Nature's Way Home
  • Home
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT
    • The Body Doesn't Lie
    • The Compassion Process®
    • Who You Really Are
    • Testimonials
    • About Shelly
    • Location
    • Poetry >
      • How She Heals
      • CREEK THERAPY
      • the gift of adrenal fatigue
    • Video Library
  • Services
    • Overview of Services
    • Nature-Based Counseling and Coaching
    • Body-Informed Counseling/Life Coaching
    • Emotions Coaching
    • Equine Assisted Personal Growth
    • Somatic-Based Expressive Arts
    • Dance/Movement
    • Relationship Coaching
    • Phone Coaching
    • Trauma-Informed Therapy
    • for veterans
    • Continuing Education
    • Immersions
  • Blog
  • For Women
    • For Women
    • Female Embodied Movement™
    • Everyday Embodiment
    • Sex and Pleasure
  • Events
    • Events
    • Special Offers
    • Past Events
  • Policies/Fees
    • Policies/Fees
    • Forms
  • Contact
    • Workshop Registration

Notes From the Field

Dr. Phil Doesn't Know Who You Are

6/20/2020

4 Comments

 
I read somewhere recently that Dr. Phil got in a little bit of trouble for some remarks he made about Covid-19. He said something to the effect that if we didn't return to work, if we didn't "get back to normal," more people would die from the stress of not working than from the virus. We all know that Phil has never been short on opinions, but whether he's right or not is not what concerns me here.

What his comment reveals is not only a reflection of his lack of skill-set, a lack of faith in his ability to help people release, transform, and resolve the stress around not working, but in his culturally-biased assumption that not working is the problem - versus recognizing our emotional reactions to not working as the problem. His comment reflects and also reinforces a disempowered stance that puts the locus of control on Covid-19, our political leaders, the economy, and our outer-directed efforts to fix all this up just right so that then we can feel better; instead of affirming our own innate power to transform our negative feelings, and be at relative inner peace, regardless of our outer circumstances. 

Again, I'm assuming that this is merely an indication that he doesn't know how. This wouldn't be a problem except that
because of his popularity, we can only assume that his position and attitude is a reflection of mass culture, and that's what worries me.

When we can't control our outer lives, if we do not have jobs or achievements, is it necessary that the stress of that kills us? Yes, being out of work with no income, and being responsible for others, would certainly bring up strong feelings of survival-type fear. It's perfectly understandable. But where is the faith in the human organism's capacity to transform fear? Where is the faith in an abundant universe that offers unlimited potential and possibilities that we might have access to once our fear is transformed?

Please understand that I'm in no way trying to discount these kinds of fears. I have them too. But within every fear and every situation that triggers that fear, is the potential for healing, release, and to know ourselves more deeply - inner work which we might not be motivated to do if we weren't scared silly.

We are not at the mercy of this pandemic. Instead, it presents us with an opportunity to face the illusion that we were ever in control in the first place. It invites us to find something deeper in ourselves than our outer-directed, ego-directed plans and strategies, something deeper than our self-identification with worldly-attained security, achievement, and success.

I hope Phil is wrong. I hope the stress of not working won't kill us. I hope instead that this crisis will be used to help us be more than we've been before and that instead of back to normal, we emerge from this as better than normal - with a greater sense of who we are, beneath and beyond our worldly, egoic striving.

Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said, I have overcome the world. Perhaps he came to know the limitations and futility of striving, strategizing, and trying to control our outer circumstances. Perhaps he was trying to tell us that as long as our focus is on anything out there, we will have "tribulation." Maybe he was trying to show us another way and was challenging us to dig deeply enough to find the innate, indwelling peace, stability, and freedom within, that which transcends the outer illusion.

In any case, I don't think he would let us off the hook like Phil did. He wouldn't agree that the world could beat us and wouldn't agree that the world could fix us. But would have invited us instead to rediscover the truth of who we are, beneath and beyond the world of form, all the while celebrating our remembrance of this truth, and the worldly conditions that inspired it.

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John16:33.

Thank you Jesus, for showing the way.

​Shelly
4 Comments
Di
6/21/2020 09:20:26 am

Shelly you always get to the heart of the matter, the core. The only way out is through, and the way through is inward. When we emerge from that place we have a strength that goes well beyond our life circumstances 💛

Reply
Shelly
6/22/2020 11:15:08 am

Yes. Thank you Di.

Reply
Sara Michael
6/21/2020 11:43:58 am

“within every fear and every situation that triggers that fear, is the potential for healing, release, and to know ourselves more deeply -“
This is beautiful Shelly. The entire article is powerful. I try to remind myself there is no outer- in the truest sense of Reality- and you are so helpful in reminding me everything is an inside job.
I would love to ask Dr Phil, “ and how is that working for you, Dr Phil?”
Keep all this wisdom coming, Dr Shelly!

Reply
Shelly
6/22/2020 11:16:58 am

HaHa Sara! That's awesome. I'm surprised I didn't think of the how's-that-working-for-ya thing myself. Thank you, as always, for reading and for your encouraging feedback.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    August 2021
    July 2021
    December 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    May 2017
    April 2016
    December 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

​Location:
​

​Heaven On Earth Farm

  • Five minutes from downtown Pickens, SC
  • Thirty minutes from downtown Greenville, SC
  • Thirty - Forty minutes from Clemson/Seneca, SC

​Specific directions provided upon scheduling or registration.
​
Quick Links:
  • Home
  • About
  • About Shelly
  • Nature-Based Counseling and Coaching
  • Body-Informed Counseling/Coaching
  • Emotions Coaching
  • Immersions
  • Telephone Coaching
  • Relationship Coaching
  • For Women
  • Somatic-Based Expressive Arts
  • Trauma-Informed Therapy​
  • Equine-Assisted Personal Growth
  • ​Continuing Education
  • Events
  • Poetry
  • ​Videos
  • The Compassion Process®
  • Policies/Fees
  • Contact
Contact:

​shellyascoach@gmail.com

​864/933-8000
Mailing Address:
Shelly Smith
P.O. Box 1233 
Pickens, SC 29671

​Upstate, SC
  • Home
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT
    • The Body Doesn't Lie
    • The Compassion Process®
    • Who You Really Are
    • Testimonials
    • About Shelly
    • Location
    • Poetry >
      • How She Heals
      • CREEK THERAPY
      • the gift of adrenal fatigue
    • Video Library
  • Services
    • Overview of Services
    • Nature-Based Counseling and Coaching
    • Body-Informed Counseling/Life Coaching
    • Emotions Coaching
    • Equine Assisted Personal Growth
    • Somatic-Based Expressive Arts
    • Dance/Movement
    • Relationship Coaching
    • Phone Coaching
    • Trauma-Informed Therapy
    • for veterans
    • Continuing Education
    • Immersions
  • Blog
  • For Women
    • For Women
    • Female Embodied Movement™
    • Everyday Embodiment
    • Sex and Pleasure
  • Events
    • Events
    • Special Offers
    • Past Events
  • Policies/Fees
    • Policies/Fees
    • Forms
  • Contact
    • Workshop Registration