Amanda Davies

First comes the deconditioning from the mainstream.

Then comes the deconditioning from the mainstream personal development community.

This could technically be 1000 slides, but let's start with 8 🤷‍♀️

👉 I’ve stayed in rooms that didn’t welcome me.

I’ve stayed in relationships that didn’t truly love me.

I stayed in places I didn't belong longer than I should have, because I truly hoped something would shift - within me, or the outside.

… and I identify as a “fighter”.

🔥 But it was deeper than that.

The truth is, it all felt familiar on some strange, very far-away level that I couldn’t quite grasp at the time.

There was an instinct to leave.

… but also an impulse to stay.

Both were very real.

The uncertainty on the other side of leaving the places you don't belong can feel far scarier than the familiar prison you’re used to.

But that other side? That’s where the light is too ✨

The light of being in a relationship where love overflows… forces us to confront a fear of surrender and trust.

The light of being in a room where people actually see you… forces us to confront a fear of visibility.

There’s an edge to the light ✨

… but that edge is where the soul grows.

{Living Alchemy} ⚓️

Your favourite salty old sea goat turned 45 this week…

… and what better way to celebrate than on a boat, eating, and exploring the old Sydney observatory 😍

Many of you know this past year has been life-altering for me.

44 had me walking between worlds - packing up 18 years in the UK and returning to the country that made me. A move I always felt I’d make one day, but one that suddenly carried a sense of urgency.

As my external world demanded logistics and stamina, my inner world cracked open even further - synchronicities, vivid dreams, unusual encounters, new teachers.

Holding two worlds at once has been intense and sometimes painful.

There was grief in leaving somewhere my soul feels so at ease and fed… and at the same time, deep certainty about what’s next in this fiery new chapter.

A death–rebirth isn’t poetic while you’re inside it 🌀

It feels as if your psyche is being rewired while you’re still trying to live in it… like you’re turning to goo in the cocoon, and there’s absolutely f/uck all you can do about it once higher events are set in motion.

🧜‍♀️🐐 But this is sea-goat territory - the work of the alchemists…

… taking what’s intangible and goo-like, and re-casting it into form, and real-world change ⚓️

I’m still in the middle of it all, and imperfectly flailing most of the time. But remembering what steadies me has been a game changer and I encourage anyone going through a rebirth to find *your* grounding principles…

What steadies me isn’t surrender (sorry, self help gurus) - but devotion ✨

… purpose, service, showing up to work I love, investing in clients I adore, and creating daily.

Living alchemy ✨

Despite everything this year asked of me, I know I’m aligned with what’s next - the expansion into bigger more uncomfortable spaces, the love, and the work that keeps widening and deepening.

I’m here.
And I’m slowly emerging.
Let’s see what 45 brings.

AD x