give your soul a voice
THE PULSE: Feeling the Shift
Well hellloooo! There is some serious energy flooding in. It's like a momentum train. We know that this can feel exciting or perhaps overwhelming -- it depends on what is specifically going on in your life. This kind of energy is powerful, however the results can come in extremely different packages. We're high-fiving you if it feels like all green lights ahead -- and if you're in a place of not knowing the "why" of what is happening, then we're giving you a huge hug. We hope our messages this week can shed some light and support either way.
ASTRO ENERGY FOR THE WEEK
That was some full moon! Woah! You may have the inclination to release anything that has been standing in your way -- old beliefs, relationships, tired habits...you name it. You will most likely continue to let go of what's no longer working in your life over the next few weeks, until the New Moon arrives on February 20.
Stay open. Possibilities are truly all around you. Has anything come out of the blue over these last several days? Be ready because that is the type of energy in the air!
SPEAKING YOUR LANGUAGE
Meet Claudia Boutote. She's a former SVP, Publisher at HarperCollins and the founder of Red Ravens Studio, a literary agency for authors, experts, and brands with purpose. She wants to help you find your voice -- which will help you express messages from your soul. Read on or listen now.
LATEST PODCAST: Give Your Soul A Voice
How can you visualize or articulate what is possible? How about finding and expressing your voice? We are honored to introduce you to Claudia Boutote who has worked hand in hand with iconic leaders, luminaries, and global brands, including Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Paulo Coelho.
Claudia wants to help you express your voice whether it’s just to yourself or to the world. She is here encouraging you to find your authentic voice and insight into who you are and why you are here.
Prior to launching her Red Raven Studio, which is a boutique book foundry and literary agency for authors, experts, and brands with purpose, Claudia was an SVP publisher at HarperCollins, where her innovative strategies and tactics propelled more than 120 books onto the New York Times bestsellers list.
When she decided to launch a studio to assist authors, experts, brands, and institutions to take conscious action and reach their highest potential, she chose to invoke the spirit essence of the Raven, birds of alchemy and transformation.Ravens have been called upon by healers, shamans, and guides since ancient times.They are thought to bring messages from the divine. Red ravens are the stuff of legends and magic–and that is what Claudia sees in her clients. She seeks to inspire, guide, and shine the light forward to something greater, and help authors find their authentic voices.
Here are a few highlights from this week's podcast:
Robyn + Karen: Claudia, you are truly following your bliss by helping people find their voices. Why is this the cornerstone of your work?
Claudia Boutote: I think that finding one's voice in this lifetime is the most important act we can do. Whether it manifests on the page or in relationships, or in any other kind of creative endeavor in your life. And I love working with experts, authors, creatives, who I can really believe in, see their magic and help their light shine.
R+K: Can you share a bit about your journey into the publishing world?
Claudia: I had my nose in a book ever since I can remember. To me the magic of weaving words together spoke to my soul and it transported me to different places.
After college, I went to New York City. To me that was the place where people dreaming of big things go. My first job was at the publishing house of Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald on Fifth Avenue. It was really inspirational. My journey was learning and being connected to writing and the people who wrote [the classics].
I had the wonderful opportunity to be at different publishing houses and I worked on almost every kind of book while I was in the New York publishing environment, but something was still calling to me at that deeper level. As much as I liked all the bright and shiny, my heart and my soul was looking for that deeper spirit.
R+K: Ah yes, “the calling...” We know that well! It’s what leads you on the next step towards your purpose. Where did it take you?
Claudia: Yes! That’s when I was drawn to a division of HarperCollins that was the Mind, Body, Spirit part of the publishing house. When I learned about those authors, I realized, “Wow, that book of theirs is on my bookshelf. And that book too!” I got to work with those amazing people, and it truly changed my life.
I had the opportunity to see not only what goes into the work, but what it took to really make that work go out into the world in a way that could be heard. So after all of that experience, I got to this point where I thought, “what is it that I want to do when I grow up? What’s next?”
