“I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.” -Anaïs Nin
I’ve been in southern France now for almost one week, and have already seen terrorism in close proximity. Nice, an idyllic seaside town and a major player on my travel itinerary, was targeted by an extremist group and 84 innocent people are no longer present on this Earth.
In my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d be asked to go to France. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d be asked to go alone to a country where I don’t even speak the language for 5 WEEKS. In my wildest dreams, I never thought that the word “terrorism” would wind up on my blog. But this seems to be a time when impossible things are happening.
As I share my travels with my readers/students/clients, I’m noticing a theme in the response from some readers: “You are so brave, Licia.” But I’m not. I’m actually scared and want to hide under the covers more often than I can say! However, I can’t let that stop me.
I’m a devoted pilgrim of Great Mother, and that means I go where She asks me to go. I’ve been living a spirit-led life since 2001, and have had so many extraordinary adventures that affirm completely that we are held by larger intelligence…and that intelligence is communicating through us and to us constantly. The data stream from the larger intelligence is never-ending, and I have been thoroughly schooled on how to translate it. I’m happy to say that the data stream is full of such goodness and the answers to our hearts’ most secret, unanswered questions.
But I’m a woman, wife and mother, with a business and creative work to complete. I’m a busy person, and I worry about getting it all done. When Great Mother calls on me to step out of my daily life to go on a journey in Her behalf, I must answer.
Fortunately for me, I chose a life partner who is utterly devoted to my calling. You’ve met my husband of 30 years, Peter, in previous posts and in all of my books. He is an integral part of my work in that he expects the best of me. I could have become someone different…I long for a quiet life, making apple pies and quilts, feeding the family from my hearth. But this is not the life I have been asked to live.
Peter has seen me from my early days; I was a tender young woman of 21 years when we latched on to each other. I was very shy, terribly quiet, and afraid of everything in this world. To tell the truth, I wasn’t long for the world. His eyes saw the me that longed to express, that had been denied and suppressed, that had been buried below the surface. He gave permission for her to come forward into the light, and has expected me to be her ever since.
In a very real way, I am here alone in southern France for 5 weeks because of him. My journey is a test in ways I don’t even know yet. I am being grown for a new life with him, now that my children are adults and living their lives. We are becoming a new vision for relationships, I think. But that means I have to grow beyond mother of my sons and wife of a businessman, who writes books and coaches women how to surrender to their larger vision. I have to lead a life that breaks the mold, because what I’m here to do is make a path for others to follow.
So, the courage that you think you see in me is in large part the courage that comes from higher love, the love of people who expect the best of you, the love that holds a container for your growth and expansion, the love that knows that there is a larger calling for each of us.
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My latest bestselling book, I AM Her Daughter
xoxoxo
Licia
