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THE GIFT OF AN IMPERFECT FATHER
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The Gift of an Imperfect Father
by Marlaina Donato
For many of us, Dad was the first person to throw us a ball, take us fishing or treat us to ice cream after a game. If we were fortunate, he was the one who made a bad day better, was a strong protector who kept the metaphorical wolves from the door and, by example, secured our place in the world. Fathers give us many “firsts”, and for some of us, that also means a broken heart.
Parents, like all human beings, are fallible, learning as they go, never quite getting it right, but doing the best that they can. Sometimes their “best” is tangled in a net of unresolved personal trauma, addiction or mental illness, and we learn to bear the bitter with the sweet. “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift,” wrote poet Mary Oliver, and her words can be a beacon as we journey through healing the father wound.
Once we come out the other side of childhood, it might be difficult to love someone that destroyed our trust and even more difficult to love ourselves. This “gift” might take decades for us to unwrap. Children of difficult dads sometimes blossom like lotuses into more compassionate beings from the mud of absence, cruelty or indifference. Perhaps with a shift in perspective, we may realize how their weaknesses might have given us survival tools and resilience. Flipping the coin to examine what they have done right and giving credit where it is deserved can also help us to open that dead-bolted door to forgiveness. Taking inventory, both positive and negative, can encourage us to become a different kind of parent.
In a black-and-white world, the heart’s gray areas can teach us how to lean into our own healing. We inherit a lot from our wounded fathers, including an energetic opportunity to change the familial emotional code, and it can be beautiful.
Intuitive & Healing Arts
Healing and Spiritual Development Packages Now Available at White Lotus Grace
White Lotus Grace, in Millbrook, is offering custom-tailored packages—called Grace Bouquets—to intuitively nurture clients through every stage of healing and spiritual development. Each session in a package is available virtually, by phone or in person.
“Every Grace Bouquet begins with a deep spiritual reading and energy healing combination,” says owner Gigi Oppenheimer. “It offers a divine view of you and your soul purpose from a Godgiven clairvoyant, clairaudient, intuitive, empathic perspective. I receive this insight for you as I prayerfully dance in meditative trance, and then discuss it with you.”
Oppenheimer explains that there are four follow-up sessions that progress the vision and healing with transformative practices intuitively channeled and guided specifically for the client. These packages are available in a dozen varieties and are for anyone that want to go deep into their heart and God’s grace to release, renew, grow and gather a divine viewpoint for their life and soul.
“I created these Grace Bouquets in order to offer maximum spiritual support and nurturing value for individuals endeavoring to heal and thrive,” shares Oppenheimer.
Location: White Lotus Grace, Millbrook, NY. For more information, including cost, call 845.677.3517 or visit WhiteLotusGrace.com.
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Pam Cucinell Phone, online & in person 917.796.6026; InsightOasis.com
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Bernadette Bloom, MI Energy Healing & Teacher 239.289.3744 theesotericbloom.com
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Moss and Moonlight Workshops, Yoga, Reiki, Women Circles, In-Person & Virtual Hopewell Junction, NY MossAndMoonlight.com
INTUITIVE HEALING
White Lotus Grace Healing/Dance/Readings 845.677.3517 Millbrook & Remote Whitelotusgrace.com
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Persephone’s Pearl Spiritual Development Center Candles, Books, Tarot, Jewelry Psychics, Crystals, Classes, etc. 1014B Main St., Peekskill @persephonespearlpeekskill 914.737.3460 PersephonesPearl.com
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Edit Babboni, CHC, RYT 200 Reiki Healing. Health Coaching. Yoga. 61 Lakeview Drive, Yorktown Heights, NY 917.721.2529 yoga.zengarden@gmail.com
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The Loving Lotus In person or remote sessions 914.557.8213; lovinglotus.org the.loving.lotusx3@gmail.com
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Celestial Touch Laura Schek, Psychic Medium, Reiki Master 7 Arch St, Pawling, NY 845.244.1767 celestialtouchllc.com
TAROT CARD READINGS
Purple Lotus Zen Michelle B Whitney Tarot & Oracle Readings, Medium, Energ Healing. By phone appt. 914.513.8398; Purplelotuszen.com
