Limitation to Liberation, with Harriet Tubman Wright
Join host Tessa Lynne Alburn and Harriet Tubman Wright as they explore Harriet's transformative journey and how she got to sizzle and joy from battles with depression. Throughout challenges such as single parenting and being in unfulfilling jobs, Harriet’s inner creativity persisted, driving her to recognize the value of living one's soul's calling.
Harriet’s passion centers on uniting generations, uniting older and younger women to co-create a more peaceful, authentic future. This collaboration, she believes, can spark a paradigm shift fostering healing, empowerment, and transformation for humanity and the world.
Tessa’s Free Gift: If you want to reignite your Soul Fire, get your free E-Guide here and Say YES to Your Soul! http://www.tessafreegift.com/
Check it out!
From education and modeling to single parenthood and unfulfilling jobs
The need to follow your soul's calling and living in alignment with one’s true purpose for sizzle and the current paradigm shifts we’re all facing
Visioning for a fulfilling life to help you tap into your heart and soul's desires
The growth of Harriet's vision of nurturing environments for women to share their stories and the importance of community
The work of uniting older and younger women to co-create a more peaceful and authentic future
About Harriet Tubman Wright
Harriet Tubman Wright, MS, MA is an accomplished Speaker/Storyteller, Published Author/Poet, Person-Centered Expressive Arts Facilitator, Metaphysician, Initiated Priestess and Elder.
As Director of The Wright Resort, Your Soul Safari to Success, she guides mature spiritual women to fulfill their passion, so they can live healthy, purposeful, prosperous lives, doing what they most love to serve others. She also helps them develop “(R)evolutionary Leadership” skills to transform businesses, organizations and communities to ultimately heal people and the planet.
Harriet connects with business, professional, and cultural groups through Transformational Talks on Feminine Leadership, Soul Power, Holistic Health and Elder Enrichment, captivating audiences with humor and wisdom.
Receive Harriet’s Free Gifts
5 Essential Tools to Lead the Revolution toward Love, light, and Liberation, A Spiritual Guide for Change Makers by going to www.thewrightresort.com/
Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/harriet.t.wright/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/harriet-tubman-wright-9a875210/
Connect with Harriet on Facebook or LinkedIn to learn more about her multigenerational co-creation class called Activating Revolutionary Leadership Skills Now.
* About the Host *
Tessa Lynne Alburn believes that every woman has the ability to learn to express their true voice, be heard, and fulfill their dreams.
Tessa’s Free Gift: If you want to be freer, happier and more courageous in life, get your free Soulful E-Guide here and Say YES to Your Soul!
As a Feminine Energy Coach and Soul Connection Mentor for women, Tessa supports you in having the freedom you crave and strong connections with others, as you live powerfully with joy and a sense of adventure.
Check Us Out on:
Thank You for Listening!
Thank you kindly for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and feel others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons found on this page.
We’d also love to know if you have any questions for the podcast! Submit your podcast questions or ideas to: https://www.sayyestoyoursoulpodcast.com/contact.
Subscribe to the podcast
If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. You can also subscribe from the podcast app on your mobile device. Otherwise, visit us on the https://sayyestoyoursoulpodcast.com at any time.
Leave us an Apple Podcasts review
Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.
If you’re a Spotify fan, then Spotify now has a star-rating feature!
May You Say YES to Your Soul.
Transcript
Tessa (00:09):
Hello, I am so happy to be able to introduce to you
Harriet Tubman Wright. She is a very accomplished woman. She's a speaker,
storyteller, published author, poet, person centered, expressive arts
facilitator, mettaphysician, initiated priestess and elder. And, you know, when I first met Harriet, I just
thought this gal has seen a lot of stuff, and I could tell when I listened to
her voice also. She's been through a lot, and she understands on a deep level,
compassion and connecting to one soul. As the director of the Wright
resort, your soul safari to success. She guides mature spiritual women to
fulfill their passion so that they can live healthy, purposeful, prosperous
lives, doing what they love to serve others. And she also helps 'em develop
revolutionary leadership skills, woo, to transform businesses, organizations,
and communities to ultimately heal people and the planet. She connects with
business professional cultural groups through transformational talks on
feminine leadership, soul power, and other amazing things with humor and
wisdom. And I really wanna give her a warm welcome. Hello there, Harriet.
Harriet (01:38):
Well, hello. I'm happy to be here. Happy to connect with
you and your listeners.
