Thanksgiving Week and #kellyraetakesaweek Part 1

Nov 29, 2014 | Life in Progress

Happy Thanksgiving week, friends. In the spirit of gratitude, I want to take a moment and just say thank YOU. For reading these blog posts. For peeking in. For staying with me, all of these years. For supporting my work. For following along as I figure it all out. I feel your energy, your kindness, your wisdom, and I’m just really, truly grateful for this community. Thank you for being witness to this little corner of my world, here in the land of internets.

In other news, I just returned home from a big trip, first to the Oprah Life You Want Weekend with my friend Andrea Scher, and then I continued on to a solo retreat in the AZ desert. I went in search of solitude, of soul care, of mind/body/spirit awareness. I arrived home a few days ago fully transformed from my week alone. Truly, it was one of the best weeks of my entire 39.5 years on Earth. For those of you who followed my adventures in real time via Instagram and/or Facebook, I can’t thank you enough for your encouragement, and for cheering me on to do something I had never done before.

Below are some snapshots and thoughts about the first part of my trip when I went to the Oprah event. I’ll share Part 2 of my journey when I venture to AZ for a few astounding days of mind/body/spirit wellness in an upcoming post, but first it all started with Oprah…..

Day 1:
I’m standing on the iconic Portland airport carpet, on my way to an entire week of radical self-care. My soul is about to burst.

I meet up with Andrea, one of my dearest soul sisters. I haven’t seen her in a few months and we dive right into chatting about all the stuff that matters: what we’re learning, what’s hard, what’s good, what dreams we’re birthing. I’m so delighted to see her. Our connection is strong, deeply rooted, and she is family. We are both big Oprah fans and we know this Oprah weekend is gonna be goooood.

That evening, we go to the event. Do you see the tiny spec that is Oprah? Andrea and I are in seats way up high but it feels like we are all side by side, heart by heart with the messages being shared.

Oprah begins by sharing her journey, from childhood to now. As she talks about the threads of her life – the threads of learning, of books, of grace showing up – I begin to wonder about my own threads. What are the most significant dots (events) that weave together my own thread? I’m not totally sure, but I know for sure that the grace of girlfriends is a big one, as they have always been my guides from the time I was 12 years old.  I know that the thread of possibility and trust, despite deep obstacles is another. The thread of grief and transition is big, too.

She asks us to turn up the volume of our lives, to follow and examine the threads and the dots that connect our lives as a way to discover the reason we’re here on Earth, as a way to find our way to our highest purpose. This has me journaling furiously, considering my own story.

She talks about the stuff I know to be true: how we co-create our lives by setting intentions, how we become what we believe, how we must be responsible for the energy we bring into the spaces of our homes, our workplaces, our relationships.

She says something really powerful that strikes me. “Keep your vibration positive.” she says. “Take care of YOUR energy field and stay out of other people’s energy fields. What belongs in their fields does not belong to you. Your power is in your energy field.” How true. How true. It resonates deeply within me as this is a huge struggle for me. Big.

At the end of her talk, she reminds us to surrender to the glory that belongs to us and to take it, all of it, with gratitude. I think of my life. How beautiful it is, how full of grace it is. I am struck that I’m already living the life I want, but when I think about what is calling for more attention, I realize that perhaps I’m being called to up the volume on spirituality, silence, friendship, and body wellness. 

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Day 2:

The next day we head back to the arena for a full day of presentations. Here are some take aways I received from the powerful speakers and presenters:

Deepak Chopra:
Really loved him. I don’t have a lot of knowledge about him, but my heart deeply resonated with all that he shared. He did a guided meditation with all of us (10K people!) that I found to be very powerful, so much so that I was brought to tears.

Some of the things he said that I loved….
– Good luck = grace
– Religion is pointing to the truth. Spirituality is experiencing the truth.
– Silence is God’s language. Everything else is a translation.
– We must free ourselves from emotional toxicity. Fear is the anticipation of pain in the future. Anger is the remembering of past pain. Hostility (anger) is getting even. Guilt/shame is directing fear back to self. Depression is the depletion of energy because of all the above.
– We must look at the essence of our relationships as they are a reflection and mirror of our inner selves. We desire more of the qualities those we love possess and vice versa for people we struggle with. It’s important to forgive ourselves first  and then those whose negative qualities mirror our own.

Elizabeth Gilbert:
Holy smokes. Along with millions of others, I have such a huge girl crush on her. I loved all that she shared about our individual hero’s journey, how those journeys will have the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, but by the end our spirits will have prevailed, healed, and learned so much about why we are here (our purpose). But, first we have to answer the call to begin the quest, and we must share the stories of the quest so that we can pass on all that we have learned along the way. Powerful stuff that had me thinking about my own hero’s journey of answering my own calls. Loved her.

Rob Bell:
Totally blew me away. Funny, warm, and deeply passionate about his message. He talked a lot about the miracle of being alive, about the divinity of our breath, about embracing the mysteries, about daring to enter the mysteries and to enjoy it. He made me cry a couple of times. At one point he shared a story about how as he became more successful and busy, the more he felt like he was missing out. Eventually it forced him to get quiet, to get deeply present, to get back to enjoying his life. I could totally relate to the missing out piece, as well as the getting quiet piece. Yes, yes.

By the end of the Oprah event, I have cried, breathed deeply, celebrated, danced, and honored. I have filled my journal with thoughts, intentions, dreams, wishes, and gratitude. I have seen my life for all of its magnificence and I am even more grateful for all the ways grace has been with me all of my life. This event was crazy good. Best thing I’ve attended. Ever. And that is saying a lot.

The day after the Oprah event, I left for my next leg of my radical self-care journey where I find myself in the AZ desert for one of the best few days of my entire life. Turns out the Oprah event was the perfect intention setter for what was to come.

Stay tuned: Part 2 of my trip comes up soon…

Sending much love,

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I’m Kelly Rae Roberts

Before I picked up my first paintbrush at the age of 30, I was a medical social worker. I followed my creative whispers, and today I’m an artist & Possibilitarian. I’m passionate about creating meaningful art and experiences that awaken and inspire our spirits.

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