The Hidden Cost of Hiding Your Spiritual Gifts | Why Playing Small Holds You (and Everyone Else) Back

What if staying “safe” is quietly costing you your joy, your purpose, your voice? In this episode of The Femme Cast, I pull back the curtain on the real cost of hiding your spiritual gifts, and why stepping into your truth isn’t just about you, it’s about the people who need your guidance, healing, and light.

I share the messy journey of leaving the logical path behind to follow intuition, creativity, and soul-led work. From awkward moments to small nudges before sleep, we explore how emotional alchemy, trust, and brave visibility transform fear into impact. Your gifts aren’t just a personal calling. They’re a ripple in the collective.

If you’ve ever found yourself feeling unseen, over-performing for approval, or shrinking your voice to stay safe, this episode is your invitation to stop hiding. Learn why starting small, trusting synchronicities, and embracing your unique modality matters more than perfection or audience size. I get unapologetically honest about the sacrifices, the doubts, and the infinite rewards that come from claiming your gifts and living unapologetically.

This is for the woman who’s ready to move from fear to fulfillment, to embrace her power, and to finally show up in ways that make a difference. Emotional alchemy isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the bridge from hiding to being seen.

Your next step? Lean into your voice, trust the unfolding, and know that the world is waiting for what only you can offer. 

Chapters

• 1:24 Welcoming Back And Setting Intent
• 2:21 From Fear To Motivation
• 4:28 Life Before And After Awakening
• 9:02 The Hidden Cost Of Staying Small
• 11:29 Your Gifts And Collective Impact
• 15:00 Starting Small And Building Trust
• 18:17 Support, Abundance, And Nonlinear Paths
• 23:04 Nudges, Signs, And Quiet Moments

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:42

Hey you guys, what is up? Welcome back to the show. I'm so excited and grateful that you're here. Last week was our last episode was a bit of a tangent when we talked about, you know, the discomfort of owning your spiritual gifts and and, you know, kind of the fears and the anxiety that that can that can bring about in someone. And I recognize that those fear, fears and anxieties are there and they're relevant and they're valid and you know they they come up for each and every one of us. For each and every one of us, obviously it'll be different. But I kind of wanted to give you a motivation to get past it today. You know, because it's always easier. It's it's easier to say, it's easy to say, well, you know, nothing to be afraid of here, nothing to be afraid of there. But the reality is sometimes the fear does stop us dead in our tracks. And I think that sometimes when we see what's waiting for us on the other side, it can be so much more of a motivation than me just sitting up here and telling you, yeah, don't be scared, right? So let's look at what not stepping into your spiritual gifts is keeping you from. And and and all the amazing things that can happen as a result of you finally fully owning those gifts, right? If I look back to who I was before I stepped into my spiritual gifts, I thank God every single day that I am not in that life anymore, that I am not in those relationships, that I'm not at that job, that, you know, I I recognize there was other things that I was supposed to be doing with my life, tapping into my healing arts, tapping into my creative gifts, tapping into all the things that, you know, over the last 10 years have brought me so much joy and fulfillment, right? That's not to say it's been easy. It's not. Like the practice, the impractical road is not always the easiest road, but I would take it time and time and time again. Like I would still choose this every time over the path that I was on, because the path that I was on was training me. It was burning me out. I was constantly working. There was no joy, there was no fulfillment. There was nothing, there was nothing in my life that was sparking my soul and making me feel like, yeah, this is it. This is the path. You know, if anything, I was actually moving through life, always thinking, my God, there's got to be more to life than this.