Tessa (01:47):
Well, thank you. We're really glad you're here. So I know
that you have been through many, many things in your life, and you've got a
story that, when you said, you framed it for me before we started this, and I
was like, yes. Okay. That's gonna be exciting. So I'd love for you to just
begin to take us on that journey and share some of what your challenges were,
and we'll get into how you overcame them.
Harriet (02:24):
Thank you. What I want to say, basically the theme is from
limitation to liberation. I've had the opportunity to live in Africa and travel
all around the world, but I remember, and when I was younger, I played violin.
I was in the modern dance honor society. I fashion model. I sewed my own
clothes. So the creativity was really, really important to me. And, as I got
into job situations, once I returned from Africa, as a single parent and, you
know, get a job, I was working in situations where I had the skills, but it was
not my heart's work. It was not my soul's calling. And as I started working
with women who were frustrated, stressed, angry, about the situations that they
were in because they were not being who they were born to be, or doing what
they were born to do, and I was in that same situation, I'd be stressed and
frustrated.
Harriet (03:38):
After work, I'd go to the adult center and take creative
writing or learn other things that were more stimulating and more in sync
helped me be more in sync with my authentic self. And so, when I work with
mature women who are frustrated and stressed, I'm focusing on what I call
soul's calling and soul's calling is really, we know that we are here for a
purpose. We know how it feels when we're around someone who is in their
element, whether they're a musician, whether they are a salesperson. They are
juiced about serving you and they serve you with excellence, with joy. And so
that's what I want and help women get to a place of joy because they are
sharing their gifts, their talents, their skills in a way that is making a
difference in an organization or their business or their community.
Harriet (04:53):
We're here for a purpose. Let us share that purpose and
passion. I say that because I have dealt with depression. I've been you know,
two or three different times because I was not living my soul's calling. I was
trying to follow somebody else's agenda that was totally inauthentic for me.
And I have since learned from those times how important it is for me and how
important it is for other mature women to really sizzle in our element. And
that means being who we were born to be and doing what we're born to do. That's
what I call soul's calling, answering your soul's calling.
Tessa (05:50):
I love the elements of joy and sizzle that you're bringing
forward here. I think, you know, sometimes when women who are frustrated and
stuck, they're not thinking about sizzle, right? They're just thinking peace. I
just need peace. Darn it, <laugh>. And so, when you were going through
your times, those darker times, the harder ones, maybe you were depressed and
you weren't in that place of joy and sizzle yet. I wanna know, whose rules were
you following? Like, what was the programming for you at that time?
Harriet (06:35):
I can tell you that the programming for every woman on my
father's side, the right side of the family is get a good education. Go to
college so you can get a good education so you can get a good job so you don't
have to depend on a man.
Tessa (06:58):
Mm-hmm.
Harriet (06:59):
That was pro I mean, generations of that programming. And
so, and I can remember in high school, you know, there was an opportunity to
take chemistry and I didn't wanna take it. And well, you don't know what you
wanna do, so just take chemistry. Well, I sat next to the smartest person that
my job was to hand out the goggles for the experiments. And by the time I did
that, my partner had already completed the experiment. He got the highest test
and the highest score and the standardized test. The teacher was kind to give
me a B minus <laugh>, that's my final grade. But it was an example of
living out that got a good education, go to college so you can get a good
education so you can get a job so you don't have to depend on a man. So that
was following a mandate that really did not fulfill my heart's longing, my
soul's calling.
Tessa (08:06):
Yeah, you're being told what to do and then after all that
work you get a B minus <laugh> and basically like supporting some man to
be great.
Harriet (08:20):
Well, you know, that, I'm just saying that was the
programming. And so if when I'm working with women, it's like, well, you know,
do you long to share your talents and gifts in a more suitable environment? Can
you imagine yourself content and fulfilled doing what you really love? And so
that's the way that I've worked with women to come to a place and the
transformation is phenomenal. There is joy, there is sizzle, there is peace
there, you know, it's like you are on, and of course you've got, meditation helps,
yoga helps. There are self-care practices that we want to also incorporate. But
as I said, anybody knows if, whether it's an entertainer, you know, when
someone is on, it turns you on <laugh>.
Tessa (09:14):
That's right. And, you know, sometimes there are, and
you're probably one of these people, you have a lot of skills and a lot of
gifts, but that doesn't mean that they're all in your genius sizzle zone.
Harriet (09:28):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Tessa (09:29):
Would you say that's true? Like there were some things you
were doing that were like pretty good, but not like, you know, on fire for you?
