The Art of Holding Both: Healing Isn’t Easy, It’s Alchemy

RACHEL LAFORCE
Nov 6
3 min read

We’re obsessed with “next chapters.” New jobs. New identities. New seasons. But most of our learning, our integration - our true embodiment happens in the between. When the old version of you is still whispering and the new one hasn’t fully landed.

Shocked is no one, since I have a podcast called HEALING IS HILARIOUS, but apparently, creating a sketch comedy show is a lot like the in between. I like to call this the sketch-swap season. When I was working at The Second City, when we would turn over an old show and begin writing a new one - the old didn’t close and the new one started. No, we allowed the old one to service us. It was a space to run the old review while testing new material. Night after night, scene by scene, the old dissolves while the new quietly takes shape. And suddenly - seemingly without warning - a new show would debut. I honestly have found no clearer and more accurate way to teach the practice of alchemy at this point LOLZ. The true practice of holding two things at once.

That’s what’s happening in our collective nervous system. We’ve done the journaling, the shadow work, the reparenting - but still, emotions rise that make no sense to the new us. Friends - this isn’t regression; it’s rehearsal! The practice of alchemy is learning to feel your fear and hold your sovereignty in the same body.

True power isn’t the loud kind. It’s the quiet capacity to be misunderstood and stay anchored anyway. It’s letting people talk, letting timelines shift, and refusing to trade your peace for performance. Your ability to hold both your pain and your power - at the same time - is the assignment. That is the art of alchemy. And like any craft, we must practice it to master it.

Journal Prompts:

What old sketch (pattern, title, or role) is ready to retire - and what new one wants stage time?
When was the last time you held your power and your pain without trying to fix either?
What part of being misunderstood still feels unsafe to you?
How can you redefine action so it aligns with rest, not resistance?

Takeaway: The reward isn’t the “yes” or the “no.” The reward is your ability to self-heal in real time.

This episode poured out of me. A sign of what is next for me. No more second-guessing myself. No more editing my power as a means of “staying safe”. As safety is an illusion anyway. I have spent so many days, nights, years - overediting myself in an attempt to be understood. But friends - I didn’t have a show in hell at being understood. And how could I have? When we’re unclear with our message - when we’re unclear with who we are and what we want and what we will accept - we will continue to receive that in return. I trust in the shifting of the old with the new. And my prayer for you is that you will too. Alchemy is freedom. It’s power. Claim yours. I know I am.

As always, tune out, tune in. Love you, mean it. Rachel

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