unknown: 2:55

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 2:55

And that's, you know, we'll get into more of that as we talk more about purpose work. But you know, when when spiritual gifts is your purpose, is what you're here to do, when when he says sharing healing messages or your healing gifts or your your intuition or your stories or your experiences or or whatever, if that's part of your purpose, you are missing out on so much fulfillment if you don't share that. So much. And you know, it really helped me to break free from this life that I thought I chose, but now when I think back, like I thought I chose that life, and I chose the job, and I I chose you know the roles I applied for, and I chose, you know, how I showed up to work every day and you know what I did in my spare time. Yeah, I I made all those choices, sure. But as I look back now, I think, but that's not the life that I really would have chosen for myself if I knew what else out there was available. I would never have chosen that path, not in a million years. But it's because from my limited perspective, that was the logical choice. That was the choice that made sense. I didn't know there was another, I didn't know this, whatever this is right now, this, you know, being being being in the space that I'm in, creating content, having a podcast, you know, working with people and and and healing and coaching and and and intuitive work. I didn't know that was an option. I didn't know that was a thing. Had I known, I might have I actually had I known before I kind of woke up to my gifts, I probably still would have chosen the same thing because it wouldn't have made sense to me. It would have been completely logical. That's crazy, that doesn't happen. Like you're fucked. No, like this is this is the path that we're on. But it wasn't until I truly woke up to these gifts and and and this whole other calling that was on my heart that I realized that's not the path for me. This is the path for me. So, as difficult as it's been, as difficult as you know, making that change was I would choose this again a thousand times. A thousand times I would choose this and not be where I was because I can I can say without a shad like without a shadow of a doubt, there's nothing about that life that I miss. In fact, I think back to those times when I was in that life and I think, oh, you poor thing, like you were so unhappy and you didn't even realize it, you know? And I I I can remember like jumping through hoops, trying to get ahead, and and in my head I was thinking I was doing all the right things, but I didn't realize how much, how far from where my my soul, uh what my soul actually wanted for me in this life, how far I was from that. And so, you know, one of the cost is your joy, your peace, your your purpose, your fulfillment. And that is a huge price to pay for not stepping into your gifts. Huge. Because when you step into work that fulfills you at a soul level, your life becomes so much more meaningful, and the work that you do becomes so much more meaningful. And the way you help people and the way you show up in the world becomes so much more meaningful. And I wouldn't trade that for anything, you know. Even when I've done this part-time, because for the most part, I've I've really done this part-time and I've still kept working, but I still kept devoting time to my art, to my gifts, to my spirituality, to my craft and whatever it is that I want to create and put out into the world. And I couldn't live without that. Like people have asked me so many times, like, how do you do it all? Like the caregiving, work, podcast, like, how do you like find the time? Like, why, like, don't podcast, like take a break. And it's like that to me brings me so much meaning and fulfillment in my life. I can't imagine my life without it. Because it's, it's, it's, it's helping me share a part of myself that, you know, maybe all these other avid, all these other things that I have going on doesn't give me the same freedom to do that. It doesn't give me the same freedom to, to, to just kind of, you know, go off the cuff like this and just share something that's on my heart to share without, you know, having to, to, to, you know, squeeze it in with all these other roles and responsibilities that I have going on. You know what I mean? So for me, it's been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world, honestly. And the other part to that is really, you know, not only for your own fulfillment, but when you think of the cost of, you know, like I said, if there's somebody, if if there's a message on your heart to share, if there's heal, if there's a healing gift that you're meant to share with the world, a s a story, your intuitive gifts, your healing gifts, your experiences, you know, whatever that is, whatever your art is, whatever you're being called to create into the world, if you don't share that, you're not only impacting your joy and fulfillment in this life, you're now impacting other people, especially when it comes to spiritual gifts, right? When we're talking specifically about spiritual gifts, if you're meant to guide people, if you're meant to heal people, if you're meant to help the collective move through a transformation, and you're not doing that work, like you're not just holding yourself back, you're holding all the people back that need to hear what it is that you have to share. The people who need you to actually, you know, show up and be visible with your gifts, be visible with your healing, be visible with your guidance, be visible with all the things, all the spiritual tools and gifts and techniques that are being, you know, that are wanting to be expressed through you right now. It's because people need it. You know, whether it's because you're meant to work with them one-on-one, whether it's because you're meant to do, you know, just speak to them and and and and and be a voice, right? To to through the chaos, to help them like guide them through the chaos, whether you're meant to do energy healing work, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter in some way, shape, or form, if your spiritual gifts are coming online, it's not just for you and your own fulfillment, it's because somebody out there really desperately needs it. I every I don't believe anything is a mistake. I believe everything in this universe is by divine design, and I believe that we're all playing a part, a small part in a bigger collective consciousness, a transformation, an evolution that we're all moving through. And I believe that those of us who have spiritual gifts are here to help other people move through that evolution, right? So just think for one second the cost of you not sharing your gifts. If your whole, if you're not sharing your gifts, and there's people that are meant to, that you're meant to guide through their own evolution and they're not evolving, and maybe they're meant to help other people through their not evolution evolution. So if they're not evolving, they're also not helping the other people. Like, do you see where sometimes if we're not doing the role that we've been, if we're not, if we're not doing the part that we've been sent here to play, it has impact, it has ramifications, right? If you can think of, you know, I always think of humanity as I think of humanity as a higher like being in itself, where each and every one of us is a molecule or a cell, and each one of us is supposed to perform a certain job. Now, let's just think of it, you know, if you think of it as, if you think of a body, right? When cells start don't perform their certain functions, what happens in the body? Disease happens, right? If cells don't clear toxic materials, we get disease. If cells don't digest food properly, we get sickness or upset or, you know, whatever. I believe that humanity is almost the same thing on a different scale, where each and every one of us is a cell, and each as a cell, we're supposed to perform a certain function within the body to support the greater health and well-being of the body. So when we don't perform whatever that is, we create disease, right? And I do believe that we have an obligation when these spiritual gifts come online for us, we have an obligation to pay attention to what's coming through. Now that's not to say that you're supposed to like, as soon as you open up to your spiritual gifts, you're supposed to hop on a podcast, have X number of followers, and start speaking to the collective. You know, maybe it's in small ways. You know, maybe you're just helping your family or your friends or your community, or maybe you start, you know, you start small and just sharing what you're moving through, what you're experiencing, what's coming through for you, and trust that you'll be guided and led to the people that are meant to find you. And that's kind of how this unfolds. It always just starts very small. Like we get overwhelmed thinking that we're gonna be talking to like a massive room full of people, or we're gonna get on a microphone and suddenly like millions of people all over the world are gonna be listening. It never really happens like that. It always starts off very small. So you can like tiptoe your way through the process. Like it's not gonna be this daunting thing where you're suddenly speaking to so many people, right? Imagine speaking to one person or two or three, right? Initially. And eventually everything kind of evolves. But, you know, the huge cost to not sharing your spiritual gifts in the world is that, is, is your own fulfillment and, you know, the way in which you're supposed to help the collective move forward. And I think ultimately, ultimately, you know, when all is said and done and you finally fully step into your gifts, I do believe that we get supported in ways that we never thought was possible. When I look at the last like 10 years of my life, there's not a logical reason why I should have like survived like the last 10 years. It made no sense. But when I tell you, like abundance showed up, opportunity showed up, like I was well taken care of when it made absolutely no sense to the logical mind that I would be taken care of. And all while, you know, having this lifestyle that, you know, 20 years ago, I didn't think I was available for. You know, I didn't think was available to me. I didn't think it was possible to have, you know, the freedom to travel, the freedom to take care of my mom and dad when, you know, as they were getting older, the freedom to kind of create all this content and do this amazing work and be in this creative space. You know, none of this made any sense to me at all back then. You know, back then it felt like I had a ball and chain to my corporate job. And I felt like even if I finally made enough financially to feel good and solid in what I was doing, I would never have the time to enjoy it because I would constantly be working. And when I wasn't working, I was burnt out and I was sleeping from not working, you know? And so like it was it was a very unfulfilling way to live. And I I I can't stress this enough. Like, I would never in a million years ever go back to that. Even though there was so many times on the journey, I've always said, and I've I've spot I've spoken to other people who have have gone through these moments where you think, do you ever wish you could just kind of go back where you like before you woke up to like the truth of who you are and and your soul and what you're really here to do? Do you ever wish you could just go back to that sweet little denial and pretend like you didn't know all the shit that you know right now? And sometimes when the journey is hard, because there is moments when the journey will challenge you. I, you know, I I have thought that and I've thought, oh fuck, I wish I just go back to just like, you know, ignorance is bliss, man. Ignorance really is bliss, but that's only when it got really hard. Now I wouldn't, I would not trade this for anything else in the world, you know. If anything, I think that I thank my lucky stars. I had the courage to follow what was