Eveline And how she became who she is.

Eveline is a healer, a writer, a teacher, an herbalist, a Nutrition and Life Style Practitioner. What I really keep in my heart from my conversation with her is that transformation might take time but we all know deep inside ourselves what we are supposed to do. So even if you are not completely satisfied with your present life there is surely something important that you are learning and that will be an important skill to better express your call.

Amongst the many aspects of Eveline that are inspiring to me there is the variety of her eclectic abilities: she is a healer, a writer, an herbalist, a Nutrition and Life Style Practitioner, a teacher and above all, for me,  she is a tireless seeker of who she is and how to express it. In a society where specialisation plays a big role, I see Eveline as an example of the possibility to be different and honour who we truly are.

What is it that I need to do?

Another ‘gift’ I have received from her is the feeling of the passion with which she has been looking for herself and how to express her authentic identity. Her story inspires in me the image of an enthusiastic traveler who is looking for her destination while treasuring each phase with joy and passion. After a lifetime of asking herself ‘what is it that I need to do’, she is now confident about what her gifts are and how to share them.

 Although Eveline got familiar with the idea of healing since when she was young it took her a few years to find her own way in that direction. She was born into a medical family where they were having ‘medical talk at the dinner table’. Eveline played with the idea to become a doctor herself but she, then chose to study literature. Nevertheless, once she became a writer she often used her skills in the medical field. 

Despite the fact that she was very successful as a writer, after a while something stopped to work in her and she knew she would have not been able to do that job anymore. She has explained to me that she felt disconnected form herself: as if she was led just by her mind without any connection with her heart.  

At that point she decided to spend a week at the Findhorn Foundation to attend the Life Purpose Week, a workshop centred on the research of that specific purpose that we all have in our life.  

Thanks to that experience Eveline definitely decided to quite her job despite the fact that she was not clear about what to do next and how she would have made a living. In the extra free time she then had she started to connect with a woman who was an herbalist. This friendship gave her the opportunity to reconnect with an old passion developed when she was a child who used to get lost in her family vegetable’s garden.

Later she attended a course about herbalism, following her passion more then the intention to crate a new profession. Nevertheless this experience marked a new direction in her life.

Eveline’s life was then led by a personal experience: her husband developed digestive problems. Eveline decided to find a solution to this problem herself, knowing that the human body is able to heal itself given the right conditions. To this end she started a long investigation that gave her the opportunity to become a Nutrition and Life Style Practitioner. And it is thanks to this discipline that the ‘healer’ acquired the knowledge to fulfill not only her husband’s needs but those of other people as well.

During our interview, Eveline admits that she has often felt an outsider, like a fish out of water. However, from how she describes this sense of discomfort, the experience of often being on the edge and never feeling completely at home, I understand that it was also thanks to it that she kept on searching unfailingly. She can now say to be free from the uncomfortable feeling of being different because she is fulfilled with what she does. This makes me think that having a clear knowledge of who she is, releases any need to define herself through others, and therefore through what she is not.

At first, listening to Eveline’s story, I got like the impression that life has been conspiring in her favour so that she could become who she is. Every single experience she has had, added a skill to her ‘tool box’ that now allows her to express herself in the vocation that makes her think that she has found her ‘call’.

However, I don’t believe I have met simply a lucky person but someone who has focused her life on seeking for her True Self, developing a great ability to listen. What she does, comes from a personal need of authenticity, from years spent consistently asking herself ‘what is it that I need to do?’ Taking the time to ask herself why some specific episodes were happening, and even sometimes repeating themselves, in order to understand their meaning has been crucial for her growth.

It has been ‘a long journey’, a process that brought her to live experiences that have not always been successful but still always important to get to where she is now. And despite the ‘hunger’ to become ‘herself’, an organic part of Eveline’s transformation has been her intention to fulfill her needs, also from an economic point of view; aspect that has probably helped her to keep her feet on the ground and change in a gradual and sustainable way. Her experience makes me reflect on the fact that taking the decision to leave a path doesn’t necessarily mean to find all the answers one is looking for in the immediate. For this reason I think it is important to create the conditions to be able to persist searching.  

I see Eveline as a person who is able to tune into herself and honor her needs. For this reason she has created in her life lots of freedom that gives her the opportunity to choose what activities to engage with day by day and alternate practical activities like gardening, cooking and preparing herbalist remedies to other more intellectual tasks. A freedom that it is not always easy to play with and that Eveline needs to organise to be able to develop her projects.

Understand our bodies as a way to create a connection with Spirit

The decision to move to the Findhorn Community has been fundamental for her personal development. In particular Eveline pinpoints how it has given her the opportunity to learn how to work on herself, live in relationship with others and develop a meditative practice that has sustained her to find a spiritual path. One of the main things that she appreciates about living in a community is being surrounded by like-minded people. In this place Eveline has felt strongly supported and has been able to develop the self-confidence that led her to persist searching. Furthermore Eveline has been inspired by the Findhorn Foundation intention ‘to transform human consciousness in everyday life’ and she has focused on how to express this idea through her personal skills.

For her, helping people to connect with their body can enable them to transform not just physically but also spiritually: in fact, learning to understand our bodies is considered a way to create a connection with Spirit and link Heaven and Earth. Her spiritual vision is centered on taking care of herself and her body so that she can become who she truly is day by day. The ability to love herself is for Eveline a big learning to develop with patience.

When I asked her what she would like to tell to those who are reading this interview, Eveline chose to share an important lesson for her: it is not necessary to have major spiritual experiences in order to have a spiritual life. The encouragement that I perceive from these words is that also in the spiritual area, as in any other area of life, it is possible for everyone to find a personal way to be.

Amongst the things that make me feel grateful to have met Eveline is her great ability to ‘dance’ with life, with serenity but also great determination. This woman has shown me how valuable it is to be authentic to oneself and to be able to understand when it is time to change and with what pace so that transformation can happen gradually and with trust. Once Eveline has clear intentions, she is confident enough to play with life and let things unfold. Eveline is able to accept being in transition without necessarily knowing where it will bring her to. And in this gradual flow she shows the ability to live following her spiritual path and integrate very practical aspects like the need to earn a living.  

And when I ask her how can she know that this is her path, Eveline replies that it is because she can’t get tired to study or think about her projects: she can’t because she is following her passion.

This made me re-think to something I have often found in my readings about the idea that when you find your authentic path everything else just flows on its own, almost magically, as a proof that you have found your ‘call’. For the way Eveline describes her life she has made me understand that it is the passion itself the magical element that can transform the way we look at our life, that probably remains the same, with her beauty and challenges. When a person can feel this fire, nothing can stop her or him.

 To know more about Eveline Project: https://www.evelinerodenburg.co.uk/