In the midst of this global pandemic, the world has turned upside down. You are suddenly working from home. Or your job has gone away. Or you are expecting to lose your job any minute. The apple cart has turned over in spite of your decision to play it safe. Now is the time to consider reconnecting with your heart's desire. Its a good time to focus on finding your joy.

Seems counter-intuitive, I know. But consider this time-honored quote from Roman historian Livy, one of my favorites: 

          “In difficult and desperate cases, the boldest counsels are the safest.”

Desperate circumstances compel you to laser focus on what is at hand, to figure out quickly what is required.  Perhaps you are suddenly asking yourself what you can do to help. Perhaps the times catapult you into immediate clarity about what you are meant to do in this world. I wonder if you could use this crisis as an opportunity to reconnect with your own gifts.  

As a career coach I often see clients who know their heart’s desire but talk themselves out of acting from that place for fear, mostly of change, It gets in their way. I sneak up on their psyches to try and surprise them into revealing the truth about what they are called to do in the world. Often I find that their joy is staring them right in the face. They cannot see it. Or do not want to. Old stories, others’ expectations, fear of failure conspire to keep them stuck. Safety wins out over shooting the moon.

Until now. This moment  screams at you to get honest with yourself. Ask yourself some simple but profound questions that can guide you toward your own North Star.  How can I help? What can I bring to this crisis to help the world recover? What kinds of problems could I address better than most? What ideas do I have for solving some corner of this new puzzle? Chances are in asking that simple question you will be onto some fundamental truths about yourself. Life-giving, heart-pounding, thrilling truths that make you know who you are.

Ask these questions with your whole self, unedited, for starters. No erasing. No contingencies. Just start simply by asking what needs doing that I can do? 

Life feels like a merry-go-round that plays the tune of work, obligations and communications over and over from day to day and week to week until the weeks turn into months and the months into years.   Who has time to stop the merry-go-round long enough to remember those childhood fantasies that felt so doable yesterday?  Tomorrow is calling and performance evaluations loom and the carpool is waiting and the mortgage is due.

Better keep riding the merry-go-round.  It’s familiar and sort of safe.  And everybody else seems to be going the same way. And now the boss is texting.  Better shut down those squeaky ideas that once seemed so possible. Focus ahead. Get those blinders back on. Maybe later there will be time enough to dream.

Or maybe not.

Maybe the merry-go-round horse just keeps its predictable pace year after year in spite of the dreams of its riders. Mechanical horses don’t sense beating hearts.  They can’t detect the slight ache that says it’s time to make a change.  Still the heartbeat beckons. The barely audible call persists. Shhhhhhh…., listen.
What is your heart calling you toward?

What if only for a day or two you could listen for that gentle voice within?  What if you could dismount the circus horse and tend to your own internal gifthorse just long enough to remember your imaginings?  Where might your gifthorse lead you?
We can meet you beyond the merry-go-round in that magical field where you can talk to your gifthorse and speak of your longings. Come meet us there.
 
Gifthorse Seminar
A time away from the day-to-day to listen to your heart’s callings
on a 32-acre farm in beautiful Keswick, Virginia
surrounded by real life horses, cows and our healing dog, Lilly.
Sessions offer participants the space and time away from daily routine to
reflect on their life’s purpose and to move toward alignment with their
unique heartfelt mission. Facilitator utilizes guided imagery, journal writing,
group discussion and serene setting to beckon participants’
inner gifts (gifthorse)  forth. 
 
“It is in the natural world that we remember what is most natural and authentic in ourselves.”   Ghost Ranch, NM
 
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Only one-third of Americans report feeling happily engaged in their work today according to Gallup surveys. These reports suggest that external circumstances such as inept bosses or stagnate wages are the cause. The truth is something deeper is also operating---the truth is that many people have given up on finding meaningful work that fills their souls. They fear that it’s too hard, too elusive, too early or too late to make the leap.  It’s tempting to settle into work that pays the bills but may not feed the soul.

Happily, your “gifthorse”, as we call it, or wisdom within, is never far away. It will gently urge you toward alignment between who you are and what you do even when you are not consciously listening. The cost of ignoring these urgings can be burn out or a health crisis. Your gifthorse, thankfully, is patient. And like a horse in the wild, it shows up when you give it a safe space and time in which to make itself known to you. Just beginning to connect with its power can give you a sense of wellbeing and renewal. Spending more time getting to know your gifthorse will change your life.

At Fiieldgate, we are all about helping you connect with the elusive gifthorse within you. When you are aligned within, you draw on a deep, never ending source of energy that is always available to you. Sometimes it feels so good, so right that you think you must be cheating. Work is supposed to be hard, not fun, you may think. But your gifthorse says otherwise; your gifthorse says you can run like the wind and not get tired when you are tapping into your heartfelt energy. Let us help you try it.