Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, we talk about the need for solid ground and certainty (ok, we talk about how *I* need that...or think I need that in life) and how maybe it's not realistic given that the one constant in life is change. We look to rocks, geology, and their own metamorphic nature to consider how even the most stable things in life still experience change. We explore how change and transformation happens at different rates and how we can put that on a moral scale (fast progress is good and slow change is bad, for example, when that may not be accurate or helpful).

We frame some questions like, "Could I be confusing solid ground and certainty with my own resistance to change?" and "What would it feel like to trust in our innate ability to experience transformation and manage uncertainty because we are changing beings also?"

IF you're feeling like you're on slippery ground, like the rug is being pulled out from under you or like you can't get your footing and you want some commiseration with that feeling while also receiving some new perspectives on it, to possibly challenge you and open you a little, you'll enjoy this podcast. I make myself the example of the resistance and the change in this episode so I'm firmly in the mess of life and seeking with you.

Finally, I name two daily practices/philosophies that help me honor my human desire for stability while also honoring the need and innate quality of change in life.

If you'd like to learn more about the practices I mention and/or would like to be in closer community with the themes of this podcast, please sign up for my newsletter. You can do so at:

www.jencobbleworks.com/free

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!

Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, we stay in the cosmos letting the moon (and stars) offer us invitations into radical self-acceptance and love. I have often experienced, in my spiritual journey, an unspoken "rule" that suggests that if a person ever feels disconnected from their true self and/or the Divine, it's because they are not faithful enough, not doing ritual or prayer correctly, or are somehow tainting their intentions or energies with negativity or "bad influences". I find this deeply confusing and shameful. It reduces human experience down to pure will and motivation which is absurd. We cannot control everything even if we are "pure" of heart all of the time (whatever that even means). This outlook also suggests that once we find/experience spiritual connection to our true selves and the Divine, then it stays there forever (unless we screw it up in some way).

But in my lived experience through practicing inner listening via the examen and connecting to self and Spirit through nature, story, science, and intuitive practice, this "rule" doesn't apply at all. Instead, what I have experienced is a two-fold reality: my connection to self and Spirit is constant and ever-present AND my connection to self and Spirit waxes in wanes insofar as my perception of it. Meaning: we are always connected to our soul and to Spirit, but we may not always feel that way and that's natural! The moon reminds me of the natural seasonality of this waxing and waning perception.

This week, we will explore what it means to accept this about ourselves and let that acceptance be a flexible threshold for our connection to pass through. I share a reasonably embarrassing (and joyful) story of visiting a giant telescope and seeing Saturn with my own eyes.

If you've ever felt like your connection to self and Spirit is absent and you've blamed yourself for that, this episode offers a new compassionate perspective that I think you will find nourishing.

For more ways we can stay connected, consider joining my newsletter where we chat about this stuff and where I share free illustrations, journals, and tools with subscribers. The link is here:

www.jencobbleworks.com/free

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!

Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, we talk about mercury retrograde from two perspectives: astronomical and astrological and how both form a beautiful invitation into self-reflection and compassionate inner listening.

If you love syncing with the rhythms of nature and the universe as a way to prompt, nudge, and encourage your own rhythm of spiritual practice and inner listening (to self and Sacred), you're going to enjoy this unique look at mercury retrograde from astronomical and astrological lenses.

Two astrological podcasts I love are:

Ghost of a Podcast with Jessica Lanyadoo

and

The Radiance Project with Heidi Rose Robbins (she features lots of gorgeous poetry too for you poetry lovers out there!)

Both podcasts can be found on Apple and Spotify.

I will be sharing some examen practices and running a sale throughout this mercury retrograde so stay tuned to IG @cobbleworks for more info or sign up for my newsletter:

jencobbleworks.com/free

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!

Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, we talk about the Zen Buddhist invitation: Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. I've been home from my Iona pilgrimage for a few weeks now and some things feel like a hamster wheel again. They feel hard and intractable. I'm remembering this Zen Buddhist invitation from past Zen teachers who let me live into different responses to it. This week, we explore some of those responses. The first is the very relatable concern that spiritual growth is meaningless because it doesn't really affect our day to day existence. The second is that we can have mere moments of enlightenment and it changes the way we relate to day to day tasks. The third is to consider enlightenment, pilgrimage, and transformation not as something we achieve, but something that is given to us as a portal, as a threshold, or a doorway that connects us to enchantment and sacred presence even in the so-called mundane.

If you're interested in my newsletter where we talk about spiritual invitations like this and where I share opportunities to work together 1:1 or in small groups, you can learn more and sign up here:

www.jencobbleworks.com/free

If you have trouble with this link or have any questions, you are always welcome to email me directly at [email protected]

Again this week, I mention the work of Mary DeJong at Waymarkers. I consider her a friend, teacher, and guide on my own path and warmly encourage you to seek out her work at:

waymarkers.net

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!

Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, I share more deeply about my spiritual growth experiences in Iona, Scotland. I am not surprised that I was surprised by the gift of pilgrimage. It turns out, I needed to get out of my mind and settle into the body of the island and the body of my own being. My personal transformation was rooted in embodiment and invitations into greater embodiment.

I want to honor the guides and teachers who offered paths and wisdom for me to leap off of during this pilgrimage: the island of Iona, the people of Iona (on this side of the veil and the other), the animals and elements alive on the island, the human beings seeking and traveling with me, and our guide, Mary De Jong of Waymarkers are all part of the community and the spiritual ecosystem that encouraged my growth.

The story I mention in this episdode, The Lindworm, is a tale for all people, but was first shared with me by Mary De Jong. The wisdom and insight around my own experiences of personal exile, of giving parts of myself away because I find them unlovable or unacceptable emerge from my own journey and relationship to Sacred, but I have been guided by Mary's experience and wisdom as a story carrier. And I honor what she has given me as a threshold to personal growth. If you'd like to know more about Mary's work, you can find her at:

www.waymarkers.net

For those of you who are interested in small group work with me or 1:1 work with me, please email me directly at [email protected].

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!

Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, I share a little about returning from Iona where I was on recently on pilgrimage. The experience was life-changing in unexpected ways...exactly what we expect from transformational journeys and spiritual coddiwompling. I will have more to share over the next few weeks, but the first invitation I'm offering you from my experience is a gift Iona gave me which is a fundamental re-framing of our innate goodness.

Many of us have been told (through a variety of voices and sources) that we cannot hold our goodness because we are an unworthy vessel, that we are fundamentally no good, broken, or inherently bent towards wrongness. Sacred spoke through Iona and upended this inaccuracy during my trip. It said: You cannot contain your goodness because you are a wellspring of goodness and it not only spills out of you, but it fills and refills itself within you over and over and over again. It was deeply healing for me and, I hope, it feels deeply healing for you.

I must thank my friend, guide, and teacher during this trip and throughout the years of my daily journeying, Mary De Jong of Waymarkers. Please visit her website and connect to her wellspring of wisdom and wild story. She has another pilgrimage to Iona next summer that is filling up quickly. She also has ongoing offerings in the United States and virtual spaces throughout the year. You can learn more about her at:

www.waymarkers.net

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!

Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, we take another look at summer's invitation to go within, to take refuge from the heat of our lives and the heat of our emotions and enter an inner journey of self-reflection. One thing we might notice when we do, are the well-worn paths and thoughts that animate many of our beliefs and actions, but don't actually serve our transformation any longer. We might notice that when we pause to reflect and go on an inner journey, these habitual thoughts and beliefs want to stay hidden. They don't want to be seen or acknowledged. They definitely don't want to be uprooted.

But Spirit has a way of framing questions in our pauses that unearth what no longer serves our growth. And Spirit does this unearthing in surprising ways.

This episode speaks directly to our ability to name our needs and wants when Spirit asks us about them as well as the inner urge to "not go there" and face such questions if they fly in the face of old thinking. I share that my own well-worn belief system suggests I can't or shouldn't have any needs or wants...like they're unnecessary or should be ignored for some reason. All of this is coming to light as I face the real possibility of not being able to take my Iona pilgrimage as planned. I wasn't expecting part of the pilgrimage journey to include not going on the pilgrimage journey. But as I wait for more details to emerge to tell me how things will play out, as I'm in a holding pattern, another liminal space of uncertainty, Spirit has some questions about what I need and want, especially as it relates to self-love and self-compassion. And my old thinking is avoiding and arguing with Spirit as a result.

Also surprisingly, it's through this wrestling with Spirit that my truer needs and wants have been revealed and are actually being met. I wonder if, when listening to this week's episode, you'll find a similar unearthing pattern in your own experience. I'd love to hear from you!

The link to the newsletter is here:

www.jencobbleworks.com/free

And the link to the Summer Soul-stice Reflection Journal is here. Remember to use code SHINEON to get the $24 price:

https://cobbleworks.teachable.com/p/loveandhopesummersoulstice

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!

Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, we are revisiting themes of pilgrimage and transformational journeys into the unknown. I share some of my fears and anxieties about my upcoming trip to Iona, Scotland and have a good laugh at myself...while also acknowledging how incredibly scary it can be to say "yes" to Mystery. We think we're giving consent for a particular adventure and path only to realize a bit later that there is no way we can 100% know what we're agreeing to do, or how we're going to be changed and transformed by some things in life.

We talk a little bit about pilgrimages we never asked for, the unexpected things in life that just happen to us that we don't ever have to like, but do require some form of a "yes" if we're to move forward with the reality of them.

