Yolanda R. Harper LCSW

On over-due Soul Sabbatical Musing: (if you don’t get my emails, sign up at yolandaharper.com)

Soul Sabbatical August Musing from My Heart
Who am I Becoming?

Hello, my soul-centered friend.

Firstly, I want to thank you for existing. Sometimes we need a reminder that we’re enough and we matter simply because we breathe. This is that reminder to you.

I hope that you’ve been enjoying your summer and have taken some moments through the summer heat to pause ever so slightly more and connect with your heart. Maybe part of that connection has been to read Soul Sabbatical (it’s still on sale on Amazon). Maybe you’ve explored the Soul Sabbatical Journal (it’s also on sale right now).

I’m wondering… what has your practice been to listen to your heart?

Part of my hope for these emails is to share what my latest explorations of my own heart and soul have been and to invite you to more moments of connection.

Today’s topic comes courtesy of another Liz Gilbert prompt:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Love,
Who am I Becoming?

My dearest sweet little peanut butter cup, who is the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter, sweet and salty, smooth and textured, let’s settle into the expansive truth in the answer to this question.

Get ready, my love. Open your heart to what I have to whisper to the depth of your precious, beautiful heart.

The biggest true answer to this question is that you’re becoming…

MORE

As we spend time together, you are becoming more brave. More kind. More of your truth. You are becoming more than the shadows that have been lurking from your past. More expansive as you release more of that past from your body. You’re more curious and more comfortable with uncertainty (you brave soul, you!), as you trust me and yourself more. As you do this, you also become more of a canary in a coal mine and are leaning into more vulnerable and more powerful conversations – ones that remind us all that we are not alone.

You laugh more, play more, celebrate more, and are opening your heart more (even though you know that the risk of that is that it could be broken – and the benefit is that it could be broken wide open).
In this, you’re allowing yourself to be more loving and, oh my sweet dandelion, this world needs more love!

But even more than that, you’re allowing yourself to be more loved. And the more loving and more loved? Those are the best things to become.

So let’s keep becoming, Darling.
I adore you so.
Love,
Love

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, my friend! Where do you feel a sense of becoming in your body? What does it feel like? Truly check – is it an expansive message from LOVE, or a constricting message from Hustle You?

Hit “reply” and let me know!
Also, if you’re still reading this email, please tell me more about your experience. Is it helpful? What support do you have a sense of needing for yourself on your journey? What would you like more of?

Again, it would mean so much to me if you would hit “reply” and let me know.
Really, I’d love just a sentence or two. Please, do it now!
Much love,
Yolanda

Dear Love,
What would you have me know about:
Only Love has the Power to Name Who I Am?

Oh, Sweet One,

You’ve been called so many things from the moment you were born…

Oldest, daughter, granddaughter, niece, a good girl, weak, too emotional, smart, kind, shy, a snob, sister, friend….

Over time, you added to the list. You called yourself a mutt when you didn’t know how to answer the question “What ARE you??” because you looked different than everyone else.

You unknowingly called yourself the responsible one and more and more solidly placed those responsibilities that weren’t yours to carry on your shoulders.

Somewhere along the way, you added weak and broken to the list, because that’s the way you felt, even though, in reality, you were actually surviving some pretty intense stuff.

Year by year, decade by decade, the list grew…
Graduate, wife, mom, professional, therapist, business owner…
Capable, put-together, mentor, boss, intimidating, teacher, trainer, speaker, author, intense, a delight.

And, over time, you’ve noticed something about this list – it feels HEAVY. Yes, the “bad” words on the list feel heavy, but the responsibility (see that word again?) of the “good” things on the list feels heavy too.
Crushing, actually.

Would you like to hear some good news, my darling?
Those words? That list? They’re labels. They’re not actually you.

How do I know this?
Because only I – LOVE – have the power to name who you are.
And I name you…
BELOVED

You’re enough and you matter, regardless of the words on your list.

Do you want to know why I get to name you BELOVED?
Well, Beloved, because you’re mine. You came from me and, whether you realize it or not, are connected to me always (oh, my Beloved, how I hope that you’re beginning to understand this more and more as you return your gaze to me).

While we’re at it, I’d like to share with you my criteria for what should be added to your list.
You can think of me, Love, as an invisible Force Field around your heart, protecting your true essence. You can ask yourself 3 simple questions.

Is it true?
Sweet One, just because someone wants to add to your list doesn’t make that thing true about you. You get to decide what is true about you. Also, your truth aligns with your values, your integrity, and your actions.
So don’t be adding others’ perceptions of you to your list all willy-nilly, m’kay?

Is it kind?
Yes, my Beloved, sometimes what is true in the moment is a hard thing. But is that true thing said with kindness and respect? Love, ultimately operates in a violence-free space and there’s no room for contempt coming in from others or from between your own ears.

Is it necessary?
You know how sometimes people dump stuff on you that’s best for them to keep on the inside (do you know how you also do that to yourself?)? The timing is wrong or they’re having a bad day and taking it out on you?
Yeah, that stuff goes SPLAT on the invisible force field of Love, too.

By the way, I know that the idea of my Love Force Field might feel weird or like a lot of work or uncomfortable. I get it… new things feel that way, until they don’t.

But I created this Force Field of Love so that you could better see the TRUTH of who you are. To protect the sacred space between us. So, ultimately, you can hear my voice more clearly about the din of the world, swirling around you.

So that you can always remember that you are BELOVED.

And that only Love has the power to name who you are.

When your book is featured at a local bookstore.

Y’all check out

💜 Nurture- Mind Body Spirit
1599 Main Street, Dunedin, FL 💜12-6 pm

And stay tuned for upcoming author events.

Dear Hustle-You,

Connect with me through nature.

Wriggle your toes in the grass or the sand.
Watch a sunrise or sunset. 🌅
Sit under a tree.
Watch the rain from a front porch.

You might not see the connection.
Until you do.
Until you feel it through your body.

Give it a try.
Much love, my love,
Your Reviving Heart