“Who is Halina Goldstein?”

I’m 58 years old and I live and work  in a little town at the Danish Riviera. I work globally (as a personal and spiritual growth mentor and teacher) via the Internet,  Skype and phone. Anyhow, here’s how it looks like from above:

Unlike most other citizens here, I live alone and spend more time alone every day than many others do in a week. To be honest, I never expected it would turn out that satisfying. On the contrary: I have spent much of my life struggling with and fearing loneliness.

So what helped me not only to survive several of life’s  storms (such as losing my country of origin, my home, my language, my friends, my parents, my brother, my husband) but also to find my safe harbor?

They say practice makes perfect… and yes, life gave me plenty of opportunity to practice and grow through loss, grief, separation and fear.

They say time heals all wounds, and it’s true… but only to some degree. There are millions of people around the world who live and die with wounds half healed, with chronic emotional pain, because they left the healing to time alone.

We all have some special magic within us, and mine is simple joy of life, I guess. I’ve seen it in my parents (who lived through the Holocaust and had all reasons to not feel joyful at all), I’ve seen it at the very beginning of my life, and I’ve seen it restored as I moved through a life-long transformation.

For most of us, transformation and inner healing doesn’t happen just like that. It certainly took a lot of work for me – personal and spiritual.  The latter is an open, experienced-based inner spirituality, not any specific religion or tradition by the way.

Anyhow, some of it was hard, hard work – and it was all worth it.  Much of it turned out to be a very interesting and inspiring journey.

It enabled me not only to find meaning, peace and happiness but also to create (and keep on creating) the life that I really want and the work I love. Here’s how it emerged in its present form:

I’ve been mentoring and teaching in a number of different ways and places since the beginning of the 1980′s.  Around 2012/2013 I experienced a sort of death/rebirth in that arena. I understood that it was time to focus the essence of my entire life’s work toward a specific group of people.

I was pondering it for a while. Who would need to learn how to transform loneliness into a joyful life alone? There were different possibilities. However, my inner voice didn’t guide me to any of them. Rather, my intuition led me to create a global resource for widows.

To say that it surprised me is an understatement. I mean, even if I have followed my mother’s  widowhood closely (and a few others too), even if my sudden divorce had strong resemblances with death, even if I have lived in the shadow of death since I was a child, even if I have lost most of my family, I’m not a widow myself.  So I  tried to disregard it as some sort of inner mistake. Meanwhile that inner voice only got stronger (that’s why they name it a calling, right? ).  So finally, I surrendered.

I’m glad I did. Not just because it feels right but because there are so many widows needing this. Widowhood (and death in general) is still a strong taboo in our Western culture, and there is a great need for more inspiration, education and support, especially from the perspective of personal and spiritual growth. Because it can take you beyond loneliness and hardship, to liberation, to fundamental inner peace, to lasting joy.

My work and this place is dedicated to inspire, teach and support widows on their path from grief to growth.

I envision this project to move through a number of phases. In the beginning I will be sharing my own work. Eventually, I’d like  to add contributions from other teachers, coaches, mentors, writers and artists as well.

Regardless of your background, if you feel this is the right place for you, I warmly welcome you on this journey (for as long or as short as you’d like).

Warm greetings,

PS: Just so that we’re clear on that: I’m not saying that you absolutely have to live alone all your life. I’m just saying that you can if that’s what you choose. You can create a satisfying, happy and peaceful life either way.

PPS: If you’d like to know more about my educational and professional background , here’s my LinkedIn overview (forgive me if it’s not completely up-to-date)