What's Your Whole (Hearted) Story?
Photo by Motoki Tonn on Unsplash
There is strength and beauty in the brokenness.
I love the wisdom of kintsugi - the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with a gold lacquer. Rather than trying to hide the breakage and repair, this method enhances them. The beauty of the repaired piece lies in its imperfections.
The same is also true for us: we are stronger and more beautiful precisely because of our imperfections and our history.
There is power in our stories.
Stories connect us to ourselves, to each other, and also to the long-arc of humanity.
Our stories help us make sense of things and - from there - to grow.
Within the truth of our experiences - the good, the bad and the ugly - lie the raw materials from which we can build a whole-hearted life.
“The irony is that we attempt to disown our difficult stories to appear more whole or more acceptable, but our wholeness—even our wholeheartedness—actually depends on the integration of all of our experiences, including the falls.”
As your Legacy Guide and Celebrant, I help you uncover your story and weave it into meaningful expressions of your life and values—whether through 1:1 guidance, workshops, or custom ceremonies.
No love story is perfect. Your wedding should honor the beautiful intentions you have for your journey together while making space for the inevitable missteps along the way.
No life story is perfect. An end-of-life ceremony for your loved one should lift up their remarkable qualities while holding space for their humanity—their flaws and struggles that made them who they were.
Legacies, too, are rarely neat or tidy. They are a reflection of the whole-heartedness with which we live: the highs and lows, the triumphs and mistakes, and the ways we show up for ourselves and others.
Whether crafting a ceremony or guiding you through legacy work, I listen deeply to your stories. From there, I help you bring more intention and attention to your daily life and milestone moments in ways that honor your journey—embracing the seemingly disparate pieces and celebrating your perfectly imperfect whole(hearted)ness.
What parts of your story—beautiful, messy, or mundane—have shaped who you are today?
How can you honor the cracks and imperfections in your story as part of your wholeness?
If you were to take one step today toward honoring your story or legacy, what would it be?
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AUTHOR: KARLA COMBRES
As a Legacy Guide & Celebrant, I help individuals, couples, families and organizations make the big and small moments in life count, and shape their legacy along the way. I offer:
Drawing on my vast experience as a Life-Cycle Celebrant and in working with people at the end of life, I am uniquely qualified to help people move through transitions meaningfully and to think about how they want to leave this world so they can live better now.
I’m based in Saskatchewan, Canada and serve clients worldwide. Read more about me here.
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