Of Wonder, Woo & WTF?!
“Choose you this day whom ye will serve,” the intellect or divine guidance. ~ Florence Scovel Shinn, with Joshua 24:15
The tree outside my window began this past week with bare branches and a few buds. I woke up yesterday morning and it was covered with fresh green leaves. This happens every year within the span of a few days. It never ceases to amaze me.
It’s no accident that some of the holiest times in the Western world coincide with the magnificence of Mother Nature popping off in all her glory. Oh you thought the world was ending just a few months ago? Nary a hope or sign of life anywhere? Bitter cold, bare landscapes, scorched earth? Nah … watch this. BOOM! Cherry blossoms, magnolias, daffodils, tulips, greenery galore.
No matter what craziness we humans imagine, Gaia always shows us who’s really in charge, dazzling us with her beauty and bounty.
The Ramadan, Passover and Easter holidays we recently moved through and were celebrated by much of this planet’s population are all based on stories of multiple supernatural, miraculous events. These major religions have been accepted by and inculcated in our civilization so deeply that no one even thinks twice about all the woo embedded in them.
There is no religion without the woo, but there is plenty of woo without religion. And wonder can be found everywhere.
So whether you are a person of faith, with or without a label attached to it, we all have access to the wonder and woo around us when we recognize and tap in, even if that means simply observing and appreciating your backyard or local park at this time of year.
No matter if you identify as a hard-core atheist — there is much in this world to be in awe of. And the religion of science and materialism is ultimately discovering, courtesy of quantum physics, that matter is just condensed energy as part of a unified field. (My simplistic interpretation from a gal who didn’t take physics or chemistry in high school … but you get the gist.)
When you align with the greater forces of the Universe — which are the foundations of traditional religion before politics and human power got involved (i.e., a state funeral for the Pope) — you can have your own modern-day versions of those mysteries and miracles that were encoded in the ancient ones.
When unexpected things happen to me with such precision, I know there is a bigger hand at play; there is no such thing as a coincidence. There is something beyond my little pea brain in charge of it all to get my attention or for me to have a particular experience or interaction. I trust that it, through various means, has my best interests at heart and can see and perceive way more than I can, and knows what’s ultimately needed for my soul’s evolution. When I listen to, allow and follow its guidance, life feels and flows like a dream.
To me, that is the real reality. It is the magic in the mundane.
In the past two weeks alone I have been in the exact right places at exactly the right moments, based on my intuition and divine timing to “run into” people in ways that were exquisitely complex and impossible to plan if I had tried:
· Turning the corner right when Andrew Cuomo was walking by with his family in my neighborhood, stopping in front of CVS to wait for his daughter, giving me time to remind him of when we met 20 years ago and admonishing him to use his power for good, elected or not.
· Reuniting with my TWM intern whom I hadn’t seen in 20 years (see the story on IG here), and the perfect timing it is to reconnect.
· Running into the sister of one of my best friends who passed away and has been on my mind, after I was detoured doing an errand.
· Asking a young man I was coaching if he was close to his grandfather, which he hedged on; I continued with the messages coming through anyway, and then he indeed admitted to thinking about him lately while pulling out said grandfather’s necklace from under his shirt.
· Running into another friend, and then a new one on the street, the latter after I had just done an IG live where I said how you should listen to your intuition because you never know who you might run into on the street!
That wasn’t even everything. And those who know me have heard numerous “Kristina stories” over the years that defy explanation nor can be rationalized. There. Are. So. Many. It’s kind of become the norm for me.
And then there are the WTF moments. Even though our experience of the woo and wonder can elicit a WTF reaction, I surmise that most WTF events are more on the man-made level, the opposite of woo, and often in direct opposition to the natural expression of things. Perhaps WTF events are a lower expression, hence the feeling of bewilderment, disdain or frustration that generally accompanies such an exclamation. We are seeing a lot of that in the world now.
With the increasingly heightened and accelerated versions of wonder, woo and WTF moments, it’s clear to me the Universe is using them all to do one thing: Wake us up.
Where am I going with all this, you ask? Well, for one, I am starting to slowly come out of the closet with the extent of woo in which I live and operate. And I have noticed that more and more people are ready for, open to and looking for — whether they’ve identified it consciously or not — learning how to do the same. More on that soon … #teaser.
For now, just know that my work with folks continues to skew woo, but with the practical, down-to-earth flavor that I very much embody. I am in the process of revising my offerings so that they are more descriptive and aligned with what I do and how I have been evolving as a coach, so stay tuned.
(Originally published via my PGG Newsletter April 29, 2025)
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Kristina Leonardi is a nationally recognized career and life coach, speaker and author who for over 17 years has empowered individuals to make lasting professional and personal changes aligned with their true passions and talents while fulfilling their role in the world at large.
With a holistic and personal growth-oriented approach, she has helped hundreds of men and women improve their job performance, enter or re-enter the job force, change careers, better manage their time and stress, and live happier, more meaningful, balanced lives.
Her specialty is working with people who feel stuck or are in transition and can help you clarify exactly what you want to do, identify blocks, issues, and patterns in your way, and offer proven ideas, resources, and action steps to get you there.
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