Living on “DST: Divine Standard Time”—with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and Victoria Jackson
"Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
Dear Friends,
At the end of last year, I was surprised to discover that I had unintentionally memorized this Rumi quote…
When I run after what I think I want, my days are a furnace of stress and anxiety.
When I sit in my place of patience, what I need flows to me and without pain.
From this, I understand that what I want also wants me, is looking for me, and attracting me.
There is a great secret here for anyone who can grasp it.
I received it as a reminder to let go of grasping. Still, while I understood the secret intellectually. I was curious how to embody it.
To borrow a phrase from my latest Fast Company interview with Godmothers Founders Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and Victoria Jackson, my question emerged on DST—Divine Standard Time, as Jennifer says. Our conversation centered on the art of allowing, even amidst complete uncertainty.
Victoria and I talk a lot about the felt truth and allowing and emerging. As opposed to making something happen, we find that balance between letting it happen and making it happen. But, not forcing or controlling.
It has been a journey in trusting the universe and following what I call the breadcrumbs. When I follow the breadcrumbs, everything is always going my way, because I’m going in the direction of the flow. It’s not always easy, but it’s always simple. It’s never let me down.
I remind myself of this philosophy—allowing and emerging, rather than forcing and controlling—whenever I feel attached to a specific outcome. The real gift, though, is to believe in DST and that your future is unfolding for your highest good.
This mindset not only inspires a greater sense of flow in your life. It expands your sense of possibility.
Our dreams are often constrained by the limits of the stories we tell ourselves. By loosening our grip on them, we create space for new possibilities to emerge that are beyond our imagination.
It reminds me of an affirmation spiritual teacher Micheal Bernard Beckwith shared: “I am available to more good than I have ever experienced, realized, or imagined in my life.”
Jennifer and Victoria couldn’t have predicted that they’d be seated next to each other at a dinner party. Or, that it would lead to the creation of Godmothers: the beautiful bookstore and cultural gathering space they recently opened in Summerland, California. Still, because they’re attuned to the breadcrumbs, they were ready to follow them when they manifested.
DST is predicated on our willingness to surrender and “trust timing,” as a dear friend taught me. It helps you shift from grasping to enjoying the journey instead. Poet Rainer Maria Rilke captured this when he said…
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
In our conversation, Jennifer and Victoria discuss listening to your inner voice, navigating transitions, and why you should ‘try easier.’
Now, consider a question that you’re seeking to answer. For a moment, close your eyes and let go of that desire. How might your energy change if you found beauty in living the question itself?
With love,
Jenna