Me, My Heart, and I

by Melinda Gallo

Divine Living in Florence

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

I am often invited to events in Florence because of my Living in Florence blog, but I rarely attend any of them. Last month, Gina DeVee’s exectutive assistant contacted me about attending a Divine Living conference in Florence. I quickly perused the website to learn more about the event and was pleased when I read that Gina’s mission was to empower women by teaching them to get clear on their desires, own their uniqueness, be in their power, and enjoy life. Before accepting this generous offer to attend the WOW Factor Live Event, I asked if they expected me to write something on my blog. When they said that they just wanted me to attend the event without any obligation, I didn’t hesitate for a moment.Me, My Heart, and I :: Divine Living in Florence

I took this invitation as being synchronistic because since the beginning of the year, I had been diving deeper into my studies about the law of attraction, visualizations, and meditation. Many years ago, I learned that I am the creator of my reality so when I was evented to an event that encompasses all that I’ve been learning; I took it as confirmation of everything I have been reading about.

I was so excited about the event that I couldn’t get to sleep the night before. I had to go for a run along the Arno just to wake myself up. Because I was a little late, I took a taxi to the hotel where the event was being held and immediately sat down just minutes before it began. I didn’t have much time to talk much with the people at my table, but I introduced myself to the couple next to me.

When Gina entered and walked up to the stage, a wave of positive energy filled the room. She talked to us about discovering our life purpose, knowing our true desires, and living the life of our dreams. One thing she said that stuck a chord with me was, “You never go wrong if you are clear on your desires.”

Sometimes doubts arrive and I give them too much airtime. Ever since I wrote a couple of short stories when I was in my mid-twenties, I had wanted to be a writer. I moved to Florence on the eve of my thirtieth birthday to do just that, but quickly realized I wasn’t quite ready. My desire for the past few years was to become a fulltime writer; however, I thought I was going to make the switch after publishing a couple of books. I wasn’t ready for my desire to become a reality so quickly and without really anything to back me up. I have basically been in a bit of a daze for the past few months, trying to adjust to my new life.

After making the switch mentally about being a fulltime writer, I realized that I hadn’t yet adjusted the way I was looking at my writing projects. They were no longer just ideas I had, but actual projects I had to choose to give my full attention to. I wasn’t used to focusing solely on my writing projects all day long every day; I was used to just fitting them in when I could or when I was inspired to do so.

During the event, we did many exercises to help us to get in touch with our true desires, embrace our uniqueness, define our goals, and understand who we need to become for our goals to come to fruition. One of the most pertinent exercises for me was the one in which we defined and then rated our ten biggest desires to achieve over the next year. Then, she told us to pick the top five desires that we want to focus on for the next 90 days. Every desire I had was about completing a draft of a writing project or beginning a new one. I didn’t have any desire to travel or take time off; I just want to get my writing career going.

What I learned from this exercise was that I needed to not only define specific goals for myself, but also commit myself to them. Throughout my entire life, I have always worked for either a company or a client directly so I was used to achieving other people’s goals and not my own. It was an important switch to make that I basically was my own client and I had to make my writing projects my priority.

Gina also talked to us about how we need to embody the qualities of the person we want to become. That is, we need to act like the person we choose to be in our future. She told us not to wait for success to become that person, but rather enhance the qualities that will make our success a given. I understood exactly what she meant. It wasn’t about reacting to outside events to then define myself, but rather to define myself to make room for the proper events to occur. It’s like calling myself a writer. I used to not want to say it because I hadn’t published any books yet. But, if I act like a writer and consider myself a writer, it’s only logical that my books will be completed and published.

I left the event feeling incredibly empowered; I felt more able to fully embrace my desires, my life purpose, and above all myself. I was also able to lift the fog that was around me, get in touch with my true desires, see my goals with greater clarity and commit myself to them. One thing Gina said really stuck with me: “Stop trying to be you and decide to be you.”

Life is filled with wonderful surprises and it’s all about being open to them, accepting them, and appreciating them. I could’ve chosen to not attend the event, but I’m happy I did. Not only was I able to clear a lot of things for myself, but also I received great book recommendations, and met some incredible women who are on the verge of taking flight in their lives as well. It’s truly a gift to meet people who have opened the door and now must walk through it. Now is the time for me to trust my desires and walk boldly through that door. As Gina said, “Your desires will lead you to your happiness.”

Note: The photo included with this post was one that I took on the morning of the second day of the event. The San Frediano church has always been a church that has signified great transitions in my life. As fate would have it, the hotel where the event took place was right across the street from this church.

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