What on earth is this thing called Fearlessly Feral Living?
I’m so glad you asked.
I started Fearlessly Feral because I believe, truly and strongly, that people can live wild and free. Yes, it is possible to live amazing, incredible, lush, luxurious lives free from limitations of any kind. Yes, even health limitations.
This isn’t pie in the sky stuff. It isn’t wishful thinking and it isn’t airy fairy.
I use myself as an example in my work because I live a Fearlessly Feral life. Not because I’ve had it easy. On the contrary, I used to think there was no road to get from the life I was living to the life I live today. I was right. So I built my own damn road. They said I should have died. They said I couldn’t function in society without drugs. They said I would suffer my entire life. They said all sorts of things. I didn’t believe any of it. I set out to prove them wrong and in the process discovered a way of living that is so beautiful I want to share how I did it with all of you.
Does it take work? You betcha. It takes work of the kind that most people think can’t be done, because it involves changing the way we think and believe. It involves changing who we are at deep fundamental levels. And I’ll be honest, it is one of my greatest frustrations that so many people balk at that. But it is also one of my greatest rewards that so many other people are willing to move toward it.
I am moved to write this today because lately I’ve witnessed so much limitation in people’s lives. I watched one man walking down the street the other day. I’ve known this man for years. He walked slowly, a little hunched over, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. I got so sad that he was living the way he is living. I want to see him at his full potential, enjoying life. And he isn’t. Regularly I have conversations with folks who are experiencing some sort of limitation in their lives. They hate their jobs, they are in unsatisfying relationships, they have some pretty gnarly health issues. And I know that all of that is not necessary, and I affirm their good for them. But when I was in the studies that showed me how to do the stuff I do, they taught me that I must meet people where they are at. Perhaps. I’ve never been satisfied with that. Oh, I can meet them there, and do, because if I don’t they can’t hear me or any of the messages sent their way. Because I know they are getting messages from other areas besides myself. But I can also encourage them to move from where they are at to a better place, and I begin doing that fairly quickly.
And so I do. And we are now back full circle to Fearlessly Feral. This is why I speak. Why I write. Why I do the podcasts. Why I do the workshops and the retreats.
Because I believe it is possible for everyone to live Fearlessly Feral.
To be honest, Fearlessly Feral was not my first choice for a title. I wanted Wild and Free living but it was taken. So I did a bit of research and VOILA! Fearlessly Feral was born. Wild means, in the strict definition of the word, uncontrolled by humans. So if we are living wild, not controlled by humans, what is controlling us? Well, this question assumes one thinks we need controlling. I don’t happen to believe that. I think being wild goes beyond that. Being wild comes from a partnership with something that is really not human, but is a part of us. We co-create with this Thing. And that something other than human is something much larger than us, but also a part of us. You may call it God if you wish. I sometimes do because it is a simple word, but there is so much more to it. I most frequently think of It as The Force. Some folks like to call It Spirit.
Free means that underneath the angst, despair, anger or sadness we might be feeling at any given time is a fundamental feeling of peace and joy. Freedom is about a sense of faith, or knowingness. Freedom is about knowing that even in the midst of shit happening, ultimately we come out the other end experiencing a greater good because of it.
But we have a part in that, we have some work to do. Feelings must be acknowledged, and we must be willing to look at ourselves with realism and truth. We need methods to process all those feelings so we can glean the gifts from them and move on. Then we can begin to experience our greater good. And this is where the mission of Fearlessly Feral Living comes in. Because that mission is to teach methods and processes so that loss and grief and betrayal and dismay and change and fear don't take over our lives. Instead, like in Aikido, we take all that stuff and move with it, allowing it to flow and using it to strengthen ourselves. So that’s what I do here at Fearlessly Feral Living: I teach. I teach through classes, workshops and retreats. I teach when I give a Sunday talk at a Center for Spiritual Living. I teach through my podcast and my books.
So that, in a nutshell, is as non-jargony as I can put it.
