I was excited to be heading back to two bees cafe & patisserie to have coffee with Pamela Benedetto. She had never been and each time I have it's always much better than I remembered. We met in the lobby, an oasis from the humidity, and decided to order coffee and sit inside for our conversation. I smiled when I looked down and saw a swan with a heart in its beak resting on top of my latte. I looked up at the man who had made it and said, "thank you."
Pamela grew up in Maine, both of her parents were educators and she spoke fondly of her father always being immersed in books or doing something with her outside. She grew up fishing, hiking, and swimming, nature was part of who she was, not a place she occasionally visited. When she proclaimed to me that she had bloomed late in life, expressing that she discovered her passion after her children were no longer babies I had to wonder if that was true. Pamela attended college in New Hampshire getting a degree in Psychology. She graduated and began working in a residency for youth, something she had done as an intern while studying at St. Anselm College in Manchester. She leaned forward and shared with me that it was there that she began running. She recounted how back in those days wicking fabric hadn't been thought of and everyone ran in heavy sweats and thick cotton tees. I could feel the sweat dripping down my back like it was yesterday. She remembers how she had started running because it was what everyone at work was doing and she wanted to be connected. When she was standing on the sidelines of the Boston Marathon cheering everyone on she remembers telling herself that she could have been running alongside them.
So she did. Pamela qualified for the Centennial Boston Marathon and was part of the record breaking group of number of finishers in 1996. She saw herself running it, trained to run it, and then finished it. The incredible transformation she experienced became a seed for the work she would later achieve in helping to inspire others in becoming the person they dream of being. Pamela now spends her time helping people to remove energetic blocks of low frequency emotions. Through reiki and meditation practices she helps to alleviate the pain we carry around from holding on to past traumatic events, emotional responses, and behaviors and habits that no longer serve us. She has a practice in Eliot, Maine and often collaborates with other individuals offering workshops and spaces to gather for inspiration and motivation to release negativity and fill the space it held with emotions and thoughts that better serve our purpose and achieving goals. As she spoke I felt lighter, her energy is like a ball of pixie dust teasing you to reach higher and be better than you were the day before. I felt myself smiling and it didn't escape me that she was someone who I always imagined I might be. Her joy and calm demeanor were not only captivating but also infectious.
We spoke a lot about contrast, knowing that without negativity there wouldn't be positivity. They exist on a spectrum, a dial of sorts. I nodded as she shared how emotions exist in a continuum and how we are powerful beings who can move our emotions and not only be moved by them. I was starting to understand what she meant when she remarked that she was a "late bloomer." She had joked that she had come to her spirituality late in life, somewhere after raising her two children and not knowing what was next for her in life. I shrugged her off. She wasn't matching my definition of a late bloomer, and maybe that is where I have a lot of growing left to do. From where I sat she had been brought up in a loving, supportive environment, the perfect garden to be planted. She spent a lot of time outside, in nature, being a part of what so many of us can forget is where we came from and that we are deeply connected to. She learned what it means to be physically strong, mentally well, and a kind and compassionate being. To me, she was already in full bloom by the time she left Maine for college. Pamela became aware of energy, our connection to one another, and our ability to affect our own lives later in life, this is when she considers herself having bloomed. I believe she is one of those people who are born knowing and simply are because that is who they were meant to be, a light for others to follow. So many of us strive to become aware of another way of being, struggle to right ourselves, and claw and scratch our way to become someone that we're not familiar with. These are the people who are born to break the cycle, Pamela is one of the unique individuals born to show us the way forward. Her innate ability to experience joy and see the light in everything and everyone regardless of where she may be is a testament to what a loving and nurturing environment can do for one's soul.
Sometimes life throws you a bone, gives you a sign that you are on the right path. As I sat with Pamela listening to her story and views on life in general, I felt as though I was in the right place at the right time. I instantly felt relaxed and engaged and wanting for more. I smiled when we discovered we were the same age, had both played field hockey in Maine, most likely against one another, and all the choices that had to have been made to bring us together one night in a small bistro in Kittery, Maine. I met Pamela, the only time I had spoken with her since this week, while serving her party of six on a busy Saturday night. We instantly hit it off and I remember her entire table erupting in laugher and holding back tears as the celebrated two friends heading off to a new chapter in life. Pamela confided in me that the day before I had reached out to her out of the blue to see if she would have coffee with me, a friend of hers had told her about my coffee project and that she should do it! Goosebumps ran up and down both my arms and I realized that sometimes life does work in our favor and as Pamela believes we all are worthy of healing and realizing our life's dreams.
Two hours flew by like a heart beat. As our cups sat cold and empty in front of us I asked Pamela if she had time to offer up mantras or bits of wisdom that she leans on in her beautiful life. She nodded and told me she had all the time in the world. I opened up notes and began jotting them down. Here are twelve bits of wisdom by Pamela:
1. we all come from the same source.
2. it's always fun to see who shows up.
3. we are more powerful than we realize.
4. transformation is a life long process.
5. we all move through life at our own speed.
6. it's ok to move at your own pace.
7. it's never too late to try something new.
8. love and go easy on yourself.
9. you impact others without even knowing it.
10. there's always a lesson that comes from the hard things.
11. it's all so temporary.
12. i see you (if you're in my life, I've got you).
To contact Pamela and for more information about Inspiring Transformation Reiki:
follow in IG: inspiringtransformation1
ph: 603.860.3012
email: [email protected]