00:00 - Caro Gómez

I love the simplicity of what can connect us to our ancestors. Altars are such beautiful ways of honoring. It can be as simple as lighting a candle and thinking about those that came before you, naming their names and saying hello. And an altar doesn't have to be this magnificent work of art. There is also power in simplicity, like it doesn't need to do much, it just is.

00:27 - Alexia Usgaard

Welcome to Elevate Daily, the podcast for those ready to elevate their life, one intentional day at a time. I'm your host, Alexia Usgaard, here to give you a permission slip to unapologetically savor the beauty and richness of life. Join me as we explore modern rituals, self-leadership, the gene keys and the art of elevating your health, wealth, love and leadership. It's time to elevate. Let's dive in Hello, hello and welcome back to Elevate Daily. I'm Alexi Usgard and I am so honored you're here for today's conversation with the incredible Caro Gómez. Truthfully, this conversation felt like a ceremony of deep remembrance. Caro is a shape-shifting, award-winning artist, ancestral mentor and shaman's apprentice of the Maya Kakechi lineage. She weaves together textiles, cacao, storytelling and spiritual business to help creatives reclaim their ancestry, adorn their bodies as altars and live with sacred defiance. Her work is a reclamation of joy as resistance roots, as intelligence, and ritual as a return to legacy. Caro is also the creator of Shapeshifter, a podcast and philosophy devoted to those who refuse to fit into one box and, honestly, who can't relate to that. This episode felt like medicine, as we really did explore quite a beautiful array of topics. We explored everything from the longing so many are feeling for spiritual belonging and how to begin connecting with ancestral memory, even if you don't know the full history. We spoke about trusting your intuitive knowing without needing credentials, and reclaiming the archetype of the witch as a multidimensional lineage of wisdom. We also explored her philosophy of feeding your ancestors, not the algorithm, and how your joy might just be the most radical offering you can make. Of course, throughout the episode, I also wove in two of Caro's gene keys gene key six, which carries the gift of diplomacy, and gene key 15, which speaks to her gift of magnetism. If you've ever felt like you just don't fit into one version of who you're supposed to be, or fit into any boxes, if you're in a season and honestly, though, aren't we all in at least some way always of remembering, reshaping, reclaiming, then this episode is definitely for you. I have no doubt you'll receive so much wisdom, beauty and permission to live more fully in your truth. Caro never ceases to amaze me in the way that I really feel like she honors the full range of who we are and all that we came here to be.

03:29

So, without further ado, let's dive in with Caro Gómez. So, Caro, it is so good to have you here. It's so good to be reunited virtually, I think the last time we had our proper catch up it was in person, as we were speaking about before we hit record us frolicking around in London together, and it's a moment I really savor because I really was sharing with you. It felt like I really got to activate my fairy spirit, my playful spirit, which was just so sweet, especially because we haven't at the time that was the first time we were meeting in person, after being first introduced in a beautiful mastermind group experience together, and I'm just so honored to have you here and for all those who are listening, to get to experience the depth of your wisdom, your insights and just who you are beyond everything else.

04:25

And so something that really struck me I had the gift of really getting to deepen into exploring your body of work and I really feel this identity you bring forward, this identity of the shapeshifter. And I'll say bluntly, like when I first heard shapeshifter, I think there's a lot of there can be connotation of thinking shapeshifter means flaky. You like conform into being whoever people want you to be. Yet that is anything but what you. That is not what you're saying at all, and I love how you say that to shapeshift is not to be flaky. It's to remember that fluidity is ancestral and when I read that it struck such a nerve in me because I went wow, this is a whole new way of honoring our fluidity. So I would just love to open by hearing what this identity means to you, and where and how you really got to this place of like honoring what it means to be a shapeshifter.

05:20 - Caro Gómez

Firstly, thank you so much for having me. For those of you who are tuning in, we just had, like this weird thing happen with tech, as she was saying this question, everything shut down, and I'm just here burning a bit of Palo Santo because I'm like, ok, thank you, there's something that's happening and we're going to like welcome that in. And I think, to go to your question of why Shapeshifter and what's it been like to honor that identity and focus on one thing and niche on one thing only and be the expert in that one thing, I failed so much and it felt like what is wrong with me? Like why can't I just focus on the one thing, get like directed on that, climb that ladder upwards in an upward motion so that I can become the expert, and then all my problems will be solved, because I'll be this one person that people come to for this one thing, and my communications, my marketing, my words, everything I do will be about this one thing. Right, so my life will be easier and focused and clear. And, try as I might, I never got there. The more I try to chop myself up to fit into that particular paradigm, the less of me I became paradigm, the less of me I became.

07:09

And then one day I remember like because of course we all know this quote, right, jack of all trades, master of none. But of course that quote isn't complete. No, there is another part to that quote, but I never knew that, like you know, it was just I didn't know this. Yeah, no, I mean, I didn't know this either until fairly recently. You know that the whole quote is jack of all trades, master of none, but better than a master of, or better than a master of all, or something like that. I'm sure you can find the quote and we can like put it in properly, but it genuinely doesn't say what most of us think it says, which is focus on one thing, otherwise you won't be an expert at anything. It it was this one exercise I did exercise.

07:49

It was just me being curious like okay, what is this thing that I do, that I have this, these curiosities that I am always so willing to follow, because I don't know like. I often question like how could you not follow these curiosities? Because they're like kind of ideas and things that land in your mind and your body and it awakens some. You know, like sometimes something lands and you can feel the fire like coming through from almost like your vulva and your womb, and then it rises up and you're just like, oh my God, what is that? You know, just from this thing that landed in your body and I wrote down all these things that I'd ever pursued in some capacity. You know all of them. It was massive, it was a massive list.

08:40

But what I found really interesting about that was that all those things that I had looked at, they all kind of connected to a same root, so I call it the core root, and they had these kind of things around communications, things around movement, things around spirituality, things around adornment and fashion and textiles and colors, things around adornment and fashion and textiles and colors, and they all kind of connected to this one core root, which, I mean, I didn't know it at the time. This is only now. You know, I'm going to 41 this year and I'm starting to see like the connection of all those things is that they come, come from me, you know, from this spirit that is around us. I believe it's around us and it just drops these things on all of us, right in our bodies, in our mind, and kind of goes here If you want to do something about it. Great.

09:39

If you don't want to do anything about it, that's fine too, but for the longest time I thought that choosing to do anything about it that's fine too, but for the longest time I thought that choosing to do something about it was a weakness. And I think, growing up probably I would say, my dad wasn't really too kind of vocal about these things, but my mom had always pointed out like how I would do these things for a bit and then I would drop them and move on to something else, and it was always pointed out as a negative, and so I grew up thinking, oh, this is a negative thing, this is something that is not good about me. So really, I think most of my own sort of identity of the self has been around actually loving that part of me, not rejecting it, and so hence the shape shifting.

10:25 - Alexia Usgaard

Oh my gosh, I love the way you share about it. Cause who who can't relate? I actually would be so curious to know who can't relate with this Cause. If there's anything I feel like I've heard in so many through clients, my community, friends, is, no matter what someone's dynamic is, how all of us, in different ways, can feel like we're trying to be compartmentalized, we're like squeezed into some form of a box as entrepreneurs. To your point, oh my gosh, the amount of conversations where someone's like my niche. I just can't figure out what my niche is.

10:59

The amount of times I've explored different words and been like, okay, is it my paradigm shift? Is it my narrative? You know, it's because, to your point, I think, and even when you like sort, you know, even when you go into that devotional energy of it, it's still, can still feel like, who am I to try to squeeze myself in to this one idea? And then I'm sure I'd be so curious from your lens too, with, like, personal brands, there could be all this also expectation that so many quotes creators, entrepreneurs, artists feel that it's like now there's almost this expectation that their community is supposed to know all of whom they are.

