015: Life after divorce – Martha Clarke

By Tegan Marshall

The Fearless Females Podcast - Episode 15 - Martha Clarke

Subscribe on iTunes

In this episode:

In this episode of The Fearless Females Podcast your host Tegan Mathews interviews Martha Clarke who shares:

How she overcame the devastation of divorce
What it was like to take massive action and start again
The tools that helped her get through it
Her journey to astrology
The importance of having fun and living in the moment

Tegan’s Take Aways:

If your dreams don’t scare you then they aren’t big enough
Start small and take baby steps, just do something and you will get there. The baby steps do add up
Once you know how to do something, the next time is always easier
Journaling every day will give you clarity, calmness and help you to become more grounded
Live in the moment, laugh a lot and remember to have more fun

About Martha Clarke

I have had a life-long love of astrology, ever since the age of 12, I remember totally “connecting” with someone who went on to become a close family friend over the decades, about the fact that we were fellow Gemini’s. She explained some of the rudiments of astrology to me, and a lifelong fascination was born. I recently did her chart for her and was not a bit surprised to discover that she had THREE planets in the sign of Gemini – just like me! No wonder we connected when I was only 12 years of age!

So what does astrology bring to your life? For me, understanding the planets and how they interact in our chart has given me answers to be found nowhere else. Astrology has revealed to me a higher purpose in my life than I ever thought possible, and through astrology I found the courage to walk a path previously undreamed of.

A path which included moving to Italy in November 2014 on a one-way ticket with two suitcases and a rucksack. I had a master plan in place to help me manifest my new life here.

However, the Gods had other plans and my master plan went out the window within six days of arriving here….!

I also came, however, armed with a WILL OF STEEL to do whatever it took to manifest my life here! (That was my Uranus Saturn transit folks!)

And so I have….I now live a life beyond my wildest dreams….in my beloved Lucca.

I specialise in family charts and also locational charts. In my spare time, I love nothing more than to show visitors around my beloved Lucca. It is both a pleasure and a privilege to do this.

Contact Martha Clarke

www.marthaclarkeastrology.com

A Gift for Listeners From Martha Clarke

The opportunity to learn more about astrology and yourself with a complimentary ten-minute mini astrology reading with Martha Clarke. Enter your details below and Martha will be in touch with you with the details for your reading.

By entering your name & email address we agree we won’t share your details with anyone! Martha Clarke will contact you with the details of the reading plus you may receive the occasional emails from Martha Clarke. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Show Notes: Episode 015: Life after Divorce – Martha Clarke

Martha Clarke’s Fearless Story

The biggest challenge I suppose was nine years ago when I got divorced
I was living in Wales and I moved back to Ireland
And found I was starting my life a fresh
That was far and away my biggest challenge
I had been married with four daughters including three step daughters
When I came back here my daughter went and lived with her father
That was quite unexpected
So I went from being much needed in the family home
To just living by myself and starting all over again with only a few friends that I had in Ireland

How did you get through that?

One thing that helped me was I did a counselling course
It was a seven-month course and I got a lot of support from the people doing that course
I had also started working with my astrologer at that stage and I had been having a once a year astrology session with him
That was a very long journey but he very much helped me discover what my true life’s purpose was
It took a good few years but I got there in the end
I also started doing photography and after leaving my job after a year and a half I developed that more
I also bought a boat quite unexpectedly
I went into the supermarket to get a bottle of wine with a friend and saw the sign and bought it five days later
Which was great because when I lost my job I ended up restoring her because she had been in the water for a year and a half
Myself and three friends ended up restoring her and we became great friends
Then we sailed her one winter around the cape and that was very amazing
I have since sold her but that was very empowering
One of my friends had said that if you work on the boat with us you will learn what her strengths and weaknesses are and I did and that was great advice

Most Memorable Moment

Working on the boat and then sailing her that winter was a hugely memorable one
Another one was when I came to Lucca a year and a half ago and fell madly in love with the place
I was sitting in the square where I am living now and I remember writing in my journal, “What do I have to do to come and live here for three months of the year? I will do whatever it takes”
Four months later I was living in Italy
When I came to Italy I just felt so alive in a way I never had in Ireland
Moving to a different country with a different language would have been challenging?
Well I did a one full day with my coach who is amazing and I went over there with a master plan in place
As happens, that master plan went out the window after six days
What happened?
Well, I speak Italian so the plan was to get a job in tourism but after six days I realised that wasn’t going to happen
I thought I would get a job in a hotel or hostel and get free accommodation and then expand my photography
Instead, I got a nanny job in Switzerland for Christmas that paid me enough to come back here for a couple of months and then I got other nanny jobs
Which was great because although I worked really hard, I got to look after four boys in the Tuscan Riviera
And I did so many things, they would say to me, “Come on Martha, come surf with us”
And then they would say that I wasn’t fast enough but they were 8 and I was 55
One of my favourite memories was when I would take them on the back of the bike and I discovered they liked it because they would stand up without holding on – glad their father never saw that!
I decided at the beginning of summer I could either follow the rules or break them and have fun and make it a memorable time for all of us, so I chose fun

What are you passionate about today?

