Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rev Pam McDonel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Rev Pam, appreciate you joining 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?

Risk for me is “Playing Small to Stay Safe”!

It feels like a lifetime of losing, finding, and using my voice over and over again! A theme that lasted well into my 60s and I’ve come to understand that even as a small child, I risked being seen and heard by playing small to stay safe. Better to be quiet, still, and safe than “take the risk” and experience the consequence of speaking up.

I grew up in a small community in a home with loving parents and family during a time when parenting was much different than it is today. Children were to be seen and not heard – not so much anyway – taught to be respectful, have a good work ethic, never talk back, study hard and make good grades…and well you get the picture.

I learned very early how to become a chameleon in all situations and walks of life. So much so that it took three marriages and several jobs to realize how easily I could transform into what a husband, family, friends, or boss at the time preferred. When you are a highly sensitive person and empath, it’s very easy to do what “feels safe” rather than stand up for yourself because, honestly, you don’t even know who you are. It’s easy to be drawn into narcissistic relationships.

The first major time I remember taking a risk was when I told my parents that I was getting a divorce from my first husband. There had never been, to our knowledge, a divorce on either side of the family. It was very difficult to own up to my failure and how disappointing and embarrassing it would be for them. They were understanding and supportive – a welcomed surprise.

Then there was the “beginning of the end” to the second marriage when I left Hawaii with $20 in my pocket and the clothes on my back and in one suitcase. I was headed back home to Oklahoma to spend more time with my parents, stopped off in California to visit a cousin, and never returned to Hawaii or fully explained the “why” I couldn’t stay in the marriage. It took years for me to identify the why.

The next time I remember “taking a risk” was to stand up to my dad when I was 35. I had asked for his advice about a work dilemma and he merely told me “Get my a$$ back to work and do my job.” It took me two days to call him back and explain that I didn’t appreciate his response but that I did expect he would have walked me through the challenge and give me some insight that might help me decide what to do. This felt like talking back to my dad, something I was never allowed to do.

When a third marriage ended, very close to retirement age, I chose to become a massage therapist to work my way out of the “security” of the corporate world and have an income when I did retire. This was not a profession that was highly thought of in my small community or by family. Nevertheless, the decision led to the study of many traditional and alternative modalities around the subtle energies of the body as well as spiritual studies, coaching, frequency healing music, and holding sacred space for my clients as they moved through their own Mind-Body-Spirit journey. The work I still do to this day.

During these last 13+ years, the next challenge arose when I had the opportunity to find my voice by writing chapters in three best-selling book collaborations. The risk of actually telling my story, speaking my truth, and trusting that my words might reach and help even one person was a lot to ask. It was during this time while I was studying with a group of writers that I had the opportunity to talk with a well-known talk show host who was a bit gruff but could quickly identify a point of contention, ask you more about it, then make a suggestion. After determining there was an imaginary “line in the sand” – something I couldn’t cross and held me hostage to use my voice, his simple yet adamant suggestion was: “Just step over the fu#!ing line, Pam”! It was that conversation that continues to remind me to do exactly that each time I feel the need to walk back into the cave. Do I still go there, of course, however, I’m much better at stepping back outside and over that line to express my needs, wants, and desires.

The risk now…taking every opportunity, such as this interview, to put myself and my gifts out there and available to others who may have a similar journey or path to walk. We each have our body’s energy and intelligence to tap into and become our own healing advocate. We each have that moment when we find ourselves – Taking a risk.

Rev Pam, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been in the health and wellness field most of my life. Born into a family of pharmacists and jobs in the medical, health, and wellness fields, I was destined to find my way back from the corporate world of administrative professionals into the work I do today.

My life has always been about taking care of others. My authentic energy expresses itself in listening and healing touch. My medicine bag is filled with life experiences, intuition, training, and therapeutic modalities to guide my clients through self-sabotaging patterns into a higher vibration (frequency).

I meet others where they are, hold sacred energy healing space, and allow them to align and embark on a most extraordinary self-healing journey of life. Together we examine the places hidden away from others and self – what we know as the shadow or dark side. We bring the light to these dark and shadow places so that they may be illumined, thanked for their lessons or protection, and released to be composted in Mother Earth and absorbed into the Light.

Every “thing” is energy and vibrates at a frequency. When we are in alignment with our authentic frequency, we bypass illness, disease, and negativity. Our work – our individual Mind-Body-Spirit journey – is to remember and return to our authentic energy.

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

My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1994. At that time I was living in California, married with a bonus daughter and dogs, owned a home, and had a good job.

I chose to return to Oklahoma in 1995 to help care for my mom. I spent time between Oklahoma and California to keep all things together. Shortly after I was left with the sole care of my mother. This led to my decision to stay in Oklahoma for an extended time after which my husband moved to be with me when we realized the caregiving could be longer than anticipated. He quit his job, sold our house, and spent 18 months searching for work here. My daughter later joined us during her high school years.

Needless to say, this was a big change in not only my life but my life with my husband, daughter, and my mom who still believed herself to be fully capable of taking care of herself. The emotional, physical, financial, and spiritual stresses that 9+ years of caregiving took on us were immeasurable.

The energy it took to hold a job be a caregiver to my mom, a wife to my husband, and a mother to my daughter was overwhelming. Although I followed the best self-care possible, it wasn’t enough, and in the end found myself merely existing. It took about 5+ years to realize I was in trouble physically, mentally, and emotionally. This was when I began my deep studies into healing which brought me not only to my own healing journey but the desire to assist others with similar challenges.

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

I have had to learn how to stop playing small to stay safe. When to cross that line, and when to tiptoe up to it.

How to use my voice and ask for what I need or desire and put those before others in most cases – the art of self-care.

How to manage my intuitive and empathic gifts and abilities. and know when something is not my responsibility – but the projection of others who consciously or unconsciously, only wish to use my energy.

How to trust that I just know what I know, feel what I feel, see what I see, and hear what I hear – the voice of Spirit that has been with me forever.

That all things are energy with a frequency to be held in its highest vibration – even when we are invited and tempted to fall into a lower frequency.

To visit the cave for restoration and reflection – not retreat into hiding.

To remember there is no time to play small to stay safe – for we are here to live an abundant and beautiful life full of laughter and bliss.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sacredenergyamplified.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/?trk=homepage-basic_sign-in-submit
• Other: Amazon Author’s Page: http://amazon.com/author/sacred-energy-amplified
• Dianna Leeder and Interview with Crave More Life: https://cravemorelife.com/with-pam-mcdonel/