11:37

And I don't even care, even if I tried all day long, 24 seven, to try to communicate all of the nuances and facets. Like we all have such lively worlds that we're living in and the beauty is that we can't even sometimes for ourselves have language other than through a dance or through a way of breathing with it, I feel like you just give such an invitation to allow us to expand, like that's what I love with the shapeshifter is. It's such an energy of allowing yourself to realize you are so multidimensional and so multifaceted and all of those facets work really beautifully together.

12:18 - Caro Gómez

That's really interesting when you bring the entrepreneurship lens on it, because I often grapple with this idea like, do I have a business? Is this even a business? Like, does this even make sense as a business? You know, because I share with my community the other day that and it really resonated because I know that the women that I speak to feel this way as well which, which is like my business, is actually not optimized at all, is super unproductive and it's basically the opposite of what most people would think of like a business. You know that it has to be optimized, productive, tight, you know, know SOPs, you know systems of operations or whatever you know. And, like I, I don't operate in that way.

13:10

And that's not to say that the other way is bad or incorrect or wrong. It's just bad and incorrect for me because when I tried to be that which I, I did, and of course this is one of the ways of the shapeshifter, you know, we can adapt and mold ourselves into many different things, and I adapted myself and became molded into that way of doing things and it worked like it worked. You know, I was doing the things I was showing up, I had some systems, I had support. I had, like all the things that you're supposed to have in a you know, as you build your six figure business or your seven figure business, like I did. All of them. They worked and ultimately I ended up feeling depleted, sad, because I had frustrated and severed actually so many parts of myself in order to fit this mold that it just made me really sad, I mean, let alone burnout and all that stuff. I think you know those are other things, but at the bottom of that I just felt sad and I just thought, well, no, like that wasn't the point of doing this. But I understand that I had to go through that process and many of us have to go through the process of doing it like other people, for us to figure out what is our way, you know, for us to go like, actually, no, that doesn't work for me, and then that works for me, and then you create your own way that works for you. So, for instance, a super simple one that I was like, oh yeah, that makes sense.

14:53

So at the very beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, or, you know, starting to do my own thing, I was very much into the whole Miracle Morning. It was one of the first books that I read and I was like, oh my God, this is it. This is the answer to everything. You know, the Miracle Morning, and I did it. You know, I did it for like four months.

15:15

Like I was like, you know, oh my gosh, the discipline in that woman was incredible. But, oh my God, like there is no way in hell that I could sustain that level of rigor, you know, and like structure and what that's insane, especially as I go into my 40s. I'm like, oh my gosh, no, I need long mornings. I realized that my rhythm actually begins at about midday. I start feeling like, ok, now we can get going. And I realize also that it is sometimes really late at night that I really start getting all those downloads and those like really juicy things that feel really like from another world. You know, and there's no way I could have access to that if I was waking up at five in the morning because I was knackered, it's like. So it's funny how we adopt things from out there and we forget to look inside.

16:26 - Alexia Usgaard

Oh, my gosh, I relate to you so much. I didn't do the miracle morning, which it'll be interesting for you to share with us what the miracle morning is. I just will never forget the era where I read the 5am club by Robin Sharma and bless again. What we're saying is if that is your, if that is aligned with your rhythm, rock on. I'm so similar to you, I'm a very natural nine level and it's taken me so long. Like I look back at little Lex, she was the one like, when the whole family went to sleep that my mom would laugh. But I'd like reorganize my whole room. Or like create collages in my room in the middle of the night. My mom would be like what in the world is she doing? And first off, I feel like there's a lot of room just putting this plug. I feel like there's room for someone to really rock a book on being a aligned night owl, cause I'm like I have not seen that Right, but I remember to your exact point.

17:22

I think what you named is such an important piece, which is the thing about not knowing our rhythm is. You can do it Like you were miracle morning, but then you were knackered by a specific time in the day and then I would bet to guess, then your best energy was actually never able to fully come online, cause by that point it's almost like we've exhausted ourselves. And I've seen that for myself when I've like tried to rigidly get my way through a whole system at five o'clock in the morning, I'm like I can do it. I feel so powerful. I leave there, I've got all the endorphins, and then come like 11 AM, I'm like, okay, done with this day. Um, what is anyone else doing? And how do I function, you know? So I feel you, I feel like.

18:04

I feel like you're probably like me. We're like the slow burners. We start slow, you know, we add some fire, like you know, log to the fire, but then come midday, suddenly I'm like oh, oh, oh. And then I watch all of my beloved morning people in my life who they all joke, they start to wilt at about seven and I'm suddenly like travel questions, admin, this, and they're like okay, girl, you know, but I think we need each other. I think. I think what's so beautiful about also what you share and why it's so powerful to have these conversations about rhythm, is actually we can work so well together If you actually know what each person's rhythm is. Have you seen that Like even in just thinking about how you operate, your family operates? It's like, if you know you're like that, then I'm sure you can navigate other dynamics where you're like, oh, we can lean on this person for this type of rhythm and this one for this rhythm you know.

19:01 - Caro Gómez

I think that there is something really interesting about that rhythm conversation because, of course, as women as well, you know, we look at our, our cycles, right. That's like a rhythm that sets so much for us and we know, like, well, now there is so much conversation about it, which is awesome because you do really start to understand. You know if you're ovulating, you're more willing to do the kind of the open. You know, the openness and the dynamism of things and conversations and all these beautiful things that happen at that time. And then, in luteal phase, what happens to you? Then I get really like I say shit as it is, you know, and no bullshit kind of thing. And I get, especially now, the kind of more I approach my years into menopause, it's becoming even clearer Like I have zero patience for bullshit and like what I want to do and focus on is this. I don't want to do that and it's so nice. Actually it's so nice. Of course I still also crave a lot of carbs that hasn't gone away but the clarity of mind, it's becoming very, very exciting to see what else comes from there. And then, of course, when you're bleeding, you know like, oh my gosh, like the depths of the work that comes out from that period. And you know to know already that as women, I think it's an incredible tool and to work with that rhythm is an incredible thing. And as a shapeshifter, even more, because I think people think that shapeshifting or having multi-passionate, or being a multi-passionate creator, being artist, orator, writer, you know all these things designer, you know these are things that I sort of create from this space that it means that you can't focus on one thing and therefore you won't be successful at any of the things. And really having that parallel between my cycle, for instance in a month, with all these different, all these different expressions of myself, also dictates what I'm interested in doing in that particular moment in that month. So I know that if I want to get to the truth and the heart of something, I'm going to use my luteal phase to support that. I know that if I'm going to launch an event because I work with cacao a lot, I do gatherings and we do drumming and we do dancing I know I'm going to schedule those around my ovulation phase because of course the energy is all out right and that really starts dictating a lot of what my expression becomes. So if I'm designing, if I'm kind of going into that internal creative process.

21:46

Bleeding is so powerful for that because it does come from within and I start designing and creating from that point drawing, you know, doodling, painting, you know it's. And it's really interesting because in indigenous cultures that I observe when I travel back to El Salvador or Guatemala, which I, you know, I'm from El Salvador, I was born and raised there and travel a lot to Guatemala as well. You know you see a lot of the women in the villages. They do all sorts of things.

22:16

They're never just the one thing, even though an observer from the outside may be like, oh yeah, she's the weaver, yeah, in that moment she's weaving, but she's also the cook, she's also the herbalist, she's also a healer, she's also a medicine woman that sings and paints. You know it's like all these things and there aren't, because they don't live under the paradigm of like oh so what's your niche? You know it's like they don't have that right, Like that's not part of it. So that is kind of standard and allowed and normal and kind of like. Of course, you know you are a multi-faceted being, so your expressions will reflect that.

