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 share how much I need affirmations and words of assurance, especially when I feel a sense of hopelessness and despair. But the fact is, I can't receive the gift of affirmations until I actually feel my hopelessness and despair and listen to what wisdom it might be offering me. Affirmation isn't helpful if it bypasses our human experience in the name of spirituality or goodness.
Yet, we aren't meant to live in nothing but sadness and overwhelm. So, how does a person feel their pain and suffering, and move with it or past it honestly?
In my experience, two words help me honor what hurts in life while leaving a foot in the door for hope and possibility. They are: "I wonder...". When I use these words, I get to admit my true feelings while gently interrogating and questioning whether these feelings tell the whole story of reality.
Join me as I share how wonder creates space for the Sacred to meet us where we are, letting the work of affirmation take root when the time is right.
This is a shorter podcast because I want to invite you into your own pragmatic, spiritual practice of wonder. In the closing minutes, I read through a series of 10-13 I Wonder statements from my I Wonder Card Deck with pauses in between for you to notice what resonates with your own soul and humanity.
I find that these "wonder" statements can be provocative and even challenging, but they always open a wider horizon beyond my fear. I hope they serve you with the same compassion.
If you'd like to see the I Wonder Deck or learn more about it, you can check it out here: www.etsy.com/shop/CobbleWorks
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 few weeks, 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!
