Every odyssey begins with a loss, a question, or a call that cannot be ignored. For me, it began the day my life shattered.
I had always known myself through roles—partner, sibling, professional. But when grief arrived, it stripped those roles away like leaves in a storm. I lost my wife to cancer, and years earlier, I had watched my brother struck by a car. These moments didn’t just take away people I loved—they left me staring at a mirror I could no longer recognize.
Who was I, when the roles were gone?
🌱 From Grief to a Question
In the quiet that follows loss, I discovered a truth that both science and spirit affirm: identity isn’t fixed.
- Neuroscience calls it neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to reshape itself.
- Business strategy calls it clarity—knowing what’s core while adapting to changing markets.
- Mystical traditions call it liberation—releasing what no longer serves and tending to what endures.
In my own words, it meant this: I was not gone. My core was still alive.
The question was how to find it again.
🌸 The Flower in the Garden
One night, while journaling, I drew a flower. At the center, I wrote the values that had carried me through every storm: compassion, curiosity, integrity. Around it, in the petals, I wrote the strengths I had once lived by: creativity, humor, resilience.
And surrounding it all was the garden—the shifting environment of grief, responsibility, and roles I had been trying so hard to control.
The drawing stopped me cold. Because I realized: the garden may change, but the flower was still mine.
That simple sketch became the Identity Flower.
🌿 From a Flower to an Odyssey
The more I shared the exercise, the more I saw how others resonated with it. A friend facing divorce. A leader unsure of their purpose. A student questioning their future. Each found something powerful in mapping their flower: a reminder that they were more than their circumstances.
But it wasn’t just about the flower. It was about the journey. The moment you realize you cannot go back to who you were—and you step forward into who you are becoming.
That’s when Odyssey of Renewal was born.
🌊 Why an Odyssey?
Because renewal isn’t a weekend fix or a quick inspiration. It’s a voyage. It’s crossing a threshold, like in our workshop ritual: releasing what no longer serves and carrying forward a piece of your core.
- It’s science and strategy woven with spirit.
- It’s creativity and ritual alongside reflection and action.
- It’s community and solitude, together.
The Odyssey of Renewal is not about becoming someone new. It’s about remembering the truest self you’ve always carried—and choosing to live from it.
🌼 A First Bloom
The Identity Flower Workshop was the first bloom of this Odyssey. It showed me—and so many others—that renewal begins with one simple act: naming your core, tending your garden, and stepping into your next season.
From here, the Odyssey continues with retreats, workshops, and circles of community. But at its heart, it will always begin with that flower, drawn on a page, reminding us:
🌸 This is who I am. This is who I am becoming.
👉 Want to take the first step on your own Odyssey?
Join the upcoming Identity Flower Workshop on September 9, 2025 → https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-identity-flower-workshop-discovering-your-core-and-your-garden-tickets-1591575096959?aff=oddtdtcreator
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