Now, here’s the jargon:
Fearlessly Feral Living is a Focus Ministry affiliated with Centers for Spiritual Living and founded and operated by Rev. Karen Linsley.
It’s Mission is to teach practical application of Science of Mind principles to provide a strong and unshakeable inner foundation that facilitates long term successful living.
The Purpose of Fearlessly Feral is to activate inner self awareness to live unlimited lives.
And the Vision is a world in which everyone lives Fearlessly Feral.
And because I am affiliated with Centers for Spiritual Living (CSL) I’ve got some really cool tools to use to achieve this mission, purpose and vision.
I draw heavily on a series of statements made by founder Ernest Holmes. He made the statements in first person, as “I believe,” and CSL took those statements and made them “We Believe”statements. Here they are:
WE BELIEVE in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause. This One manifests Itself in and through all creation, but is not absorbed by Its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God.
WE BELIEVE in the individualization of the Spirit in us, and that all people are individualizations of the One Spirit.
WE BELIEVE in the eternality, the immortality and the continuity of the individual soul, forever and ever expanding.
WE BELIEVE that heaven is within us, and that we experience it to the degree that we become conscious of it.
WE BELIEVE the ultimate goal of life to be a complete freedom from all discord of every nature, and that this goal is sure to be attained by all.
WE BELIEVE in the unity of all life, and that the highest God and the innermost God is one God. We believe that God is personal to all who feel this indwelling presence.
WE BELIEVE in the direct revelation of truth through our intuitive and spiritual nature, and that anyone may become a revealer of truth who lives in close contact with the indwelling God.
WE BELIEVE that the Universal Spirit, which is God, operates through a Universal Mind, which is the Law of God; and that we are surrounded by this Creative Mind which receives the direct impress of our thought and acts upon it.
WE BELIEVE in the healing of the sick and control of conditions through the power of this Mind.
WE BELIEVE in the eternal Goodness, the eternal Loving-kindness and the eternal Givingness of Life to All.
WE BELIEVE in our own soul, our own spirit and our own destiny; for we understand that the life of all is God.
In addition, we have this thing called the Global Vision, here it is:
If you stop to contemplate any of those statements, you may just find that there is great meaning in many of them for you. I have my personal favorites in both sets to statements, and I use these as my own personal mission and vision statements.
Last but not least: because this is a Focus Ministry, I have a lot of freedom to share information in ways that I think are most valuable. I have a podcast, I write frequently, I speak, I do workshops, hold classes and retreats.
I hope you find some value here!
A bit about me: I was first exposed to Science of Mind when I was about 6 years old. My dad started attending a Center (back then they were known as churches, and were called Church of Religious Science), eventually becoming a Practitioner and then a minister. I had some exploration to do and some things to experience before I was ready to return to my roots, but when the time came, I knew where I would find my answers, at a local Church of Religious Science. So off I went, and I began to take classes. Even back then I wasn’t much interested in church but I took every class they offered. I knew from the beginning I was going to be a Practitioner, and I did achieve that intention in 2008. The ink wasn’t even dry on my license before people began poking at me to go to ministerial school. I wanted no part of that. Having a father and step mother as ministers meant I had an inside track to some of the things ministers encountered in their work and none of that was on my list of things to do. Besides, at the time I was beset with such questions as “what am I going to be and do when I grow up?” because what I had been doing for a living for 30 years was not working so well anymore. I guess I was meant to go to ministerial school because in 2010 I began that journey, attending the Masters Degree program in Consciousness Studies at the Santa Rosa Campus of Holmes Institute. I graduated in 2014, and was ordained in 2018. Today, I serve as Spiritual Director of Fearlessly Feral Living and also as an Interim Minister for Centers for Spiritual Living.
I live in rural Nevada on a 2.5 acre ranchette called the Woogie Ranch, with two horses, two dogs and one cat. I ride my horses, garden, go rock hounding and to the gun range, and love to cook.
