In Loving Memory of Beth O'Hara

To my dear friend, Beth. Your absence has left a big hole in the hearts of so many. There is much sadness and grief and disillusion. You lead by example. You were so vulnerable and authentic. It was so beautiful to witness and so many patients, clients, and participants were able to bathe in your light. And take hope in your triumphs. To be inspired and be healed through your teaching, support and love.   And now the world feels dimmer for lack of your light.

I have heard from patients that they are so sad. Beth, you were so important in their healing process. Many people are wondering how to move forward, how to find Hope and Faith again and here is my offering encouragement based on the many conversations Beth and I shared.

Inside we have many voices, some are loud, some are loving, some hurtful, some angry and some kind – and within that cacophony of sound, there is always that voice, that quiet, peaceful little voice, which is ever present, even if we don’t always pay attention to it. There is no fear in this voice. There is no shame or upset. It is calm, yet insistent.  This is the voice of our intuition. This is the voice of our inner knowing and oftentimes it is this voice that has been ignored and discounted by others and even ourselves for so long that we almost can’t hear it.

My encouragement and I know Beth’s  encouragement would be to listen to this voice. You will know it by the deep, abiding truth that you feel when you hear it.  The rightness of this voice reverberates in  your bones, your gut, your heart.  When you find it and hear what it has to say to you, focus your attention,  turn up its volume and turn down the volume of all those other naysayers, all those other fear monger voices in your head. Healing is putting an end to renting space in your head for all that fear.

Because It is that little voice, when honored, will bring you back to yourself.

I also want to share that we are able to see the positive qualities in others in part because we possess these qualities inside of ourselves.  For those of you who saw light in Beth, you can see it because it is a reflection of the light that exists inside of you. The Hope that she embodied was powerful because that Hope also exists in you.  The fact that you were able to see Beth’s light and hope is because you are a mirror of these beautiful aspects that you saw in Beth. Her light, her hope cannot be extinguished because they are also in you. This is part of her legacy.  Of course you will miss Beth.  I miss Beth, thousands of people miss Beth, it is because of our deep adoration for her, we can still learn from the lessons that she shared, and we can take comfort in the community that she created.

I re-listened to my interview with Beth for our Summit last year, in preparation for this message.  I want to share a few more pearls of her wisdom.

She said, “MCAS is not happening just to us. We are not victims to it, but rather the things that are triggering MCAS in us; the toxins, the infections, the mold exposures, etc, these things are happening to everyone.  We, with MCAS, are the canaries in the coalmine.  Other people will get other diseases like DM, Parkisons, cardiovascular disease, dementia, or cancer.”  She shared that in fact, WE can be grateful that we received the message early and were able to change the course of our lives and change how we are living on the planet.  This is not just a health crisis, it is an opportunity, a calling for a healing journey for the whole planet.  And in order to do this we need to discover and live our souls mission on this planet by listening to that little voice, connecting with each other,  to come together as a community and heal the planet.  Mother Earth needs us.  And we need each other.

So thank you, Beth, for all your teaching, for your love and inspiration.  Until we meet again.