Paulette Pipe

So when I eventually answered the call and went to seminary, I even tried to persuade them not to let me in. I'm really glad they did because it's being in that environment that I was able to hone my craft more. I discovered in seminary what it was called because I grew up as an empath, but I didn't know what it was called. A passion around my passion came out of that time in seminary too because I ended up as a retreat facilitator. That's the road I took originally when I was ordained.

It was as if something spiraled in my soul and just jerked me out of my chair, and I went up to the minister after the practice and said, I can do that. Yet I had never tried it personally, never done it at home. I always say my soul knew. Same thing happened again with the radio station. I was asking all these questions and eventually I ended up on the Unity online radio station with a podcast. It was over a weekend where I kept hearing this song in my head, what would I do today if I were brave?

I'm working with energy. I'm aware of what's happening in the environment. It is definitely having created a capacity, a space, an opening through which spirit, universe, mind, God, source, whatever you want to call it, can flow. I remember one time I was serving as the keeper of the flame. They asked me to stop and hold space and bring us into coherence with a prayer. I stepped into that and I said the prayer. When I finished, the room was silent. You could hear a pin drop, and the energy that was resonating there was palpable and powerful. I was crying and they were crying. But I have no idea what I said in the prayer because it came from that place within. I had to go and watch a recording to see what happened and why did we all respond like that.

My show was on a Tuesday at 11. On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I was down in the dumps at my desk doing my job, but not loving it. But on a Tuesday, I would light up like a firecracker because I loved my show. I loved creating it. I loved the examples I could bring to the audience. I would also take prayer and affirmative prayer intentions and pray affirmatively online. I would just light up, so much so that in the end, after about a year, I gave up my job. I gave up my salary and my benefits and went and did it for free just so I could be in my passion, in my purpose, alive and joyful more of the time, not just on Tuesdays. Look at what brings you joy right now, what comes easily to you and brings you joy.

I was called to ministry, to serve as a minister, and I was the most resistant and reluctant before I even responded to my inner calling. People kept asking me if I'm going to be a minister, and it was offensive to me. I was too cool to be considered a minister. So when I eventually answered the call and went to seminary, I even tried to persuade them not to let me in by telling them, I don't want a church. I don't see myself in a pulpit. I don't know why this is coming to me. And they let me in anyway. I'm really glad they did because it's being in that environment that I was able to hone my craft more. When I was ready for ordination and people kept asking me what I was going to do, I kept saying, I don't know. It doesn't exist yet. It's going to be unorthodox. And interestingly enough, that's kind of what happened.

Every week I'd be surprised that the facilitator was asking me out of this entire group. I was never prepared. I had nothing written, but as soon as I opened my mouth, magic would come forth, surprising us all. I discovered in seminary what it was called because I grew up as an empath, but I didn't know what it was called, and I didn't know why I was reacting and responding to people and feeling what they were feeling, and not knowing the difference between what was mine and what was theirs. I discovered that in seminary and found out what it was called, and then was able to use that to hold space, to clear energy. That's an extension of my meditation, mindfulness practice, and teaching.

I care about stillness because I have found it to be the gateway that allows me to touch the hem of the garment. It's the place where we can be grounded. It's the place where we can connect with the universal spirit. It's the place where we heighten our intuition. It's the place where we are open and receptive and responsive to the wisdom flowing in from the universe, and for the courage to step forth from that place of stillness and do what is ours to do, and act how it is ours to act. It's an incubator. It's a power source. It's like plugging yourself in, filling yourself up, and stepping forth from that place. I am fervently convinced that when we stop and we breathe and we rest and we allow the mind to quieten down, we are actually amplifying our energy and our vibration to do what is ours to do in the world. Maybe if more of us were still more of the time, that's where we'd get the answer to the very question, what is my passion and how do I find it? Maybe take some time to be still.

It was over a weekend where I kept hearing this song in my head, what would I do today if I were brave? And on that weekend, I said, let me just stop and journal on that question because there's something here. Then on Monday, I went in and made an appointment with my manager to see her, without really knowing why I wanted to see her. Then I went in and I was just giggling. And then I said, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to serve, but it's time to step away. Without planning it, I went in and resigned. I had no plan B. I didn't have a savings account. I didn't have a trust fund. But if I had stopped and thought about those logistics and how to pay my way through the world, I would never have done it. I have never earned the salary that I earned 14 years ago. I never caught up with it. It's been a faith walk, and it's even fueled my passion because I love it so much. I'm thriving because I'm living on purpose with passion.

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There was something about the meditation that just resonated with me. I couldn't really put my finger on it. Then one Sunday, the leader, the facilitator of the meditation said she was going away for a month and that the minister was looking for someone to take over in her absence. It was as if something spiraled in my soul and just jerked me out of my chair, and I went up to the minister after the practice and said, I can do that. Yet I had never tried it personally, never done it at home. I always say my soul knew. It turned out to be one of my spiritual gifts. Over the years, there was a change in the vibration of my voice. So much so that even my family members commented on it. Today I say, give me a microphone, and I can step into that zone and let the energy of spirit, the divine, just flow through me.

My brother died suddenly, and I was just bereft. It was unexpected. He was like the linchpin of our family. At the time I was a journalist, and at his funeral people were saying all these wonderful things about him and how he had impacted their life. And I thought, if I die today, I don't want to be known for writing about changing hemlines because I was in the fashion industry at the time. So it sent me on a quest. I was off work for about three months with deep depression. A friend said, come over to America, it'll be a change of scene for you. When I got there, she took me to this organization called Unity. Part of that was the practice of meditation. I was so enamored by this thing that I would just keep going back to New York, every opportunity I had, every vacation I had, I'd go back to New York so I could experience this thing that they did in the Sunday service.