Trust the Nature of Woman

Someone asked me the other day about what I’ve been learning.

After HHJ's inaugural trip to Baja in 2022, the phrase “Trust unfoldment” emerged for both Kerste and me as hosts. We’d witnessed this beautiful idea of connecting women for inspired growth effortlessly guide our activities and dialog, and the deep connections that we found, both with ourselves and others.

The other day, “Trust the nature of woman” came to me. It took my breath away. I’ve come full circle.

When I began HHJ in early 2022, I'd been healing a wounded heart. I'd felt disrespected as a woman for several years prior, and seeing young women around me look to superficial definitions of worth, I wanted with all my heart to take a stand for true womanhood – both its strength and grace – and the true potential of women in community working together and supporting one another.

I believe in the power of what many call The Divine Feminine to help heal our world. 

Whether expressed by women or men, the qualities of listening, communication, collaboration, intuition, discernment, leaning on the Infinite, are what we need to unite our world around its shared needs and pure potential.

This autumn, I witnessed “the nature of woman” in full glory while walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and playing in the sun-kissed waters of the Sea of Cortez.

When there was a need, Honest Heart sisters lifted and rallied around one another. They were resilient, flexible, joyous, celebratory, free.

If a Camino sister needed to rest or dry out from the rain, someone kept her company. If a woman was ready to do The Work, inquiring into a limiting emotion, she found someone to walk beside her for as long as she needed to gently question her, loosening beliefs to reveal healing insights.

The night before we entered Santiago on the Camino, all sixteen of us crammed into the smallest of hotel rooms, like school girls at a slumber party. It didn't matter where we were or that wet clothes were strewn everywhere; we relished sharing insights and celebrating each sister there. Those priceless, giddy moments together still make my heart sing!

When a Baja sister needed nursing back to health on the island, another woman gently tended to her and kept diligent watch. The next day, they smiled together in wonder as they watched the sun rise then swam with sea turtles.

I saw in these women a genuine desire to honor and care for one another - giver to giver. We learned to be receivers.

We danced on the beach at night and bared our natural faces to the sun by day, free and stripped of superficial masks and labels, or insecurities that can lead to comparison or criticism. 

Even when the winter winds came suddenly to Baja, bringing krill before the whales’ migration, one of us heard a gentle voice say, “We need to go now.” Our experienced guides listened too and shifted plans. 

With our obedient response came a magical dance with dolphins as we crossed the sea to the mainland and an opportunity to be in La Paz for Dia de los Muertos. 

No one skips a beat within resilience and gratitude!

On both trips this fall, we saw and celebrated the beauty in each woman and left no one out. Adaptability and grace; we listened, and they led. 

Trust the nature of woman. 

I’m grateful to be a woman. Grateful to experience genuine, giving, unconditional support of others in this healthy community of travelers. Grateful to be able to wrap my arms around a recent widow, divorcee or empty nester in a new kind of companionship. Grateful to witness the beautiful cycle of three generations of women honoring and supporting one another. 

We defy society’s sometimes petty, narrow stereotypes of women by knowing and allowing who we truly are, and having the freedom to share it - no hesitations, masks, or need to please others.

So what have I learned? I've seen in the hearts of the women with whom I've traveled a spontaneity and joy, an expectation, and a purity of expression, that tells me that we're ready for what the world is crying for - to experience our Oneness.

We can find peace with whatever happens and listen for how to move forward with grace and equilibrium. We can create an environment of acceptance and genuine care. We can feel exhilaration facing what's tough and discovering the freedom of living outside the box.

Within my first visioning about HHJ's purpose in 2021, I wrote the intent, "To help heal our world, one woman at a time." 

We are healing our world, one woman, one connection, one moment of grace together at a time. I can feel Her collective, expectant call.