The Worth of the Work & Summer Offerings
A look at what's heating up for summer healing, grounding, and opening 🦋🌻🔥 at The Art of Emergence
Dear Friends Old and New,
I’ve been posting on Substack for over a year and it’s been amazing to see my community grow and engage—I just reached 1000+ subscribers, and 60 are paid. Thank you for showing up. I’ve never felt more in connection with my friends and followers. I feel genuinely inspired each time I post and I look forward to finding new ways to gather—online and yes, in person.
Over the two past decades, I’ve dedicated myself to spiritual awakening; navigating consciousness and the subtle body; the great teachings of the mystical traditions (especially Buddhist Tantra); trauma healing and embodiment; channeling and prophesy; poetry; and ultimately ensoulment. Along the way, I’ve shared everything I’ve learned. In fact, the sharing—through writing, teaching, and facilitating group process—is what lights me up the most. I’m doing this work in order to share it. It’s not for me. It’s for us.
Like many of you, I’ve felt the urgency to heal grow more pressing over the last few years. Indeed, it sometimes feels like the only thing worth doing. How this work shows up is different for all of us, but the imperative to offer more of our essence and unique gifts to the world feels like a common thread. I also see a need to bring through a clear vision for where we’re headed; and compassion as we go.
Our world is changing so quickly. What it means to be a human is changing in unprecedented ways. I have a child…I want to ensure there’s a beautiful world for her to grow into. I want it for all children and all non-human beings, too. Someone recently asked me, “What motivates you to do this healing work and space holding? What gets Schuyler out of bed in the morning?” The question stumped me for a few minutes because I don’t experience life this way anymore. I don’t need a motivation. Life itself is the motivation. If I wake up the morning, I am working on behalf of Life, the planet and our future. I live this work.
And the fact is, my work is getting more potent. I think this is related to maturity, dedication, and experience. I’m turning 50 this year. It’s a huge deal for me as a woman—a woman who has dedicated the last 20 years to the study of the Sacred Feminine (and Sacred Masculine), alchemy, empathy, healing, trauma…I am experiencing this transition into my Queen phase with a lot of consciousness, ease, and Love. I’ve never felt wiser or more in touch with The Great Mother. I know her in ways I didn’t as a younger woman. I know my body and how to hold other bodies better than ever. I know the fierce force of Shakti and how to wield it. I know. I know. And I pray every day to know more as I age. Age and gratitude also bring a new sense of purpose…I don’t want to take any of this for granted and I don’t want to take any of it to the grave. I will express, share, teach, and transmit to the best of my ability for the time I have here.
Which brings me to value and the worth of the work.
I’ve been undervaluing my work for a long time. It’s not cool and I want to stop doing it. I can see that it started when I turned all of my attention to healing. When I was an advertising executive back in the early 2000s, I was making close to $300K a year plus bonuses…FOR SELLING MORE SHIT. This felt wrong to me then and feels wrong to me now. There was a certain kind of financial security in it, but not the real kind. I left my position with the agency in 2006 because I was having a crisis of conscience and the early phases of a spiritual awakening.
For the next 15 years, I tried to “split the difference,” by doing consulting work for “conscious” companies. Because many were still publicly-traded corporations selling more shit (albeit better shit), I felt justified charging big fees for my services. Then, that also began to feel false. I tried working for non-profits and NGOs and environmental movements. This was easier on my conscience, but nearly bankrupted my family. I was working just as hard (if not harder) for a fraction of my old fees. I was learning a harsh lesson that felt something like: the more good you try to do, the less Capitalism rewards it. I know I was late to this lesson. Plenty of hard-working people already know this…nurses, caregivers, teachers, frontlines workers, farmers, artists…
The final step in my transition into a new “job” as a healer and spiritual guide came during COVID when I could no longer take project-based client work because I was also home-schooling my daughter. I needed to work remotely and I needed to work in a way that gave me a lot of flexibility to also tend to her needs. I was also done with the compromises Capitalism requires. I began working almost exclusively as a coach, spiritual guide, trauma healer and meditation teacher. I brought everything I had to it, but I didn’t know how to charge for it. I wanted it to be accessible to anyone who genuinely and sincerely needed it. I still do. But, I don’t know why I believed that it was any less valuable than the work I did as a corporate consultant, brand strategist and futurist. It’s much more valuable. So much more.
Over the weekend, I was in the city and ran into an old colleague and friend on the street in Soho. Joy and I worked together in the early 2000s when I was still at the top of my advertising career. We were so happy to see each other. We hugged and effused and caught up. At one point, Joy turned to the man she’d been walking with and said, “This is the best planner in advertising history…ever. I mean, the best planner in the business.” Her certainty reminded me of that time. I really had been good at my job. And I’d been paid well for it.
The fact is…I am that good at my job now. I bring the same intelligence and grit to this work, but more heart and soul.
So, I am doing something I’ve never really done before. I am clearly stating my needs—financial and professional. I’ve thought about what I’d like to offer this summer that I believe will be of great value and I’ve put some clear pricing to it. I hope you will consider upgrading to a paid subscription or taking a class or joining a course or working with me 1:1. If you already do, thank you. If you don’t or haven’t, but are interested…give it a try. This work is potent and life-changing. I assure you. And if it’s not, or it’s not for you, I’ll give you your money back.
How’s that for an advertising classic? A money-back guarantee :)
It will always be important to me to maintain flexibility in my pricing. I still don’t want money to be a barrier to the spread of wisdom. But, as long as we have money and have to deal with it, I would love to appeal to your generosity and your realism. This (below) is truly what feels good and fair to me in terms of valuing my work. I hope you agree. And I hope you see something that speaks to you.
