Over a decade ago, I started to see the world more clearly.
I became aware of the societal roles we play, how often we perform, adapt, and filter ourselves to fit in.
I didn’t want that anymore. I wanted to meet people who were willing to be real. People who spoke from the heart.
So I went looking.
I joined Meetup, searched Glasgow, and attended personal development groups and spiritual circles. But I couldn’t find what I was looking for.
I remember thinking, why doesn’t someone create this?
It took me a while to realise the obvious:
I am a person. I can create this.
So I did.
On 31 May 2016 (10th anniversary this year), I created a meetup group called Authentic Connections.
The intention was simple.
To create a space where people could drop the mask and speak from the heart.
I chose this image, ‘Let’s Be Weird Together,’ as the original Meetup profile image.
In the beginning, it was simple. People sitting in a circle, sharing things they didn’t usually say.
Defences softened, hearts opened, words that felt hard to say were said out loud, sometimes for the first time.
I remember moments where the room would go completely quiet – not because there wasn’t anything to say, but because someone had just said something deep.
And everyone felt it. No fixing, no performing.
Just listening. Really listening.
People came. Not in huge waves, but steadily.
There was a quiet hunger for it.
Most found it therapeutic, some thought it revolutionary.
Something real happened there.
Over time, things grew naturally, and the Self-Love Club began. We moved through venues across Glasgow, and even hosted two retreats, always holding space for people as they were.
It didn’t follow a formula. I didn’t want that. Even within “authentic” circles, there can be an unspoken way of doing things, a subtle pressure to get it ‘right’.
This felt different. More down to earth.
Just come and have the courage to say how you really feel.
Then something I hadn’t planned for happened. I began exploring more spiritual practices including Reiki and Meditation. And I wanted to share them with others.
This was no longer only about connection to each other, but also a space to learn, develop spiritually, and connect to something more.
By this time my business was established, but it was just me working under my own name.
After years of moving from space to space, it was clear that the community and business needed roots.
I found a permanent home for us, full time, and Temple Divine was born.
The spiritual journey evolved. I trained in other modalities and shared these teachings with the community.
Today, the community includes meditation teachers, reiki practitioners, therapeutic tarot readers, astrologers and more.
But this isn’t a place where you must perform spirituality. It’s a place to be real.
Because Temple Divine isn’t the building. It’s the people in it.
Authentic connection has always been the foundation of this work, long before there was a business. And it remains at the heart of everything I do.
I built something real with people, and the business grew from there.
When people feel safe enough to be themselves, they don’t just show up differently in their own lives, they go on to impact others.
We have all been hurt by people before, yet we keep coming back to each other.
And when you drop the mask and speak from the heart, other people give themselves permission to do the same.
That’s the ripple effect.
Clare Bennett is a psychological astrologer, therapeutic coach and founder of Temple Divine, Glasgow. You can find her and the community at www.clarebennett.scot
