“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Genesis, 1:26-28

By Samantha McKenzie

The last time I published a blog was on April 24.  That was almost four months ago. There were many days when I  felt guilty that I hadn’t been inspired to write. It left me a bit disappointed in myself. I tried to write on many occasions, trust me I did. But I could not get anything out. I was convinced I had blank screen disease (just kidding, that’s not a thing). I was certain that I had writer’s block. But that wasn’t at all the truth. I write at work every day. I write a myriad of things each week for friends and family – like social media posts, resumes, cover letters, and media releases. So I’ve been writing something, just not my blogs.

It’s different when you are writing material that you hope will inspire other people. That type of writing comes from a different part of me. It’s a creative concept, mixed with the deeper parts of your soul, and delivered with purpose.

My blog partner and I are journalists at heart. In our former careers, we were both trained to be driven by the deadline. On most days, we had one, eight-hour window to crank out a piece. On breaking news days, the time frame was less. When we started working in public relations, the deadlines loosened a bit, but they were still looming. I can say, and I’m sure she’d agree, that the tick-tock of a clock has always been a great motivator. If you’ve been in a newsroom, or in any career with extreme deadlines, you know what it means to thrive under the pressure of a timeline. It’s an Olympic-like, satisfying excitement to beat the clock.

But when you are writing a personal blog, and in particular, a blog that you created to inspire other women to look for hope in impossible places, time just isn’t measured the same. Over the years, these blogs have represented an intimate space inside of us. We’d dive in some days thinking we are going to use our creative words to get our readers motivated to conquer the day, and then, without much thought, we’d crank out a series of sentences that bashfully exposed our vulnerabilities. If you’ve ever allowed yourself to be vulnerable in public, you know the feeling. It’s empowering and draining. Telling strangers that you’ve been afraid of something, or that you suffer from an “ism” like most humans do, can leave you feeling overexposed. I’ve never had a desire to share my life out loud. I grew up in the season when modern women were just toying with the idea of coming out from behind the curtain of tradition. I write, though, because I know that words heal and because I believe wholeheartedly that people share common experiences and wrestle with the same issues. We are human. We struggle. I write because I believe that if we share our struggles, in an uplifting way, together we can help one another. It’s just that simple.

We – the 7.5 billion humans on this planet – already have the solutions to our problems. Better yet, you and I, already have the remedy to our lives. But we have been too distracted, for way too long, to do anything about it. (another subject, for another day.)

I write from the soul.  I do other things from my soul too, like cook, and care for my tribe, and serve those in need, and pray earnestly for my family and people who are in need of prayer.  So, like everything else, the soul needs a reboot. I learned over the past few months that my soul needed to be replenished. Even though I have been doing positive things, I wasn’t feeding my soul with what it needed in order for it to journey on.

I wasn’t drinking from the well of hope and love.

I wasn’t tapping into the right source.

I wasn’t catching cues from the Universe.

I was detaching, ever so quietly and disconnecting from the main thing that gives me life.

So my path back to replenishing my soul was necessary. And girl, I will say, I have so missed that feeling. It’s bigger than a good sermon. It’s grander than an aha! moment. It’s a breath that expands my lungs and an awakening that deepens my vision. It’s a soft tap to my heart, a finger to my pulse, and an explosion in the pit of my stomach. It drives me to action, to move, to be better. My replenishing process included just a few things: powerful prayer, inspirational reading, healthy eating, intentional exercise, long walks where the trees help shape the blue sky, and meaningful, purposeful, life-changing conversations with other soul searchers. It meant less gossiping about people and their imperfections, and less worrying about things that I couldn’t control. It meant focusing on me and how my soul interacts with other souls. 

Today’s blog is my open confession and a pledge to reinvest in the spirit, the fuel for my soul. I can’t tell you how to renew yourself, or what steps you will need to take to replenish your own soul. I can just say, fill it up often, check in on it daily, and use it wisely.

“Every experience that you have and will have upon the Earth encourages the alignment of our personality with your soul. Every circumstance and situation gives you the opportunity to choose this path, to allow your soul to shine through you, to bring into the physical world through you its unending and unfathomable reverence for and love of Life.

~ Gary Zukav, Seat of the Soul