I’m super passionate about astrology now
I became fully qualified two months ago
I now do astrology readings for people all over the world and I have quite a few clients in Australia as well as face to face
But I want to get into teaching so I am considering moving somewhere else for the summer but I haven’t decided yet
I have lots of opportunities and lots of possibilities
One of my favourite sayings is, “If your dreams don’t scare you then they aren’t big enough”
So I am looking at possibly doing volunteer work in Sicily or something like that
Which would give me free time to still see clients and get the best of both worlds

What made you change to astrology?

It kind of came out of the blue
I found the more I worked with my astrologist the faster my life went on purpose
As I stepped up the amount of times I worked with him and then when I came to Italy a lot of it was good for me astrologically
But the interesting thing was that I didn’t consult with him before I moved, I just moved because I knew it was a good country for me
And then when I was working in Switzerland I had the opportunity to study with him
I remember getting the email when I was moving to Italy and thinking, “I could never do this and besides I am starting a new life”
Then in January I was studying with him and because I had done so many workshops I found it really easy
Then I had another reading with him and I was living in Umbria at the time which is a very Jupitarian place and Jupiter is all about expansion and abundance
Then I had another session with my coach in August and I discussed how my photography wasn’t going as well as I wanted it to and I couldn’t keep having exhibitions and not selling anything
She was a member of an Australian women’s Facebook group and she suggested that I put some mini fee readings on there and so I did and it went from there

What is something in your future plan that scares you?

Well one of the things is possibly going to Sicily for the summer
Then I ask myself, “Well, what do you have to be scared of?”
I was originally scared of teaching but I have done some small presentations and that has helped
I think we forget that we have to start small and we have to start somewhere
Now I am having talks with someone about teaching classes in Florence
I love astrology so much and the possibility of teaching it because not many people practice it and a lot of people have a huge interest in it
So I guess it’s the possibility of teaching it to big numbers and giving lectures to big numbers
But I know I am meant to do it
And it’s that knowingness that carries you through those moments of doubt

Five Fast Fun Fearless Facts about Martha Clarke

Who inspires you? My astrology teacher – Andrew Smith inspires me. He is one of the most giving, loving, generous and spiritual people I have ever met but he is also very grounded in the real world. When I first started practicing astrology he was incredibly supportive and he was the one who told me that a lot of people who learn astrology don’t usually go ahead and teach it. That was hugely empowering for me, and liberating, to discover that
Favourite thing to do each day? Journaling – I am a big fan of Julia Cameron and her books so I journal each day, at least three pages and often more, because it gives me great clarity, is very calming and gets me out of my head as well
What’s something that still scares you? I love writing, almost as much as I love astrology and that scares me at the thought of writing and when it gets published
Favourite technique or app or book? I love Elizabeth Gilbert – anything done by her. I’ve read her latest book “Big Magic” and that’s very inspiring. It’s about how to work through your creative fears and blocks and it is a very funny book and again she is very real and very grounded and she is very like, you know, “Get over yourself and just do it”
If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing in the world right now, what would it be and why? For some reason I am thinking about the refugees in Syriac. It’s not what I expected to say. I just finished a book about a woman who trekked the olive tree route and the last country she was in was Israel and I have been to Israel a number of years ago and Syria is right beside Israel and that’s just something I would like to fix

Gift for listeners from Martha Clarke

The opportunity to learn more about astrology and yourself with a complimentary ten-minute mini astrology reading with Martha

Final Question

If you could turn back time what’s the one piece of advice you wish you could give your fourteen-year-old self?

To have a hell of a lot more fun
To stop living in the future and just live in the moment
To laugh and have fun while you are doing it

Is there anything else you wanted to add?

Moving to Italy will be one of the highlights of my life and I’m so glad I did it because Italians live so much in the moment
Follow your heart and have no regrets

Where can people reach out to you? www.marthaclarkeastrology.com

Facebook – Martha Clark & Martha Clarke Astrology