The Spirit Level - Sacred Soul

Platform 13 CEO Vanessa Grant on Soul, Strength and the Sacred Feminine.

Sitting in sacred silence

There are words that carry weight far beyond their syllables: soul, strength, sacred. Each speaks to something elemental, a truth we sense in our bones even when we struggle to name it. When combined, they sketch a portrait of the feminine at its deepest level — not as a role or a set of expectations, but as a source of power rooted in authenticity.

At Platform 13, we believe strength does not come from denying our vulnerability, but from the courage to embrace it. As Brené Brown reminds us, vulnerability is not weakness, but it is the birthplace of courage, connection, and creativity. The sacred feminine echoes this truth: soulfulness is not about armoring up, but about laying down what no longer serves us. To show up with an open heart, to risk being seen, to choose joy. These are acts of strength that ripple through our lives and our community.

Too often, women are taught to equate strength with endurance: to carry more, smile wider, break less. Yet the soul whispers a different truth. Strength lies not in stoic survival, but in the willingness to ask for help, to rest, to begin again. This is why our residencies are designed not as retreats from life, but as places to practice it differently; spaces where women discover that strength and softness are not opposites, but intertwined threads in the same fabric.

To honour the soul is to listen for what gives life depth: stillness, beauty, meaning, connection. These are not luxuries, but fuel for renewal. At Platform 13, we see them as the roots of belonging; shared meals, creative experiments, the courage to step beyond comfort zones with laughter rather than judgment. They are how we learn to live wholeheartedly, not perfectly.

And to reclaim the sacred feminine is to remember that our worth has never been measured by comparison or competition. It lives in presence, in community, in the quiet power of belonging. When women step into that space, not seeking permission, but standing as they are, they embody the kind of leadership the world longs for: empathetic, resilient, deeply human.

There is joy in this, too. To be vulnerable is not only to risk pain, but to make space for delight. Brown calls joy “the most vulnerable emotion we feel,” because it reminds us of life’s fragility. Yet joy is also soul’s truest expression. At Platform 13, we see joy as sacred; a thread that binds courage to renewal, reminding us that belonging is not heavy, but light-filled.

Soul. Strength. Sacred. Feminine. Four words, braided together, remind us of who we are when we stop trying to be who we think we should be. They invite us to inhabit our lives not as a performance, but as a practice; imperfect, wholehearted, and beautifully our own.