Video Summary:

When we make a change we're awakening something new in ourselves. My truth is that the new thing is already kind of latent inside of ourselves and we're allowing it out. Perhaps we're allowing more intimacy into our relationships, speaking our truth more, or allowing ourselves to be part of a community.

If we’re allowing this part of ourselves to awaken, then it’s important to nurture it. I compare this type of nurturing to a seedling. We water, nurture and protect the tender and vulnerable seedling from being stepped on or eaten. It grows and gains momentum as it gets stronger.

Perhaps the new part or seedling in ourselves is most vulnerable to being drawn back into our old way of being. There’s comfort in that old way of being, and it's really easy to get talked out of your new way of being by a family member, friend, or even yourself when you’re in this vulnerable seedling stage.

So if we were in an aboriginal culture, say in Australia, South America, or Native America and a young woman or man became 12 or 13 years old, the clan would do an initiation ceremony into adulthood. This would create a line of demarcation where the boy dies and the man is born.

The young woman or man gets a new name and identity, and everyone in the clan starts interacting with them in a different way. Once they made that change, it was very disrespectful to treat the young woman like a little girl again. It was simply not tolerated. As everyone honors her as a young woman, it allows her new sprout to grow.

The new sprout of the young woman or man grows relatively quickly because it's being reinforced by everyone as part of the young adult's daily routine. Everything now revolves around her being a young woman so there's very little danger of getting drawn back into being a little girl.

In contemporary culture, most of us don't live in clans, villages, and communities that support these things, so we have to create nurturing environments for our seedlings ourselves. We have to find a group of people that are willing to support this new part of us.

So how do we create an environment that sustains and allows this sprout to grow? You can ask that part of you, “Hey, new guy that now walks with your heart open, does going to this party nurture you?” This new part of you usually answers by you feeling either drawn to or repelled by the thing you are considering.