your writing means to much to me. thanks for bringing me to substack where i find a lot of stuff i like to read. what you create and what you say always has the ring of truth and brings me back for more. 🌟🌛🐛
Dear Rachel, I am sending you all my love in this transition. Please know that your work: your tarot cards, books, videos, ceramics, tattoos, and writing, has been profoundly healing to me in a real and tangible way. I carry your work with me daily on my body and believe that you have rare vision, depth and complexity. Your work has healed me in more ways that you know. And will continue to. Blessings in this passage.
Thank you Hayley! I hope you're doing ok amidst the LA fire chaos. Thanks for your sweet words too, I will remember them whenever I'm feeling any self-doubt. I love that the tattoos act as such a talisman for healing for you.
I’m sending you my profound gratitude for all that you do, Rachel. And I’m glad the softness and strength of caring for others was available to you at the ER. I wish you support and joy for this journey you are on, becoming/ letting go of what works and doesn’t. As someone who was always paycheck to paycheck until age 48 I am glad to hear you’re finding a vehicle for financial stability that works for you. The reality of paying rent and life generally can become less of struggle, a peace and greater capacity can arise. Wishing you lots of great teachers on your path!
I can't wait until making a living is no longer a struggle! Mostly I want to be useful and effective too, and hope that these two things can coexist with some financial stability as well. I'm so glad you broke out of the starving artist dynamic and have more ease now!
I’m lucky to have worked with a great therapist for many years. I’ve learned that such a person is very rare, very difficult to find. I wish you luck. You’ll be great at this. I wonder whether you’ll continue the Substack? I’d enjoy reading it if you decide to go that way.
Thank you Cynthia! I will continue to write here, and I'm sure my essays will be informed by what I am learning, so everyone reading will get to benefit from my experience as well. Putting theory into practice is what makes things real, and I'll be using this platform and the engagement with readers to connect back to real life in that way.
Rachel - I am sorry you're experiencing burnout. I find a lot of guidance from your substack posts, whether essay or unraveling astrology in thoughtful ways. This essay feels especially poignant to me as I've also just started a graduate program and grappling with if it is actually want I want to be doing, and if I decide it's not the right decision in this moment keeping my self-worth and value intact when you decide to undue a leap of faith. Thank you, as always.
Thank you! It's always nice to hear when my words touch people. I'm also approaching my program semester by semester, and if it turns out not to be right to continue on, it's no big deal. I think we should approach all things we do with flexibility and with permission to change our minds based on what feels right. But we won't know until we try! I'm trying to shake off my own conditioning that I should know if something is right for me before I even experience it.
This is a really thought-provoking, if a little challenging, read for someone who almost became a therapist a few years ago and is now attempting to navigate creative/spiritual pursuits and wondering whether this is a viable career choice. Thank you, Rachel.
You know, everyone's experience is different-- this is just where I'm at right now! I am definitely experiencing burnout after a decade of doing the creative/spiritual/self-employed route, which is a different place to be in than starting out. I had endless energy when starting out, for all the same challenges that I am now too exhausted for. I certainly don't want to deter anyone from doing the important work that often happens outside of institutional structures. I really believe that healing work is valuable no matter the container, and often it is the alternative approach that actually works best. I've also been realizing how much my own internal conditioning has shaped my approach to my work, and how for my own growth I'm needing to take a new path with that, which certainly doesn't apply to everyone!
Certainly! I'm definitely at the beginning and still see a lot of merit in pursuing it, but I do really appreciate you sharing your experience - I imagine in 10 years if I experience burnout I might think back to this newsletter and remember that it is natural for things to shift. In any case, small spells is one of my favourite newsletters and I am very grateful for the writing birthed from your multi-passions and talents xx
your writing means to much to me. thanks for bringing me to substack where i find a lot of stuff i like to read. what you create and what you say always has the ring of truth and brings me back for more. 🌟🌛🐛
Dear Rachel, I am sending you all my love in this transition. Please know that your work: your tarot cards, books, videos, ceramics, tattoos, and writing, has been profoundly healing to me in a real and tangible way. I carry your work with me daily on my body and believe that you have rare vision, depth and complexity. Your work has healed me in more ways that you know. And will continue to. Blessings in this passage.
Thank you Hayley! I hope you're doing ok amidst the LA fire chaos. Thanks for your sweet words too, I will remember them whenever I'm feeling any self-doubt. I love that the tattoos act as such a talisman for healing for you.
I’m sending you my profound gratitude for all that you do, Rachel. And I’m glad the softness and strength of caring for others was available to you at the ER. I wish you support and joy for this journey you are on, becoming/ letting go of what works and doesn’t. As someone who was always paycheck to paycheck until age 48 I am glad to hear you’re finding a vehicle for financial stability that works for you. The reality of paying rent and life generally can become less of struggle, a peace and greater capacity can arise. Wishing you lots of great teachers on your path!
I can't wait until making a living is no longer a struggle! Mostly I want to be useful and effective too, and hope that these two things can coexist with some financial stability as well. I'm so glad you broke out of the starving artist dynamic and have more ease now!
I’m lucky to have worked with a great therapist for many years. I’ve learned that such a person is very rare, very difficult to find. I wish you luck. You’ll be great at this. I wonder whether you’ll continue the Substack? I’d enjoy reading it if you decide to go that way.
Thank you Cynthia! I will continue to write here, and I'm sure my essays will be informed by what I am learning, so everyone reading will get to benefit from my experience as well. Putting theory into practice is what makes things real, and I'll be using this platform and the engagement with readers to connect back to real life in that way.
Rachel - I am sorry you're experiencing burnout. I find a lot of guidance from your substack posts, whether essay or unraveling astrology in thoughtful ways. This essay feels especially poignant to me as I've also just started a graduate program and grappling with if it is actually want I want to be doing, and if I decide it's not the right decision in this moment keeping my self-worth and value intact when you decide to undue a leap of faith. Thank you, as always.
Thank you! It's always nice to hear when my words touch people. I'm also approaching my program semester by semester, and if it turns out not to be right to continue on, it's no big deal. I think we should approach all things we do with flexibility and with permission to change our minds based on what feels right. But we won't know until we try! I'm trying to shake off my own conditioning that I should know if something is right for me before I even experience it.
This is a really thought-provoking, if a little challenging, read for someone who almost became a therapist a few years ago and is now attempting to navigate creative/spiritual pursuits and wondering whether this is a viable career choice. Thank you, Rachel.
You know, everyone's experience is different-- this is just where I'm at right now! I am definitely experiencing burnout after a decade of doing the creative/spiritual/self-employed route, which is a different place to be in than starting out. I had endless energy when starting out, for all the same challenges that I am now too exhausted for. I certainly don't want to deter anyone from doing the important work that often happens outside of institutional structures. I really believe that healing work is valuable no matter the container, and often it is the alternative approach that actually works best. I've also been realizing how much my own internal conditioning has shaped my approach to my work, and how for my own growth I'm needing to take a new path with that, which certainly doesn't apply to everyone!
Certainly! I'm definitely at the beginning and still see a lot of merit in pursuing it, but I do really appreciate you sharing your experience - I imagine in 10 years if I experience burnout I might think back to this newsletter and remember that it is natural for things to shift. In any case, small spells is one of my favourite newsletters and I am very grateful for the writing birthed from your multi-passions and talents xx