It Was All a Great Idea
Until it wasn’t.
About 18 months ago, I went back to school. Spiritual Direction School. I have loved every minute of it. It’s been challenging. It’s been engaging. It’s been life-long relationship building with my cohort of fellow students. It’s been a wonderful experience. In March, I will receive my certificate and officially be a spiritual director. I can’t wait!
One of our first assignments was to establish our own practice as spiritual director interns. Whether that be applying for an LLC, creating a website, or both, this was the assignment. I did my due diligence and applied through my state’s corporation commission, and officially soft-launched My Soul Space, LLC over a year ago.
As my graduation date draws closer, I’ve started to put some posts out there on the socials, gently advertising this new venture of mine. My plan was to really put it out there in the spring, once I complete my training. And that’s when the negative thoughts started creeping in.
This is a big deal to me, and it’s also a vulnerable deal for me. I’ve had all the challenging thoughts: What if this practice I’m establishing flops? What if I’m not as qualified for this type of work as I think? I’m sure at some point in your life’s journey you can relate to those type of overwhelming thoughts.
With technical help from my husband, and a lot of emotional support from him, I was beginning to feel more and more excited about My Soul Space. And then there was an email that popped into my in-box a while back.
It was right before we were ready to sit down for dinner. It had been such a productive day of studying for school and writing content for my website. The color drained from my face, and I lost my appetite, reading the words on my screen.
It was from a spiritual director living in Washington state with a very similar domain as My Soul Space, and she also had a similar first name to mine. The email used words like “violation”, “explicit infringement”, all the scary legal words. The request was that I take down my site immediately.
This was only a request. As we investigated it more, there was really nothing I had done wrong, and technically I didn’t have to comply to her request. Still, it was quite upsetting.
As the evening rolled on, I still had the nervous feeling in my stomach. All this work, and for what? I certainly don’t want to be confused with another spiritual director, and of course I want my autonomy. Then my husband, who can be annoyingly right sometimes, said, “She does have a point. Your names and business names are way too similar, and will be confusing to people who are looking for you. I wonder if we should think about changing your business name?”
Years ago, we had bought the domain name for kristakeane.com. It has a ring to it, right? And talk about autonomy. After a few days of figuring out how to re-establish that sight, I went to work building and writing content for my new-old website.
Then another idea began brewing. What if kristakeane.com could incorporate a few of my soul care passions—spiritual direction, coaching, teaching, and crafting? After all, the website is my very own name, couldn’t it be whatever I want it to be?
So, it is with great pleasure, and a few butterflies in my belly, I introduce you to www.kristakeane.com!
When you arrive at the landing page, you will have the opportunity to go to Soul Space or Craft Place. Each section offers, what I believe to be, tools to engage a healthy life-journey of spiritual practices and life-giving care for your soul.
From spiritual direction, to spiritual formation teachings, to crafting, and creating, I invite you dive in and experience what this site has to offer.
It took me a moment for that email from a spiritual director in Washington to sink in. Could something that once seemed so bleak and defeating really unfold into so many possibilities?
Those who shed tears as they plant
will shout for joy when they reap the harvest.
The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag of seed,
will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain.
Psalm 126: 5-6
Tears of defeat, tears of disappointment, and tears of anger, all spilled out on the keyboard as I punched out new content for a new website these last few months. And then joy returned. The work of the previous season had not been a waste, but a beautiful harvest with lots of possibilities.
Welcome to www.kristakeane.com! I’m so glad you are here!
