Re-Remembering
It’s been a while for me since I’ve been able to travel. I’ve had long covid for several years, which has often forced me into an indoor life and made me cautious about going outside. So going on a short flight for a holiday was quite a revelation.
Here I am, walking out of the airport in Faro, Portugal, post-flight, feeling free.
I still can’t quite believe it happened, but there I was.
We hired a car and stopped en route near a beautiful field with olive trees, which invited us to take a break from driving and just walk around.
As we strode through the high grass in the field, a faint view of the ocean shimmering on the horizon, I realised how good it was to just be in the sun and in nature in a different geographical region to the one I live in, and how much I had missed this connection after having been so much indoors.
As we walked up the field to the top of a little hill, one tree in particular called.
It was an old, gnarled olive tree. For some reason it felt like a she, I felt so drawn and put my arms around her.
Maybe you’ve felt this too—some tree, some place, some quiet moment that suddenly feels like home.
It was the most beautiful of deep peace, being in that connection.
And in that moment of taking it all in, I realised then how exhausted I was feeling, and how much I had longed to just be in nature.
To just be, feel carried and nothing else.
Enchanted by the beauty around us and exhausted from our early flight, we lay down in the shade. I took off my socks and shoes and as my bare feet touched the earth, I felt even more relief and connection. I watched the leaves dancing gently in the wind, feeling so grateful.
The olive tree was beautiful. Her leaves swayed gently in the breeze. There was birdsong in the distance and swaying grass.
It was in that softening, lying there with my body finally settling, that I began to notice something else beneath it all. The drain I felt from all the work I had done the weeks before. I’d been laying the ground for Soulpreneur Corner. I was so glad I got it done, ‘ready enough’, but once again I realised how easily I had shifted gears into pushing through and exhausting myself to get to the end.
I could feel in my body how far I had gone past my own limits.
I’d overridden my boundaries to get it done and stopped listening to my needs, even though I am a deep listener by nature. It’s how I’ve been conditioned, its like my default, even though I have done so much inner work, my system moves away from my authentic voice if I don’t take care.
It’s a place so many of us know instinctively—where the body says no, but we keep going anyway.
As I lay there, feeling that quiet weariness and sadness move through me, I could also feel how familiar this pattern is for many. I see again and again with my clients, and with my colleagues who are bringing something into the world guided from their vulnerable hearts — how easily we move away from ourselves when we don’t feel safe or supported, and how quickly our voice quietens when old patterns take over. How quickly inner voices and deep-seated beliefs about ourselves and how we should be in the world can silence our voices and projects — and even stop us from giving ourselves the inner permission to bring out our work, even when we have the priviledge of being able to do so in this socially unjust world.
Maybe you’re feeling it right now—some project, some dream, some part of you that’s asking to be held and given space, not pushed.
As I gazed around, the ancient olive tree shared with me about her everlasting nature.
I felt comforted and soothed, taking in the perspective of the smallness of what I was going through in relation.
Something in me grew very still as I listened, as if the world around me had quietened just enough for something else to come through.
And then she said to me quite loudly:
Let it go and let yourself be carried.
You will be carried anyway.
It is time to put your bare feet on the floor and feel held.
And I let go, feeling the slight pull of gravity in my flesh and in my bones. I felt the earth supporting me, always there, ever present, and dropped in further.
Then she said:
If you feel your soul calling and don’t know the way, call in support through the spirit of nature. And so I did.
I’m not sure how long I lay there dozing away, my body feeling relaxed and heavy, occasionally roused by my partners gentle snoring weaving into the wind.
And when I opened my eyes, I saw tree folk. She was not alone, the ancient one, others had gathered. Wisely nodding their heads in the wind.
And what came next felt less like something I was thinking, and more like something I was being given, to receive and to share.
Oh ancient one,
you are here to become one.
Find your roots.
Find your roots.
We are one.
Let the bare earth under your feet
be testimony to your heart’s beat.
One with the earth,
one with the wind,
the galaxies, and beyond.
And as I sat with all of this, something about my work became clearer again, not as an idea, but as something I could feel. Soulpreneur Corner is not just about helping us step out of old patterns, it’s about helping us be ourselves, ‘rewilding’ ourselves, calling in divine support to bring out our heart-centred work for the benefit of the world — to remember who we truly are and what has always held us — and letting that inspire and support our work, so we can all be free to bring our soulful creations and ideas, be they large or small, out into the world.
It’s for anyone bringing heart-centred creations, ideas, services and ways of living and being into the world. It’s a space where you can get support and inspiration for the inner journey and where you don’t have to walk alone.
Those trees, in their quiet presence, reminded me of something very simple. I am here to listen deeply, weave from all I have learnt, and share from that being. That’s my work, in this corner and in my main hub, is all about. If you’d like to stay close to this space as it unfolds, you can sign up to the newsletter below.
Looking for support on your inner journey?
I tailor my offerings precisely to your needs, weaving in nervous system, embodied, ancestral, and energetic themes.
Back to Soulpreneur Corner Main page
Hi, I’m Julia
A medical doctor turned intuitive guide.
I support deep-feeling, soulful humans on their journey of Inner Homecoming.
More about Julia
Author’s note:
Julia’s reflections arise from her own Soulpreneur journey, woven together with professional training in somatic and trauma-informed approaches, mindfulness, and decades of lived experience exploring embodiment, intuition, and inner transformation.