The Initiated Woman has bled. She’s bled from blind decisions that sliced her esteem; she’s bled from unguarded boundaries being obliterated; and she’s bled willingly, with love, because that’s what you do when people you adore are anemic or they’ve been punctured by life—you give them some of your blood. Here, I have lots, it’s fresh and warm. I’ll make more.
She’s gone through the eye of a needle, stripped, shed, pared down to the pure seed of her power. The few people who have seen her that naked will never speak of that beauty to anyone else.
She-he-they know that when people are ready, they’re ready, and they’re never ready before they’re ready. But still, they burn a candle for your readiness because they know how sweet it is when the time is right.
They’re modest, but bold—they see no conflict between the two. That’s my yin, this is my yang. This is my heart and here’s the map—some say my terrain is complex. I prefer to think of it as… lush.
She’s earned the license to teach. Thanks to the fire, the crossroads, the betrayal. Thanks to the climb that almost killed her, the tsunami when she learned to breathe underwater. She comes to you even when you don’t call and says, just breathe. And if you really need it she’ll say, BREATHE!
She’s very precise. Like the diamond that the diamond cutters use to cut the raw diamonds. She has no time for excuses, but all the time in the world for intention.
When she tells you that, “Everything will be okay,” you tend to believe her.
Scarred. Faceted. Deeply radiant. Astoundingly… gentle.
She uses compassion like a lever to see what’s really going on.
She applies willfulness sparingly, like gas to fire. (Because she is the fire.)
She’ll wait, but she gets on with things.
The Initiated Woman drinks Stillness. Enthusiasm is the gift she brings. Love is her flame. And Receiving is her first inclination.
Here’s what she knows for sure:
the past is over, love is always the right thing to do,
kindness is wildly fertile, we only get where we’re meant to go together.
She can tell you with calm and certain sympathy that the Light of consciousness is the shortest distance between you and me.
But there are no shortcuts to initiation.
And! There’s a phoenix inside every heart… break… rising.
With Love,
Danielle
Danielle LaPorte is an invited member of Oprah’s SuperSoul 100, a group who, in Oprah Winfrey’s words, “is uniquely connecting the world together with a spiritual energy that matters.” She is author of White Hot Truth: Clarity for keeping it real on your spiritual path—from one seeker to another. The Fire Starter Sessions, and The Desire Map: A Guide To Creating Goals With Soul—the book that has been translated into 8 languages, evolved into a yearly day planner system, a top 10 iTunes app, and an international workshop program with licensed facilitators in 15 countries. Named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes, millions of visitors go to DanielleLaPorte.com every month for her daily #Truthbombs and what’s been called “the best place online for kickass spirituality.” A speaker, a poet, a painter, and a former business strategist and Washington-DC think tank exec, Entrepreneur Magazine calls Danielle, “equal parts poet and entrepreneurial badass…edgy, contrarian…loving and inspired.” Her charities of choice are Eve Ensler’s VDay: a global movement to end violence against women and girls, and charity: water, setting out to bring safe drinking water to everyone in the world. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her favourite philosopher, her son. You can find her @daniellelaporte and just about everywhere on social media.
