Conversations at the Council Tree

In this Episode Rachel Dickson and Elaine Bracken discuss a series of thought-provoking and revealing questions about what it means to “pass” as straight while being gay. Listen in as a most fascinating dialogue unfolds in which they both uncover some deeper truths behind navigating authenticity as a threat, feelings of guilt associated with expressing who you are, not status quo doubling as potentially unsafe, loss of privilege and what that may imply, and the discovery of some hidden internalized “obias” and “isms” along the way.     Let’s jump in!   Guilt by association. Why is there guilt associated with expressing who you are? Being different (not status quo)...does it also mean being unsafe? Is it so different for boys/men to wear fingernail polish? Does this trigger internalized homophobia amongst men? Internalized homophobia, Internalized racism. Safety and gender biased. Navigating gendered public restrooms. Who has to do the navigating around safety and privilege? Choosing safety or authenticity if challenged publicly. Why is authenticity a threat to anybody? Privilege...how it affects daily living What happens when you’re faced with the question, “what are you?” Guilt by association...why is there guilt? Is this an undeserved attack on yourself? Our internalized “obias” Corporate branding and our alleged need for identity—Bud Light Boycott     Thank you for sharing time and space with us at the Conversations at the Council Tree Podcast!     ****************   Music found on this podcast:   Planet Earth by Jeremusic70 from Pixabay   Bathroom Chill Background by chillmore from Pixabay We will pass this way Music by SPmusic from Pixabay   Feeling Freedom Music by BoDleasons from Pixabay   The power of collaboration Music by DayNigthMorning from Pixabay     Our cover image photo is by John Mcsporran from PxHere.com   More information about Elaine Bracken http://www.elainebracken.com More information about Rachel Dickson http://www.racheldickson.com More information about this podcast http://www.conversationsatthecounciltree.com   #doyoupass #heteronormative #lgbtq #lesbianlife #loveisallthereis #loveislove #fem #masc #lesbian #gay #trans #elaineandrach #livingauthentically #heteroprivilege

In this 2nd episode of Power of Choice...we remember...there was light before the struggle!   This discussion will refresh you from the inside out because we delve into why it’s so important to look inward and shift who you are listening to. In listening to your own self-talk you’ll uncover exactly why your life is unfolding the way it is in every moment. Get ready to hear about the radically simple tool number 1 in how to connect to your inner self.   Listen in as Elaine Bracken and Rachel Dickson discuss where to start. What is the first step in going inward and discovering our true selves? When life feels like nothing but smoke screens and is blindingly paralyzing...there IS a way to fly through this smoke screen of impossibility. There IS hope and the truth of this lies within our own inner selves. Why is it so easy to believe that we are “Original Sin” and so hard to believe that we are “Original Light”?   Discussion around remembering our original incarnation choice. You’re so powerful because YOU are the impetus for even being here. You chose to be here. We do remember...when we take our first breath. Understanding the extent of our forgetting. We’ve forgotten that we are powerful creators. Acknowledging and accepting what is. When you go inward you will remember your power. Why are we not original light? Why are we original sin?   Thank you for leaning in with us today at the Conversations at the Council Tree Podcast!   ************************************ Music found on today’s podcast:   Planet Earth Music by Jeremusic70 from Pixabay Planet Earth Acoustic Folk Music Guitar Music by ArtMusic from Pixabay   Goldn Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay   Night Jazz Beats Music by flybirdaudio from Pixabay   Our cover image photo is by John Mcsporran from PxHere.com   More information about Elaine Bracken http://www.elainebracken.com More information about Rachel Dickson http://www.racheldickson.com More information about this podcast http://www.conversationsatthecounciltree.com     #powerofchoice #innercritic #meetyourself #breathe #breaththebodysinnertool #lookinward #originalsin #originallight #lgbtq #loveisallthereis #loveislove #elaineandrach

