When I was contemplating what to call my coaching practice I knew I wanted a name that symbolised the essential truth of my work. After going down a few blind alleys, I returned to the metaphor of the pearl.
Why? Because when an intruder such as a grain of sand lodges itself in the soft, vulnerable flesh of the oyster, it protects itself by enveloping the irritant in layers of nacre – a lustrous substance also known as mother of pearl that reflects and refracts light.
As it builds layer upon layer of protection, the irritant eventually becomes a pearl – that mysterious gem celebrated in so many myths and stories. The oyster transforms pain into beauty.
In a similar way, it is through facing up to that which has wounded us that we find a strength within that transcends the hurt and creates a shimmering core of strength and wisdom.
So The Pearl Within was born, and I realised that it was all about women. The pearl is such a feminine symbol; it is associated with the moon and the ocean and the realm of the instincts. To me the pearl represents inner wisdom, inner knowing and the resilience that comes from surviving challenges.
We all have a pearl within – but so often we lose our connection with it. We experience it as a still, small voice within, a sense of inner direction, the strength we didn’t realise we had.
My mission as a human potential coach is to help women of all ages reconnect with the pearl within, to get in touch with their strength and wisdom, to trust their intuition, to honour their wounds and transcend them.
The poet Kahlil Gibran says it much better than I ever could, in his poem
The Pearl:
Said one oyster to a neighbouring oyster,
‘I have a great pain within me.
It is heavy and round and I am in distress.’
And the other oyster replied,
with haughty complacence,
‘Praise be to the heavens and to the sea.
I have no pain within me.
I am well and whole both within and without.’
At that moment a crab was passing by
and heard the two oysters.
And he said to the one who was well and whole
both within and without
‘Yes, you are well and whole;
but the pain that your neighbour bears
is a pearl of exceeding beauty.’
PICTURE CREDIT: Photowitch | Dreamstime.com
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