Come Up From Underground: Healing, Growth, & the Unseen Work Within - Episode 16

What if nothing is wrong… even when it feels like nothing is happening?

In this gentle and deeply reflective episode, Lulu explores the hidden season of growth—the quiet, unseen work that happens beneath the surface of our lives. Like a seed in the dark soil, transformation is often taking place long before we can see evidence of it.

Through personal reflection and grounded spiritual insight, she speaks to the experience of revisiting old memories, feeling unexpected emotions, and navigating the tender process of healing.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re stuck… behind… or not making progress—this episode offers a different perspective:

You may not be buried. You may be planted.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Welcome to Light in the Garden, a soft place to land, breathe, and remember who you truly are. I'm Lulu, and this podcast is my offering. Here we explore the quiet places where the human and the divine meet, through stories from the road, the lake where I spend many hours, and the long path of my own becoming. Each episode is simply a companion for your heart. I'm so glad you're here, my friends. This episode is called Coming Up From Underground. There is there's something I've always loved about the way things grow. The mystery of it, the quiet thrill of discovery. You don't see the beginning of it, not really. You don't see the moment a seed decides to break open. There is no marching band announcing this amazing feat, no tiny little drum line under the soil doing a celebratory cadence. You don't witness the slow, unseen work of pushing through the dirt, at least not from the outside. From the outside just looks like nothing. The magic is happening underground, and if I'm being honest, I don't always trust what's happening underground. Because it looks like nothing. It feels like nothing. And sometimes it feels like the exact opposite of progress. It feels like emptiness or a refusal to cooperate, or even a kind of quiet unraveling. But then one morning there it is, a small, almost unbelievable green chute where yesterday there was only dirt. And I've been thinking lately how much of my life is lived in that unseen place, not gone, not lost, not stuck, just hidden, and perhaps unacknowledged. So I am becoming, and every day brings a little more awareness of my becoming. There are moments when I notice a subtle shift, like turning my face toward the sun without even realizing I've done it. Just like a sunflower. And I love that image because the sunflower doesn't strain. It doesn't overthink. It doesn't stand there with the clipboard asking, Am I growing correctly? Are my petals unfolding properly? Should I be further along by now? Of course not. It simply turns and trusts without even knowing the trust is involved. And lately I've noticed I am turning. I am trusting. I feel a little more energy and a little more curiosity, and in unexpected moments of laughter that surprise me and my pups, I smile. Nothing dramatic. No fireworks, no confetti cannons, but enough to feel the difference. Something in me now knows. That movement has been happening all along, and here's where it gets a little more tender. Because lately I've been reviewing some valuable information. The kind that doesn't just stay in your head but moves through your whole body, the kind that wakes things up, and it's been moving through me. It has been stirring memories. Memories I had placed very carefully underground in the vault. Not because I was trying to hide them in some dramatic way, but because at the time that was the only place they could go. Underground is not always avoidance. Sometimes it is protection. Sometimes it is wisdom. Sometimes it's the soul saying not now, sweetheart, but later. Well apparently later has arrived. The recollection necessary I might add, for my overall health, has stirred emotions I tucked away a very, very long time ago. And I'll be honest with you, there have been moments where I thought really now we're doing this now. You know, I had plans. But growth has its own timing. And because I desire a life that is fully alive, even brimming over with bright and shiny joy, well, sometimes calling in a bulldozer is necessary. Not a gentle garden trowel, not a light fluffing of the soil. Nope. Sometimes it's a full excavation. And I wish I could tell you I always greet this process with grace and gratitude, but sometimes I greet it with could we please maybe not do this today? Still, even in the discomfort, even in the stirring, even in the remembering, something else is happening. The soil is changing. The ground that once held those memories in place is loosening, and in that loosening something unexpected is happening. There is grace, and that grace softened the tightness and the fear, and grace has opened up a place for new life to grow. Maybe you know this place too. Because part of you might say Hey wait, I thought we already dealt with this. And another part of you quietly responds, Yes, but we're dealing with it again differently, with more awareness, with more capacity, with more grace and with more light, and definitely with more love. So walk with me for a moment and allow me to be one hundred percent honest with you. These memories have not been erased. I'm not pretending they didn't happen, but I'm changing how they live in me. Those tender shoots, those small beginnings lifting their heads from underground, are s reaching for the light, and they've captured my attention. And here's what I'm noticing. Shoots don't ask permission to grow. They don't wait until the soil is perfect. They don't wait until everything is fully resolved. They rise because rising is what they do. And maybe that's what we do too. Maybe all this time, even when it felt like nothing was happening, something essential was unfolding in the dark, in the quiet, in ways we could not see. So the next time it feels like nothing is moving the the next time it feels like you are buried rather than planted yeah. The next time you wonder if anything is actually changing, remember this. The most important transformations don't happen in the light, they happen underground. So dear listener, take heart. Healing is happening, growth is happening even when you cannot see it, even when you cannot feel it. And the light is already reaching for you, just as you are already turning toward it. I'd like to offer a longer breathing space now, an invitation to let this teaching land in your body, not just your mind. I call it becoming the seed. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. Perhaps lower the lights, cozy up in a warm blanket, slip off your shoes, and take a slow breath in. And let it just fall out of your mouth. And again, a full belly breath and out of your mouth. Allow your body to settle just a little bit more. And just arrive. Arrive here. Bring your awareness to the place where your body meets whatever is holding you right now. The chair, the floor, the bed, and let yourself be supported. And now gently imagine, not with effort, just with a soft willingness, that you are a seed resting in the dark soil. Not buried, but planted. There's no rush here. No expectation. No one standing above the soil demanding that you grow faster. You are exactly where you need to be. Feel the quiet around you. Feel the stillness. The deep unseen place where so much is happening without needing to be seen. And notice something within you knows what to do. You don't have to figure it out. You don't have to make it happen. There is an ancient intelligence within you, softly, steadily guiding the unfolding. Perhaps you begin to sense the tiniest movement, but not something dramatic, just a subtle shift, a soft opening. The outer shell is gently giving way, not forced, not rushed, just ready. And as that opening happens, something within you begins to reach. Not upward yet, just outward. Exploring, making space. You are not behind, you are not late, you are not stuck, you are becoming. And then without effort, without strain, there is a natural turning, a quiet orientation toward the light. You don't have to see the light to turn toward it. Something in you already knows. So rest here just for a moment in this gentle becoming in this unseen transformation, in this quiet, sacred growth. And when you're ready, begin to feel your body again. The room around you the air on your skin. Take a deep breath in and just let it go. And carry this with you. Even when nothing appears to be happening, something beautiful is already underway. Remember, my dear friends, even in the ordinary moments of your day there is always light waiting in the garden. So until next time, take good care of yourselves and each other, and I thank you from the depths of my heart for visiting me today. If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with your friends and a deep bow to each of you. And finally, if you have found value here and would like to spend some one on one time with me, I offer spiritual companionship. Sometimes it really helps to have a steady presence beside you as you listen for your own inner wisdom and find your own way forward. Amen. And I'll talk to you soon.