Elaine Bracken is a channel and medium and this episode was born from a channeling she received while having coffee on her porch one morning. This loving message from her guides encourages us to Remember Our Power by Remembering Our Soul’s Choice To Come to Earth. This message also encourages us to Choose Boldly from the Universal Menu of Life!   A link to the text of the channeling can be found at www.ConversationsAtTheCouncilTree.com.   Listen in as Elaine Bracken and Rachel Dickson discuss the message from Elaine’s early morning visitor:   It is in the remembering that we choose bigger. The feelings of retracting and shriveling versus big powerful expansion. Release the limitations we put on ourselves. We made this choice...and we are so powerful. When you REMEMBER YOUR POWER TO CHOOSE, because you utilized that power to incarnate, YOU WILL REMEMBER – EMBODY – RE-EMBODY your POWER TO CREATE within this incarnation. We’re forgetting that we have a choice to get out of the valley. Gaze at the beauty, ignore the bullshit. The Universal Diner and the Special of the Day: Why do we keep settling on ordering meatloaf when what we really want is lobster? Why do we choose suffering over joy? Is it because we’re more comfortable in suffering? Choice and Power right next to each other...together. Feeding energetically from someone else. We are exactly where we need to be. All choices must bring you joy or they will bring you out of alignment with your path. We’re not accidentally at a concert we didn’t mean to be at. What would happen if we eliminated thinking and operated with feeling instead? Letting your heart do the thinking. Manifestation and feeling as a tool to manifest. Perception is what creates reality. Go back in your memory, use your time-line if you need to, and re-embody the POWERFUL CREATOR THAT YOU ARE.   Thank you for leaning in with us today at the Conversations at the Council Tree Podcast!   ************************************ Music found on today’s podcast:   Planet Earth Music by Jeremusic70 from Pixabay Planet Earth Beautiful Trip Music by SoulProdMusic from Pixabay   Acoustic Folk Music Guitar Music by ArtMusic from Pixabay   Lifelike Music by AlexiAction from Pixabay     Our cover image photo is by John Mcsporran from PxHere.com   More information about Elaine Bracken http://www.elainebracken.com More information about Rachel Dickson http://www.racheldickson.com More information about this podcast http://www.conversationsatthecounciltree.com   #powerofchoice #internalguidancesystem #choosedifferently #lightgrowslight #innerknower #ignorethebullshit #feelingintothefeeling #thefeelingofchoice #lgbtq #loveisallthereis #loveislove #elaine&rach #elaineandrach

Well, we knew it wasn’t the end of the conversation. In Latebloomer 2 Elaine Bracken and Rachel Dickson pick up the topic of “Coming out Late” and explore the impact of truly living authentically.   Listen in as we discuss: Life after coming out Loving and accepting past versions of yourself The feeling of unboxing yourself and embodying your truth. Sexuality has nothing to do with sex but about who and how you love How authenticity brings confidence Feeling more feminine as gay than as hetero Passing as hetero vs. living the butch life Surprise! Being a tomboy will get you kicked out of charm class The invisible decision to either resist or go along with hetero-normative societal imprinting The effect of hetero-normative language and the need for gender neutral terms Is it our comfort or others that pushes us into the closet Hope in the power, beauty, and acceptance of the new generations of souls being born.   Thank you for sharing time and space with us at the Conversations at the Council Tree Podcast!     **************** Music found on this podcast:   Planet Earth by Jeremusic70 from Pixabay Lo-fi Chill by FASSounds from Pixabay   Whip by prazkhanal from Pixabay   Compass/Lofi Chillhop Background Music by SoulProdMusic from Pixabay   Our cover image photo is by John Mcsporran from PxHere.com   More information about Elaine Bracken http://www.elainebracken.com More information about Rachel Dickson http://www.racheldickson.com More information about this podcast http://www.conversationsatthecounciltree.com     #latebloomer #unboxingyourself #pridemonth #christiangay #churchtrauma #heteronormative #lgbtq #lesbianlife #loveisallthereis #loveislove #tomboy #fem #masc #lesbian #gay #trans #elaineandrach

