Starseed Evolution Podcast: The Road Less Traveled

Have you ever wondered how the road less traveled might completely transform your life? Join me, Shannon, on Starseed Evolution, as I recount my unconventional journey from traditional education to a deeply fulfilling career in massage therapy, Reiki, Craniosacral therapy and Spiritual Direction. Sparked by Robert Frost's iconic poem, "The Road Not Taken," I delve into the significant choices that shaped my path. (Thank you for music by: Blue Dot Sessions and Chris Collins)

Transcript

Hi,

Thank you so much for joining me today.

I'm Shannon,

And this is Star Seed Evolution,

Bringing the wisdom and insight of the cosmos to you.

I'm grateful that you're listening.

In our episode today,

I'd like to piggyback off of our second episode where I shared the poem that I had written about starting a new path.

This got me to thinking about a question that some of my clients have been asking me recently,

Which is,

How did I get into the work that I do with massage,

Reiki,

Cranial sacral therapy,

And spiritual direction,

Along with leading classes?

When I think about that question,

The poem by Robert Frost,

The Road Less Taken,

Pops into my mind.

Part of it goes like this,

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both,

And be one traveler long I stood,

And looked down one as far as I could,

To where it bent in the undergrowth.

And at the end of the poem,

Robert Frost says this,

Two roads diverged in a wood,

And I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Hindsight is often 20-20.

When we're on a new path,

Stepping forward into the unknown,

Sometimes we want guarantees about how it's going to turn out.

So maybe we take the safe path,

Or the more traditional road,

Because we might understand it better,

But that doesn't always allow us to grow spiritually,

And it can be more challenging to take that other path,

The one less traveled by,

Because it's unexpected twists and turns.

But what I'd most like to talk about is that question that many kids have been asked in the past.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I often took that question to heart,

And if the adult,

That is me now,

Told the child that I was in the past,

What I was going to be doing as far as my career and life,

There's no way in my childhood I could have comprehended what that meant,

Because it wasn't even in my vision.

Often,

On the spiritual path,

That's how it can unfold,

In an unknown direction that reveals itself as we step deeper and deeper into the woods of that untraveled path.

So what I'd like to do with this episode is share the path that I took,

All the twists and turns,

And the hope is this,

Is that when you're listening to how I've made my way on this path,

Maybe it'll give you some inspiration,

Or encouragement,

Or hope about stepping onto the unknown paths in your life.

The first part of my journey after high school was going to the University of Arizona.

This was a traditional path that I had stepped into,

Which just followed the direction I was going.

As I took more classes and learned what I could or couldn't do,

Or what I felt called to,

Or just what I understood from my point of view at that time,

Was I ended up going into English education with a minor in Spanish.

Ultimately,

It shifted me into the career path of teaching high school,

Which,

If you knew me,

Made sense since my dad was in the education field for over 40 years at the high school level.

Once I graduated from college and started teaching high school,

It was a rude awakening for me because emotionally,

Being a sensitive or highly sensitive person,

Which we'll go more into that in another episode,

I was not able to hold space in a traditional classroom like that for so many students,

And I discovered that I did not want to be a teacher.

This led me then into,

Well,

What do I do now,

Putting me on an unknown path which I had never navigated up until that point.

Now,

Another clue for you about my age without giving it away,

Is that this was occurring in the 1990s,

So the advent of the world wide web wasn't quite there yet.

So,

What I did was started working at a local grocery store so I could earn some money,

Feed myself,

Have a roof over my head,

And start moving into life.

As I began working,

I realized that my brain needed more stimulation because I enjoyed studying and doing research and understanding the human body.

I had been a gymnast competitively for 13 years,

And so while I worked at the grocery store,

I also began exploring physical therapy as a volunteer,

Helping at different clinics,

Both inpatient and outpatient.

And while I was doing that,

I was also exploring the questions of what was internally motivating for me that would be important on my path.

As I explored the physical therapy field,

I realized that if I wanted to move more in that direction as a professional,

Then I should probably find a job that was medically related.

That's when I came across a posting for a CAT scan MRI tech assistant with on-the-job training.

I applied for that job and got accepted,

Which led me into the path for a couple of years of just working with patients,

Radiologists,

CAT scan and MRI techs,

And really learning the nuances of both the medical side professionally,

As well as interviewing patients.

Through that self-discovery,

What it led me to understand was that I enjoyed the contact with patients more than I did just the medical side of things,

And decided because of my volunteer work with physical therapy,

I'd go back to school and become a physical therapy assistant.

