How Will Women Save the World?
Let us count the ways …
* This blog is part of Absolute Love Publishing’s ongoing series celebratingWomen’s History Month and the book that honors women everywhere,”Women Will Save the World.”
Nurturing
Lorelei Shellist
“When we ask a question to our higher selves, listen to the answer, and take our own advice, a shift immediately takes place within our consciousness.”
Lorelei Shellist is a spiritual psychologist, author, speaker, minister, and life coach. In her book, “RunwayRunAway: A Backstage Pass to Fashion, Romance, & Rock ‘N Roll,” she writes candidly and boldly about life as a runway model and her struggles with her fiancé, Steve Clark of Def Leppard, as she watched him drink himself to an early death.
In the ALP compilation “WomenWill Save the World,” Lorelei shares her perspective on the importance of nurturing ourselves. Women tend to take care of others, and put themselves last. This is a great mistake. The better we care for ourselves, the more we can give to saving the world around us.
Lorelei is currently en route to India, but she took a few minutes before her plane took off to talk to us about what inspires her the most!
Lorelei: “It is just the natural loving force that lives inside of me. Love is who I am. It is who and what we are. When I tune into my heart’s work, all I want to do or be is loving, kind, and compassionate. As a human being that can be tricky, as sometimes the ego mind gets in the way. At the University of Santa Monica School of Spiritual Psychology there is a master’s program called ‘Consciousness, Health, and Healing.’ From taking that class, the most important quote I can remember is this: ‘Being of service is the highest form of consciousness available to mankind.’ Notice the word man-‘kind.’ It is just a way of being that I choose to live in this life.”
In the last year, Lorelei has been working on saving the world in numerous realms:
Education: She graduated from the Consciousness, Health and Healing master’s program at USM in August.
Lorelei: “This course brought awareness to things I took for granted. See, it’s not just a coincidence that this, or that, happened…there is always a deeper learning and reason that things occur, even the simplest ones!”
Speaking Engagements: In Fashion and Design Colleges helping art students find that “secret something” they possess inside themselves that brings unique and original ideas to their work.
Fashion: Hosting ceremonies and events including the La Jolla Fashion Film Festival, a three-day festival showcasing fashion film directors from all over the world. It is like the Cannes Film Festival but the film content has only to do with fashion and beauty.
Volunteering: There were three trips to the Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, and three community outreach workshops in Santa Barbara County, as Lorelei is a part of a team of USM volunteers for the Freedom to Choose Foundation. The team of 70 travels to these prisons and Veterans Halls to facilitate healing workshops using the skills they learned from USM. The workshops are well received as many of the women have said the volunteers visit them more often than their own families.
Lorelei: “I cannot tell you how much this service work helps me in my own life and deepens the compassion in my heart for others.”
A new workshop: I AM DREAMS WITH WINGS.
This “elective” class is for At-Risk Teens in Continuation High Schools where they earn class credits in order to graduate. Using many of her own modalities, and those she learned from USM, Lorelei teaches critical life skills, such as self-confidence, teen esteem, job interview skills, meditation, poise, posture and personal inner dialogue. She also brings the modeling skills to the class as they learn to stand straight, tall, and strong inside themselves
And she tells us more about her trip to India!
Lorelei: “This sprint to India came up on its own. I have always wanted to go there and for years I have been telling my friends, designers Lecoanet Hemant, that I would someday visit them in Delhi. I was their ‘muse’ when I modeled in Paris for the couture designers back in the 80’s. These guys were two of my favorite clients. Think Dolce & Gabbana of haute couture. Didier Lecoanet and Hemant Sagar will be my hosts in India.
“And yes, of course the spiritual guru who lives inside me has planned a runaway retreat to the Aurovalley Ashram, near Rishikesh by the Gange River at the base of the Himalayas. This part is just for me… to go inside and give thanks for the blessings I have, to meet my ‘source’ in a very diverse time and place in my life too.
“I woke up on a Monday morning ten days ago and received a message that the time was right to go to India. Within four days I had frequent flyer mileage flights, invites for places to stay, a visa, and a very light bag packed.
I’m on the runway again!”
For more essays and insights on feminine Nurturing – and all of the other characteristics helping women to save the world – get your copy of “Women Will Save the World” by Caroline A. Shearer. And be sure to check in to the ALP blog, as we will be bringing you more updates, profiles, and inspirational quotes in honor of Women’s History Month!
