Someone said something to me recently that made me pause. They told me I needed to look at my ego because I talk about how good the framework I’m building is. And I did pause. Not because every criticism is true. But because part of my own work is being willing to look honestly at what lands in front of me. So I asked myself: Is this ego? Or is this me finally learning how to honor what I am creating? Because there is a difference. There is a difference between needing people to praise my work so I can feel worthy… and knowing I have built something with time, care, lived experience, deep listening, and a whole lot of my heart. There is a difference between making it about me… and being excited because the work is helping people meet themselves in a new way. For a long time, I think many of us were taught to be careful with our pride. Don’t get too big. Don’t sound too sure. Don’t make people uncomfortable. Don’t talk about what you’ve created like it actually matters. But part of accepting my own invitation to shine is learning to honor and respect what I am building. Not shrink it. Not over-explain it. Not wait for someone else to tell me it is good before I am allowed to know it is. And yes, I will keep checking myself. I want my work to stay rooted in service, not performance. I want it to point people back to themselves, not toward me. But I am also allowed to be proud. I am allowed to say, “This matters.” I am allowed to believe in what I am creating. Because shining is not the same thing as ego. Sometimes shining is simply refusing to apologize for the light you have finally stopped hiding.

Getting through the chaos of a journey—whether in life or in ceremony—has been one of my greatest challenges. During a private Aya ceremony, the shaman and I spent hours talking through that process. Out of those conversations, the Alchemy of Chaos Wheel began to emerge. I’m still embodying what was given to me during those two days. It’s one thing to understand something with your mind. It’s another to embody it. And beyond that, to actually live it. That’s the part I’m still practicing. I haven’t had the opportunity to fully weave this into my facilitation work yet, but I have shared it with other facilitators as a tool they might find helpful. Now I’d like to share it with all of you. During that ceremony, the shaman read passages from my book, An Invitation to Shine: From Invisible to Invincible. The conversations we had, together with the interactive Emotions Wheel I had already created, inspired what eventually became this Alchemy of Chaos Wheel. I don’t see it as something to master. I see it as something to return to, again and again, whenever life feels uncertain. It’s my gift to you. Use it. Share it. If it helps you navigate your own moments of chaos with a little more awareness and a little more grace, then it has already done what it was created to do.. You can find the link to both the alchemy of chaos wheel and the emotions wheel here. https://kimberhardick.netlify.app/tools We are almost halfway through the beta testing of the Riding, the waves of emotions framework, and I soon will be sharing it and making it available more broadly. Stay tuned.

Last night we watched In Waves and War. I sat there thinking, this is why I’m so excited about what is happening in the psychedelic movement. Not because I think it’s a cure all. But because I’ve seen what can happen when these medicines are approached with intention, respect, and integration. For some people, especially those living with the exhaustion of trauma, they aren’t just another treatment to try. They become the first thing that helps them reconnect with themselves after years, sometimes decades, of simply surviving. That gives me so much hope. The medicine isn’t the whole story. Intention matters. The space matters. The people walking beside you matter. And what happens after… that’s where life begins to change. I recently learned about a place just outside Tulsa that’s doing this kind of work, and I’m going to go see it for myself. I’ve had so many of you ask when I’m going to host a retreat, and I’ve kept saying I’m waiting until I find the right place. I don’t know yet… But I have a feeling this might be it. I’ll let you know what I discover. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that healing isn’t about finding someone to fix you. It’s about creating the right conditions to remember who you were before the world convinced you that you had to become someone else. That is the movement I’m excited to be part of. Not just psychedelic medicine, but the growing understanding that healing is possible, even for people who had almost given up hope. Go to my website KimberHardick . Com and signup for my newsletter to be the first to know!

I was recently asked that in a podcast I did. We are almost half way through the beta testing of my emotional surfing framework which is a self paced interactive project I have been putting together. I will let you know when it is released for a broader audience sometime later this year. I want to thank those that stepped up and said yes to running through the beta testing, giving their feedback and helping me make the final edit.

We talk a lot about emotions in this Podcast I did with Hanna Hembree Bell called Not Saving it For Later!