I applied for school,

Got in,

Then in the evenings,

I was going to school.

Now,

I can tell you that each step I took,

When I relate it to you now in a direct manner,

Oh yes,

It makes lots of sense.

However,

As I experienced each step on this unknown path,

Where is it leading me?

I had a lot of anxiety because of the uncertainty.

I also saw that each step I took,

I was supported by the universe,

By my family.

As I took that path,

Working with patients really did feed my spirit.

Now,

Once I graduated,

I landed a job as a physical therapy assistant at a local clinic.

For two years,

I worked there and gained skills of really beginning to relate to people,

To what they were going through in their healing journey.

I always have this drive or this need,

Though,

To go farther or really put my brain into use so that it doesn't get stagnant.

And what I discovered during that time was,

As much as I enjoyed the field of physical therapy as an assistant,

I knew the repetition of it would not feed me in my mind or my soul.

I began asking then this question,

What direction should I go?

And that is when I met a massage therapist who was also working at the clinic where I was working as well.

We became friends,

And she explained to me about the field of massage therapy,

And I began to explore that direction some more.

As I sat in contemplation often for many months,

It was always this question,

Do I go the route of physical therapy to go back to school and get my master's?

At that time,

It was a master's degree.

Now,

I know in this current day and age,

It's a doctorate.

Or do I move in the direction of massage therapy?

Both paths would allow me to one,

Work with people,

Two,

Help in people's healing processes,

And three,

Further my education.

Ultimately,

I decided to go the path less traveled by anyone that I had known before and so applied for massage therapy school,

Got in,

Got accepted,

And it was a year-long training program.

Now,

When we step onto a path,

We often step onto it from a singular perspective in our mind about what we think that direction is going to be for us.

However,

We don't always see what is going to bubble up that we weren't expecting.

When I entered the massage therapy program,

It was from the direction of helping people with physical injuries that they might have sustained and using massage therapy techniques to help them heal and become well again.

Now,

I would say that yes,

That is one of the things that I accomplished going in that direction.

However,

As I moved deeper into the program,

I also bumped into different things that I didn't know anything about.

For example,

When the teachers would talk about grounding ourselves or connecting with the energy of earth,

My mind thought,

What are they talking about?

So,

It was something that I was wholly unfamiliar with in that type of language,

Although I had probably been doing it since I was a young kid,

I just didn't realize it.

Towards the end of my massage therapy school program,

I met a teacher who I really connected with,

And she was one of my instructors who taught both aromatherapy,

So connecting with the medicine of flowers to assist in healing,

And she was also a Reiki practitioner.

At this time,

I didn't know what Reiki was,

Energy work,

Connecting with the energy field,

So as I trusted my connection with this particular teacher,

It opened up something inside of me that wanted to explore that more,

Even if I wasn't quite sure what it all meant.

Once I graduated from the massage therapy program successfully and began working with clients individually,

There was an aha moment that really helped me know that energy,

The aura field,

The energy that surrounds us,

Was real.

The event was that I was working at a clinic down in Green Valley in Arizona.

A client came in to get a massage treatment,

And she was having a bad day because she was grieving for the loss of her mother.

As she came in and we were talking before the session,

We just talked about what was coming up for her.

I stepped out of the room and let her get ready for the massage session.

When I came back in,

She was face down underneath that top sheet.

I came over,

Had her do a couple of deep breaths,

And then as I began to move my hands over her back to place them on her back just to make that first contact,

As my hands were coming down to touch her back,

About six inches away from her physical body,

My hands hit what felt like a solid wall.

I couldn't push my hands down past this wall of energy that was six inches above her actual body.

That's when I was like,

Oh my gosh,

The energy is real!

Like,

I can literally feel this invisible wall.

There was a part of me that understood that this was the grief around her mother and this part of her that was shut off.

That opened a whole new path that I was not expecting when I first stepped onto the path of massage therapy.

From there,

I began exploring Reiki.

I began my certification in level 1,

2,

3,

And becoming a master teacher in Reiki.

That led then to the path of discovering more through cranial sacral therapy,

Which then led me into learning about animals as well,

Energetically,

And getting certified in animal communication and animal massage therapy.

Through those years on this unknown path,

The less traveled by that Robert Frost spoke of,

I understood in retrospect how if I'd stayed on the traditional path,

I wouldn't have been happy because it wouldn't have allowed me to unlock these knowings that are connected to my soul that I didn't realize that I had when I was younger.

