Women we Admire; Laurel Flynn

Personal power is a complete unapologetic embrace of your divine magic. The part of you that isn't linked to performance or patterns learned from survival or even mastered and certified skills. It is the purest part of you that was formed among the stardust of your creation. Working with so many women who are free diving into their personal power and artistry of life is one of the highest honors of my heart. If you know Laurel, you know how she embodies each flicker of magic the universe holds. It isn't just the unique way she reads tarot or sees deeply into your truth to integrate a personal touch to every reading.  Her inner beauty completely matches the glowing, radiant + stunning physical beauty she possesses in this life. I am so outrageously grateful to have crossed paths with Laurel, I am in awe of her story, Her power to create and love and feel and just be her highest self in all ways. I'm excited to embark upon some really exciting collaborations with Laurel this year....and I am honored to present to all of you A woman I deeply admire, Laurel Flynn. 

What drew you into the path you are currently walking?

Ultimately, it was the death of my Mom in 2013. I was working as an actor and model in New York City but was living my life a bit mindlessly, only paying attention to what was currently happening in-front of me. Her death shattered my world, broke me as a person, and ultimately woke me the hell up. To work though my grief I began seeing a therapist who was trained in Core Energetics, a somatic therapy that understands psychology by itself is limited and that our bodies hold a wealth of emotions and events. Through working with her I became self-aware in a way that I had never been before; experiencing and understanding my feelings on such a deep scale and fully incorporating information not just on a brain level, but a visceral body level as well. This naturally allowed me to get back touch with my psychic abilities and intuition (which we all have, by the way). 

About a year after my mom’s death and for the most part at peace if I were to get hit by a bus, I was gifted a Tarot reading by my therapist to a woman in Brooklyn. I was familiar with the Tarot, as my mom read it avidly; it felt natural even though I didn’t fully understand it. But in 45 minutes this girl had made a map of my life on the table and removed any fog surrounding it. Suddenly my life had purpose and I wasn’t just walking around aimlessly “living” to live. Soon after that I began making big changes and slowly unraveling the life I had created for myself that clearly wasn’t working. Exactly one year after that reading, I had completely left the acting industry and was studying the Tarot with that same reader. 

Have you always felt destined to create in the way you do currently or do you feel more fluid in your artistry?

I think at heart, yes. I’ve always been an artist. As a young child I was an exceptional visual artist, and then in my pre-teen years I discovered performance and I never looked back. I long had pursued a career in singing which led me to New York City; ironically, it was moving there that muted the artist in me. It’s such a grind living and working there and I became so damn good at the “business” that I lost all concept of who I really was. 

After a lot of therapy and a powerful Tarot reading I gradually realized I was living in someone else’s dream (my mother, my family, my managers & agents, my peers). Though I was an artist at heart I was representing myself the way I knew people expected and wanted me to, which under further inspection went against a lot of my integrity and morality as a woman. Show business is an ugly business and the way it utilizes people, especially woman and people of color is extremely dated, untrue, and abusive. Leaving behind the dream hurt, but leaving the business was easy. Frankly, it just wasn’t me and I was still figuring who the fuck I was. Still am actually.

What makes you feel most alive?

Holotropic Breathwork? Haha, seriously if you haven’t tried it- DO IT. That shit cray.

I’d say connecting with a group of people in a completely unmasked and unwalled way. Group work is SO POWERFUL. Whether it be a healing circle, a therapy workshop, or estatic dance allowing yourself to be fully witnessed in your naked truth and to witness others in theirs is incredible. It’s fucking scary, but there is nothing more healing. It is life’s reason and purpose; Connection to others in our truth. 

When do you feel most you? Most beautiful?

Immediately after crying a good long hard cry; I feel powerful afterwards. Not in an, ‘I can lift 200 lbs’ sort of way, but a strength in vulnerability type of way. That’s feminine power. And there is a sort of magic that happens to the eyes after people cry. They say the eyes are the window to the soul. Well, crying opens that window.

In what ways do you care for yourself, and what has self care done for your own growth?

Self care to me is more about taking care of my emotions than it’s about pampering. It’s a lot of boundary setting and understanding how I uniquely work so as to keep myself happily flowing and grounded. We live in a capitalistic society that prides itself on constantly being busy and stressed out. That’s not healthy or useful to anyone personally or professionally. It sets up a situation for fast burn out, which is what happened to me when living in New York City. Believe it or not, you can make huge strides with your life and business by being more stringent on certain matters and taking care of yourself. 

What are you looking forward to the most in your next year?

Writing music and creating art with others. Yes, the artist in me is finally ready to come out and play again. But more than play, I’m ready to begin making some serious work and seeing what comes from that. Oh, and teaching Tarot. It’s about time. I’ve shared so much of my gift and story with people, now it’s time to aid them in discovering theirs in a much more methodical way.

Tell us anything you want about yourself, your offerings in this world, your business, your passion...whatever you want.

I offer 60-75 min Tarot readings both in-person and on Skype/phone call. And I’ll be teaching a 12-week Immersive Tarot workshop in end of February in Buffalo, NY. 

For information on other workshops and my work visit my website: www.LaurelFlynn.com 

Photographs by the amazing Lindsay Robinson Photography 

Hair + Make up artistry by the lovely Katie Mann of Trippy Chick Make up

Wardrobe by 1864 Boutique + The Flower Barn as well as private collection Magnolia Pearl lent by Kathy Rybacki Qualiana 

Sacred space by Kathy Rybacki Qualiana 

Ritual bath + skin care by Svanur