Follow the feeling, and you’ll understand your choices …
Many of my clients fit with the picture of the warrior Goddess, the pose above.
This pose. The goddess. It is not dainty at all, my friends…This picture made me go back to something I wrote on a social media post recently.
“An Amazon is focused, strong, yet graceful and open…Leading with this, my primary archetype, while learning how to balance its power, took me to the place I am today. A place out of burnout.”
But what is an archetype? I am beginning to study them from a woman’s perspective, and it is fascinating. In the psychology of Carl Jung, archetypes are the images, patterns, and symbols that rise out of the collective unconscious and appear in dreams, mythology, and fairy tales. The hero, the villain, the wise man..all of these are archetypes. But they don’t stay in stories or dreams; we play them out, and we operate mostly from one of them and judge people based on these, too.
So, going back to the Amazon. How would an Amazon feel? Strong, focused, courageous, brave, fit, beautiful, driven, serious. These are important qualities, and we NEED them. But if you are running on this archetype alone, there is very little fun, relaxation, creativity, romance, etc. This is not to say that other archetypes are better. It means that we, and by these, I mean women with burnout tendencies, cannot rely on our preferred archetype only: The Amazon (although sometimes this archetype can be the Mother that gives without boundaries)
I leaned on my Amazon for what seemed an eternity. She got me to America, and she put me through college, working full time and making the Deans List every year. She made me a successful career woman, and she provided me with a comfortable life. I tackled every fear and doubt, and I got to accomplish milestones, made my family (my tribe) proud, won accolades, and more. But this alone was not enough. The feeling I kept chasing was that of winning or triumph, and that meant that I was always fighting some battle. To make matters worse, I was also seeking acceptance. Reconciling these two things was killing me, even though I didn’t know that then. But that made me sick and very weak, and the Amazon felt defeated. I felt I had failed. I was supposed to do it all and be strong! When burnout reached the downslide of fatigue, I felt like a complete failure.
With my studies and experiences, I realized (even though this archetype thing is a new area of study for me) that my priorities were wrong. I made many changes, but only in the last few years did I begin to chase good feelings as a GPS to tell me what to do. I have chosen not to go for the feeling of a goal, a chase, or a competition. My Amazon needed other archetypes. Today, I want to experience other feelings.
Today, I am in a place where I always have time to practice. My mornings are slow. I always have time to take a day off and go to the beach. I always teach and coach because I want to, not because I have to make the money. And all that feels good. That good feeling is what I was chasing. But I still count on my Amazon archetype: I am always expanding my business. I always care for myself financially and health-wise and in other ways, But in accomplishing these, I notice when I’m chasing the “triumphant battlefield” feeling and redirect myself. I don’t have to always be right, have an opinion, make people like me, or prove anything. I want to feel good, and I know that to feel good, I must first be open to feelings.
The price I am going for is feeling good. For this to happen, I need to feel other emotions like compassion, anger, or inspiration that belong from the mother, the witch, the muse, and the other archetypes I didn’t embrace as much (and I’m still learning to integrate). That’s what I’m here to tell you. The new paradigm cannot burn you out if you stick to it. Follow the Amazon and bring with you its archetype sisters.
This new stage is so different that I sometimes don’t recognize myself. And, of course, this happens even more with others. But I don’t care if people don’t get me. I didn’t get people like me 4 years ago. Going further back, 8 years ago, I couldn’t separate drive from burnout. I worried too much about what people thought. I wanted to win and to be liked at the same time. Talk about exhausting! Today, I know a different way to feel powerful. And I’m leading my clients in this new way. This way has a power that doesn’t make you pushy or scared. Instead, it excites you!
I want to follow feelings with unapologetic feminine passion, and you will rise with me if you want to feel alive, too…This will touch every area of your life and make you a natural “game changer.” You will organically be a force to reckon, but not a violent, fast and “industrial aged minded” one. You will do what you do for yourself, for clean food, for Mother Earth, for your career, for your relationships, for your kids, and for all because it will feel good.
This is what I’m building. And for the amazons reading me and ready to step in, this is your opportunity to balance that intensity that burns out. I am your ally, and I have your road map. Ask yourself: Are you willing to drop the arms to feel good?