going through, what was coming through me. And even though it made no sense, and even though it was totally logical, and even though I was leaving behind my practical life of, you know, planning and strategizing and, you know, doing the logical thing and moving up the corporate ladder, burning it all down, traveling through Southeast Asia for six months, you know, I always laugh, you know. Uh I always I always make this joke, floating through Southeast Asia with flip-flops and a sarong, and and really giving myself the time and space to really get acquainted with my spiritual gifts and get acquainted with my higher consciousness and and and and and just go through this experience of allowing, you know, what was coming through me to just sort of be revealed and then to slowly start to share that with the world and see the evolution that that took. I wouldn't trade that for the world. Not to mention, you know, the amazing people that I've met who do similar work, the amazing people I've had the pleasure and the privilege to help on their journey, the people that I speak to every week on this podcast and in my socials. Like I wouldn't trade that for anything. And that has brought me so much fulfillment and joy that that old life could never have brought me because it was almost as though I wasn't living it, it was I wasn't living from soul. I was living from my logical mind and what my ego told me I needed to do in order to be a functioning adult in the society that we live in. It wasn't anything that brought me any joy or fulfillment or passion into my life. And I remember when I set out on that journey to go when I went to Asia, and I remember when I had, I did my jewelry making class and I did this ring because my intention for my life after I blew it up was to create a life that was filled with love, passion, and courage because I felt like that was those were the three things that were missing in my life before I, you know, basically burned it all down. And I remember I engraved a ring. I'm gonna see if I can find it where I had engraved love, passion, and courage on the ring. And it was just a simple silver band, and I had engraved it, I believe it was on the inside. And and I've done exactly that. And it was because I had the courage to kind of follow my spiritual gifts, to follow my soul was guided, where my soul was guiding me to go and what what what you know path it was guiding me to take. And, you know, even though I didn't know the way forward, even though, you know, I didn't know, I didn't, I no longer had a five-year plan. I didn't even have a one-week plan. All I was doing was putting one foot in front of the other and allowing myself to be guided in a direction that otherwise would have made no fucking sense whatsoever. And I just trusted it and I trusted the unfolding. And as I leaned into my spiritual gifts and my intuition, like all of that evolved and it took on a life of its own and it it became its own sort of its own entity, right? It's own sort of it it created its own identity, and and and and and you know how I how I present that and how I share that with the world is unique and it's it's it's its own. It doesn't, it doesn't look like anybody else's. And I think that many of us are going to be moving through that experience in the coming weeks and months. And I think that you would be doing yourself and the collective a wild disservice if you did not follow those nudges when they came to you. And they'll probably come to you in those moments that are quiet. It'll come to you in those, you know, those nights when you go to bed as soon as you hit your pillow before you're about to fall asleep, or the moments when you wake up, right? They'll come to you in those moments when you're surrounded by people that you always felt connected to, and suddenly they're having conversations and you feel like you're having this out-of-body experience that's telling you, I don't belong here anymore. You need to pay attention to those because those are the moments that really man, they can knock your socks off when you pay attention. So just take note. Take note of what those moments are telling you. Take note of note of where they're guiding you, and take note of the changes that they're guiding you to make, and take note of where it is that they're asking you to lean in, lean more into, because that's where your gifts will be revealed to you. And it's important to trust them when they are, and even though it feels like, oh, but I'm not an intuitive and I've never had to do this work, and I'm not an energy healer, and I'm just trust. Energy healing is an art that can take on so many different forms, whether it's you know, energy healing with your hands or with your words or with song or with voice or with speaking, and and there's so many ways that there's so many different shapes that it can take. And I think I don't even believe we've even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to the healing arts, to be quite honest. And I think we may actually even see some very new modalities coming to the surface in these next few months. So just trust what's coming through you and trust that you're prepared and trust that you know enough, and trust that if it's coming through you, it's because it's a medicine that the world needs right now. All you need to do is lean in and take what put one foot in front of the other and see where it wants to take you. And don't get attached to anything along the way because everything is going to unfold in the most beautiful way as you go. So that's all for now, you guys. Let me know. I'm really curious about this one. If anything spoke to you, if you're experiencing any of the things that I talked about, please let me know. You can reply in the comments. You can email me at Maria at the femcoach.com. You can DM me at the femcast on Instagram. And of course, if you love this episode, please leave a positive rating and review on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you're seeing this. Until next time, you guys, massive love.