This Phoenix Rising

May 08, 2013

What does rebuilding my website have in common with a phoenix bird? Maybe more than I realized.

This process has taken longer than I imagined, and I needed to dismantle more than the old site. I let go of trying to do everything myself, which meant releasing my idealized self (and hiring Archetype Productions for an unfolding collaboration). I found some things I didn’t like about myself and then needed to let go of self-judgment. Little by little, I even took apart my logo — or was that my ego? — or both.

In rewriting the About Me page, and the link to my own healing journey, I learned how attached I was to my own pain and how much I let the past define me. With each “re-vision,” I burned away old resentments and also my need to cling to them.

The me of my old website wasn’t a writer. I am throwing out that limitation, or rather, in the spirit of the Phoenix bird, burning it to a crisp. My previous photo was five years old. Time to let it go and face a camera with the ease and grace I feel when the person on the other end of the lens is the most delightful Natalie Ferguson. Previously camera shy, I actually enjoyed myself as Natalie snapped away while engaging me in conversation.

As I pull myself up from the ashes, I feel a renewal of my commitment as to why I do my work. I choose to grow and learn and discover the bigness of life and love. I choose to express God’s light, compassion, and creative energy. I open as a vessel for joyful healing, creativity, and transformation in service.