We were lucky to catch up with Anne Willson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Anne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I pursue 2 parallel creative paths—spiritual channel/mentor and artist, both of which began professionally after leaving a long career in the nonprofit arts sector. I’d done both “on the side” for years and had occasionally considered shifting toward one or the other professionally, but it didn’t come together to do so until 2016 for art and 2023 for the spiritual work.

The art and spirituality are intertwined; both speak to spaciousness in form. My art is sculptural weaving using natural materials.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As a spiritual channel & mentor, I give readings to people and facilitate workshops and events. I’ve been on a spiritual path for 30 years and have been giving readings for 20, but it didn’t become a business until January 2023. The phrase “Your Mythic Self” first came to me about 5 years earlier and had stayed with me, so I decided to use it as the name of my business.

The readings are often based on people’s overarching “back stories” and help them to a bigger-picture understanding of why something in their life is happening as it is This could be a past life issue that is showing up in their current job and has come around again for healing/integration in this life. It could be emotional or physical residue that’s carried over from a prior death. It could be a relationship or a way of looking at the world. Sometimes loved ones who have passed over or their guides/angels come in the for the reading, sometimes it’s only the client.

At other times, readings don’t go to the past and instead are solely rooted in the current energies. These help people understand factors/elements contributing to a situation that may be hidden or more difficult for them to see and/or interpret on their own.

While the readings come from the etheric field, they’re very much rooted in our daily lives and based in real-world occurrences. We’re here to live our lives now; there will be plenty of time to be in the ethers later.

About a year ago I was contacted by two women guides who called themselves The Grandmothers and absolutely love working with them. Have learned over time that they are here to offer information to groups or the collective rather than individuals. Signals, my monthly newsletter includes a channeling by them.

The Grandmothers are also involved in the creation of the events and programs. They were instrumental in the development of “You’re Not Lost,” a 5-week online workshop for someone who feels “in between” in their life somehow. The Grandmothers come in on week 3 for a channeling specifically for the participants. In addition, they were part of a recent Lion’s Gate event and a prior Winter Solstice event. The Grandmothers are also very down to earth; their guidance is always relevant to the here and now.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2016 I resigned from a leadership role with a nonprofit arts organization in Chattanooga TN and moved back to NC, my home state. I thought I’d find a “next level” position here fairly easily as the perfect next step had always shown up throughout my career. I also wanted to spend more time on my art—something I’d set aside for years.

Within a month of moving to NC, I landed in a studio space in downtown Raleigh. Art studios are rare finds and I felt lucky to have landed in one. However, I couldn’t find/secure that “next level” professional position I thought would be there. Month after month with no full time positions materializing, I turned to the equity from the sale of my house in Chattanooga, a savings account, and part time consulting and teaching to support myself. This brought up a tremendous amount of fear for me, as well as self-recrimination. Who does this as they’re turning 60?

On one hand, I was finally doing something I loved and had craved for years, and doing so along side other artists I admired. Even more so, I was invited to exhibit in several solo exhibitions within a year or two and then invited to join Anchorlight, an outstanding working studio space in North Carolina. It felt as if a huge part of myself was coming to life. And yet I was beating myself up for taking the leap and the hit on my finances.

I had to stop and find another way to look at my life. First, I saw my resilience – that I could always figure out how to do something that needed to be done. Second, I saw my tenacity-that I stayed with the art medium until I became comfortable and confident in it. Third, I saw my courage – that the leap into the unknown could only have happened because I believed in myself. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think it would work out.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The end of 2022 was a big life pivot when I publicly shifted into spiritual work—something that had been a long time coming. In fact, I’d resisted it for years.

While working in the nonprofit arts field, I’d purposefully kept the spiritual side hidden and only gave readings to friends. I had a lot of fear around showing this part of myself—would a major sponsor of an arts festival really be comfortable with an Executive Director who was also woo?

After stepping away from my last arts nonprofit leadership role in 2016, and unable to find a new full time professional position, I did some nonprofit consulting and teaching while also working in the art studio. But over time I realized that my heart was no longer in the nonprofit sector. As important as it had been at one time, it was time to completely wrap it up. Simultaneously, I was giving more and more readings to people and feeling more comfortable being visible.

In 2022 I knew it was time for the big break. By the end of that year I wrapped up all nonprofit client work and teaching to start fresh-and go public-with my spiritual work in January 2023.

On this end of the pivot, now working as a spiritual channel and an artist, I’m grateful for all that has happened-even the hard parts. My life is very different than it was 8 years ago. I’m happy and grounded, clear on what’s mine and what’s not, and excited to see how far I can go. Yes, the leap cost me, and it was so worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: yourmythicself.com, annewillsonart.com
• Instagram: annewillsonart
• Facebook: yourmythicself

Image Credits

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