Interview 005: Claire Mooney
For the fifth installment of Infrequently Asked Questions, I interviewed Claire Mooney: Sourcepoint therapist, acupuncturist, nutritionist, herbalist and unofficial mayor of Logan Square. Claire is presiding witch at Magnolia House, and every time I visit her, I leave feeling like a new human; like I've shed the skins that don't fit me and I'm ready to start fresh. Claire and I share a mutual obsession with growth, and I think her words, alone, demonstrate all of her sage magic. Here's Claire.
What character stuff have you had to actively work on over the past several years?
Boundaries with my energy. I tend to overextend myself energetically and emotionally in interpersonal relationships because I see the person's highest potential, so I want to help foster that... But I can't help someone in that capacity, really.
Also, learning the difference between what my cuckoo mind sounds like and what my intuition sounds like. They have a completely different resonance, and when I listen to the intuitive voice, woweeee good shit happens and bad shit doesn't.
How are you doing on that stuff now?
Pretty damn good. The boundaries issue is still in progress. I am much better at not giving my energy away in my professional life. I am good at figuring out if the exchange is mutually beneficial. If it isn't, forget it. Learning to listen to my intuition has had profound effects on every aspect of my life, and has helped foster my truth of myself within the universe.
How would you describe your purpose?
Ha. Um... I actually don't know, and I don't know if we can ever truly know. I believe we all have many many purposes and they vary in size. Every action of ours creates a ripple in the energetic field around us, affecting everything. Some are tiny, but turn something on somewhere else we will never know about, and some appear large, and we see the effect of it immediately. But our purpose(s) are daily, even momentary.
Define your career... Then tell us how it's different than you thought it would be.
I guess I'm a healer? That seems wrong though. My clients heal themselves, I am just the conduit that is used to facilitate that healing. I connect myself to Source, I connect them to Source, and together they tell me how to help. It's highly effective and all I have to do is be present and listen... And get out of Source's way. It's awesome. I went to college to do art, I was a photographer, I thought that would be my everything. And then while applying to go get my MFA I realized it would be so unsatisfying, that it would break my connection to anything/everything else, I would be alone trying to express myself in a way that felt unnecessary.
I thought I'd be married, have kids. Totally single, got my tubes tied, and am embarking on a 3 month solo road trip... So that was unexpected!
Do you feel like you've made it yet? Have things clicked? Explain.
Every day I make it. Every day something clicks. But I can't always hear it, or know what it is. But I will never stop making it, growing, transforming, expanding, contracting, crying, laughing. If I do, I hope it is because I'm dead.
How do you think others perceive your life path? Do you care?
HA!! Wow. I think a lot of people think I am pretty incredible, the choices I've made, the way I interact with the world around me, the people within that world. At least, that's what I hear. The truth is, the funny thing is, every day, as I'm going with whatever is being handed to me, I'm just following the bread crumbs the universe and Source show me. I don't think that is special by any means, but I think I see those bread crumbs clearer than some other people, and so I transform at a higher rate and velocity than most. So sure, on a simple level, of course I care how others perceive my path, how they perceive how I live my life. But on a deeper level, no because i absolutely without a doubt know that I am doing exactly what I need to be doing right this moment.
Speaking of others, how have your relationships shaped you?
They are my biggest teachers. Every person I have loved or let love me, wow wow wow. Loving and sharing automatically creates growth within you, and being hurt and devastated is like a good ol' forest fire, killing down so new life can grow. It is a constant emotional ecosystem up in here., and it shapes every part of me.
What's your perspective on life like now as opposed to 5 years ago? 10 years ago?
From 5 years ago, I now have a greater understanding that I don't get to know the 'why' to everything, or sometimes anything, because it really doesn't matter. Acceptance in what is occurring right now is the only way to keep moving forward. Acceptance doesn't necessarily mean enjoyment , just accepting reality. From 10 years ago, I've learned that if I am feeling angst or frustration, I am creating it and I can figure out how to unravel it. And that truly accepting myself, and having faith in my own self-worth is the most important thing to me.
What are you most looking forward to?
All of my wild unknowns.
In your daily life, when are you happiest?
When a client leaves saying they feel way different than when they walked in because I helped facilitate their transformation. I love my job. I love being at work,
On the other hand, how do you pull yourself out of a funk when you're in one? And how did you most likely wind up in said hypothetical funk in the first place?
Several years ago I was destroyed by a break-up; it just wrecked me. I was blindsided by every aspect of it... I lost 20 pounds in a month (break my heart fine, but take my tits and ass at the same time? Hell no.) The only thing that helped me was to have a gratitude journal. I wrote down every stupid thing i was grateful for at that moment of despair. It pulled me out each time. When I am bummed out it is usually a relationship where there is a communication breakdown and I don't know how to remedy it. I am a big communicator and when I cannot understand someone or can't figure out how to get them to hear me, I get really sad.
Any other questions you wish someone would ask you?
Editor response: What IS Sourcepoint therapy? Where can we read more about Magnolia House? Why is Claire so awesome? She just is!