It’s hard to believe we are only a couple of weeks away from celebrating our sixth anniversary!  It is sneaking up on me!  I am not sure where time has gone!  Like any milestone, this one has me feeling reflective, with a dose of wonder!

One of the amazing things about working at a place like Storm Wisdom, is that it stretches you.  It helps you to look deeper within.  It allows you to confront limitations, fears and out-dated beliefs.  At the same time, access to inner guidance, intuitive knowing and updated preferences are enhanced.  You can’t spend time here and not know yourself better.

This is true for many of the people who frequent this place on a regular basis too.  They are changed by the experience of having a place to lean in.  Lean in when they are searching for clarity.  Lean in when they have something new to share.  Perhaps a new awareness, skill or technique to live more from the heart.  A place where who they are and what they are creating can be imagined and explored.

It is also a place to build community, friendships, support networks and allies.  This are some of the attributes of Storm Wisdom that I am grateful for today.

When I think about how and where we started, I think of how clueless I was about what I was getting myself into… AND, how I had idealized this idea of creating a Spiritual Oasis or Center for Intentional Living, even when I had no idea what I was doing!  I think they call that ‘ego’!

I would imagine that starting a small business is a bit like having a child.  It happens all the time, so when you first decide this is what you want to do, you rally all your strength and commitment and focus on creating this brand new ‘thing’.  While you are imagining it… You think of just how perfect it will be, the name you will give it, and who and what it will become as it get older!

All of this is being imagined, before the actual birth!  Even though you have very little actual experience with this new being… You have started to create your own expectations about how it will develop, grow and mature.

Then like most parents you realize that what you have given birth to, has its own agenda!  It has its own unique life force, personality and will.  It is your beautiful child AND it is also part monster!  You can guide and direct it in many ways…  You love this new ‘being’ beyond measure.  You feed, nurture and encourage it in the direction that you feel will be easiest and most rewarding.  You watch over with a mixture of pride and worry.  You give your life to this child of yours!

And in return, you learn unconditional love.  You discover aspects of yourself you never knew you had.  Your resourcefulness is revealed.  It is also challenged.  You learn to compromise, negotiate and settle.  You begin to realize that you are on a journey of teaching independence, autonomy, and uniqueness.

There are moments that are so stellar, you are stunned by the beauty.  There are moments of fear, that seem as if you will never survive.  And there is everything in between.  You have agreed to share your full range of emotions with this new Being… And isn’t that how we all grow?  By being willing to experience all of our emotions and developing a fluency with them, we experience our true Self.  If you are a parent OR small business owner, you have given birth to your greatest teacher!

Storm Wisdom and the Storm Wisdom family are my greatest teachers!  And I am beyond grateful!

With Light, Love, and Laughter
Charles