Introduction, Searching For Lori

Sep 15, 2020

More times than not I will be sitting with a client who has come to me to help her improve her life, get results, change for the better, make more money, and on top of that, make more money doing what she loves, improve her relationships, get healthier, stop eating so much damn sugar. And last but not least, (angels sing) accept and love herself exactly as she is right now, in this moment, with her messed up, sugar-coated, overweight, unhappy, broke-ass self.

“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.”   Joseph Campbell

Maybe your life is not this messed up, but maybe instead you relate to just one, a couple or possibly all of these scenarios. I, on the other hand, at one time in my life, was the girl with most all of these issues that I wanted to fix in my life.

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I was in a relationship that wasn’t the healthiest, and along with that for about three years I found myself camping in the woods because the project of building a house was way off track, taking baths in the creek, or taking showers with a bag that I filled with water and laid in the sun to warm, cooking food that was mostly donated to me over a campfire. I thought it to be a show of true love when my beloved filled the shower bag to warm throughout the day so I could have a nice warm shower at the end of the day without shaving and cutting the goosebumps off my legs, yes, I still cared enough to shave my legs.

Go figure!!??

However, the ultimate expression of love was if he would “dig my morning hole in the ground so I could poop without panicking that the hole would not get dug before I went! Gawww!! Great expectations I had for myself, right? To my own surprise and that of my family was that I actually handled the whole camping part of my life very well and I came to realize later on in life that there was a little girl inside of me who was ecstatic to have this kind of adventure and that today the healed part of me continues to go hiking and backpacking and sleeps in the woods whenever I can because down deep I freaking love it. However, even handling such circumstances as these with the grace I had, I still had a deep longing to love more, to be loved deeper, to have a stable and awesome kick-ass financial life where I could buy the big bottle of shampoo from Dollar General if I wanted to and to do work that I loved to do. And more than anything I wanted to have fun in life, enjoy life, have work that almost felt like time off, I wanted to freakin exhale and love it!!!

That was 2003, my adventure began and not only did I say yes!!!! I wholeheartedly chased after, hunted down joy, happiness, love, and fulfillment like my dog Joy does when she hears the word SQUIRREL! You know that feeling!! It’s in you waiting to come out. It is called Inspiration!

Fast forward until today, as a life coach I am able, when it benefits the client, to share stories of my own life that could help my client as it relates to their issue. At times when I share this part of my story with clients I see a fearful, I can’t believe what I’m hearing, you were/are more screwed up than I am, I don’t want or need that kind of help and they will immediately be inclined to stop listening, and will get a ‘stop being open’ kind of look on their face. Chuckle!! I’ve learned not to take it personally, knowing that it is only their own resistance to change that stops them and I have used all the excuses anyone could think of as to why I wasn’t open to or needed to change. Like, if only they would change my life would be easier. No one understands my situation, so no one can help me. If I told anyone they would judge me. I can’t be wealthy because I wasn’t born into money, and we all know money doesn’t grow on trees. I can’t be healthy because everyone in my family is unhealthy and it is genetic. I can’t be happy until everything gets fixed in my life. All these things may be true for you up until this point but with a little commitment on your part and a little open-mindedness, you can begin to shift to a more get off your butt and be and do something different attitude from now on and get a different outcome. You have the power, wisdom, and knowledge inside yourself to change the end of your story from it’s beginning just as much as a writer for a movie can change the ending.

I implore you to be open as we begin on this adventure together. We may laugh together, cry together, but more importantly, it is my wish that we will grow together. Yes, I say ‘we’, because I know already that by writing this book that it is going to, and already has brought new awarenesses to me and brought up fears that I thought were long gone. Like, dang, who wants to read your book, what do you have to say that others haven’t already said and worse than that, what if “they” really knew you. Hmmm, see what I mean, and I am doing and applying and practicing the same shit that I will recommend that you do, because my friend, it is a practice. We never arrive, we just practice and we will get better at it. Better at what? Practicing !!! But there is good news, It will begin to take form, we will begin to see results from our practice. We will begin to trust ourselves, to see ourselves, to listen to ourselves, to love ourselves. I’m excited for this journey with you and It is my promise to you that I will pour out my heart to you, I will be vulnerable with you, I will be sincere to you and I will love you! You are my people, my tribe and I honor you with my life, my crazy mixed up, messed up, sometimes messy life that I am still sorting out. I am finding my way little by little and it is my heart to yours that I bring this book to you, that by some chance, somewhere along my way, through my journey I can help you. I hope to bring some light into your path, to illuminate love in your life and help you to follow that.

So you may be wondering just how did I get from camping in the woods, bathing in creeks, making little money to having a whole life for the most part on most days that I love? Come, bring some tea or coffee and sit awhile with me and I will tell you!