I share a visual I was given during contemplation and meditation that felt healing to me as my nerves about this pilgrimage and soul journey gets closer: that of the wounded healer centered on loving compassion. The exact image involves Chiron, the mythological centaur who is said to have been a wounded healer and the Cosmic Christ, the figure in Christian tradition who creates a connecting gate through wounds, suffering, and even death sitting around a warm campfire with the moon at the edge of everything. some selkies show up as well. It is an invitation into relationship and loving compassion with spiritual friends who know both the adventure and the pain of a transformational journey.

I mention the work of eco-theologian and spiritual teacher, Mary De Jong of Waymarkers in this episode. A link to her work is here:

https://www.waymarkers.net/

I am also traveling with Victoria Loorz of Church of the Wild. A link to her work is here:

https://www.victorialoorz.com/

I also share the work of spiritual teacher and astrologer, Jeff Hinshaw, who gifted me an expanded image of the Wounded Healer archetype. A link to their work is here:

https://www.cosmiccousins.com/jeff-hinshaw

If you are feeling a pull to reflect on the journey of 2023 thus far, my Summer Soul-stice journal and mini course is still available. Use coupon code: SHINEON for 20% off. Here's the link:

www.cobbleworks.teachable.com/p/loveandhopesummersoulstice

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!

Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, we look at a few dualistic/double-sided invitations from the solstice. The first comes from the concept of stillness. The word solstice translates to "the sun stands still" and this idea of stillness offers us two spiritual reflection points. One is the persistence of what it means for something to be still. In other words, what is sticking around in your life? What is not going away? What is still here and still with you? Welcoming the light of the solstice, we are reminded to let all of our answers come to light, to truly admit and honor the painful aspects of something lingering and not leaving our lives, especially when we have lost patience with it or are run down by its ongoing presence. And also to acknowledge and honor the beautiful aspects of something lingering and staying with us. Are there qualities you've cultivated in the last six months that are not only sticking with you, but helping you stick with yourself? Are there friendships, practices, relationships, and communities that have stood by you and with you? Can you take time to celebrate that ever-presence?

The other way stillness invites us into our own inner journey and growth is to ask what is bringing you calm and peace right now? What is providing you inner stillness, even if things are raucous outside of yourself? Where are you finding your inner ground and stillness?

We also look at how the solstice, both summer and winter, are always offering us dual invitations. They happen concurrently. They complement one another. In the summer solstice, we are experiencing a season of savoring, sharing, and storing the fruits of our lives, not just because the present moment shines forth with this opportunity, but because after this time, we are moving towards more darkness and less light. We will need to rely on what we've stored in the summer to help us get through our upcoming winter...both literally and figuratively. And in a complementary way, the winter solstice for the Southern Hemisphere is moving towards more light and away from a season of restful darkness from this point forward. People and beings in the Southern Hemisphere will need the restoration they have experienced over winter to fuel them for the coming dawn.

If you're interested in exploring more dualistic invitations of the summer solstice in particular, I have an illustrated reflection journal and mini course still available. It's $24 when you use the code: SHINEON at check out. It's a beautiful companion to look within, look ahead, and celebrate you and your growth. The link is here:

https://cobbleworks.teachable.com/p/loveandhopesummersoulstice

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!

Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, we talk about what it means to come home to ourselves spiritually speaking, how we find that inner sanctuary of perpetual love and acceptance that abides within us. And what we sink our teeth into is how this is not necessarily easy or obvious. It's a journey all its own, to find and reclaim our inner peace. We also talk about coming home to old places and parts of ourselves. I share a recent experience of reconnecting with a friend and admit to the grief and loss I felt (and am still feeling) that I let so much time go by since we last connected. Like the pilgrimage and adventure of coming home to our soul and Spirit Within, the process of coming home to old opportunities, places, and others is not necessarily easy. Stories that feature a quest and simply end with, "And they lived happily ever after" are not really representative of life as we know it. In our everyday human experiences, reconnecting and homecoming can be fraught, painful, and confusing. We can experience social exile, illness, and all kinds of separation that is hard to return from.

To explore how we might navigate these experiences in life, we look (briefly) at the story of Odysseus coming home in the epic, the Odyssey. We also consider (briefly) Frodo and the Hobbits coming home in The Lord of the Rings, what is missing, but what we might long for in the homecoming story of Jesus (what kind of healing did he experience so that he wasn't traumatized or seeking vengeance?), and finally the story of Persephone and Demeter.

It is here, with Persephone, that I suggest we're given a model we could use for our own homecoming adventures. She comes home to her mother and a broken earth again and again. She brings seeds with her again and again. She befriends and cultivates her old life and creates a new one, again and again. Is there something in this rhythm and tenacious befriending that could help us with our homecomings and personal pilgrimages?

Although it is only briefly mentioned and not in any detail, please note that the Persephone story touches on possible physical and sexual harm. Additionally, the story of homecoming always comes with it the acknowledgement of separation and exile. This episode treads gently, but honor your own heart around these challenging themes.

The link to the Summer Soul-stice Journal and Mini Course is here:

https://cobbleworks.teachable.com/p/loveandhopesummersoulstice

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!