22:59 - Alexia Usgaard

I just love that visual right. It's just like tapping in and going right. We all in our lives have so many different expressions of who we are and it just you know. Can you imagine just like someone just saw you in one moment and they were like that's your entire identity, that's everything, that's all of who you are. Yet we try to do that so intensely in business and in entrepreneurship like, oh, let me just give you the one snapshot of my brand that will explain the whole picture. You know, and how much pressure we feel and why I feel that this is so powerful is I can just only say from my own experience why these conversations have been so important for me is I didn't realize how many times I thought I was doing things wrong or I was just wrong.

23:41

I'm like why can't I just do this system the way everyone else is doing it? Why can't I just All the times? I would have that narrative, whereas the more I've come into these conversations, the more I've come back into understanding my way of being, my rhythm, which I feel like we're very linked in that I feel like a huge piece of this too that I feel in you is it's less about linear time and it's more cyclical. There's still an a way of orienting with time and I think it's so important to name that because I think so many people feel like it's going to be chaos. Well, if I don't have, if you still have, sacred structure, it's just a different type of structure and that, the more I started seeing it this way, the more for myself I started going, oh, like I found myself relaxing more, into my natural way of being instead of working so hard, and in my internal world, you know, and I'm I'm sure, I'm curious to know if you felt that and there's been like liberation on your journey.

24:41 - Caro Gómez

Yeah, I mean just hearing you explain it in that way just made my shoulders drop the moment you said cyclical, right, because I think we forget that we are animal bodies, right Before consciousness, before all this beautiful brain of ours that helps us do all sorts of incredible things. We are animals and we're part of nature, and I always look at nature as one of my biggest teachers, because you can see what happens in nature. Right, a forest, it's dynamic, it has a multitude of things going on at the same time. Right, there's like massive trees that cover all the way to the top and there's like tiny little ones that live under the ground. You know the mycelium networks that connect everything, and if we are part of that, then, and that changes with time in circles, you know, in cycles, then of course that then makes sense for me to want to emulate that, not in a copying way, because of course it's innate in us, it's been ingrained way before our conscious mind came to being so. There is this real kind of like surrendering to that wisdom of nature as cyclical and circular, and even you know now I'm really honoring that part of myself or that way of being in business, you know, normally we think of like business growth. It's like that kind of direct line that goes from you start here and you go up and you know there's dips, and then you go up and there's dips and then you'll go up.

26:27

But actually for me and I was doodling this the other day it's, it's, it's a spiral, right. It's a kind of like this spiral of you go deep and then you come upwards and then you go downwards again and then somewhere along that spiral case. If you imagine and visualize this spiral case you meet women, clients, people, kindred spirits actually who connect with that moment in time, with you. Some of them will be there to kind of let's all keep walking down that spiral case. You know, let's all keep walking. Others will kind of go, I'll stay here for now, you go do what you need to do. Then we might come up that spiral case and bring something and then come back down.

27:15

So when I look at it from that perspective of a spiral rather than a linear or a ladder, which is the other kind of visual that I think I've always had in terms of traditional kind of business structures, I am very much aware that this is what I am sharing with the world and kind of going like there is another way, especially for those of us who are witches at heart. You know, if this was another time, we would be gathering in secret because we couldn't speak about these things out. You know, my call is for those of us who are witchy, but actually we're witches, to come out and play and be like. This is how we do it, no matter how hard many people states religious patriarchy, try to stop that and squander that actually to the point that we then started to emulate what we thought was correct and made ourselves wrong for it, because we're not wrong, definitely not. We do it differently.

28:18 - Alexia Usgaard

I just had full truth bumps as you were speaking and I feel called to ask you because I think this is a very potent question for so many is they feel that inside but, like you said, I think, for a multitude of reasons, there's a lot of fear in naming it and saying it. What have you found has been really helpful in supporting someone with reclaiming, bringing her witchy witch identity out and like really honoring that cause? I would imagine this also goes back to ancestral lineage, a way to connect to that part, and I know we're going to go into that a little bit deeper in a moment, but I'm like this feels important to name, especially at this time, especially at this time.

29:03 - Caro Gómez

Yeah, so I think for me, this reclaiming of the witch. So I call myself Caro Gómez Joy Witch and honestly, I've always known that that is in me, and I think a lot of us who resonate with this also know it. And I think one of the things is you don't need to know anything about the moon. You don't need to know astrology, you don't need to. You don't need to know all about paganism. You don't need to know all about Wicca, you don't need to know all about animism. Like I had this belief that I was like, oh, but I'm not, I'm not vegetarian, I'm not a vegan, I'm not. Like I didn't grow up in nature. You know I grew up in a city, in San Salvador. You know which is a city. You know I went to a school and learned English and learned about British history. You know, like, how can I claim that when I haven't grown up with that? You know, like I think there's this kind of who do? I think I am kind of thing and my take on that and it has taken me a while, obviously, to arrive to this is is really, if you feel it inside and you know, if you feel it, it's there and it's okay. If you, I don't know drink a Coca Cola, you know like it's.

30:30

There isn't a way that one can be a witch, you know, or spiritual, or a medicine woman or a healer, you know, I, I used to think, oh, but I can't play any instruments. So therefore I'm not someone that can, you know, heal through music. But that's not true. I play the drum. I'm not a drummer, but I play with the drum. It's a difference. I'm not a singer, but I play with song. I play with my body, you know, by making sounds with it. Right, all of the accoutrements didn't exist back in the day. You know, the first, the first cave paintings were just stick figurines, so to speak, on caves and they had fire and gathering around fire and circle was about it, and percussion because of the body, and that's it. Everything else just became added afterwards. So I'm talking about going back to that, because if you have that, then the witch is inside you and is asking, begging, to come out and play, because we're playful as fuck.

31:48 - Alexia Usgaard

I just I just feel like that transmission was just medicine for myself and for so many. And I also feel like the big invitation I feel in this thanks to you is, if there's something in your life you've just been curious about, we can often immediately put it into a box of. It needs to be productive. It has to be identified as something instead of I am playing with singing, I am playing with randomly putting paint on my paper. You know I'm just playing with collage, right, like it can be so many things. I'm playing with a new sport. You know it could just be so many different types of things.

32:25

But where in your life, as a fun thing for anyone listening to contemplate, is like, is there something that, if you're really honest with yourself, you've had an inkling, you've wanted to explore?

32:36

Yet maybe you've just said who am I to think I can do that or what is productive about that?

32:40

And to just say I'm going to go play with and just enjoy it.

32:47

And sometimes I find for a lot of us it's different stages of our journey that can almost create a lot of resistance. I think, when I look back on my journey, when I think about what I've seen with others, that joy and I know you think about this joy is a revolution, it's a resistance, and I've seen it. Actually, I wouldn't even be willing to say from my own experience, I would say the quality even in myself that I've seen has triggered the most people has been my joy, even more than certain qualities, and I feel like you relate to me on this, and I feel like it's not talked enough about, because there's something about joy that feels so bold and people want to just question or diminish or like where is it coming from? Or, you know, there's so much in the world that tells us to like keep it a little toned down, you know. So I'd be so curious to hear your thoughts, especially as a joy witch, as you call yourself, and also your philosophy on joy as revolution.

33:45 - Caro Gómez

Yeah, no, I think that that particular joy is an act of revolution For me. I've had this connection with hummingbird as a spirit animal since I can remember. Um, I didn't understand it as a spirit animal when I was young. I just knew that there was something in them that always pulled me or always attracted me. I used to draw them.

