We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Eve Smith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Eve below.
Hi Eve , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Purpose came to me in spite of my initial resistance. In high school, the part of my purpose that caused me the most resistance, teaching, dropped into my lap as I sat at the kitchen table. After a month’s worth of all the personality and strengths and weakness assessments you can imagine, my mother declared with a flourish of papers that slipped out of her grasp to rain on me, that I was born to be a teacher.
I was horrified. I’d heard the phrase “those who can’t, teach” knocked about for years. I didn’t want to be in the “those who can’t” camp of whatever I loved. I wanted to be living it – whatever “it” was. I resisted teaching.
A few years later, study abroad in Ghana and China led me desire a life of travel. Learning how limited my perspective and knowledge was compared to the expansiveness possible, I made a choice to get a Master’s degree in teaching English with a Peace Corps practicum. To learn about the world, I became a teacher.
My mind was blown in China. Then Mexico. Then Russia. Then Macao. Then Afghanistan. Ukraine, The Republic of Georgia, Russia and Hong Kong. A life full of extraordinary experiences and perspectives! I was living “it” with my life abroad and blossoming understanding of the world.
Adjustment: Those who teach, grow, learn and exponentially expand.
As I was building my academic career, it became clear that teaching English was not where my interest lay. Don’t get me wrong, I loved helping students learn to express themselves in another language. This part of my old job still gives me chills. Helping others find a voice is powerful to witness.
As a language teacher, I developed a deep listening practice that has transitioned me into my work as a coach, Reiki and sound practitioner. It also helped me to constantly question myself and learn to see life through multiple lenses. This learning helps shift a story if it is diminishing to something more expansive.
Through this exploration I realized that my purpose is: To hold a container of self-exploration for myself and others.
Teaching sound and Reiki is one way to hold that container. Another way is the continual practice as a yoga, Reiki and Sound practitioner. There is always an area to deepen and explore in the Self. Sharing my stories and discoveries through workshops, classes and my Substack newsletter are some of the many gifts that teaching brought me so that I can fulfill my purpose.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My career and life path has followed a common theme: life-long learning. A teacher trainer with the Office of English Language Programs of the U.S. State Department for over 15 years, and university lecturer at the University of Macau and City University of Hong Kong, I spent 20 years in the education sector.
Initially, I discovered complementary practices when my doctor asked me to try supplements to balance my thyroid rather than immediately going on medication. As my problem resolved, my curiosity about how my body responded to the supplements was piqued and I wanted to know what else could lead to a more balanced body and mind. This inquiry led me to Reiki, meditation, yoga, and working with sound.
These modalities became a source of personal transformation and development, allowing me to move from burnout to joy and balance working within intensely driven work environments. From there I went within to find a sanctuary, or sanctum, within myself. Now, no matter how hard the storm of life is brewing outside, I work to hold serenity and peace. (And, when it’s hurricane level, I understand how to find my way back to serenity.)
Within this sanctum inside of me is a connection to all that is and all that will be. From this place, I hold and honor a deep connection to my intuition and inner guidance. It is my mission to assist others in creating a personalized approach in using sound, Reiki, and other resources to create a rich life and connection to their own inner sanctum.
My energy work has led me to a highly active and wonderful connection with Spirit which I chronical in my newsletter “Sanctum with Eve Smyth” on Substack. I am thrilled to be able to share some of the healing stories, epiphanies, and wonderful wild ride that is a life devoted to working with Spirit.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Trust: There is no “mistake” or “waste of time”. When experiences open up for you and they feel right at the time, I would encourage you to remain open to them even if they don’t fit your expectations.
Everything is an opportunity for training, learning to see from a new perspective, and a way to open doors to experiences and possibilities. I go into experiences thinking: “How can I learn from this?”
Inner Quiet: Being able to come to a place of deep quiet within yourself will keep you able to recognize what you need in the moment whether it is rest, movement, a change of pace, etc., keeps you aware of your needs and allows for deep focus on and understanding of what you are able to continue to do at that time. For example, if you need to take a 15 minute break to recharge, are primed for a creative work period, or need to take time off.
This is also called awareness. It is one of the most fundamentally important aspects of performance. When you are aware of your needs, thoughts, and responsibilities you have the opportunity to shift your mindset so that you don’t get stuck in a resistant thought loop or pattern. For example, resistance around paperwork or something else that has to be done. Without shifting that thought of resistance you will likely begin to suffer. This can go on for hours, days, weeks, months, and even years. If you are able to shift the thought and get what needs to be handled complete, there is less suffering. Being quiet inside helps you to recognize and move through the thoughts and feelings you do not prefer.
