{"id":6,"date":"2017-04-19T16:54:56","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T00:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/?page_id=6"},"modified":"2019-08-29T17:01:56","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T01:01:56","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About Marste"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Life Coach &#8212; Seeker &#8212; Real World Mystic<\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><div aria-live=\"polite\" id=\"soliloquy-container-21\" class=\"soliloquy-container soliloquy-transition-fade  soliloquy-theme-base\" style=\"max-width:2500px;max-height:600px;\"><ul id=\"soliloquy-21\" class=\"soliloquy-slider soliloquy-slides soliloquy-wrap soliloquy-clear\"><li aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"soliloquy-item soliloquy-item-1 soliloquy-image-slide\" draggable=\"false\" style=\"list-style:none\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"soliloquy-image-210\" class=\"soliloquy-image soliloquy-image-1\" src=\"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Soliloquy-3_NEW-1.png\" alt=\"Soliloquy 3_NEW\" \/><\/li><li aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"soliloquy-item soliloquy-item-2 soliloquy-image-slide\" draggable=\"false\" style=\"list-style:none\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"soliloquy-image-202\" class=\"soliloquy-image soliloquy-image-2\" src=\"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Soliloquy-2_NEW.png\" alt=\"Soliloquy 2_NEW\" \/><\/li><li aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"soliloquy-item soliloquy-item-3 soliloquy-image-slide\" draggable=\"false\" style=\"list-style:none\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"soliloquy-image-203\" class=\"soliloquy-image soliloquy-image-3\" src=\"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Soliloquy-1-NEW.png\" alt=\"Soliloquy 1-NEW\" \/><\/li><\/ul><\/div><noscript><style type=\"text\/css\">#soliloquy-container-21{opacity:1}<\/style><\/noscript><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I am so glad you\u2019re here!<\/p>\n<p>If you go no further on this page, before I get into who I am and all that jazz, I want you to know 2 (ok, 3) things:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>You were born good enough.<\/li>\n<li>You have always been loved.<\/li>\n<li>Those 2 things will set you free.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-36 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/MARSTE-6.9.12-96_SMALL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"427\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/MARSTE-6.9.12-96_SMALL.jpg 570w, https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/MARSTE-6.9.12-96_SMALL-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m Marste, and over the last 20-ish years, I\u2019ve come to believe that we are all part of God, the way a wave is part of the ocean, or our hands are part of our bodies. I also believe that we are born already knowing that we are good enough, just as we are. (Seriously, have you ever listened to a young child tell you enthusiastically how fantastic they are? It\u2019s a beautiful thing!)<\/p>\n<p>That fundamental quality never changes: we are loved and good enough from the moment we\u2019re born until the moment we die. But during the course of our life, we pick up other stories and beliefs about ourselves and about what\u2019s True (with a capital T) from family, religions, the culture at large. And we take those stories to heart. We come to believe (or mis-believe) that we are separate from God, that we were never worthy, that nothing we do could be enough to make us worthy.<\/p>\n<p>We end up believing that the only way back into joy and grace and soul-deep spirituality is through specific churches, specific belief systems, specific behaviors. If we feel guilty enough, or acknowledge our unworthiness, or if we condemn people who don\u2019t live the way we think is \u201cright,\u201d then maybe \u2013 MAYBE \u2013 God will have pity on us and we\u2019ll make it into heaven.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually some of us end up feeling like there has to be a better way. We feel like we\u2019ve outgrown our religions, our theologies. We question what we\u2019ve always been taught, and then question if we should be questioning.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve been there, maybe you\u2019ve wondered if you\u2019re making the wrong choice. You\u2019ve wondered if the wrath of God will send you to Hell, and in the same moment wondered how \u201cloving\u201d God can be, if He\u2019d send His children to Hell for eternity. And maybe you\u2019ve tried other religions and philosophies, but nothing \u201cfits,\u201d and yet . . . you still believe in SOMETHING.<\/p>\n<p>I talk to people all the time who are questioning and rewriting their spiritual beliefs. They find themselves in a framework that makes them feel tired, beaten down, even hopeless . . . but they don\u2019t want to be atheists. They\u2019re not really religious anymore. But they\u2019re not sure how to be spiritual without the religion they\u2019ve always known. They\u2019re not sure how to believe in a God that isn\u2019t punitive and punishing.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s where I come in.<\/p>\n<p>I am over-the-moon, crazy-pants passionate about helping you remember your worth, your enough-ness, and your divine connection \u2013 in the way that works for YOU.<\/p>\n<p>My nuclear family was casually Christian \u2013 we church-hopped, sometimes didn\u2019t go at all, showed up for holidays. My dad\u2019s side of the family is DEVOUTLY Catholic, and my mom\u2019s side is DEVOUTLY Baptist, and the community I grew up in is\/was DEVOUTLY evangelical\/Baptist. And here\u2019s the thing: I was a kid who DESPERATELY wanted to fit it.<\/p>\n<p>You guys, I tried SO HARD to shove myself into the \u201creligious Christian\u201d box: I\u2019d wedge myself in there, decide I was going to go to church and be meek and quiet and get married, have kids and stay home so I could be accepted as a \u201cgood Christian.\u201d (I even tried to give up swearing, which . . . YOU GUYS. I love swearing!)<\/p>\n<p>And then that still, small voice in my head would remind me that It couldn\u2019t be placed in a box, that it was bigger, and more beautiful, and somehow both more AND less complicated than everything I was being told.<\/p>\n<p>So I fought my way out of the box(es). I spent 20-ish years studying religion, metaphysics, various interpretations, even a year in grad school studying Spiritual Psychology. What I learned was that every box, every religion, has some Truth and some Bullshit. Some Truth and some Dogma. Some Truth and some Ego. I started looking for where the Truth showed up \u2013 where most or all the religions and philosophies said the same things \u2013 and I built my relationship with God on that, from the ground up.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I know at my core that we have always been good enough. We have always been loved. It was never, EVER conditional on ANYTHING. And I want you to know that, too.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m someone who believes that we are all divinely guided, so if you are here, you\u2019re probably here for a reason. Feel free to look around, check out my social channels linked above (where I spend most of my time), sign up for my email list, leave a comment . . . whatever feels good to you. Let me know how I can help you.<\/p>\n<p>One more time for the folks in the back:<br \/>\nYou have always been enough.<br \/>\nYou have always been loved.<br \/>\nOnce you know those things for sure, you\u2019ll find your freedom.<\/p>\n<p>I love you.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer; top: 404px; left: 530px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer; top: 404px; left: 575px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c  no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Life Coach &#8212; Seeker &#8212; Real World Mystic I am so glad you\u2019re here! If you go no further on this page, before I get into who I am and all that jazz, I want you to know 2 (ok, 3) things: You were born good enough. You have always been loved. Those 2 things [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"full-width-content","footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marstemcdonald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}