34:09

Fairly often I would say and again, you know, I think people think that like, oh, in order to have these understandings, you probably grew up with it, like surrounded by it, and it's really not the case at all for me. I know for some it has been, but it hasn't been for me at all. I just knew early on that there was this real desire for me to connect with the indigenous side of my lineage. I'm also Spanish, so I carry both in me, but my first pull was towards the indigenous side of the Mayan, you know from Mesoamerica. I was about 13 when I first learned about the Mayas and about colonization and about what had happened, and it really touched me in such a way that I didn't understand it at that age and I had no one to really guide me through that process or how to understand it or how to what it meant. You know, it was just this pain inside that I felt and I cried. I remember I cried when I learned what had happened. You know, it was just this pain inside that I felt and I cried. I remember I cried when I learned what had happened, you know, and how how they were, in my view, as a 13 year old, taken advantage of and an older wisdom destroyed. And so that journey started for me then, and so, up until still to this day, that connection through this hummingbird has always been about that playful curiosity and joyousness that I see or I witness in Indigenous communities, even though their hardship, that has happened for them for centuries. There's so much joy in their dance, in the way they sing, and it's not about singing, you know, it's not about singing like Adele or anything like that. It's very, it's very playful, it's very raw, it's childlike in many ways.

36:08

I mean you speak to many indigenous people. I mean I spend a lot of time in Guatemala when I'm doing my studies there with my teacher, and there's no matter of fact as well, about stuff. You know, it's like the teacher of my teacher, who's much older. He really enjoys his rum and coke, you know, and he's considered like an elder in his community with all this wisdom and he's a shaman and he does all these ceremonies with fire but he really enjoys his rum and coke, you know, and from what I heard, like he has a couple of wives here and there. You know, you would morally question this man if it'd been in a different setting, morally question this man if it'd been in a different setting.

36:55

But I think, understanding that there is flaw in this beauty of the work that they do and their wisdom is also really important to name, and understanding that the hummingbird energy of the joy can be really life-changing when you accept it and when you allow it, in also knowing that you are a flawed human being and that I shared something not too long ago with everything that's going on with the world about how important it still was, and I felt this like fear in even sharing this, because I felt like this I was standing on this mountain, little mountain of joy, and kind of like holding on, you know, like all this shit that is going on in the world and still standing strong with this vulva, captain, you know, and my red lips and just kind of going. There's still joy in the world, you know and like, really like holding that, brooding actually as much as I could, you know, knowing that there would be people that might be like, how dare you, how dare you be in your joy with everything that's going on with the world? And I'm actually of the thought of like, watch me, you know, because it is a real dishonor to not do that when you have the capacity to do it. And your guilt won't change what's going on in the outside world. You shutting down your own joy is not going to change what's going on in the outside world.

38:34

It starts within, it starts in your garden, it starts in your home, it starts in your. Your body is your first home, right? So I double down on that one. I really do double down. And I've had conversations where like, well, isn't that bypassing? And's like you can call it whatever you want. I know what it is for me and what it is not for me, that's all.

38:59 - Alexia Usgaard

I feel how embodied you are in it, which is why it just feels, just as I listen to you, I just go. Is that just yum of truth? And I think I'm curious how you would respond to this. From my experience of joy, I know that my joy comes from my ability to feel the multitude of grief and other harder, more difficult emotions.

39:25

I actually realized, in a time in my life where I really shut down and wasn't willing to go into my grief and wasn't willing to feel some of those emotions, I couldn't tap into joy. I could tap into that, you know, classic happy, you know just like optimism, but I couldn't feel joy. And so, and even when I think about the image of the women around the circle of going through so much and having witnessed so much, especially in indigenous communities that have been through just so much trauma and just so much pain, Yet you said witnessing the joy that they share and I it kind of just further gives me that energy of I'm very curious if, like when you say you grew down into joy, cause it's not actually a bypass, it's you're saying I'm so rooted in feeling all of it and because I'm feeling all of it, I can feel the beauty of it all too.

40:17 - Caro Gómez

Yeah, oh, that just gave me the goose, the goosey. Goosey, because you know why? Because I think that's that's really a next chapter in, in in my journey, but also in in what happens when you allow yourself to go there to the darker places. So not too long ago I had an experience where I was in Costa Rica and I was working with um, plant medicine and, um, I mean, this had been a long time coming, like now I see it's like, oh yeah, that was that, that was that and, and this particular ceremony really was the culmination of about seven years of lots of these things preparing me for this and what came from that. The pinnacle of that ceremony was moth. So I mentioned I've been for the longest time.

41:12

Hummingbird has been this energy around me that I've embodied and worked with and been with. But what I hadn't seen all this time, all this time, is my inner moth. And if you think about it, the moth is quiet. The moth sits on a wall, doesn't flap her wings. You know hummingbird is constantly flapping wings, is constantly turning, constantly looking, you know, curiously going from one place to another. Moth is there. You walk into a room and you know she's there, but she's not flapping her wings around. She's not calling your attention at all, actually.

41:50

Oh, and I'm going to get a bit emotional because I had ignored that side of myself for so long, because it's hard to go there and yet there's still so much joy that I discovered the moment that I allowed myself to visit that dark place of sadness. And it was a vision of me as a maybe seven, eight year old. And it's funny because we think our traumatic events are like oh yeah, that's a traumatic event and you really think that that's it. But then it's something completely different, you know, and I think obviously this is the power of working with plant medicines it takes you to where you need to go, not where you think you need to go. And and there was me, you know, as a young girl covered in moths, and when I finally saw her, I finally saw that part of me. All those moths flew away and I just saw this young version of me, like crouched, you know, and crying, and I hugged her and I was like I'm so sorry I didn't see you. I'm so sorry I didn't see you all this time, because she was there. She's constantly there and I love it because she's been there all this time, like through music that I love through, I have this thing where I really love to work out my back. I don't know why, you know, this is why I'm so like, I love the body's wisdom, because I have this thing where, like, I love to work out my back and I love to have broader shoulders and a strong back. I don't know why, but it made sense.

43:30

Once this whole thing sort of emerged, and just before this whole thing came through, I cut my hair. I had very long black hair and then I just went, I need to cut my hair and I dyed it in this kind of like half and half thing and someone said to me, before this whole came, this whole thing came through with the moth. So you look very mothy, you know, with this hair like this, and I was wearing a black dress at the time. So I think the whole thing just got and I was like, ok, yeah, and of course this was before I had this realization. So of course, like I said, everything has been there. You know she's always been there. It's just I hadn't acknowledged her and I hadn't seen her.

44:13

So I want people to know that rooting into joy doesn't mean that you're happy all the time or you're smiling, or you're wearing pink vulva caftans. That's not. I thought that's what it was for a very long time. But in having this polarity and of course we know the power of polarity, I know, you know our people will know and understand that, right, masculine, feminine, you know light and darkness, like, but it's one thing to talk about it, it's another thing to actually embody that and feel it. And you know it might take a while for some people to really really like, feel that in their body versus like oh yeah, no, I understand in my mind the power of duality. So that's that's. I mean, it's such a beautiful question, that one, because I think it is important to understand that there is joy in the sadness. Right, nostalgia is such a powerful emotion. No, I'm so nostalgic.

45:13 - Alexia Usgaard

I'm so nostalgic, I'm so with you. I have total nostalgia. But we don't think there's actually kind of like a broody, a deep emotion in nostalgia. You know, it's easy to think of it. It's like, oh cute, you listen to songs from different times, but it's this really deep connection to songs from different types, but it's, it's this really deep connection, I think, to memory, or is that there's something deep about it?

45:36 - Caro Gómez

it's I mean this is why we all love accounts that, you know, focus on like a specific decade. Right, it's nostalgia, like, it's such a powerful emotion and why, like some shows are rooted in nostalgia, just to get us, you know, emotionally connected to it and it's, you know, it's things like you play a certain song from a certain era, a certain time of your life and you're like singing it, like through the top of your lungs and I mean I make myself cry sometimes, just from like, you know, and it's like that is such a powerful, joyous occasion to allow yourself to go there, you know. And also through the hard times of life, you know, because I mean we don't get out of this life unscathed, right, we really don't. And there are levels of things, right, and I and I always really, you know, I'm very like, mindful of like, just because other people have it more shit than you does not diminish your own shit, you know, let's, let's be okay with that, because I used to really kind of like not want to feel the shittiness in my life because I'd be like no, but I actually have it really good.

46:53

I have a home, you know, I'm healthy, like, and these other people or that other thing or that they're. They have it so much worse and and it's like yes and rather than oh, yeah, I shouldn't feel this, I shouldn't feel bad, I shouldn't complain because other people are in more difficult situations. Yes, that is true, and also, it does not diminish that you may be going through a difficult situation at home with your kids, with your parents, with your friends, with your partner, whatever I mean. I remember I wrote this post around holding a flag for the silent ones, because maybe you are not the one who's shouting out on social media about all the atrocities of the world. That doesn't make you a bad person. That doesn't make you a shitty human being. That makes you human, you know, because not everyone has to be shouting. If everyone's shouting, no one's going to be heard.

47:50 - Alexia Usgaard

I love your gift for nuance and I feel that invitation, everything you share about the and and how important it is right now I know it's something that I just really appreciate in people who I feel communicate is this ability to hold that we all have. Paradox that, like you named, you could be going through a really hard time and have these pockets of moments that make you want to cry because they're so tender and sweet. You know, I just feel like that complexity and depth of the human experience. There's just so much judgment. I find that too many of the highly sensitive, deeply creative the artists can be really hard on themselves myself included about, you know, and it can feel so complex because you're like, but there's so much more to that than just the polarizing clickbaity conversation we're seeing online and I think that's why often I think especially those who relate to being creative artists, highly sensitive, find things like content, especially on social media, quite challenging because it's not a place that necessarily and we're going to go into your algorithm thing in a moment, but I hold out I want to say something about your gene key Cause I'm like you are. It's just such a great what you just shared as such an embodiment of the first gene key of yours I want to bring forward. I just feel like I always want to land that piece of just how much it's underestimated the power of being someone right now who's willing to walk with the and walk with the nuance.

49:17

And that was actually something that stood out to me about that group you and I were part of. So Kara and I first got introduced in Africa Brooks group. That was so sacred where I think all of us walked into this group because we all wanted to see how we were censoring ourselves. And I think we all walked in thinking like I'm going to test my voice and test how I communicate and I'm going to figure out how to have the hard conversations and own my voice. Yet the whole group was so good at holding nuance that we actually couldn't even get into any binary debates, and it was just so. It struck me because it made me really realize how much it can sometimes feel for so many in the silence like a struggle to be in the middle on topics or like to see ands and the both sides of situations.

50:05

And this so beautifully brings me into your mission code. So I'm going to share Caro's first gene key those who listen all the time, you'll have heard me share gene keys and to our guests, gene keys. For those who are fresh to the gene keys, I'm going to share a few of Caro's very specific soul codes. So these codes give insights into who you came here to be and in specific areas of your life. So I feel called, especially after what you just shared, to share your mission code. So this is the code that gives insight into what you're here to do, how you're here to lead and what people are going to see you from, a brand actually share.

50:44

And every gene key has three frequencies a shadow, which is the challenge. They're here to navigate us, we're all here to navigate it. The gift frequency. And then what's called the city S-I-D-D-H-I, which is just like your auric expression. So for you, your mission is gene key six, which moves from the shadow of conflict to the gift of diplomacy, to the city of peace.

51:13

And why this feels so powerful is when we think about everything. Right, you're a shapeshifter, you're here to not get boxed into any identity, but what I feel so deeply in you, the conflict in this, is polarized perspectives. It's where the polarities go into a lot of conflict and I even think about. When I was listening to you share on one of your podcast episodes about the space you're here to cultivate is not where conflict is going to be welcomed, it's not the space for that, and I went oh yeah, you said it's a space for reverence and I'm like what a testament to you, knowing the shadow of going.

51:45

Okay, we're not here to try to go back and forth and debate on every which different perspective. It's really about your gift of diplomacy, which is holding the and which is the holding of. We can all be multiple things. Let's be curious, let's know what's also aligned to say in the right timing. You have a gift for that of knowing when's the divine timing to share certain pieces as well. And then the city of peace. As you can imagine, when we tune into all of this, is that peace and actually having peace with all the facets of who we are, because that's where the conflict always starts with, but also peace with others and be an actual connection. So, yeah, how does this resonate for you?

52:27 - Caro Gómez

Yeah, I mean, I think the connection piece is so important for me, which is why I do the gatherings and you know I do them here at home, and it's one of my favorite things to host women to come together and sit and discuss and exchange ideas, you know. And again, yes, I mean I can see that sense of diplomacy, yeah, and trying to look at things from different perspectives and what can we learn from this side, what can we learn from that side and what can we learn from this thing here, and and how do we bring that together and in a way that brings us peace, because ultimately, isn't that what we all want, you know? And so, yeah, sometimes I struggle with this whole kind of like, but pick a side. If you pick a side, that means that you're not committed to something or fakey, or whatever, and it's kind of like, well, I just don't see the world that way, like, I really don't.

53:25

And I think, growing up in El Salvador, so I grew up during the civil war and it was kind of like in my mind as a young kid it was like, oh, these are the good people, these are the bad people. But when I grew a little more and had a bit more critical thinking skills in my teens and I actually went out with a guy who was from the bad side. I realized that it wasn't, that it wasn't like these are the good guys and these are the bad guys. It was complicated and it had nuance I mean I think that's probably the best word and it was because I went out with this guy who was from supposedly the bad side that I was able to see that and humanize that. That was, according to many, the bad side, and so that really stayed with me and I think I've brought that with me still to this day, which is why I speak from that place, so that, yeah, that really resonates. Thank you so much for looking into that and sharing.

54:26 - Alexia Usgaard

Oh, when I saw it, I just went because I love seeing someone living out their code, especially in your leadership, and how important this code is, I feel, in the times we're living in, because what I feel in you is you have that gift for listening. It's creating not just your ability to listen but, like you said, you gather, you bring people together and you create a frequency where people are there to listen and to actually be open. And what a gift that is in this world we're living in, and so it was just such a gift. I'll share another gene key in just a bit, but I'm yeah, that one I'll. I just glanced and I went, yeah of course, yeah, of course Not.

55:07 - Caro Gómez

Tracks that really tracks.

55:09 - Alexia Usgaard

And so something I really find so interesting as we look at with we've mentioned in little sprinkles is what stuck with me about the shapehifter and your identity there is how much of it to me is rooted in knowing that your home is within yourself and how it's also in a lot of what I feel with you is in this honoring of your ancestors.

55:33

And so I feel, in the world we're living in right now I can speak from my experience and what I'm really watching happening right now, living in right now, I can speak from my experience and what I'm really watching happening right now there's a longing, I think, in many people to feel that connection, to meaning, to feel that connection. Like different people are stepping outside of, let's say, certain institutions and religious perspectives, or they might have aspects of that in their world, but they still want the and they still want to explore. They don't want to feel stuck in dogma and it's kind of like where do I go? What do I explore? There's experimenting with different traditions that they experience when they travel, you know. And so I'd be so curious for you like what, really like what it means for you to really be connected and in relationship with your ancestors and rooted in that connection. That's really.

56:19 - Caro Gómez

I love that and I felt that the jolt of like oh, this is a juicy one, let me, let me, let me get grounded now to share about this Cause. This, this is like this lights lights me up. Really, it really really does. And again, you know, our teenage selves are so clever Like I love our teenage selves. They know so much. Bless, bless our teenage selves.

56:42

I was 13 when I did this. I mean, it was, it was actually it was a homework from school where they said, you know, investigate your family tree. And you know, everyone did their thing, where they investigated, you know, their parents, grandparents, and did like a little, you know, like a three sheet of paper with a drawing and whatnot, photos. But that activated something in me that to this day, you know, is still active. I just loved it. I loved it. I found out so much information. I mean, at the time my grandparents were alive, so I was able to speak to them so much. I mean, at the time my grandparents were alive, so I was able to speak to them so much. I mean, if your grandparents are alive, please talk to them, record the conversations. There's something about remembering our dead once they're gone by having had those conversations, by having had recordings of what they said, stories, you know like, oh my gosh, the stories. And I recorded all of that. I made a book out of it in the end. I mean it was way beyond a three piece of paper with a drawing. I mean I, I have the. I actually I have it here. The book and it's it has original photos from my great grandparents. The oldest photo I have was from like 1892 or something like that. She was my great great grandmother and I found out that she was a healer in her local village. And on the other side, on my mom's side, I have a great grandfather who was a priest, and so a dear friend of mine Franca pointed out that you have that on both sides, and one, of course, is a priest from the Catholic Church and one is, of course, a traditional healer.

58:22

So I always find that because that is in me somewhere, you know, through the DNA, through blood, through stories, through lineage, and so I guess I carry that nuance within me because I was always so proud of one side of me and the other side I rejected so much because of the pain and the hurt and everything that that lineage had done. But in rejecting him, in rejecting that side of me, I was rejecting a part of me. So how can I say I love myself when I actually didn't? You know, I only wanted to love one part of me. So how can I say I love myself when I actually didn't? You know, I only wanted to love one part of myself, not the other side. And so I carry that nuance with me and that's obviously connects back to the whole mission of this work that I do.

59:12

And it was in understanding that through my ancestry that I was like oh wow, I mean, how amazing that these people aren't even alive anymore. But I'm still learning from them, you know, just from knowing a bit about them. I don't know loads, but I know a little bit about them. And to some I know nothing about but they're in my mind, in a visual that I've made up and that still matters, because some people kind of go to me like, oh, but I don't know anything about my ancestors, great, great grandparents, great. We always know a little something. We always know a little something. But if you know nothing and all you have is a visual in your mind that you've made up, trust that that making up is also valuable. We call it made up like it's a bad thing, but it's actually a remembrance. So let's not devalue that, let's not pretend like that doesn't matter, because it does.

01:00:12

And I think that the more of us who are able to connect to that part of ourselves, those that came before us, I promise you you're never alone. When you're becoming an entrepreneur, when you're doing art, when you're doing anything that you're doing, there's always a squad behind you, a spiritual squad, as I call it behind you, supporting you and being there for you. So I know, like when I share some of the things that may, you know, cause people to be like, oh my God, what are you saying? Or you're bypassing, or any of you know, when something that I want to share feels a little bit edgy, I have this whole thing, this whole ritual where I call them in and it's like, okay, this is what we're writing today together. Right, it's not just me, it's all of us, and so when I share it, I have the capacity to hold whatever pushback comes because of that, and people don't really think much of our ancestors.

01:01:13

Of course, in my culture, you know, we have a day where we celebrate them and it's like a whole thing culture. You know we have a day where we celebrate them and it's like a whole thing. But I'm saying this is something that can be fundamentally life-changing for the work that you're here to do, especially if you're someone who leads with purpose and legacy and who cares about the work that they do, actually supports others, and that you're in reciprocity with the community, with the world. You know, if you care about those those things like really having a relationship with your ancestors, it's, it's a game changer and it has nothing to do with funnels, it has nothing to do with strategies and, and you know, productive hacks, productivity hacks and miracle mornings and 5 am clubs nothing to do with that. It's way simpler, accessible to anyone, anywhere, and it's, it's right there, like it's. It's there, you know, and and it's like. That's why I'm just like.

01:02:18

This is why there's so much spiritual orphanhood in this part of the world, in the West, right, this is why we get a lot of people from the West going to the Amazon, going to Southeast Asia, to find themselves.

01:02:32

Because we're so rich in those parts of the world with this kind of work, with ancestry, with connection to nature, connection to the unseen, we're so rich, such a privilege that we have, but here in the West they don't have that privilege and so they go elsewhere to try and find it, forgetting that there's so much in this land as well, because these rituals, ceremonies, indigenous people exist all over the world. It's not just from Latin America or Southeast Asia or Africa, you know, it's all over the world. So my invitation, really as a matter of urgency for all of us, is to connect to our own land, to our own backyard. I mean, I always say I've lived in London now 20 years in the UK and there is so much wisdom in this land. There is no way that I would be doing the work that I do now had I not landed here and visited some of the sacred places in this part, this little island, and like that.

01:03:38 - Alexia Usgaard

There are so many others to explore in the west and I think we forget that here and I'm kind of like I'm gonna help you remember yeah, I'm just letting you land for a moment, I'm like I love the way you name the importance of honoring the ancestors in the Western world, because I think it even I can just speak for my own journey it's the there's just such a lack of information, all right, what I've experienced of, okay, where do you start or where do you go, or where do I see it. You know, I think that's where, to your point, you go, and there's this natural curiosity. People travel to different places because suddenly, to your point, you go and there's this natural curiosity. People travel to different places because suddenly, to your point, it's so seen You're like wait, there's this whole way of experiencing ritual that's so vivid and I get to just see it in daily life.

01:04:32

You know, I think you know, in so much of Western culture what I've had to realize. I'm like I always loved holidays and traditions and all of those moments where the family comes together. Yet so much of it is rooted, as we know, in so much capitalism and so many other narratives that really lacks that deep ancestral wisdom of honoring land, honoring each other, honoring life, and so what I feel like you're really calling forward is, no matter who you are, there's ancestry which I think it could be easily forgotten, like how important it is to really honor the land you know and to follow that. I love what you named to like to follow the curiosity again, to like allow yourself to trust, like one little step. I think if there's someone who's listening, who's like Caro, I honestly just don't know where to start. I'm really I'm disconnected. I just don't know where to start, like what would you say is a really beautiful invitation for that person.

01:05:31 - Caro Gómez

So come and follow me Honestly. You should, though I will say I will.

01:05:36 - Alexia Usgaard

I will say, if you, I second that.

01:05:39 - Caro Gómez

Yeah, no, I will say I will. I will say, if you, I I second that, yeah, no, I will. No, I will say honestly, it's, it's, it's so simple. I mean, I had this argument, argument, discussion with someone on a comments on a thing on Instagram, because I don't know. He was questioning me something around like how can you measure energy? And I said, said a light bulb, what that measures energy. And I was really simplistic on purpose, right. And so this person went on and on and trying to challenge that in trying to say how much I was missing out, because maybe you should go and look into the esoteric traditions of the Southeast and blah, threw a bunch of words and a bunch of stuff and I was like thanks so much for being so concerned about what I'm missing out.

01:06:26

I appreciate it and I love the simplicity of what can be spiritual and what can connect us to our ancestors. We overcomplicate it because we think we need to be all these things in order to do that. It can be as simple as lighting a candle and observing the candle and thinking about those that came before you. It could be as simple as naming their names every now and again and saying hello, hola abuelita. Hello grandma. Hola abuelito, hello grandpa. If you know their names, great. If you don't know their names, that's okay as well.

01:07:10

I mean, altars are such beautiful ways of honoring those that came before us and an altar doesn't have to be this magnificent work of art. It can be, and I absolutely love that shit. But there is also power in simplicity. Like the moth right, it doesn't need to do much, it just is. But you can do hummingbird as well. If that's what you fancy, you can. I mean, my altar has all sorts of things, from domino pieces to bills, to beans, to corn, to lavender and again trying to honor the land that I'm in, to bring a little bit of this and a little bit of that and make something new, the syncretism of things. So it doesn't have to be complicated. I find a candle. Really that's like the beginning.

01:08:07 - Alexia Usgaard

There you go. That's how simple it can be. Light a candle and, like you shared, honor all these incredible invitations that Caro so beautifully just shared, and I also really you already started to click on it. I'm like I just want to double click. Do you do anything in particular to honor the ancestors of the land in which you live? If they're not, so you know, I think there's a lot of mixed conversations on if someone's an expat or they're living in a different place and I know you, of course, moved to the UK. How do you relate to?

01:08:37 - Caro Gómez

that I go and visit.

01:08:39

Go and visit the places. They're there, you know, waiting for you, they're there. I think the other thing that's really important to mention with all this work is it can be very inconvenient. Okay, this is highly, it can be highly inconvenient. This, all this stuff. Yes, you've got to take a train, you've got to go to the station, buy the tickets, see the train tickets, da-di-da, book it, go Like, invest the time and the energy.

01:09:09

This is when we speak about reciprocity, right, yes, amazing, cool to have the ancestral squad with you when you need them. But what are we doing to say thank you, right, what are we doing to honor them? And this is why, you know, in the altar I put like all these things, because I know you like these things. You know, like my grandpa used to play dominoes, so I put, so I have some dominoes there as a kind of thank you. You know we light the candle as a kind of thank you. You know we light the candle as a kind of thank you.

01:09:41

We go and visit the places. So, say, here in the UK I visited quite a few at the beginning because I was curious more than anything else. You know, I've always been one. To land somewhere and then want to go and see it, explore it, just to kind of, I think, is to get my bearings a little bit. It's about safety as well, like something happens, you know where's my escape, kind of thing.

01:10:09

But then it becomes really intentional. You know, there is incredible places here in the UK. If someone is here in the UK in Cornwall, there's this place called Senecton's Fall and I have the poster here opposite the poster of the woman from El Salvador weaving the fabric, because, again, it's about honoring folks. I come from there but I live here now and I mean many of us are from one place and live somewhere else. We marry partners from different places so we end up. So you do got to take the time and the energy and the money to go and connect with those places, like this land is holding you and sustaining you. So this is how we say thank you.

01:10:55 - Alexia Usgaard

I love that such a big piece of our conversation today has been letting go of convenience being the metric we're here to constantly try to optimize, and honoring that to truly live a sacred life in this way isn't convenient in many ways.

01:11:13

It asks you to really be moved and I feel like this kind of goes into the final piece I really wanted to bring forward, which it really struck me when you were talking about the ritual of you creating content or creating something, and what I felt in that is this energy of when we're trying to, let's say, create something or lead something by ourselves, in disconnection to our ancestors.

01:11:38

It's like there's so much energy because we have to move ourselves, there's so much we have to protect about who we are and like there's so much more pressure.

01:11:45

I find, and what I felt in you with that is when you really feed your ancestors, when you really connect with your ancestors, you are moved and in that there's so much more of like the protection and like the actual sense of connection that I think we can spend so much time searching for through a like, through a share, through these other metrics that we can get lost in. And so I'm just curious I know you have this beautiful way. I think your line right is fuck the algorithm, feed your ancestors. I loved how you shared with me that message and I'd love to know what that really means to you and how it plays out into how you're showing up in your day-to-day life and how you're leading and expressing and being an entrepreneur, being an artist, being a mom, holding so many identities that you do, and doing it in a way that is not always the most convenient and that is not always what's the most productive.

01:12:44 - Caro Gómez

You know, oh my gosh, it's. I think that is the first thing like we need to if, if this is something that appeals to you and this way of doing things appeals to you, we accept that it's highly inconvenient, it's very slow, it's not gonna pay you in five months, eight figures, I don't know. I'm sorry, I'm saying something really like you know, because I know a lot of the conversation is around like how quick can you make the money? This is not that definitely so. If that's what you're after, this, this will not serve you really well. It might serve you, but it's really an acceptance of letting go of that idea of things happening tomorrow super quickly and super seamlessly, because this is not that. If you're okay with that and you can accept that and you can be like, yeah, I'm okay with things taking time, I'm okay with things being really highly unproductive and things being highly inconvenient in many cases, then cool, let's, let's continue to to have this conversation.

01:13:52

So for me, that line about fuck the algorithm, feed your ancestors is about that kind of letting go and surrendering of the funnel and the optimized way of getting people into your funnel. I mean, I honestly I think of funnel and all of a sudden I'm just like I want a swimming pool, I don't want a funnel. I relate, you know. I mean it's just like, and honestly, honestly, like I get it. I know this is the way people speak and it is to, you know, explain something and that it up. But I'm like and this is what I love about being 40 now, it's like I don't give a shit if that's what it's been done all the time and that's the way it's been all the time, like I'm not playing that game. I don't want to. And so I often say you know, when you sign up to my newsletter Piñatas and Ashes, you won't receive a welcome email because I haven't done that. Okay, so it's fine. Like, if you're okay with that, then welcome, you know. But if you need a welcome email, then I'm sorry, this is not the place where you're going to get it. You know it's those small things, but actually they make me so happy because then I don't have to think about that, which is not where I want to spend my energy. I want to spend my energy connecting with kindred spirits, with inviting you to like, do really beautiful things where we can go deeper into the work of spiritual orphanhood and ancestral awakening and bringing that work into your life, because I know when you bring it into your life, your kids, your partners, your friends, your community will also benefit from that.

01:15:35

And so a really beautiful example it just dawned on me because I just shared this recently to my newsletter is that it dawned on me that one of the things that my mom to my grandmother and it's always the same flowers, it's always the same market where she buys them, and it's a ritual because it starts at like six in the morning she goes there to get the flowers with my dad. That drives her, always picking the best flowers, not the shitty ones, because that's not, that's not what my mom would do and she packs her car with the scissors, the watering cans and she drives with my dad the two hours, sometimes with uncles and aunties to come along, but it's always her. This is her Like. She's always done this and she puts the flowers on the grave and cleans it and just make sure there's no leaves. And when I was there, when I was little, I used to also clean, you know, and there's like a massive Jesus on the grave.

01:16:46

We're not religious at all and my mom wouldn't consider herself spiritual, but yet she has been doing this one thing for 40 years. No, no excuses, you know, and it really. I was like wow, that's probably the most spiritual person I know. She doesn't have altars, she doesn't burn Palo Santo, she rolls her eyes at most of the things that I do because she's like what is that? But she does that one thing once a year, consistently, and I'm like that's pretty amazing. That, to me, is the embodiment of fuck the algorithm. Feed your ancestors.

01:17:27 - Alexia Usgaard

It's so beautiful because, to your point, it lives in all of us Whether you have words to describe and there can be such a fixation on all of our languaging and how we identify and what we say we are. Yet you can see it in your mom's actions. But she shows up and she's feeding her ancestors year after year, not because it has to mean anything to anyone else or it has to be seen a certain way, it has to be just for her own connection, and I feel like it's just such an invitation to everyone to trust that it lives in all of us and think about all the things that we all do repetitively, just in general. We have different things we're doing repetitively. The question is, is there intention? Is there joy? Is there that sacred element? I think this is what I feel so divinely in what you bring forward. Is that?

01:18:19

And it also the last gene key I was going to share with you, which feels really just aligned with so much of our conversation today. So you, I don't know if you know, but you have two I look at. The first thing I look at in someone's blueprint is if they have a dominant theme, so if they have any gene keys that they have multiple times. You actually have two sets of gene keys twice but the one I really wanted to bring up today is gene key 15, which moves from the shadow of dullness to the gift of magnetism, to the city of fluorescence. And it's in both your health code so what's really going to support your vitality and also in what's called your SQ code. It's really linked to your self-love and like spiritual connection to love. And so much of what this is about, which just feels so aligned with our conversation, is moving from that shadow of dullness, of disconnection from your creative spark, from that inner aliveness, from that connection to nature, to that the shadow plays out, where you don't want to slow down, into the real rhythm of life.

01:19:25

And the gift of magnetism is like that deep harmony with nature, that deep harmony with all facets of your enthusiasm, and you're just finding the magic in the most mundane expressions, like nothing isn't magical.

01:19:42

And then the fluorescence is just that deep trust and surrender into the wild nature of life.

01:19:48

And when I just feel into so much, I'm like, oh, of course this aligns so much as one of your dominant themes Because I can see in the invitation of so much of what you're bringing all of us into is noticing in the spaces like where we might be disconnected, where we might not have like really allowed ourselves, in your terminology, to tap into our ancestral awakening, to really see how guided and supported we are. And then that magnetism is to like see how there's so much that we're here to dance with this interconnectedness to nature, to the elements and to animal guides like you brought forward. Like that's such an alignment to that gift of magnetism is to see all beings as deeply meaningful it's not about anyone being better than anyone else and then, like that fluorescence and just that deep trust in, like your wild nature and not always doing the convenient thing but trusting like each true curiosity, is guiding you to what's of highest service next. So yeah, how does that resonate with you?

01:20:50 - Caro Gómez

Oh, that sounds so like me you know, like I can really like yeah, that definitely makes sense. You know, and and I think something really that goes back to what you were saying there about how we do these things all the time you know, if you especially these connections to our ancestors, our grandparents, you know, if they're no longer with us, or our parents if they're no longer with us, you know or great grandparents, or even dear family friends. You know, I think we often forget that there's others around us that would would have been part of our lives and they may may have not been direct blood line, but I think we also need to remember them. And you know, when we share, share stories, when we cook as well, you know there's a lot of connections around food. You know certain things that you used to eat, that maybe you ate at your grandparents house, that you know it reminds you immediately. Right, that's a way of connecting as well. You know, that's a way of honoring it.

01:21:55

And again, it's just like if you're gonna cook that dish that reminds you or connects you, then it's like gracias, you know, thank you for this recipe, or for this dish that I learned from you, or this cookie that I used to eat when I was at yours, you know, like and this is why I'm, I'm, I'm always like, interested in maintaining our human, our humanness, our humanity, or humanity. You know, like my, my grandma used to give me coffee I know, it wasn't a bad thing at the time, I was probably about seven and and sweet bread, you know. And so for me, those two things together it's like immediately I go back to that time and so whenever I have that, it's like this is for us Abuelita, you know, this is for us grandma, and I enjoy it in a much different way than if it was just like let me have the sweet bread and the coffee, you know. Right, just a moment, to kind of go like oh yeah, I know why I do this, you know, I know why I love this so much, because it reminds me of insert name.

01:23:04

You know, we live a fuller life like that, and you really start seeing the repercussions of living that way, not only in your business, in your, in your calling, you know, because a lot of us were doing this work. It's a calling, really a calling that pays, of course. It's a calling and it's a legacy and it's a body of work, and so when you start tapping into that source that it's always there for you. It's so interesting that you said the magnetism, because the more I delve and tap into that, I can see opportunities just landing on my lap that were not even close to a couple of years ago or a few years back. So yeah, there is so much power and magic in there and, like I said, it's available to all of us. It's just about learning how to work with that energy.

01:24:00 - Alexia Usgaard

It feels like this beautiful ritual you've just invited us all to connect to. There's been multiple rituals sprinkled throughout this conversation, yet the one that I'll because our last one is this gratitude to take a moment. If you're like you shared, if there's something you're doing that connects you to an ancestor, to just take that moment, to feel a moment of gratitude. You know, while you're eating the meal or while you're enjoying a song, or while you're just doing something that, like, if you flash back, brings up that, that joy and that expression, and I just love that. So that's just a ritual I wanted to just ground as a invitation is it can be.

01:24:36

I love the way in our conversation, you've given such a remembrance to the power of simplicity and I think that really, in so many ways, is the antidote of so much of what we've spoken about, about, like, the business world and the entrepreneurship world, and why, like when you were saying funnels, just like, I'm not going to do the welcome sequence because all of it is rooted in just so much complexity, oftentimes, like you've got to do this and then this, and then there's this thing and then that tag, and you know, and I just feel like you're just really bringing us back into the joy is in the simplicity and it's in that connection and I know that you have an incredible offering out in the world right now that you're inviting people into. It's so aligned with our conversation. So just I would love to ask you where can people connect with you if they're feeling deep resonance, like what's the best way?

01:25:21 - Caro Gómez

So, um, so the the offering is called ancestral awakening and it's taken me like almost three years to actually like publicly share it. It's been within me all that time and it's it's fascinating how long it feels in regular time, like linear time that that is, but then going back to that circular, cyclical time, it's actually yeah, it totally makes sense. You know, it takes nine months to gestate a child. So, of course, you know, to gestation period, they're growing, you know, like nurturing it a little bit so that it can breathe and grow and maybe walk a little bit better without kind of it's. It's about that long really, and so that's happening in September. It's an online space, so it's obviously open to the world and and it's a 12-week uh experience where we'll be basically tapping into all of this um work around ancestry and how do we do it, and building an altar and working with cacao as well, so you'll receive some cacao so that when we gather, we're connecting to the spirit of cacao as well as um doing this ancestral work. So it's going to be amazing. I'm super excited, so come and join. I think you'll put probably on the show notes the link and all that so you can find out there.

01:26:48

But then also Instagram is a place where I hang out again. You know, I kind of come in for a bit and then, when need a break, I just leave, and then I come back when I'm ready and then I leave again, and that's kind of how I do it. Yeah, there's no kind of exact rhythm for that, but it's just following that, that cyclical way really, and honoring that. So, yeah, come, come and visit me there. It'd be so nice to see you. No welcome emails, but definitely you're welcome in my world.

01:27:26 - Alexia Usgaard

Well, thank you so much, Caro, for this conversation. I feel like there's still so many goodies we could explore and I trust I'm like, oh, this is so rich. You've left me with so many contemplations and beautiful invitations to explore. And I, this is so rich, you've left me with so many contemplations and beautiful invitations to explore, and I'm just so grateful for who you are, for your commitment and devotion to your body of work, to how you show up your voice, the way you share and the way you're just a walking permission slip For so many. Thank you, alexia. So I really am grateful to know you, to walk with you, to walk with you, to dance with you, to be in joy with you. It's been the absolute pleasure to be here with you.

01:28:06 - Caro Gómez

Thank you so much for having me and likewise, I see you and you're like this light in the world, so it's so beautiful to witness.

01:28:17 - Alexia Usgaard

Thank you so much and for those listening, we hope you take a moment as this is something Carol's really invited throughout the conversation to not rush, to see if there is a moment you can give yourself to maybe go light a candle now, to find a way to just be and maybe really reflect on your biggest takeaway from this conversation and to share with us. We're both on Instagram to share with us. If you feel called, anything that like really has stuck out to you, something you discover, whether it's tomorrow or a month or a year from now, is that the gift of this type of content is it gets to be around. And until next time, I hope you elevate your life one intentional day at a time of time. If this podcast has added something meaningful to your day, it would mean the world to me If you could take 30 seconds to do these three things.

01:29:10

First, please follow or subscribe to elevate daily on your favorite podcast platform. When you do, you'll never miss an episode and it helps us keep bringing you the intentional inspiration you love. Just tap the plus sign or click follow on the show page wherever you listen. Second, if you're feeling generous, leave a quick five-star rating and review. Your words mean so much and help others discover this space where we elevate our lives together and finally share this episode with someone who could use a little elevation today. And, most importantly, thank you so much for being you. Thank you for being here. We're really on this journey together. Until next time, I hope you elevate your life one intentional day at a time.