Listen and Confirm: Have you ever had the experience with someone where they cut you off? Or, it’s clear that they were just waiting until you finished speaking to say what they wanted to say? It doesn’t feel good. Being that person will severely limit your possibilities in life. Listening is a skill and an art form that will take you far.
Show that you are listening by summarizing – keep it short – to make sure that you are perceiving the meaning that the speaker intends. “What I hear you saying is..(summarize what they said)..Is that correct?” Then, give them an opportunity to clarify if they feel it’s needed before sharing your thoughts on what they said. Not only will this avoid disagreements and escalations, but people will actively seek you out as a listener – an incredible way to learn.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
The I Ching, also known as the Book of Change, is my go to oracle for helping me to think outside the box. What I love about this book is that there’s no pretty little bow and happy ribbon covering a pile of cow dung. If it’s a bunch of dung coming my way, the I Ching goes there. If I’m about to win the cosmic lottery it goes there too.
My mother taught me to use “The I Ching Workbook” by R. L. Wing sometime in my youth, which was an incredibly insightful move on her part, because when I sought the answers to unanswerable questions she was off the hook.
“How could I know the answer to that? Go ask the I Ching!” She would say when I asked her about going to a summer camp or some other event that I contemplated joining.
“But, it told me that camp is not in my best interest!” I tried to get her to say what I wanted to hear which was – go because it will be amazing! Or, confirm that the difficult stuff wouldn’t happen.
Instead, I got: “And, what can you learn from this?”
“Nothing,” I would mumble as I shut the door to my room and sat down to think through the possible summer camp experiences as suggested in the book. Was “experiencing a dormant social life” really as bad as I was making it out to be? Maybe the lack of social life would lead to growth in another way. (It did.)
The Book of Change offers different (and sometimes difficult) perspectives about inquiries that are important to me, allowing me a wealth of information to consider my next move. Like life, the I Ching does not care about your feelings or attachment to your inquiry. It presents a possible outcome. You interpret. Most of the time, it will give you the opportunity to deeply consider multiple aspects of a project, job, relationship, or anything else you’d be asking about. From there, you can use your imagination to see all possibilities and outcomes rather than pigeonhole yourself into seeing from one perspective.
Because of this, working with the I Ching is a constant exercise in learning to let go of attachment. What I perceive to be a favorable read towards a question is so rare that when it happens it’s like all the happiest moments in life concentrated into a second of bliss. This has happened something like twice in my lifetime. Generally, the book offers a perspective that forces contemplation.
In business and life, contemplation, seeing from multiple angles, and the ability to let go is everything.
Rather than getting stuck in a way of doing things or an idea, I shift when it becomes clear that what I was aiming for was not working. This ability to alter course without suffering or getting stuck on a so-called loss helps me see clearly. Of course, I will have bias. I am human and ultimately confined to the limitations of my life experiences and perspectives – even as I try to push their boundaries as much as possible.
I am also in a constant dance with emotions. They arise and I might feel upset about something that occurred. Let’s say, for example, within a business relationship where tensions were high. I then have a choice to stew in the feelings that arise and have them potentially impact my relationship or wellbeing, or let them go.
Sticky emotions lead to suffering and that may lead to acting out of fear. Fear keeps us from being in the world as it is. Instead, we see the world as we fear it might be. We close the possibilities in our world down to what is known. This is the opposite of clarity.
In business and life, clarity can not only increase your resilience, it can help you see trends before they happen. You look at information without attachment and it will show where things are headed. For example, in my previous field of English teaching, I could see a few years in advance what the “new” hot topic would be and where everyone’s collective energies and focus would be going.
I’m not psychic. I looked between the lines at what was and wasn’t being said. I didn’t have an attachment to what we would be talking about: young learners, trauma informed teaching, plagiarism, etc. I didn’t resist the transition for it is a natural part of life. I looked for how to gain experience in and work with the transition.
In other words: I Ching taught me to see how the water was moving and understand the course my boat would travel. From there, I knew how to steer in a way that would work with the currents, be interesting, and lead me closer to where I wanted to go.
Turns out, these lessons that I learned from the Book of Changes are also discussed in detail in The 50th Law by 50 Cent and Robert Greene. If working with an oracle to train non-attachment and the release of emotions isn’t your jam, The 50th Law lays it out in detail and is an interesting read.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sanctumwithevesmyth.com
- Instagram: @eves_myth
- Other: https://sanctumwithevesmyth.substack.com/?r=4tu4x&utm_campaign=pub-share-checklist
Image Credits
Franchon Hurt Eve Smith
