Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.
In this week's episode, I give you a snapshot of how I approach the new year and how it doesn't yet involve a word of the year, resolutions, goals, or even a clear vision. After years of an inner listening and reflection practice, I've learned that the winter-ness of January supersedes the cultural push of a fresh start. All this talk of new year, new you, doesn't resonate with me in this season. The cultural approach to the new year is full of initiating and instigating energy which is the opposite of the seasonal invitation of winter which is liminal, in-between, hibernating, resting, dreaming, and preparing.
I share what this looks like in real life and some of what I've learned from my not-yet-completed annual reflection practice (the examen). I hope this offers you permission and encouragement to listen within to your own seasonal needs and try to align your day to day life with what you have the energy and capacity for.
This doesn't mean you're behind! It means you're living in your own integrity and honoring your own humanity...which is a really beautiful and powerful thing to do.
If you'd like to learn more about the examen practice I focus on and receive the illustrated annual reflection journal for 2023 (which looks ahead to 2024), please join my newsletter.
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I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.
My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.
Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!