self-discovery
Make It Happen Every Day
We have the ultimate ability to forge our own spiritual path in this lifetime, regardless of perceived limitations. As life is lived, important karmic lessons are learned and it is always your free will choice as to how fully you embrace your surroundings and opportunities.
Your experiences will depend on the lessons you choose to learn, the people with whom you interact and the ultimate goals you envision achieving.
To make the most of this incredible journey, spirit invites us to implement the following strategies:
Learn from all your experiences. Rejoice in the ability to create your reality and celebrate your successes, but do not judge your mistakes, nor your supposed failings. Reframe it instead into lessons.
Rejoice in all accomplishments. Even the smallest achievements lead to much greater opportunities. Never criticize your lack of visible success.
Lead by example. Be your best self today and encourage others to do the same for themselves.
Be kind to yourself. Aim for personal balance so that you can give more freely to others.
Be of service. Give so that your heart becomes truly free. Take giant strides in life and make your mark with love and integrity. Don’t let life pass you by.
Evaluate carefully. Think and make wise choices. Step back from the precipice of judgment long enough to gain solid insight before making a definitive move. You are much stronger than you realize. When confusion reigns, ask spirit for support and guidance.
Spiritual Enlightenment Is Not A Fireworks Display
Many seekers desire spiritual fulfillment, or yearn for enlightenment, assuming it would instantly bring them wisdom, inner peace, and serenity. But instead, true spiritual growth is often delivered in challenging ways we never expected.
Increased spiritual growth often begins with life-altering events, unsettling discoveries, or distressing insights – such as realizing what has really been holding you back from attaining spiritual fulfilment. These learning curves can show up in many ways. For example, as an unexpected ending of a relationship, a health crisis, or the loss of a loved one.
Often, it shows up in the form of disruptive events that expose dysfunctional thought or behavior patterns that have been stifling your mental freedom, or a toxic mindset that has been hindering your ability to see clearly to break free from limiting beliefs and self-sabotage.
The term ‘spiritual enlightenment’ is used very loosely these days and has become a confusing concept to many people. The truth is that authentic spiritual enlightenment is actually not a very big deal. It is seldom the ‘fireworks display’ that our egos might want it to be.
Spiritual accomplishment is nothing to be prideful or boastful about. It is actually a very quiet process; inward and intimate. People who go through this process in an authentic way, report the experience as being a modest, intuitive alignment, rather than a dramatic breakthrough of profound elation.
Only once we have improved our intuitive alignment, are we subtly encouraged by spirit to not to stop there, but to muster up the courage to take further steps in our spiritual growth and evolution. We become increasingly self-aware and are able to assess what we may have done to contribute to the disappointments in our life, and how these dysfunctional patterns may have started.
The Hidden Blessings Of Retrograde Reflections
During the most recent Mercury retrograde, there was a day when my phone simply stopped working. I signed onto Psychic Access to do readings, but my landline failed to connect. Later that week, something similar happened. My landline was now working again, but when I tried to sign on to Psychic Access to start my shift, I was unable to connect. Technical issues twice in one week. I felt like I was going to lose it!
Planetary retrogrades are prime times to experience setbacks and frustrations. This has been especially true over the past two years due to the pandemic. Vibrational energy across the planet has been very low in recent times.
It is vital to stay calm, centered and grounded during retrogrades, and to not be too hard on oneself. Retrogrades are times for reflection, validation, and analysis of how we may improve ourselves. It’s a time of seeing where our personal energy frequency may need some adjustment. Opportunities for healing, growth and self-care abound if we take the initiative!
Carving out a little ‘sanity time’ each day is paramount. Time to oneself provides clarity and purpose to reflect upon personal growth and life’s lessons. It also gives us the opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons; something sweet out of life’s sour and bitter. In time, the sweet joy of our ‘spiritual lemonade’ can be served to the world by being of service, while inspiring our family and friends with our courage and perseverance.
To gather my thoughts after the two missed work shifts on Psychic Access, I decided to take time out for a walk. I love walking, but due to persistent back pain that has been plaguing me for years, it’s an activity that I fail to do on a regular basis.
But the retrograde setbacks with my phone line led me to start walking again. I had to start slowly, and it took some time for me to regain the necessary physical strength, but now I thoroughly enjoy my daily walks in the great outdoors. What a lift for the spirits! Thank you retrograde.
Navigating Energy Challenges – Manual Versus Automatic
I had always been fascinated with driving a stick shift car, as my dad drove several such vehicles in my childhood years. On our third date, my ex-husband took me to an empty parking lot and showed me the ropes on how to drive a stick shift. However, despite his valiant attempt to teach me, I failed miserably.
I reflected on this experience recently, synthesizing an analogy to what I had experienced twenty-five years ago, and found an interesting correlation with my chakra recovery journey.
Also known as Kundalini awakening, the chakra recovery process has not been an easy one for me. I literally felt like I was going to die on many occasions. Six years into this journey, I still incorporate daily energy self-care in the form of meditation, visualization, Epsom salt baths, aromatherapy, and other spiritual practices.
