Founder Letter: The Art of Receiving
Dear Rosies,
Hi, hi, hi! How are you doing out there? I'm sitting in the afterglow of a weekend with dozens of radiant good sisters of all ages, appreciative of the inner relaxation on what it means to be good to each other: warm, kind, present, transparent, honest, helpful and in integrity.
The theme I've got for us today has come up in many of the women's circles I've been part of in the last year, where many speak the same refrain: “It’s hard for me to receive.” The words come wrapped in exhaustion, overwork, and a sense that the only safe posture in life is to keep giving. As the conversations deepen, the specifics emerge: receiving makes them uncomfortable, they feel indebted the moment a gift is offered, they rush to reciprocate, they worry they’re a burden, they flush with embarrassment.
It is striking how common this is. The reluctance to receive, for many, has become a nearly invisible architecture in our inner world.
And yet, in contrast, I have also witnessed women who sit in their center like a still pool, open and joyful. They seem to draw gifts and abundance without effort. For them, presence alone is an offering, and life responds accordingly.
Why the difference? What are the inner mechanics of this resistance to receiving—and what becomes possible when we soften into the receptive heart?
I've written a full, long article on the blog about this for those of you who want to dive into this topic.
What I would like to offer is this: When we become more receptive, life changes texture. The world becomes a place of mutuality rather than transaction. Gifts both tangible and intangible begin to appear everywhere: the unexpected kindness of a stranger, the softness of morning light, the way the body exhales when it feels held. And here is the paradox: as we open to receive without condition, our giving deepens. We no longer pour from depletion, but from the overflow that comes when the heart is continually nourished.
Your very presence is a gift, and that to receive fully is to affirm life. In this way, receiving becomes its own quiet activism, undoing centuries of conditioning that measured a woman’s worth only by what she gave away. It is a return to balance, a remembering that we are not meant to be only the rain, but also the earth that drinks it in.
__________________
Other news: I invite you to join me and other practitioners in Hawai'i for Embodied Renewal: Detox and Restore weeks this September, or Yoga and Devotion weeks in November. We are going to have an amazing time!
Finally, I would like to invite you to have a listen to the podcast if you haven't tuned in. The last couple of episodes, in particular, take us on a journey of peace and pilgrimage. I welcome dialogue, comments and conversation on how our guests move you, and your insights into what you want more and less of in our content.
To your radiant, receptive, rested and restored heart.
Christine
Christine Marie Mason
Founder, Rosebud Woman
Host, The Rose Woman Podcast