This summer, the healing will be HOT 🔥🔥🔥. Get it while supplies last!
1:1 Spiritual Coaching and Healing Work
For those looking for personalized healing and guidance through life transitions and spiritual passages, I offer private 1:1 sessions. I work with most clients via Zoom. I take no more than 10 private clients at a time and I have capacity for three new 1:1 clients.
I offer a complimentary 30-minute exploratory session to see if the fit is right. If you want to proceed, the commitment is for 1x/week session for 3 months (at this point we can evaluate if you’d like to continue). Each session is $300.
Email me if you’re interested: schuyler@artofemergence.com
I love my 1:1 clients deeply and bring my full presence and gifts of attunement to these sessions. They can be life-changing. I also offer half-day and full-day sessions in the Hudson Valley, contact me for pricing and availability.
New Workshop for All (Not Just Women) on Healing the Lower Chakras
This spring I’ve been facilitating a small-group healing circle of women to explore and heal the Lower Chakras—root, sacral and solar plexus. It’s been profound to do this earth-loving, body-loving, community-building work as a group. It’s more potent, more magical, so supportive. I’ve learned a lot. I think we all have. And it’s been fun.
I want to gather another group for the summer. This time, the group is open to women and men. This clearing and intimate knowing of the lower chakras is essential work in these times. Opening DOWN is how we also open UP.
We will come away with a new understanding of the subtle body, the purpose and function of the lower chakras, tools for clearing and balancing these chakras, and actual healing of trauma stored in these energy centers and the subtle body.
The course is open to 12 participants and will run for 10 weeks from June 11—August 20, 2023 on Sundays from 12-2pm EST. The cost is $888. If you’re interested, you can send me an email here: schuyler@artofemergence.com. Healing and building spiritual community is a profound gift to give yourself.
Special Offering for Upgrading to Paid by May 8 ~ Read Tenacious Magic in Full!
Friends, if you know how it is to be STRUCK by inspirations that don’t totally make sense to the rational or commercial mind, then you will understand and maybe enjoy reading Tenacious Magic.
Tenacious Magic is a serial, emergent novel I have been writing and publishing every Friday on Substack. I started in January with scraps of writing I’ve had—old journals and an unfinished novel—sitting around since 2009. The story follows my relationship with a powerful spiritual teacher in NYC in the 2010s and a parallel relationship between the modernist writer, Katherine Mansfield, and the enigmatic spiritual teacher, George Gurdjieff in the 1920s. The women’s stories weave together through time as they go through their own awakenings into the Divine Feminine and struggle with issues of art, magic, sex, death, and power. I am writing the story as a healing process. I experience the writing and interaction with readers as an alchemical container for the transmutation of the base energies that have crept into the archetype of the Sacred Marriage.
It takes a lot of time and focus each week—much more than I anticipated. I probably spend about 30 hours a week in preparation and writing of the chapter. When I got to Chapter 7, I knew I needed to make it a paid offering. Now the story is behind the paywall. I hoped many people would be motivated to support the process and upgrade their membership. It hasn’t happened that way. A few have — thank you! I just wanted to put it on your radar that by upgrading you will be supporting my art and also you’ll have access to the full story and events inspired by the story.
If you’ve been on the fence, please consider coming over to this side. I’m at Chapter 15 now and I estimate the whole novel will be about 23 chapters, so we’re getting to the exciting parts :) If you upgrade by May 8, you’ll get 20% off for 12 months.
New Time for Coming Home: My Weekly, Drop-In Meditation Class ~ Thursdays at Noon EST/9am PST
Many of you know that I have led a drop-in meditation on Tuesday mornings since the beginning of COVID. It’s called Coming Home. I have LOVED the consistency of this practice and the small community that has grown around it—kind, loving, wise people I love to start the day with.
The meditations are DEEP and guided. I work with whatever topic of energy is coming up for me in the field and so there is an aspect of channeled wisdom that comes through. It’s very alive and very accessible for anyone at any level of practice.
I’ve also heard from people that the time is tough—especially for those on the West Coast. So, for the summer I am going to try a new time and see if we can grow the group. Right now, we’re typically 5-9 people. I’d like many more. The suggested donation is $20 for the class (1 hour). Paid subscribers need not pay additionally.
The new time starts May 25…until then, we’ll have regular Tuesday 9am classes. Here is the link (no pre-registration required, just come!):
IN-PERSON Summer Retreat in the Hudson Valley ~ Are you Interested?
I am playing with the idea of hosting a LIVE in-person event in the Hudson Valley this summer. It will be for 8 women. My hesitation is around the pricing — to be honest. I have a beautiful house with a pool and mountain views in mind. It’s 10-minutes from the town of Hudson, which is adorable and easily accessible by Amtrak from NYC. The cost would be between $1800-1100 (depending on room choice) for a Thursday—Sunday (3 night) experience.
The theme would be the Joy of Embodiment. We’d arrive on Thursday afternoon and work/play together all day Friday and Saturday and then close the circle Sunday morning around 11am. It would include meditation (lots), talks about the subtle body and embodiment/ensoulment, mandala-making, group exercises, sacred dance, hiking, yoga, and great food. If this is something you’d like to do, it would be HUGELY helpful if you could reach out to me and express your interest. Of course, dates need to be set. I am thinking either July or mid-August. What I really need right now is your enthusiasm. We can co-create this around your desires and needs! Let me know: schuyler@artofemergence.com.
Thank you for reading and receiving this message. If you have any ideas, thoughts, or comments, feel free to leave them below or send them to me directly at schuyler@artofemergence.com. I’d love to hear from you and see you at an upcoming event.
Love,
Skye
I’m interested in private sessions. Is that possible? Thank you Kathy