You typically don’t wake up one day and declare, “I’m GAY.” But rather...there is a feeling that’s existed for a very long time in your deepest cells that’s been whispering to you and sometimes even screaming at you. Whether you’ve lived a hetero married life ignoring that innate inner knowing that this isn’t you or whether you’ve lived a life alone, muddling along ignoring the idea of having any relationships at all because to do otherwise would upset the world that you’ve assimilated into for so long. There’s hundreds of ways the details of truly knowing who you are and embracing that fully for yourself can be told.   This episode begins with Elaine Bracken reading her poem titled, “The Truth in Her Cells.” What follows is a fireside chat between Elaine and Rachel where they tell their stories. Elaine describes her experiences leading up to coming out later in life at 60 as a latebloomer and Rachel describes her experiences growing up immersed in an evangelical christian family upbringing and how that affected her own coming out story.   Whether you’ve been drawn to this episode as a straight person simply wanting to understand this topic more fully because of a friend you may know or a family member with similar experiences or simply because you yourself are trying to piece together your own knowing...welcome!   If you are someone who has come out later in life and are seeking others like you...welcome! We want you to know...you are NOT alone! There are gays, lesbians and transgenders everywhere with stories just like these.   You may wish to take a walk or a drive with this podcast episode...and please feel free to share with your friends or family as it’s full of thought-provoking, real life stories that are shareable.   Join us as we celebrate embracing our authenticity so that you too can embrace yours!   If you would like to see on screen what it was like for women in the 1940s and 50s to live in the world as gay and how they navigated the world be sure to watch Amazon Prime’s “A League of Their Own.”   Thank you Mae Blair and “A League of their own” TV series for showing us the beautiful stories behind the All American Girls Professional Baseball League that existed from 1943-1954!   Also be sure to listen to upcoming part 2 of the Latebloomers episode.   *********   “The Truth in Her Cells” written and recited by Elaine Bracken. To read this poem in its entirety please visit http://www.conversationsatthecounciltree.com   Music found on this podcast:   Peaceful Garden - Healing Light Piano for meditation, zen, landscapes by HarumachiMusic from Pixabay   Chillhop beat song by Music_Unlimited from Pixabay cinematic mood by SoulProdMusic from Pixabay   forest lullaby by Lesfm from Pixabay Forest Lullaby   the beat of nature by Olexy from Pixabay The Beat of Nature   More information about Elaine Bracken http://www.elainebracken.com More information about Rachel Dickson http://www.racheldickson.com More information about this podcast http://www.conversationsatthecounciltree.com   #latebloomer #pridemonth #christiangay #churchtrauma #lgbtq #lesbianlife #loveisallthereis #loveislove #leagueoftheirown #lesbian #gay #trans #elaineandrach

Let’s be curious, inquire, ask questions, demand answers, explore, listen, feel, breathe, surrender boldly, be willing to sit silently with what is, be brave, speak truth, trust the process, and...may we each embrace...fully...loudly living our own authenticity.   The title “Conversations at the Council Tree” was born from years of conversation between Rachel and Elaine about all things Universal, Life, Love, Human Experience and Existence, Galactic Assistance, the Cosmos, and all the places in between. Over the years we began referring to these as Conversations at the Council Tree due to Rachel’s profound love of trees and nature and a particular tree in the Oconaluftee Visitor’s Center in Cherokee, NC. The energy of the Podcast is the feeling of an invitation to gather under a giant wise old tree, maybe around a campfire, sharing thoughts, ideas, and experiences, and listening to the wisdom of the Tree, the Universe, and the Cosmos.   This podcast is a collection of collaborative conversations where Elaine Bracken and Rachel Dickson create an inviting come-sit-by-the-campfire-chat that you can cozy up to and roast some spiritual marshmallows along side. We discuss personal transformation, leveling-up, dimensional galactic expansion, spiritual awakening, and navigating life here on Earth.   Elaine is a second-generation Psychic Channel and Medium and has practiced integrative holistic healing for more than 20 years. She was recently contacted by and began channeling a cosmic vibrational messenger named Saeva who frequently participates and offers insight into our discussions.   Rachel is a creative at heart, avid nature lover, spiritual truth seeker, code-breaker, healer. For years she has been working with a collective, whom she refers to as “The Others.” And they collaboratively provide universal insights and guidance which connects dimensional level knowledge into life experiences on Earth.   Elaine and Rachel are both members of the LGBTQ community, Rachel a lifelong-card-carrying-lesbian and Elaine a latebloomer. This leads to some pretty lively dialogue.   It’s such an honor to create a shared space with the intention for the wisdom that will download and be discussed here on this podcast. Thank you for joining us!   To learn more about Elaine Bracken please visit http://www.elainebracken.com   To learn more about Rachel Dickson please visit http://www.racheldickson.com   To learn more about the Conversations at the Council Tree Podcast please visit http://www.conversationsatthecounciltree.com