The Message and the Mission<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat do you do when a mentor passes? It\u2019s a particular kind of loss. It\u2019s a chosen loss. They feel like family. Their meaning and their influence well outweigh their origins. They can be deeper than family in some way because there was a stepping into this relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recognition of like-mind, like-spirit, like-purpose, like\u2026 potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Avon Mattison-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was unapologetically committed to her vision. Her essence was unification. This is what spoke to me. Years before I met her, I had pulled a similar thought, similar mission, down from the ether. This was part of the recognition that we were cut from the same cloth, the big \u201cYes!\u201d you want to scream out when you hear someone speak or see someone step forward in the world. \u201cYes! Me too! I feel that way. I see it too!\u201d And in that recognition of vision, you personally feel seen and just a little less alone in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I first met her, I did the closest thing to fan-girling I\u2019ve ever done in my life and as I took her hand with tears in my eyes, I said, \u201cYou changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I first started to fantasize about connecting with the rest of the world through silence and prayer when I was a kid. It was part of my play when alone in the woods. The world was my imaginary playmate\u2026 What if I got very, very still? I bet other people can feel me around the world! I bet I can play with the whole world in my head. In my heart! Perhaps it was simply a lonely little girls wish, but it grew into a deep understanding of the potential this simple wish could have to transform our planet to become a little kinder, a more welcoming place. It became my life\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finding the Message<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, I sit and watch the snow cascade downward as I float through my conversations with Avon. I look for the message in the loss. With a true mentor the teaching can be both strongly led or incredibly subtle. I think of the comfort in being seen, as well as the challenge of be held to your best-self. You want to achieve, to reach for your best-self and to become better in the moments when you are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think back to a moment in the pandemic when things were unclear and full of uncertainty. Someone reached to me, took me in hand and held me in the darkness, \u201cI got you.\u201d And I said, \u201cMe too.\u201d And I took a breath. Ahh, the power of a simple intent. This is also the role of the mentor metaphorically. Someone who you know will hold you in their consciousness, through the proverbial darkness, so you can take a breath and find your own way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then there is the big secret to the mentor relationship\u2026 we touch each other, the mentor and mentee. It may seem like one is teaching the other, but we are learning from each other. There is no hierarchy. Inevitably, both people are needed to fulfill any mission worth achieving. There is a passing on of good intentions that allow a vision to grow with each generation and allow us to cull and shape and make relevant\u2026 and live on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is when the message becomes clear. It\u2019s time to take the mantle, whether you feel ready or not. We become our own guiding light. We smile, and look upward and say, \u201cI got this. I got you. I\u2019ll take it from here. Rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With such love and respect,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deborah<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When a Mentor Passes The Message and the Mission What do you do when a mentor passes? It\u2019s a particular kind of loss. It\u2019s a chosen loss. They feel like […]<\/p>\n
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