Curated proof that the world has soul
💥 In This Week’s Issue
Editor’s note: where are you idling? Complacency as an “imbalance of the mind” from The Freedom Transmissions, why busy can be a very convincing hiding place, Carissa’s flossing-and-root-canals reminder, and picking just one area to move on, bird by bird
Worth knowing: David Ghiyam’s November lesson on embodying enjoyment, Meggan Watterson on what Mary’s Gospel teaches about return and remember, a Joni Mitchell song about holding fear as sacred, where your body stores emotions, and a podcast that made me (and my friends) cry over math
Little things keeping me going: welcome, Chiricahua, our 64th national park, a home that became a butterfly rest stop, and good news you might have missed
Plus: an invitation. The Alchemy Transmissions book club is in full swing, and the 2027 waitlists are open for a 10-week TAT cohort and an 8-month deep dive on both The Freedom Transmissions and TAT
Words of light: John O’Donohue on what the dark is for
Where are you idling?
I asked this question in a recent Substack. The topic was: COMPLACENCY. In The Freedom Transmissions, it’s called one of the “imbalances of the mind.”
Think of these imbalances like holes in our energy field that let in the noise, the fear, and everyone else’s opinions. Imbalances are where we miss the mark on being our full original, authentic, connected to the Divine selves.
When I first read about it, I didn’t have to wonder which imbalance I resonated with the most. You guessed it: complacency/ignorance/denial. And from the conversations I’ve been having in our community lately, I’m not the only one. So many talented, smart, creative women are waiting. Dreaming. Worrying. Dimming. Holding back.
A few ideas from the piece about complacency:
It’s like idling in the car. You’ve got the keys, the map, a full tank, and you’re still in the driveway – just sitting and never getting on the road. Or you do finally pull out, then stop for errands, a coffee, one more thing on the list, and turn around exhausted. Tomorrow, you tell yourself. It doesn’t always look like sitting on the couch.
Sometimes complacency looks like a packed calendar. Saying yes to every “quick call.” Spending hours setting up the system instead of doing the work that actually moves the dial. Busy can be a very convincing hiding place.
The small stuff adds up. One of my spiritual teachers, Carissa Schumacher, gave an example like this: skip flossing your teeth because you’re too busy, and it’s fine for a while. Then come the root canals.
This is where we don’t want to get lazy about prevention. You don’t have to overhaul your whole life. Pick one area. Don’t make it a huge project that will burn you out. Just take it bird by bird. (Where my Anne Lamott fans at?! IYKYK.)
The full piece goes deeper, including what Meggan Watterson writes in Mary Magdalene Revealed about how we silence ourselves from within, and the questions I’m asking myself (and you) about where we’re idling.
And if this is the work you want to go deep on, my next Freedom Transmissions book study opens in 2027, now including The Alchemy Transmissions too. Join the waitlist →
WORTH KNOWING
🍁Kabbalah expert David Ghiyam’s lesson for November: He encourages us to ask ourselves, “What is already here that I have not already stopped to enjoy?” If you are feeling stuck, overwhelmed, worried, Ghiyam suggests that “when nothing else works, enjoy what you have.” This month is not just about gratitude and appreciation → it’s time to embody enjoyment.
⭕️ Meggan Watterson’s piece: What Mary’s Gospel Teaches Me. “The direction of love is return, and remember. It has never been seek, and find. Return to your soul’s chance to be here. Remember the love that sees out through your eyes.”
🎶 I Think I Understand by Joni Mitchell → my friend Carly recommended this in our community chat. She said that this song is “the call to not despair in our fear, and at the same time to not turn away from it, to hold it sacred."
♥️ Where your body stores emotions, and the words to say that’llhelp us move through them.
🎧 When A.I Comes for Your Purpose in Life. My friend Lisa D. suggested this podcast. Go for a walk, plug in your earbuds and listen. I dare you to not fall in love with math. I cried. My friends cried. It’s beautiful and unexpected.
Little things keeping me going.
→ Congratulations, it’s a new park! Welcome, Chiricahua, the 64th national park in the U.S. Plan that road trip and get out into nature.
→ Her home has become a resting stop for butterflies. 🦋
→ Good news you might have missed.
Light cannot see inside things.
That is what the dark is for:
Minding the interior,
Nurturing the draw of growth
Through places where death
In its own way turns into life.
I am having so much fun in my book club on The Alchemy Transmissions. In 2027, if there is a need for it, I will be running a new 10-week book study (a little different than the book club) as well as a 8-month study on both The Freedom Transmissions and The Alchemy Transmissions. That’s right, you heard me! 8-months together in a cohort of women. We are focusing on spiritual growth and transformation through accountability and responsibility.
But the big question: is this something you want? Tell me this way…
2027 will be SO LIT from doing this together and staying in the pocket of living as 100% human and 100% divine with the OG (TFT) and the new (TAT). We’ll all be getting clearer on how we can show up in this world in our true service through joy.
Build the Light is curated proof that the world has soul.
We bring spirituality (and fun stuff to know) into the mainstream through the people, stories, and ideas meant to activate the light-holders building a better world, inside and out. Hold the light. Reflect the light. Build the light.
This edition was written by Laurie Gunning Grossman.
Build the Light is part of Hold the Light Collective — where this work goes deeper, in community.
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