RECONNECT TO YOURSELF: LIVING AND LEARNING IN A SPIRAL IN 2025 BY JULIE NEALE
When one of my children (now 20 and 12) feels like they’re losing ground in their life and says, “I can’t believe I’m here again,” I remind them that life and learning don’t happen in a straight line. It’s more like an ascending spiral. What feels like going backward is often an opportunity to revisit something we’ve learned and move
through it again with greater clarity, perspective, and at a faster pace.
This happened to me recently, in the summer of 2024. Facing the upcoming election in the United States, I felt powerless, anxious about our collective future, and disconnected from my voice. I remained stuck there for some time… until I realized that I had been in this place before. I felt this same way in the fall of 2016, in the months before I launched the Mother’s Quest Podcast. Once inspired and excited to create this deeply personal venture, the election results that year propelled me into a deep pit of grief and inaction. It caused me to wonder whether what I had to contribute mattered at all.
The Lessons of My Younger Self
The first step I took to get unstuck was to remember that I didn’t have to figure it out alone. I reached out to Navjit Kandola, the woman I had interviewed first for the podcast, for a somatic and spiritual coaching session. I hoped Navjit could help me get rid of the fear and anger that I was experiencing. Instead, she moved me more deeply toward them. She invited me to remember a younger version of myself, at a time when I had felt these feelings before, but confronted them.
Suddenly, I was 9 years old again, facing down a ferocious dog that had attacked my own. I remembered how I stood my ground in anger, causing the aggressive dog to retreat. As I relayed the story to Navjit, my mind went next to another image of my younger self, connected to the strength of that anger, and at the same time rooted in love. I realized in that moment, that I couldn’t expel the difficult emotions. I needed to integrate them, honoring both the darkness and the light.
That healing work allowed me to move forward. With a renewed sense of agency and purpose, holding both strength and love, I finished recording my first episode. I launched the Mother’s Quest Podcast as a 45th birthday present to myself on December 1st, 2016 and ushered in years of courageous growth, learning and activism.
The Next Ring of the Spiral
This past summer, feeling powerless and voiceless again, I recognized I hadn’t regressed, but that I was in familiar territory. On the next ring of an ascending spiral, I was able to return to the process that helped me navigate that challenging terrain before. I realized I had knowledge and experience that could help me.
First, I reminded myself that I did not have to get through this alone. I reached out to a trusted guide with whom I could share what I was experiencing.
Next, rather than retreating from my feelings, I leaned in more deeply again, remembering my 9 year old and 44 year old selves, who both experienced fear, but were able to channel a source of strength and love to move beyond it.
Integrating my feelings, and inspired by the learning of my past, I reconnected to my internal wisdom and voice, remembered that what I have to offer matters, and got back into action. I recorded a special election episode, reaching out to past podcast guests who I knew had wisdom to help me and others redirect our election anxiety. I partnered with my mother, sisters and niece to lead a States Project “Generations” Giving Circle, raising funds for state legislative elections that could make a strategic difference. I wrote postcards, phone-banked and had ongoing conversations with my children. And, I attended another podcast guest’s “Revolutionary Love Bus Tour,” designed to connect voters across the country to activism that is both fierce and rooted in love.
Facing What Lies Ahead
As I write this for the Almanac deadline, the future of this election remains uncertain. Yet, no matter the outcome, or whatever lies ahead, I trust that I can meet the moment by tapping into the wisdom within and following the internal process that has guided me before. I know that the pages of the Mystic Almanac and the words of the other contributors here will be a source of support, helping me stay aligned and grounded in myself, as I determine the next right steps. I hope that my story, and the journey I’ve shared, helps you navigate the ascending spiral of your own living and learning in 2025.
ABOUT JULIE NEALE
JULIE NEALEis a life and leadership coach, community builder, podcaster and mom to two neurodivergent boys who challenge her to grow into her best self. After a 20 year career in youth development, it was motherhood that transformed her and set her on a course to live what she calls a truly E.P.I.C. life. As the founder of Mother’s Quest Podcast and Coaching Programs and the Live Your EPIC Year Planner, Julie provides inspiration, coaching and community-building so that mothers, and those who care for young people, can connect to resources, fulfill their unique purpose, and live a life filled with all that matters most, inspiring their children by their example.
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