But I have noticed progress! My mind is so much clearer these days, and my sleep more efficient. Most of all, I radiate more kindness, truth, and an open mind of late. And I do believe the best is yet to come!
This reminded me of the ease with which one usually drives an automatic transmission vehicle. To me this is analogous to the ultimate goal of spiritual self-care: to be able to harness the energy of a fully-tuned, balanced chakra system and apply it to everyday life. A person naturally flowing with energy is able to handle more challenging situations with greater ease. Once the crown chakra starts to open, this is when innovative, eternal wisdom flows through. Then we can begin to grasp the rhythm and precision necessary to operate our energy more fluidly and automatically, instead of like a ‘stick shift.’
Visualizing Your Soul’s Path
If you are currently struggling with feelings of emptiness, loneliness, boredom or a lack of meaning and purpose in your life, it may be that you are not connected to your soul purpose.
We are so much more than just our careers, business pursuits, relationships, family, or home. We are spiritual beings in human form, each with a unique soul path and personal destiny.
To become more aware of our innate spiritual purpose we must pay attention to our inner voice and listen carefully to our heart’s desire. We must find what truly resonates with our soul.
A fun visualization exercise I recommend to anyone looking for clues to their true soul’s path is to imagine the ideal color of your home’s front door.
Imagine coming home on any average day. Were you driving home in a car that needs to be parked in the driveway? Or maybe you took the bus, or were you walking or biking? Visualize the details your arrival.
Next, see yourself coming up your walkway or entrance facing the front door of your abode. Now, instead of its current actual color, imagine the ideal new color for your door. What color do you see? The color your spontaneously imagined reflects the interest of your soul.
For example, if you imagine your door to be painted red it may indicate that you operate with a lot of passion and excitement. A light shade of blue may be reflective of freedom of expression, or you are a soul who thinks, feels, and operates outside the box. A darker navy tone might indicate a more serious nature and a strong sense of commitment to the community. My preferred door color is a bright yellow, which is a sign of my interest in the intuitive and metaphysical realm.
How To Avoid Empath Ego-Traps
Being an empowered empath is a wonderful gift and blessing. But the empath ‘label’ can also become problematic when it is misconceived by some as meaning more than it truly signifies.
There are very common ego-traps that some empaths and highly sensitive people get hung up on with regards their empathic experiences. These ego-traps can be very counterproductive, as it may actually be holding them back from meaningful personal growth and progressing our spiritual path.
These ego traps are easy to get wrapped up in, but they are not a sign of weakness or failure. The experience of being an empath is often intense and confusing. These ego-traps offer lessons for us that often go hand-in-hand with life as an empath.
Some of the typical empath ego-traps are as follows:
Empaths Always Know Best
Assuming we are always right about how we ‘read’ a situation or person, or needing to save everyone and be everybody’s ‘therapist.’ We may have a good read that something is amiss, or that someone is upset, but its unwise to assume we always know exactly why.
Often empaths will feel something from someone and decide for themselves why that person is feeling that way. This is a good way to create conflict and tension in relationships! Instead of assuming, rather ask.
And if the person doesn’t want to talk about it, try assuming it is not about you, and that maybe you have no idea what is really upsetting them. Start there. Give the person space and do not make it about you. Continue reading
Being An Empath Is No Excuse
There’s nothing wrong with identifying as an empath. Actually, it can be beneficial to step into this truth for oneself, and own your empathic experiences as a significant aspect of your life.
But for many people it is difficult to take on this ‘label,’ because they don’t feel worthy or they feel they are saying, “I’m more special than other people.” In these cases, there is great benefit in coming to terms with being an empath because it doesn’t have to mean either of those things.
Being an empath is not something they have to be worthy of – it’s a trait they either have or don’t have. And it’s not a matter of being better or ‘more special’ than anyone else – that notion comes from a fear of being judged.
Being an empath means being highly sensitive to emotional energies, and feeling those emotions in your own body as if they were your own. The term ‘empath’ is just a word we can use to describe this trait.
There is some scientific evidence for the empath experience. Studies* show we all have a very specific group of cells in our brain responsible for empathy and compassion, called the Mirror Neuron System. In the brain of highly empathic people, it is thought this group of cells may be hyperactive or hypersensitive.
Being an empath is a wonderful blessing and gift, instead of it being a ‘curse,’ weakness or disability. However, it is important for the empath to become empowered and own their sensitivity.
In order to accomplish this, it is vital for the empath to avoid adopting a ‘victim mentality’ or constantly blaming everything negative that happened in their life on the fact that they are an empath.
Some empaths erroneously believe many of the struggles they encounter can’t be overcome. They assume that they will always be crippled in some way by their experience as an empath. This is false. They may have specific experiences and lessons because they’re an empath, but these are opportunities for growth. Some of the ways this manifests are: