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Episode 8: Every Moment is Sacred
31 Plays1 year ago
In this episode of The Sacred Self-Love Podcast, I open up about the profound lessons I’ve learned from recent losses on the farm. These moments have reminded me just how fleeting and precious our time with loved ones—human and animal—truly is. I share personal stories that highlight the beauty and sacredness of every connection, no matter how small.
I also dive into the recent TikTok ban and explore how its ripple effects are felt even by those who aren’t on the platform. From the ways it challenges our ability to connect and share to the broader implications on freedom of expression, we’ll discuss why this matters and how it ties back to the importance of cherishing the present.
Join me for an episode full of reflection, connection, and love as we honor the sacredness of every moment. ✨
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Transcript
Valerie's Introduction and Connection to Nature
00:00:05
Valerie Vazquez
Aloha and welcome to Sacred Self Love. I am your host Valerie Vasquez. For any new listeners, I am an ordained and certified spiritual healer, minister, and earth steward. I live on a 10 acre farm in Hawaii with my husband.
00:00:25
Valerie Vazquez
my son and our I don't even know how many animals and birds we have at this point but it's definitely a lot and I spend a lot of time out in nature and I also really really enjoy being able to now honor my needs and and myself and the understanding of how we are all both human and sacred.
Balancing Social Media and Self-Worth
00:00:59
Valerie Vazquez
And so when I say honoring myself, I am really realizing that I have put a lot of pressure on myself.
00:01:12
Valerie Vazquez
And I think that you know that's something that that we are taught and that we are also you know on this spiritual path. It's like once you realize and you and you get to a place where you you just want to share because you want others to know that it's possible to live here on this planet without suffering, that that's a choice, that you came here to learn lessons that are going to be extremely painful. But once you awaken and know that it's a choice to suffer, you know, that's, that's really all you want to do. And I am, I've put a lot of just headspace into this, like, how do I, how am I in service to others? And
00:02:13
Valerie Vazquez
It has frankly like, it's it's been a struggle. I mean, if you've watched me on social media, you've seen how many times I've like created this Instagram and created this and done this and like I'm doing this and I'm doing that to try to be in service. And and really what I've realized is, you know, i'm every time that I get caught up in it that I'm not doing enough, it's like come back and realize that you are, you're doing enough.
Impact Without Followers
00:02:42
Valerie Vazquez
Not everything has to be on this huge scale. you know it If you look at, let's say, social media, for instance, you don't have to have 100,000 followers to be making a difference in the world. You don't have to
00:03:00
Valerie Vazquez
you know, write a book immediately or do all of these things immediately because what I'm realizing more and more is that every day that I wake up again, I'm continuing to learn more lessons and have deeper awarenesses.
00:03:18
Valerie Vazquez
And I just kind of jumped in talking here. But if if you are listening to the podcast, if you could subscribe, that way you will get these episodes. I am releasing them. My goal is once a week.
00:03:36
Valerie Vazquez
but I also am giving myself grace for when things come up in
Farm Life Unpredictability and Acceptance
00:03:41
Valerie Vazquez
life. um You know, like just this morning, our little, one of our little mini cows, Big Red, he was, he got through the electrical fencing and was in the other pasture and we didn't realize, but we just heard him mowing and then we were like,
00:04:00
Valerie Vazquez
Oh, buddy, how'd you get over there? And it's something that on the farm with as many animals as we have, we don't really, ah you you just don't really know. Like for the most part, it's peaceful, but there are times where things can go awry and you don't know. And so I'm just giving myself that permission to,
00:04:29
Valerie Vazquez
honor the fact that when life happens to not put this extra pressure on on myself. I know that if I have listeners, they'll be patient because they know my
Confronting Death and Appreciating Life
00:04:44
Valerie Vazquez
lifestyle. and So yeah, this episode is ah about how every moment is sacred.
00:04:55
Valerie Vazquez
and this really deep awareness came to me. Living on this farm, it has been one of the greatest and most painful places I've ever lived. And when I say painful, it is because
00:05:23
Valerie Vazquez
on a farm with animals animals, animals die. And they, and we've had, we have lost every kind of, almost every type of animal that we've raised here, almost every time.
00:05:39
Valerie Vazquez
And for a while, that really got me down because we are pretty protected from death in our society.
Cherishing Life and Overcoming Fear of Loss
00:05:52
Valerie Vazquez
It obviously happens every single day, but it isn't something that is just, you know, we don't really talk about it a lot. We we just aren't around it as much.
00:06:09
Valerie Vazquez
as like, let's say for instance, India. They have, you know, pyres on the side of the road and ah just death has been something that we have been taught to fear. And I believe that that fear comes from sometimes not really truly knowing what is gonna happen next. And so we cling on so much and we have so much fear around death that it's just not something we even wanna have in conversation with others. You know, maybe even talking,
00:06:49
Valerie Vazquez
You know, I've had conversations with my kids. I'm like, so when I pass, I want to, you know, I tell them my wishes and it's like, I don't want to talk about it. And it's like, but it's part of life is death. And that's something I've seen a lot of here on the farm. And there has been some extremely painful moments and So I had to actually work with a coach for a little while after a series of pet losses and animal loss and losses occurred here and I was just like so disenchanted with the farm. I was just like, well, if this is how it's gonna be, I don't wanna do this. It's way too painful.
00:07:45
Valerie Vazquez
And I really had to come to terms with that we are not promised anything. It's a gift to have the presence of every animal, of every bird, and even more so the humans that we live with, that we choose to be around, that we choose to be in relationship with.
Making Moments Sacred with Loved Ones
00:08:14
Valerie Vazquez
and I believe a lot of times because I know I've done this have taken that for granted I've taken relationships like with my husband for granted or times when I'm just spending you know moments with my kids or with Anyone really, you know just you take it for granted and I We know we are not promised tomorrow. But what does it take to really have that awareness and that desire to make every moment you have with people that you love sacred? Well, it takes
00:09:12
Valerie Vazquez
you being in touch with yourself and deciding what is the most important thing in this moment. I have 30 minutes with you. What am I gonna do? Am I gonna be on my phone and be distracted by shit that doesn't matter? Am I gonna be worried about this last TikTok ban and consumed into that?
00:09:43
Valerie Vazquez
Or am I going to give you my full attention because I have this 30 minutes with you right now before you leave to go to town? And to be honest, we obviously know. I mean, I might, I might not ever see you again. I had extremely severe abandonment, wounding.
00:10:07
Valerie Vazquez
And I remember before my husband would leave and see he had an abandonment wounding too,
Embracing Love and Gratitude in Marriage
00:10:14
Valerie Vazquez
but his was, it's interesting how we have different types of ways that we develop. Like the abandonment wounding has different attachment attachment styles. And um my husband was very avoidant and I was,
00:10:33
Valerie Vazquez
anxious and I think it switched back and forth, but my role to him was always before you leave, please tell me goodbye and kiss me goodbye. And the times that he wouldn't, I would kind of come unglued because I was i was transported back to the times where people left and I never saw them again.
00:11:02
Valerie Vazquez
and now that that feeling isn't there and we've also already crossed through those like we've learned each other's deep childhood woundings and we try our best not to push those and hurt the inner children that we you know have we we really honor that and understand that about each other and so now it's just you know I I was sitting on
00:11:36
Valerie Vazquez
We were sitting and having coffee on the lanai the other day and our cat Jimmy was sitting on my lap and um I was just petting him and I just had this you know deep emotion come up and I just At this point, when I feel emotions, I just let them out because I'm not going to question them anymore. What's the point in questioning why this is coming through? I'm just letting it out. So I just sat there and I just started crying. And I was like, looking at him and I was like, every time what hit me was every time I'm petting this animal, because he's like our
00:12:24
Valerie Vazquez
He's like the sheriff of the farm, this this male cat we have. He's so freaking great. He follows us around all over the place, out in the orchard. He you know hunts rats for us. the Dogs are scared of him because he's just the boss. you know um um He's smart. like He doesn't go in with the cows and he doesn't go in with the sheep.
00:12:46
Valerie Vazquez
um but like he does around 12 to 2 in the morning he goes out our front gate we watch him on the camera and he walks down the road and I'm always just like gosh I wish he wouldn't do that you know But the thing is is that i can't I can't control him. I can't control any of the animals and what they choose to do. I can't control any of the humans and what they choose to do. But what I can do is I can just be like, whoa, I am so freaking grateful that you were here this morning, that you made it back into the world. the gates of the farm and you're on my lap right now for morning coffee. I'm so grateful. And I just, you know, these tears were coming through and I was just like, every time I pet him, I'm like, this could be the last time I pet you. So I'm going to freaking enjoy this. And so then this is where that hit me with my husband, Chad. I'm like, dude,
00:13:53
Valerie Vazquez
I am so grateful for you and I love you so much and I want to look at you in this way. I want to look at you and I want to look at every other relationship I have like this that I'm so freaking grateful you're here with me right now. This could be our last time.
00:14:16
Valerie Vazquez
So now that is what we have adopted into the time that we're spending together like these moments are truly sacred. They just are. I'm so freaking grateful we woke up together this morning. I'm not going to take it for granted anymore. I'm not going to take any of it and I'm not going to take anything out on you any anymore. Like what's the point?
00:14:44
Valerie Vazquez
I don't know it's just like this deeper level of acceptance that has occurred between my husband and I and for me just this deeper level of understanding how precious our lives are and how sacred they are and and really truly coming back to what is most um important.
Social Media Censorship and Truth
00:15:11
Valerie Vazquez
What are our priorities in life?
00:15:14
Valerie Vazquez
And this is where the, that self-love, it comes into play in everything we do. It's the slowing down. It's the eliminating things that are not important in our lives, that can feel like they're important, but they're not.
00:15:42
Valerie Vazquez
Like, I'm just gonna go into this a little bit, because there's a lot that's going on in 2025 already. And something that just recently happened a couple days ago was that the temporary TikTok ban, and I just want to briefly touch on it.
00:16:08
Valerie Vazquez
If you're not someone that was on TikTok and you feel like it is it doesn't affect you, I'm not here to try to convince you that it does, but I am going to say that any time that our government steps in for censorship, it does affect you.
00:16:31
Valerie Vazquez
because if you are on other apps, you're not getting the truth. And you are literally kind of like watching the news through filters, through censorship, through propaganda. And so with the major apps, like with Meta, for instance,
00:17:01
Valerie Vazquez
that is a highly censored, those platforms are highly censored. And so, and it's so difficult because it's like, everyone is on the Facebook. And some people are on the Instagram, but everyone's on the Facebook. And so it's like, you almost feel obligated to be on it. But it's also just like,
00:17:29
Valerie Vazquez
Yeah, it's it's it is ah feeding you ads and feeding you things that you want to see. you know It knows, it's it's formulated an algorithm based on your preferences. It shows you what what you wanna see and it hides the truth. And um one of the things that I enjoy about TikTok is that because it wasn't censored and I know you that with everything we take sides and there's always a lot of opinions and there's always a lot of rumors about why it was banned in the first place and if you just do some research some real research you'll see that a lot of the things that were being spread around were very false because
00:18:20
Valerie Vazquez
It was, we didn't have our our data. Our data has been safe for years. um But it was the censorship that wasn't you know allowed. And I wanted to just tell you something where it made me really see the difference.
TikTok's Role in Truth Dissemination
00:18:39
Valerie Vazquez
It was when the Lahaina fires happened in Maui and I talk about this pretty often because it was so close to where I live and also I got married there and it's just like a ah that the island is very special and when those fires were happening You didn't see a lot of what was really going on on Facebook and Instagram. You didn't see how the other islands were boating in supplies.
00:19:21
Valerie Vazquez
And, you know, we were gathering everything that we could because boats, you know, local families that had families there were putting things on boats and driving them over, like even, yeah, just the delivering items because the people in the fires were cut off from food supplies, from shelter, from clothing, babies, diapers, all the things, right?
00:19:50
Valerie Vazquez
um You weren't seeing on those two apps that the government and in the ah Red Cross and the different organizations were literally stopping people and not allowing them to give things to their ohanas, to their families, to their friends.
00:20:16
Valerie Vazquez
But on TikTok, because it wasn't censored, people that were there were literally able to show in real time what was going on and what was happening. And so that's just one example. There's so many examples of how that platform has been able to show people the truth of what really happens that we can all be blind to.
00:20:47
Valerie Vazquez
because we are hanging out on apps that are being censored and we don't realize what's truly going on. And this isn't to put people in a fear-based state, but I believe it's important to know the truth because a lot of people are really truly awakening right now.
00:21:12
Valerie Vazquez
And the more that people can awaken, the more that people can start you know healing and start becoming more sovereign away from this victim consciousness.
Disconnecting for Clarity
00:21:23
Valerie Vazquez
And so I believe that anything that that we are censored with, it's almost like we can become numb to like what really goes on in the world. you know um And it's so crazy how these apps also just
00:21:43
Valerie Vazquez
take you from one thing to the next thing to the next thing. You know, we started the year off with the LA fires. And then now we're having this TikTok ban. And then, you know, we're having this inaugurate, like all of these different, it's just like one thing to the next thing to the next thing to the next thing, the all of these different distractions. So I'm just going to wrap this back around to, I noticed within myself that I was like, wow,
00:22:14
Valerie Vazquez
I'm ready to take a break from all of this. I'm ready to say screw you social media because you know if if it's getting me like in this place where I mean, I feel like I'm at a place now where I can see that this is the distraction. This is the illusion. And this is what people this is what keeps people in fear and separation and the anger and all of these different things.
00:22:44
Valerie Vazquez
And yeah, it is frustrating that this band took place and that probably we don't really know now what has happened. I mean, yes, the app is back, but I can promise you this. It's different.
00:22:59
Valerie Vazquez
There's changes within it. And so is it owned now by America and like which billionaire? like I'm not against any people. like I'm not one of those people that is against. I don't think the people that are rich are evil. I think anyone can have bad or good qualities. But like you know who owns it now and blah, blah, blah? I'm not going to get into any of the conspiracies. There's always conspiracy theories about everything.
Showcasing Farm Life on YouTube
00:23:26
Valerie Vazquez
not going to go down rabbit holes like that I just know for me it's like when things get a little bit too crazy I just am like you know what I'm off this I'm off this social media so speaking of that if you are listening to this podcast the thing that would help me the most if you feel like you have gained any insight or you feel like someone else could, if you could share it with someone else, um that's how I'm really spreading the awareness about these messages and and this podcast is just sharing it with someone else. And yeah, it's okay if you share it on your social media.
00:24:04
Valerie Vazquez
I'm just gonna lay low for a little while with that and play outside on the farm. It is, you know, time for me to start seeding so that I can have some springtime veggies growing. So I'm really gonna be playing with plants and herbs a lot. And um really just the time that I have here, you know, with my husband and my son on the farm who are so amazing, who are, I just love how much they ah love it here too. They're both earth signs and so they love being outside and we love creating projects together and you know working on the animals and there's just a lot of really great things that we're doing on the farm this year.
00:24:54
Valerie Vazquez
And so we we are doing, as I'm talking about getting off social media, I'm so funny. um We did create a YouTube channel for Healing Hearts Family Farm where we're going to do some educating and of course showing cute animals and um educating on the different fruits we have and all the different things, you know, we're going to take it slow but it feels like a fun family project for us to teach what we've learned here as well as just the slower lifestyle that we do have on the farm the way thing we do things a little bit differently since we're all on a healing journey so if you do want to follow us on healing hearts family farm on youtube we're there and so yeah please subscribe share if you could give me
00:25:49
Valerie Vazquez
give the podcast a five-star rating and leave any comments.
Final Message on Self-Love and Sacred Moments
00:25:55
Valerie Vazquez
Just remember that every single moment that we have here, even when it feels hard,
00:26:09
Valerie Vazquez
even when there is so much uncertainty, even when there is pain, even when you just don't feel like you can. That moment is sacred and you are sacred. I believe in you and I know that you can come back to the truth of who you are with some self-love, some regulation, some breathing.
00:26:40
Valerie Vazquez
So I'm sending you so much love and I'll see you soon. Aloha.