning self-compassion, self-love and forgiveness), we re-establish our ability to connect to our gifts.
When we combine the ECGM method with art, we can begin to re-connect and re-ignite the beginning of our new stories. There is a reason why we are attracted to certain images, colors, and words, and feel connected to the watercolor dreams of our childhood. When we allow ourselves to love completely and embrace self-compassion, we become free. Self-love is our super-power.
What makes the ECGM program unique is that each coach in training spends two years focusing on their own work before they can become a Certified Practitioner. Through my journey of not feeling worthy and having to please others, I was able to connect back to that child in me who loved art. In fact, it was through this “unfinished business,” that I was reminded of that eight-year-old girl who fully understood the power of manifesting through art. The puppy in the painting is my first vision art manifestation piece. I remember drawing that puppy every day, talking about that puppy, and doing research on puppies—hound dogs, to be exact. That puppy, Flopsy, arrived at a time when I was challenged academically. I was terrible at math and remember being ridiculed by Sister Mary O’Keefe. The stern nun had little tolerance for my inability to perform long division. I remember wiping away tears in front of the class at the chalkboard.
During this time, my father became ill, and I experienced a mix of emotions, including fear, self-doubt, and anxiety. I lost touch with art until the age of 16 when I enrolled in a high school elective called “Value Clarification.” The psychotherapy-based class introduced me to the book WishCraft by Barbar Sher. With a new-found discovery, I began manifesting again through art. I remember my journal colors and pictures of an A-framed cabin in the snow with skis. Three years later, I took a sabbatical from college and lived in that A-framed cabin, teaching kids how to ski. However, I lost touch with my love of art. I tossed away my physical colors and journals—and my passion for art too.
At 47 when I told my husband that I wanted to buy a horse, his response was, “You can get a horse, but you will have to pay for it.” Bam! I knew exactly what to do: Start journaling and manifesting. This shift led to a weekend job as a Home Health RN. Two years later, Yanni arrived. My so-called “Spirit Horse” was paramount in me becoming an Equine Gestalt Coach who works with the EGCM Method and mixed media art to assist clients in manifesting their vision.
This is what I know for sure: You have a divine gift for finding your voice and purpose in the world.
In love and light! Vivian, Luca and Skye Mama