We were lucky to catch up with Gina Liberman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Gina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In the literary world, there is a theme whereby the hero (ourselves) must experience a period of exile, a distance from the soul’s arc, such that we might create the path for which our steps were made. In my own life, it has never been a direct route.

Whereas the big cat of the African savannah rations their energy for the hunt, the butterfly or songbird must explore every branch and flower to understand the nectar that will feed it, and to cross-pollinate its ecosystem with joy. For the butterfly, its purpose is to lift our gaze. For the songbird, it is the invitation to step outside our busy lives and listen.

During one of these “faraway” moments in a job that neither fed nor nourished the soul, I was hungry to spread my wings, fly to distant lands and take note in a landscape offering a deeper experience of presence. To me, this place was Ireland.

I worked tirelessly until I saved enough to fly, took the risk and left the comfy cozy security of a well-paid position and leapt into the unknown. From there, the true adventure began. I wrote heaps of poetry, dipped into an expanded state of being and knew where my essence had found a home.

That journey provided a framework for calling myself a poet. And also enriched and aerated the soil of my spirit, giving birth to a new understanding of time, and the value of joy and adventure in our lives. Something that “little Gina” had always known, that now was to become my work, both in written form and intuitive sessions. I had touched the well from which the artist drinks, and discovered that hidden within the exile was the homecoming.

Gina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Inspired by an ineffable love of nature and the arts, I found beauty and fulfillment in the simple act of being, caring for something and immersing myself in the elemental presence of a place.

Hence, I became a traveler, celebrating all the colors and textures of life as an anthropologist would, cultivating an ever-present sense of home within. My adventures took me across America, the wilds of Africa, the Hawaiian Islands, and to Australia as a singer, artist and life coach.

And I discovered that these inherent joys were gifts finding their home in poetry and writing, art and music, and in providing care and nourishment to others through subtle acts of kindness and listening. As I refined the ability to attune with others and my environment, I recognized that I was a companion of sorts, a guide, mentor and midwife for the soulful unfolding of others. And also a designer of a new way of life, helping to carve out the life that one was made for and to live it. From there, A New Way of Life was born, my boutique consultancy and home for soulful creatives.

Bringing greater joy, clarity and wellbeing into this world is what I was made for. And I have always found it easy to see the hidden gems in others. At A New Way of Life, I have the honor of helping women artists, writers and entrepreneurs generate inner wealth and wellbeing through intuitive sessions and creative coaching.

Together, we bring newfound clarity and ease of being to the fore, and create legacies of self-love, generous action, authentic connection and a life worth living. Sharing my love of poetry, I also host seasonal gatherings online, using stories, poems and song as a form of nourishment and soul care, and will soon release my first poetry collection.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

While I have dabbled in some lovely entrepreneurial literature, I am a philosopher at heart and so the titles below are the ones that have steered me closest to the starlight that is central to the work itself ~ both the poetry and prose of living and writing.

I have always been fond of timeless classics that serve as both touchstone and compass during times of beauty and also “soul hunger”. These include some of the more ancient contemplative texts like the “I Ching”, considered one of the oldest books in recorded history, the “Tao Te Ching”, as well as more contemporary guideposts, like Pema Chodron’s “The Wisdom of No Escape”, Walt Whitman, David Whyte and Cailtin Matthews’ writings on Celtic spirituality. As a creative, I love Twyla Tharp’s “Keep It Moving” and “The Creative Habit”.

For replenishment and re-enchantment, I turn to Robert MacFarlane’s nature writing and the art of Haiku for its simplicity, as it seems to return us to our own inherent simplicity. To rekindle wonder and homecoming, this one from Brother David Steindl Rast is a gem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSt7k_q_qRU.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Tapping into the essence of light and dark, and finding in each of them a friend.

When a poem is given to me (which is how I experience it when “I” write a poem), I always know it is a gift because a tear springs to my eyes ~ as if something in my heart has been unfastened and rejoined with the heart of the world.

Being an artist is to be moved as much by the work, as the work is designed to move others. It is to be worked upon by a higher hand, and in that way is a deeply courageous and vulnerable way of life. And when that work, be it a song, a poem, a speech touches you as you speak it, sing it, write it, then you are most assured that the work will reach the other. This joining of hearts is the greatest reward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ginaliberman.com

Image Credits

Gina Liberman
Brent Harris