Harriet (09:38):
Well, I can say that, you know, I've written three poetry
books and there's been a kind of evolution. They reflect where I was at that
time. But, you know, when I was laid off from a job and it created the opening
for me to write my first poetry book. It created the opportunity for me to be
closer to who I really am as a creative being. And, that again, you wanna be
around those people who are on, who are happy, who are joyful, who can't wait
to provide the highest and best service to others. And ultimately, I think
whatever we are doing as entrepreneurs, as executives, as retired individuals,
you wanna be engaged in something that generates joy, sizzle and peace. You
know, peace of mind is, and one of the ultimate, I think, ultimate places we
wanna be, have peace of mind because we are living our purpose and passion
serving others.
Tessa (11:10):
I love that. So, Harriet, I'd really think it would be
helpful to the listeners to share a little bit of how you transitioned into
that joy and then ultimately into sizzle.
Harriet (11:29):
When I lived in Nairobi, I had a vision of the Wright
resort and a body, mind, spirit wellness center. And I had in mind a physical
plan and, you know, but I told myself, oh, but I don't have the money to do
that. And then someone said, well, you always use somebody else's money. And I
came back to this country and, you know, got a series of jobs. And in my final
position, I was asked to do something and I said, I'm not doing it. And so I
was written up for subordination. My pay was docked. And I had to go to a
hearing and pretend that I was sorry that I said it, but...
Tessa (12:19):
Oh my god, what?
Harriet (12:24):
But, you know, and I went and I took a bowl of water
because in one of the traditions, water represents healing.
Harriet (12:31):
And they didn't need to know what, I just took this bowl
of water and said what I had to say. And, you know, I looked at one of the
people and he kind of rolled his eyes 'cause he knew the whole thing was
stupid. But for me, it was my lesson that these people don't know who I really
am. It is time to get out of here. So that's when I really turned in my
retirement papers. My father became ill and had to be in a nursing home. And
so, I took all my vacations sick, all the, everything that was owed to me to help
get him situated. And when I went back to work, I said, well, I'm, I just came
back to get stuff out of my office. I'm out of here <laugh>.
Harriet (13:20):
And so my retirement, and I was already doing the Wright
resort on the side, really focused on self-care practices with women. So I, you
know, it was a part-time. I was doing it on the side. And I remember when I
went to the ultimate Ojai and I talked to the director, it's a wellness center.
And she said, look, what you see now is not what, how we started, the seller of
this property helped us to get it. And we were all volunteers. And over a
period of time, you know, it has evolved to what it is. So start where you are.
And what that said to me is, no, I don't have a physical plan, but I know
people who have homes. I'll just start doing my thing in people's homes or in
rented properties.
Harriet (14:14):
And when I did that, I recognized that I was focused
primarily with black women. But it proved to me that there was a need to create
a safe space for women to share their stories, to share their frustrations, to
share their joys, and be supported and celebrate it.
Tessa (14:40):
Mm.
Harriet (14:41):
That confirmed that the Wright resort. And you know, like
I said, it started that way. But as I got more into the soul's calling and what
I call social change now, then it became the Wright resort, your soul safari to
success, which is still about being who you are born to be, doing what you're
born to do. We're being authentic and true to ourselves. And it took me that
experience and a few rounds of depression to recognize how important it is to
be who we were put here to be and do what we were put here to do. That's it. I
mean, you know, I don't know anything better than that.
Tessa (15:30):
I get you. Yes, for sure. <laugh>. It's nothing
better than that. <laugh>, you know, while you're sharing this, and I
just love your energy and your commitment to this calling, and I'm kind of
hearing in the back of my mind, like some of the women who I've met along the
way that I support, but originally when they first started working with me,
they were thinking things like, well, I am doing what I'm supposed to do.
Right? Like, they're so over identified with the support roles or the care taking
roles, whatever it is that they're having trouble imagining more. And so I'm
curious what you might say to them, Harriet.
Harriet (16:18):
I think there is a process called visioning that was
created by Michael Bernard Beckwith of the Agape Church or center. And
visioning, I've used visioning quite a bit myself, and I've worked with others
around visioning to begin imagining and sensing into their soul. And so one of
the question is, you know, who do you wanna be? Or what does this look like?
What does this feel like? What does this sound like? And you know, what does
that mean for you? And so people have an opportunity to go beneath the surface,
so to speak, and get in touch with their heart, with their soul, with their
true essence. And when you tap in at that level, then what comes forth is your
true essence, your authenticity. You become aligned and there's, you know, the
joy and peace is there.
