Kristina Islas 
It’s been a while, and so I’m taking this opportunity to reintroduce myself. I’m Laura Martin Bovard, principal at LMB Interiors, mom, wife, sister, friend, and “recovering perfectionist.” Over the years, I’ve learned to release the hustle for approval, healing the parts of me that used to seek self-worth through achievement, comparison, and caretaking.
Human behavior fascinates me. I love how stories connect us to each other, and I love how stories connect us to life. What kind of life are you creating with the stories you tell? A wild, joy-filled adventure? Or are you spinning tales of fear about the condition of our world? We can stay connected to the Source that fuels our creativity by writing stories that keep us empowered.
We are absolutely mirrors for each other. It takes real slowing down and real wisdom to be able to see that. Triggers and shadows are stealthy. They hide out so we can’t see that the person pressing our buttons isn’t the issue. We are unable to see that their behavior is triggering a core wound. If we can remember this fact the moment the trigger happens, we can use it as an opportunity to witness our emotional response and shortcomings.
If you knew that the pain you are going through was going to become your greatest learning and would set you free if you could just be with it, would that make it easier? Ok then.
Somewhere along the line, our culture decided we should do anything we could to avoid pain. Take a look at the pharmaceutical industry, for example. Got a headache? Take an aspirin. What if that headache had some information to offer you about something you are ignoring or unwilling to be with?
I am the beloved daughter of the motherf—ing Universe, in all of her glory. I take a stand for myself. I take my personal power back. I ascend this fear that seeps its toxic poison through the cells and tissues of my body. I claim a spontaneous healing of this fear and anxiety that is not mine and does not belong to me. I will prevail and rise like the phoenix I am, from the ashes. I stay in my own lane and allow all souls to have their own life experiences. I take responsibility where it is mine, and relinquish all other responsibility for anyone but myself.
We’re here to wake up together, to walk each other home, to turn on each other’s lights when we forget, so that no one has to sit in the dark. You can have a sister turn on the light for you. There’s no need to ask who is more wise than the other… instead, think about what level of unfolding you are in. You don’t make a peony wrong, whether it’s a tight bud or a full bloom.
When we realize our simple, ordinary, mundane lives can be portals to the divine by practicing presence in this now moment — that is the moment our awakening comes on line. The other day I was sitting in traffic, and observed as my habitual thought patterns turned toward annoyance. My ego didn’t want to be in traffic. It wanted to be napping… hiking… anything but that. Then I remembered, even sitting in traffic I could choose to let it be a sacred moment.
I can tell I am in my ego when I vacillate between feelings of inadequacy and feelings of thinking I am special in some way. And I don’t mean ‘special’ in a good way. I mean ‘special’ in that awful way where I can feel superior because I think I know better, or am better in some ways because I work on myself. But when I am in my heart, all of that duality disappears, and then I am love. And from that place, I can forgive myself for feeling inadequate and special.
What would it be like if you realized that every thing, every person, every moment of your life has been for your awakening? One of the most beautiful takeaways from my journey into the shadows via plant medicine, network care, and the myriad of other tools, is that this reality isn’t reality. It’s an illusion filtered through my perceptions.
