We recently connected with Erin Wehrenberg and have shared our conversation below.

Erin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Listening to my heart is what I think of when I think of taking a risk. Every time I want to try something new or implement a new idea I have or expand and push myself to try or be something different, I feel I am taking a risk. This could be opening myself up to offer a completely new service than I have previously, tweaking something small about what I currently offer, or being willing to put myself out there in a way I have not before in a collaboration, a job, a location, an offering. When I feel nervous about something, I know I am on the right track. If something doesn’t feel (at least) a little scary, I don’t think I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone enough. If I don’t feel challenged or unsure at all, then I am not pushing myself beyond what feels okay and accessible to me currently, and if that is not true, I am not growing. I also check in with myself about risks by thinking about the following quote, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” And in my life with the passage of time, this has always, always been true. “Oh well!” is so much easier for me to make peace with than “What If?”. Even if something did not work at all, even if it felt like a complete failure at the time, I still can find peace and acceptance in how things turned out because I tried. And, spoiler alert, it always works out, even if it doesn’t appear to have worked out.

Erin, 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?

My name is Erin Elizabeth Wehrenberg, and I am an educator, facilitator, and author of poetry. My formal education background in is teaching and education; I hold an undergraduate degree in middle childhood education and a master’s degree in higher education with a focus in diversity and social justice. In addition to my formal education, I was set on the path of mental health and well-being due to personal circumstances and upheaval in my life that forced me to turn inward, reconnect to my own sense of self, well-being, and self-esteem. From there, both of these paths merged, and I find myself doing many different disciplines which may seem unrelated, but to me they are all connected. I currently offer one-on-one sessions for people who want to reconnect to who they are, who want to unlearn so much of the unhelpful programming we all get inundated with, and who want to develop deep self-compassion, trust, and care with themselves. I also offer teachings and workshops around social justice, power, and privilege, specifically focusing on anti-racism work. To me, there is internal work to be done and if we wish to be accountable to the highest level of ourselves, working through false narratives on the personal and systemic levels need to be addressed. I speak and teach with truth, accountability, authenticity, integrity, and compassion in order to help people who work with me to feel strong and clear in their own relationship with themselves and with the one of working toward social justice. All of us are able to use our gifts to contribute to collective change and care, but we must be willing to turn inward and unlearn to be able to do so. I am so proud of being on people’s paths to be able to work with them to do that.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson I had to unlearn was thinking if things did not go my way that they were not going the right way — aka I had to learn to give up control. There were so many times in my life that I was so sure what was happening was a detriment or the wrong way or the end of my path because it was not what I had envisioned for myself and my plan. However, this happened enough times that I realized that what I want and can imagine for myself is only a small, tiny fraction of what is actually written for me. As my faith has grown, it has been easier for me to let go of control and simply follow what is planted in my heart while trusting that is the path which will take me to where I need to do. This is, of course, easier said than done and takes place through the painful process of crying, screaming, surrendering, and repeating over and over again. As Rumi, says, “You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.” To me, the lesson I can see now that has been a thread through my life over and over has been that I had to break my heart’s attachments in ways I once thought were impossible. Each time I got more and more free until my heart and soul are now surrendered, wide open, and rooted in faith.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

If I could go back, yes, I would choose the same profession, specialty, etc. Part of what has made my life so fulfilling and rich with experiences is that whatever I am doing at any given time, I am using and learning from it in every way I can. For example, even if I feel like I didn’t learn any specific content from a class I signed up for, there is still learning that can happen if I am humble enough to be open to it. Did I get more clear about what I do want? Was a way of being modeled for me? Did I meet someone who is inspiring to me? All of the experiences I have had in my life have led me to where I am now, and because I have been open to learning, to connecting, to saying yes to things that might not seem like the most obvious reasons I was in those experiences, I would not change a thing. I have made the most out of what I chose for myself, and I chose those things without possibly knowing how much they could and have unfolded and expanded in my life in ways I could not have predicted. No one can connect the dots like God can, and I believe God’s plan is sovereign. Therefore, I have no desire to go back and change things. I have faith there is enough in the here and now for me to pivot and change into who and what I need to do next. When I remain open and humble and in my integrity, I am deeply amazed at how many surprises and gifts come along my way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.erinwehrenberg.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/erinwehrenberg
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/erinwehrenberg