Harriet (17:39):
So that visioning process is one thing that I have found
very helpful for myself and very helpful for women that I've with. I can also
say that one of the successes was working with someone in the public health
environment, and something happened that was not pleasant. And so she was
shifted to another department, but meanwhile she was developing skills on the
side because she knew that there was something more that she wanted. And she
has come to a place of creating the program, the business, the offering that
she was born for. And so whenever she sees me, she will always acknowledge, oh,
there is my coach, da da da, da, da, da. Because it was a process of moving
from limitation to liberation. And the liberation now is getting to what it is
she's here to do, be and do.
Harriet (18:49):
And so that's one example of the ways that I have worked
and continue to work with women. And it is a process. I've experienced the
transformation. I facilitated the transformation because we may come back
again. We may have been here already. We may have come back, but while we're
here now, let's be here in joy and in peace.
Tessa (19:15):
Yes.
Harriet (19:21):
That's what I can say. Part of my bio talked about
revolutionary leadership skills and I just want to say that it's time for wise
elders and astute creative youngins to chart the way forward. Bringing our
different and complimentary skills to the vision and the strategic approach. In
other words, our time is now together.
Tessa (19:59):
Hmm. Wonderful. And so, do you have something like a
project where you wanna direct people to around that? Like, if somebody were
interested in bringing their wisdom as an elder, maybe with a younger family
member to create, to co-create together,
Harriet (20:22):
That is the way that I am putting forth a class called
activating revolutionary <laugh> leadership skills now. And part of the
objective is to bring older and younger women together, because we are in a
paradigm shift, I've always say that mother earth and mother nature will
continue. The question is rather humanity will. So this paradigm shift in my
mind, represents coming down the birth canal so that women whose natural skills
are tending, nurturing, caring, cultivating that those skills are really important.
And if we can come together as the divine feminine and sacred masculine to
impact or to liberate and to shift so that the healing and the empowerment and
the transformation occurs so that as indigenous people say, seven generations,
what we co-create and collaborate together does create a viable, peaceful
future for humanity, for the world. We can't persist. You know, that's, that's
my vision.
Tessa (21:59):
I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that. I'd love
to support you in that by putting that in the show notes as well, so people
have a place to go to, if you're feeling that call to contribute to the piece
of the world and to creating a new paradigm, the paradigm that's ready. We're
ready for that. Now I am totally with you there, Harriet. There's a place where
you can go, where you can check some things out.
Harriet (22:29):
Absolutely. And I do want to say that I have a gift for
people that will enable the journey to continue. It's called Five Essential
Tools to Lead the Revolution Toward Love, Light, and Liberation, A Spiritual
Guide for Change Makers. And so it is a journey, but we look at Soul Care, we
look at self-care, we look at creating Sacred space, the whole creativity piece
and what it means to have guidance through the journey. And when people
download this gift, then they're on my mailing list and can benefit from knowing,
okay, this is what's next. This is something that they can take advantage of,
this is how they can connect. And I look forward to connecting because everyone
has a contribution, a gift, a talent to share.
Tessa (23:37):
Yes, indeed. And so how will people find that link? Can
you just say what it is right now? We'll put it in the notes of course, but go
ahead and tell everybody where to go.
Harriet (23:48):
To the wrightresort.com <laugh> When you go to my
website, the Wrightresort.com, on the homepage you can click Spiritual Guide,
and then you'll have access to five essential tools, the Spiritual Guide for
Change Makers.
Tessa (24:11):
Fantastic. And that's Wight with a W.
Harriet (24:15):
Correct. <laugh>
Tessa (24:17):
<laugh>. So Wright Resort with a W. Okay. Fantastic.
Harriet, what is one final piece? We've gotta, you know, bring this to a close
today. I really enjoyed hearing part of your story and just sharing in some of
your wisdom here. And I'd love to leave the listeners today with one tip or
piece of guidance.
Harriet (24:46):
Okay. Thank you. Settle or soar, stress or shine, what are
you choosing today? Choose to be in community, then soar and shine together.
Tessa (25:04):
Woo. Beautifully said <laugh>. All right, Harriet,
thank you for being here, for shining and helping our listeners to belong to
something to community here on Say Yes to Your Soul. I am so happy that you
joined us today. And ladies, I want you all to just take a breath wherever you
are right now. If you're multitasking, you're running around. If you're just
lying there, soaking it all in, go ahead and take a breath and allow yourself
to imagine something new in greater alignment with your soul. All right, that's
it for today. Bye-bye for now.