And I realized that I love working with the writers. I love being what I might call “the wind beneath their wings.” I loved that I could come alongside a writer and help them bring their voice, their message, their legacy, their impact to the world with them. And so that's really what I do at Red Raven Studio.
R+K: So tell us more about the Red Raven symbology?
Claudia: The reason I channeled Ravens was because I wanted to convey that it is an alchemical process to write. It's a magical process. It's a courageous process. It's an audacious process. It takes everything about your soul to do it. And it's also] a transformative process. And Ravens signify that they embody that process.
But there is no such thing as a red raven. They're all black. The reason I picked red was that you stand out from the crowd as a red raven. And that's what I want my authors to do.
R+K: It is such a gift that you have, Claudia! When you work alongside that writer and you are helping them express their story, is there something you intuitively feel that helps you guide them?
Claudia: Oh, thank you! I feel like it is a calling for me. I think it is a gift from the divine to have it. When I begin with any author, I do a lot of listening. I have my process that I've developed and one of my roles is “the end is the beginning.”
I like to start with hearing the end. Meaning, what does that person want to express?
I don't want to see what's on the page. I want to hear what it is that they're imagining that this work is going to do, what is this going to convey?. What is it that they want to say on a stage five years from now?
I call it “dream setting” because that helps me intuit the expression of that. I think knowing the goal helps us put our arms around where to begin.
R+K: Claudia, thank you for being a guide for all of those authors out there who are looking to share their voice with the world.
To find out more about working with Claudia and Red Raven Studio, visit redravenstudio.com. And you can listen to our full podcast conversation now.
SECRET POWER: How to Find Your Voice
According to Claudia Boutote, the thing that makes you a fully fledged human and makes you feel the most alive is finding your voice. “We are very lucky,” Claudia says “To be in a time that we get to express our voice and our creativity.”
Whether you want to write a book, or just get your feelings out on paper, Claudia offers some easy steps on how to capture your inner thoughts, feelings and experiences to truly express the authentic voice of YOU. Open Up the Throat Chakra: Finding your voice is both physical as well as a metaphor for being who you are, very loudly and proudly in the world. “Warm up” before you begin writing by using essential oils or working on a chakra meditation practice are ways to open up the throat chakra, the energy vortex of communication; physically, emotionally and spiritually. Focus from the Inside Out: When it comes to the physical act of writing, it’s important to tune out the outside noise of the world. When you get to the page, it's really imperative to share what is uniquely you and what is coming up from your “heart song.” Detach and lean into quiet reflection, versus anything you've been downloading from the world's energy. Ask Yourself Questions: Start your writing exercise by journaling some really important prompts and answer without judgment. Here are a few examples:
What is it that I want to do with my life?
What is it that I have to say?
What do I know based on my experience?
Then add the “Why?”: Just like when you were a little kid and you were always asking “why,” I like to start by writing a sentence and then asking the same question. “WHY?” Ask yourself “why” about your self questions above. Why do I need to say or share this? Why would this be interesting to someone else? The answers may surprise you. Release the Outcome: This is the ultimate act of writing! Don’t worry about anything that happens after you put your words out there. Enjoy that expression. If you worry about the outcome, you self-edit. Then you don't allow the fullness of the flow and the process to happen and the joy-ing it. Release the outcome! Thank you Claudia! Everyone has a story worth telling. How wonderful to be able to lean into an experience that you've had and share that with others. Whether you put it out for the masses or just for your friends and family, by capturing all the emotion, all the experience, all the learnings in a place where somebody may relate and find comfort and support – that is sharing your voice for a real and lasting impact.
THE WEEKLY DOWNLOAD: Be Your Own Story + Choose Courage
Our downloads for everyone reading THE WEEKLY, remind us that we are all here to co-create within this wonderful, uncertain world. And, diving into the not-always-so-comfortable zone of living is the very path where we discover the authentic story of our souls. Read on!
KAREN’S DOWNLOAD
As we look up in the great dark sky and see the powerful moon shining her moonbeam down upon us, the awesome wonder of nature (if we stop to absorb it) can literally take our breath away. And while these ebbs and flows of the calendar cycle literally illuminate our earthly paths with their seasonality and measures of time, what this particular moon brings this month is a layer of drama and unpredictability.