So,

If you asked the young me,

What do you want to be when you grow up?

There is no way that I could have told anyone that I would become what I call now an intuitive healer.

And on that path of intuition,

Healing,

Exploring,

Stepping into the unknown,

More and more,

The universe will work with you to reveal the next steps even if it feels like sometimes you're stumbling in the dark.

I'll tell one last story about my introduction into the field of spiritual direction and how I became a certified spiritual director.

In 2009,

I was taking a creative writing course,

A writer's workshop,

In person in Tucson,

Arizona through the Writer's Studio.

We would meet every week.

There was a group of about 15 of us in the class,

Including the instructor.

Each week,

We'd be given a different writing exercise.

We'd take home,

Write,

And then bring 15 copies to class so that everybody could read everybody else's work that they had been working on for that week.

Into the third or fourth week of the class,

My printer at home had stopped working.

I needed to make sure I printed the copies of what I had been working on before class.

I decided that I would go to the local copy shop before class,

After work,

Make the copies,

And then head over.

As I stepped into the copy or office center that had self-copiers,

I walked over and it felt sort of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

This is too hot.

Too cold.

This is just right.

So the first copier that I came to,

I thought that's quite expensive and realized that it was a color copier.

I moved to the next machine and realized it was out of order.

I went to the third machine.

Ah,

This is just right.

Black and white copier and it's in working order.

I went to lift the lid up to place my work onto the face or the bed of the copier.

And when I lifted the lid up,

I saw that there was another piece of paper already on the face of the copier.

I lifted it up and read it,

And it was an application to Tachyria Interfaith School of Spiritual Direction.

I started laughing because,

Hmm,

Spirit likes to joke with me that way.

And I remember saying out loud,

Okay,

Okay,

I'll apply.

And I didn't know anything about the school,

I just knew that was my next direction to step into.

After going to class that day,

When I got home in the evening,

I took that application,

Filled it out,

Sent it in,

And started the program in the fall of 2009.

So again,

The path less traveled by,

And yet,

Here the universe opens,

And I step onto that path.

Saying yes,

It allowed me to step deeper into my own interfaith practices,

As well as bringing it into my massage therapy and Reiki sessions,

Both in person,

My teaching online,

And also with the different communities that I sit with.

Over the last 24 years,

It's been quite a journey.

There have been many times where my heart has felt such joy,

And yet many times that I've had heartbreak and very challenging times.

And yet,

This is the journey that I have taken that allows me to enrich myself,

My mind,

My heart,

My soul,

So that I can be present for others as well.

So when I share with you my journey,

It's with the hopes that sometimes you might not always know the direction you're gonna go,

But if you step in trust on that unknown path and allow it to be revealed to you,

Yes,

You might stumble and fall,

But you can get back up again and try once more.

It won't always go smoothly,

But there'll definitely be beautiful and amazing moments of people,

Places that you'll meet on the journey,

As well as meeting more of yourself as you expand and grow.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both,

And be one traveler long I stood,

And look down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth,

Then took the other as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear.

Though as for the passing there had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh,

I kept the first for another day,

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence,

Two roads diverged in a wood,

And I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of Star Seed Evolution.

I'm Shannon,

And grateful that you've been on this journey with me.

May your own journey of self-discovery on your path always lead you back home to yourself.

I wish you a beautiful and amazing day.

Namaste.

Reviews

This is my reconnection with you. Years ago when this app was new I think you offered live sessions. They were so connecting and I remember learning and being heard. Loved listening to your journey. Thank you

Thank you for sharing your story. No wonder why you’re such a good teacher because you have an education background as a basis for all your other gifts.
I have a teaching background as well. But for me that was my calling. There’s nothing like knowing that you were doing what you were created to do. When I used to teach first grade, there were such a joy and knowing that this was a gift. It didn’t even seem like that much effort sometimes although it was so much work.
Prior to going to college for teaching, however I was pursuing one different major after another and then I felt God say STOP.
I had to stop and pray and wait, and then God showed me where my gift was. Working with children was the ultimate fulfillment for me, even raising my own.
You must’ve been so compassionate when you were working with patients , and they were fortunate to have you working with them back in your medical practices. And currently, I’m sure with all the other skills you practice.
God bless you as you continue on your path of helping others. 🙏🏼✨✨✨❤️‍🩹

PS. Sorry for this short novel/comment 😁 didn’t realize how long it was till I hit the submit button .