I first met Cornelia while playing lacrosse for Georgetown University. When I was in college I sensed there was something ‘more’ to my life experience – to understanding it and moving through it, but I was not sure what I was feeling or why I was feeling it. I often felt like I just was not really ‘getting’ it – even if I was having a great time and learning a great deal. After years of dedicated study and athletic competition the high speed train I had used to help accomplish my goals seemed to arbitrarily kick me off at graduation, leaving me and many classmates wondering “what now?”
I entered the Peace Corps with a myriad of questions swirling around about who I was, what I wanted, why I was making certain decisions, what was more than just academically important to me, and so on. I knew I wanted to help others and I knew I had to get a job but I wasn’t sure how to address these bigger life questions (despite pretending that I knew exactly what I was doing!).
About a year into my service I asked Cornelia to help me explore these questions, and fortunately for me and those around me, Cornelia agreed. In a sentence: Cornelia helped me awaken. Life is chaotic, it is ever changing, and its challenges never occur in a vacuum. Cornelia has been a midwife to me on this journey to live consciously and come into communion with who I really am – despite the omnipresent distractions and wide-ranging influences of daily life. Working with Cornelia is the best kind of challenge: she is like the eye of a storm, you are aware of and can feel the challenges / (sometime) chaos around you but rather than shield you from life she walks with you as you learn to be your own authentic guide.
Cornelia is real, how she lives and works is real, and she asks for and fosters “real” in all her interactions. “Real” (in this sense) is distinct from the convenient and often unconscious wandering most of us engage in on a regular basis.
This kind of work is difficult, but the reward is the gift of truly coming into balance and relationship with your authentic self. My journey will hopefully never end, I have loads yet to learn.
