Restoring Faith in Myself

Why I am Still Celebrating Life at 75

In 2016, I immersed myself in the Life Review Program: Coming into the Labyrinth, for people in their wisdom years and I gave myself the gift of time to ponder deep spiritual questions that led to  new life goals that embody energy shifts and changes, newfound creativity, relevancy, and legacy. The pictures above show me at 35 (left) and 75 (right).  The program restored my faith in myself.

As I traveled the metaphorical labyrinth’s path in my mind’s eye, I descended into the world of inner thought and reflection. At the center was a quiet place of calmness and rest: a place where my soul revealed goals for my wisdom years’ pathway. When I resurfaced, I brought new learnings and decisions with me. Six months later, I joined a retreat that supported people who had completed the program and who wanted to sustain their initial effort. I continued to nurture my soul’s growth, living in a constant state of gratitude. And I added goals that included fun and play.

At the end of the day, my story is about resilience of my human spirit and the unfolding of my wisdom years.

In 2017, following the Life Review Program retreat, an integrative image of a woman started emerging in meditation, culminating in the one I developed at an Exhibitions Class taught by Nan Hess Feldman at the Worcester Art Museum this past winter 2018. The image, below, is called “Restoring Faith in Myself” and hangs in the student show at WAM until Thursday, May 24, 2018.  It is being shown again at Arts Worcester from June 16-July 15.  

The painting is in acrylics and shows an image of a woman holding the United Nations and United States flags.  It shows the inner marriage of the feminine and the masculine as a symbol of the personal work I have done to restore faith in myself first.

The image integrates two spiritual experiences that became books—A Mantle of Roses: A Woman’s Journey Home to Peace (Xlibris 2004) given for my healing in 1985 and My Soul’s Journey to Redefine Leadership: A Phoenix Rising from the Ashes of 9/11 (2017), received in a dream on 9/11 when I was in New York City. This image builds on 25 prior years conceiving and implementing a spiritual renaissance for America and the world in the UN community.

Beside expressive art and the image, I am celebrating many things as a result of the Life Review: a vision for a spiritual renaissance in America and the world  based on a dream I had of a Phoenix rising out of the ashes of 9/11 while in NYC that day, a new book; updated websites of my life’s  work: VirginiaSwain.com and www.global-leader.org; New ventures include America’s Soul Cafes, Exploring Our Global Soul and being trained to lead others through the Life Review program: Coming into the Labyrinth.  I focus on offering training and coaching for vocationally-called Reconciliation Leaders for America conceived and developed in the United Nations now re-purposed for America.  With a hosting team, I offer free online monthly 3^rdSaturdays America’s Soul Cafés. 

The life review clarified for me that it was time to dissolve the Center for Global Community and World Law, our NGO in consultative status at the UN.

Restoring faith in myself first allows me to help others restore faith in themselves, their relationships, in their workplaces, in America and the United Nations.

Join the Phoenix here.

                                     —Virginia Swain