And this glorious reminder of why we are here.
You have come into this lifetime with the intention of living deeply and fully. For immersing yourself in the realness of this time/space/”reality” of experience. To jump into it - all of it - feel it - and with every experience, allowing your soul to grow.
When it is comfortable and uneventful, it is tempting to lean back in your seat. To exhale. To believe that this means that “life is good” and that you have mastered the art of balance. And while it is lovely to have these moments of ease - to exhale and enjoy the quiet moments of being, those are not (contrary to popular belief) the goal of why you have chosen to be in the physical body.
You came wanting the journey, the adventure, the unknowingness of the experience. To invite all of the questions and dilemmas and decisions and feelings that this lifetime could offer. These are the moments that give you the chance to lean into the deep dimensionality and duality of everything - the love and the fear - the trust and the betrayal, the anxiety and the peace.
It is always a choice. And that choice is your growth.
So be in it. Know that all of it is there for you – for the taking. And when something comes that does not feel peaceful…that feels uncertain…or that down-right scares you, put on the porch light. Set down the welcome mat and open the door.
Know that you are at your core - strong and capable. That you have a heart and a soul team that is limitless and courageous. That whatever, no matter what greets you on any given day is always there for the lesson of co-creation. Look at it differently.
Each experience, each decision, each milestone, creates the story of you. Do not measure it by anyone else's story - by any outward rule or “social norm.” It is yours and it is always, just as it should be.
Be your story. Love your story. It is the epic journey of a soul having the courage to be human. And when the discomfort comes, it means that you are living. You are on the epic adventure of your lifetime.
ROBYN'S DOWNLOAD
Oh there is so much to come this week! It's going to be wild -- so "hold onto your hats," as they say. Be ready for anything and everything -- and be open. Whatever comes into your path, know that you are ready for it. You are equipped to handle it -- whether it appears seemingly good or seemingly not-so-good. Whatever shows up is here to continue to help you evolve on this journey. And you are supported unconditionally. You may feel overwhelmed, so rely on your breath. Rely on those moments that allow you to center yourself. Ground yourself. Remember that you are a soul in this body. And then, get organized. Make sure you have created boundaries where needed. And give yourself time to be. You are important. No matter what you are doing -- you must take care of yourself in addition to everything, and everyone else.
Be in gratitude for the opportunity to show up. Look at whatever comes your way as an opportunity to shine your brightest light. Be in service. Help others.
Feel the alignment with the energy all around you. And where you need to, lean on others. While you have all of this energetic support, you also can lean on people around you -- those that you love and trust. They are there for you -- just as you have and will be there for them as well.
Find the moments to enjoy the BEING of being human. The ability to feel is a gift. While it may be confusing -- allow yourself to feel the good and the not-so-good, because ultimately all the feeling will enhance your own energy and frequency...allowing your light to shine brighter and brighter.
Remember you have choices in the way that you respond to change. How have you continued to grow along your path? Are your choices coming from a place of love? Love for yourself and love for others? Or are they coming from a place of fear? The more you can lean into love -- the more life will be fulfilling, clear and peaceful.
We support you. We love you. You are ready.
SEEKING CENTER PODCAST SCHEDULE
JANUARY 10: Taking the WooWoo out of Wellness + Getting Your Life Back on Track
JANUARY 17: Your Witchy Bestie's Guide to Help You Create Your Own Magic
JANUARY 24: What You Need to Know About Embodiment in 2023 (Plus, Toxic Positivity + Living Multi-Dimensionally)
JANUARY 31:Getting Deep: Scientific Ways to Overcome Anxiety + Reclaim Your Life
Plus, Support Facing A Diagnosis
FEBRUARY 7:Give Your Soul A Voice
WE WANT TO BE FRIENDS
We want to hear from you.
Are you at a crossroads in your life? Are you seeking guidance? What do you want to hear about? What practices have you tried? Do you have a healer or practitioner or spiritual modality that we need to know about?
Email us: connect@seekingcenter.app
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